The Good and The Bad

Our weekend started bad and ended good.  I guess I'll start with the bad.
 Saturday morning we awoke to Peyton running in the house screaming, "Pokie has blood all over her!".  I'm thinking,"What is it with all the bloody animals lately?"  We dressed as fast as we could and ran outside thinking she'd been attacked by something.  When I saw her, I immediately knew what had happened.  You see, Pokie was pregnant, but not due until Spring.  Sometime during the night her foal must have been born.  I looked around and did not see any new horses, so my heart sank when I realized the foal must not have made it.  We started on a trek around the property to confirm my suspicions.  Sure enough, under a big tree, we found her.  It was a girl; a tiny, beautiful, perfect little foal. 

I just finished a book about mares and new foals to prepare for the big day.  I had only skimmed the chapter called "Tragedy".  Surely, that would never happen to my mare, she's foaled before without problems.  I remembered the book said that it would take the mare a while to realized that her foal was dead.  I pictured Pokie nudging and licking her sweet little foal trying to wake her up, and my heart just broke for her.  I wondered if horses grieve for stillborn offspring like humans do.

We let the kids decide for themselves if they wanted to see the little foal.  They both wanted to see her.  Death is such a hard life lesson to accept.  When we got back to the house, Reece and I both had tears in our eyes.  My brave little girl told me, "Mom, everything happens for a reason, you know?"    I smiled and told her that she was right, and we all agreed to just be grateful that Pokie made it through her tragic night unharmed.

 

Let's move on to the Good!   As most of you know, we are all from Louisiana.  Dad is a HUGE New Orleans Saints fan, always has been for the entire 13+ years  I've known him.  He loves the game of football, and his support for the Saints has never wavered even when they were at their worst.  Most of the time, I think Pro football is silly.  I just see grown men making millions of dollars to run around in spandex, knocking each other down for a ball, and slapping each other on the butts.  I can usually only get into football when my own son is playing.  However, this year's Super Bowl was different.

Let me explain:  We were in Louisiana when Katrina hit.  We saw what it did to the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.  It was complete devastation on so many levels, not just to things, but to people and their spirits.  New Orleans has been due for some joy for a long time.  If it takes football to bring that city joy, then so be it.   The New Orleans Saints winning that game was so much more than just football.  It was hope, the hope that one day that magnificent, magical city will one day be the same as I remember it to be. 

Congratulations New Orleans!  You deserved it!

New toys, bloody chickens, and Big Fat Snowflakes...

I never in a million years thought I'd be so excited about a new wheel barrow.  I'm thinking of a hundred ways I'm going to use it as soon as spring comes.  Meanwhile, the kids discovered use #1 this morning...

 

 But, first let's back up 30 minutes or so when they both come running in the house holding chickens.  Apparently, there was some pecking during the night because some of the girls have blood on their necks(or maybe Fred is getting a little rough with his affections).  

I'm not real crazy about chickens in the house, so we rushed outside to investigate.  Everyone looks like they are going to make it, so all is good.   They look happy  that the snow is starting to melt so they can scratch around in the grass again. 

We have a nice, dry barn.  Why do horses stand out in the snow and rain all night and look like drowned rats in the morning?

As soon as we went back inside, the biggest, fattest snowflakes started falling.  Sorry my little chickens, hurry and enjoy the grass while you can. 

  

Snow Much Fun

We got our second good snow of the season and everyone is loving it.  It measures 10 inches in some places!

 

Last night we woke up to horrible wailing noises from somewhere outside.  We're guessing it was coyotes. It was a horrible howling/screaming sound.  It also sounded way too close for comfort!  This morning we went walking around to investigate and look for tracks.  Just as we started looking, Buddy caught the scent of a rabbit.

Unfortunately for him, it got away when his back was turned.

We continued on with our mission to find the coyote tracks.

We found numerous tracks, but the snow is so deep, it's hard to tell what made them.

The tracks that closest resemble coyote tracks were circling the chicken coop.  Good thing the girls were all locked up tight!

Here are a few pictures I took on our hike that I think are pretty cool.

 

Back at the house, we finished up the daily chores.  The girls love the new (expensive) alfalfa hay. 

 

The chickens said, "No thanks, we are NOT going out there today."

I got a surprise when I opened the nest boxes.  I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but she was curled up in a next box.  I guess she got locked in there last night and had a nice warm spot to sleep in all night. 

 

Just another morning on our farm...

Cast of Characters-Part 3

I love that it takes three posts to introduce my family.  Some would question that chickens and all the other animals running around outside are not "part of my family".  I disagree.  I believe that all animals are unique individuals that are not meant to be "owned" by humans, but to be willing participates in sharing their lives with us.  It's mutual co-operation.  I want them to all enjoy being in our "pack".    I may have to change my story when we have to butcher our first animal, but I'll cross that road when we get there. 

Anyway, when we moved here there were 5 horses already here.  I didn't have the heart to kick them out of their home, so we bought them all.  I've questioned my sanity many times since then.  You see, I knew absolutely nothing about horses.  I've always loved and admired them from afar, but have never had the opportunity to really get to know a horse on a personal level.  I was and still am determined to learn how to develop a relationship with these beautiful animals.  In the last couple of months, I've read every book and watched every video I could find about "Natural Horsemanship".  It's all about building a partnership between horse and human that closely resembles the relationships that exist between horses.  It's about getting the horse's respect so she will do what I want because she trusts me, not because she fears me.  I have made a little progress with these girls, but still have a long way to go. 

Like I said, we started with five mares.  Unfortunately, we lost our sweet "Maggie", a 30+ yr-old Shetland pony, a couple of weeks ago.

 

Here is Pokie, our big, beautiful, pregnant paint mare. 

This is "Star", Pokie's  9 month old foal. 

  

  

Here are my "wild girls"

They didn't really like having their picture taken, they took off with all kinds of attitude.  

The mare with the darker mane is Babe.  She is a sweetheart and the leader of the pack.  The one with the lighter mane is Honey.  That's about as close as she'll come to me.  She refuses to let me touch her.  She is my biggest challenge.

Okay, so that wraps up the horse introductions!  Last, but not least, our barn cats!  They have the hardest, but most appreciated job on the farm -catching mice.  They do a fabulous job at it, too!  This is what I usually see when I stand on my porch.  The black one hiding in the back is Lily.  From left to right on the table are: Isabelle, Darlin', Fluffy, and Snowflake.  There is another male black cat named Oreo that comes over to hang out occasionally, if you know what I mean....

 Snowflake and Isabelle

I love this picture because Snowflake is hanging out with our rooster, Fred.

 

Snowflake's, biggest fan:

  

Fluffy looking so sweet and innocent, but don't let her fool you.

She has no intention of making friends today, or any day, with Buddy and Otto.

Here is our sweet Darlin', who's belly is growing bigger by the minute.  I think we should have kittens any day now.

 

Darlin' hanging out with the chickens

and here she is again thinking about making friends with Buddy and Otto

So far, so good!

Snowflake and Isabelle

Snowflake up a tree

Isabelle eating scraps and telling Fred, "I dare you to try something!"

 

Showdown over cheese

Beautiful Isabelle posing for the camera

Lily participating in the hen gathering on the porch

Well, that does it for our family introductions.  Now comes the fun stuff, the day-to-day adventures of a city family trying to figure out country living.