Happy Winter Farm

I got the chance to visit a small farmer in Mountain View, MO. He raises goats for milk and meat. He also has chickens, turkey and ducks for their eggs. He gave me a tour of the goats and poultry tucked in for the night. I never knew you could bed down turkey, ducks, geese and chickens together. They were so happy, healthy and warm in the barn. And the goats were fat and munching on dry clover. These were very happy farm animals. I even got to pick up a baby goat, aka, kid. So warm and fat in the middle, very soft fur. Momma goat was not too happy I picked up her kid, however. Momma goats are very alert to their kids activities; more so than some human mothers.

Summersville Quilting

This week I taught a "beginners" quilt class for all levels at our local Summersville Community Center. We are making a simple two border nine patch to donate to the Quilts for Kids project. This organization has the free patterns on-line. Some of the students brought quilts they created in the past such as the handkerchief butterfly quilt. There is a lot of talent out here in the Ozarks. And we will be making larger quilts for our first ever fall quilt show this year.

Squirrel-cicle

This morning I got up to feed my skunk scented dogs and saw a shape on the grassy hill. It was a DOA frozen female squirrel. It was mortally wounded on the neck and died trying to get away from some predator. It was frozen solid on the ground. My dogs did not want to play with the squirrel-cicle; so I placed it back into the woods for more hungrier predators. The nights are a busy time for the creatures of the woods. Ah, frozen nature in the the Ozarks.

Bunny Foo Foo

Here is a photo of Rose our bunny in harness and leash. She is taking a walk in the forest enjoying the twigs and leaves. Rose is a Rex bunny also known as a velvet bunny. We keep her in a harness so she does not attack the other animals in the forest.

Rose is cute but she's a lethal woodland creature.

Nothings as loving as a skunk fresh out the oven...

Yes, we have been Skunked out here in the Ozarks. It was only a matter of time with two dogs, woods and wildlife. I left the dogs free after dinner and they went after what they thought was our barn cat, Annie who is black and white. There was a yip and I ran after the dogs with a flashlight and spotted three pair of eyes running right at me. Hickory, Osa and a huge black and white skunk. I had no idea skunks could run so fast.

The dogs and the skunk ran around the house and I ran inside. The skunk ran around the house spraying both dogs, the fireplace and the entire outside of our house. It was a lethal attack. Were were all stunned as the stink enveloped us. Both dogs were whining outside and frozen with a new fear of skunks. The smell came inside the house via the chimney and we experienced the awful skunk scent. The skunk went back into the woods happy as ever. My dogs are not happy tonight. We hope they learned a lesson to leave the skunks alone.

I don't like skunks very much after all this.

Training your bunny

We own two bunny rabbits that are our indoor pets. Sometimes it is a good idea to take them outside for exercise. Here you can see my husband taking Rose for a run through the property. Clearly Rose is in charge and taking A. for a fast jog. This is why having a harness is a good idea. No husbands were harmed in this photo shoot.