On Eating and Incubating Eggs with a Three-Year-Old

I've spent a lot of time thinking about Ember's ability to mentally process the fact that some eggs are for eating and some eggs are for hatching and what that really means for all eggs. At three, she's developmentally at a point in which she questions everything, which is both invigorating and exhausting. She challenges me to think about my…
February 13, 2017

Great Pyrenees Puppy

Kim and I have talked, at length, about getting another Great Pyrenees puppy. Really, since before we even brought Akuna onto the farm, having two Great Pyrenees LGDs has always been part of the conversation. In the whirlwind that has been our lives over the past two years, though, it never seemed like the "right time" to bring another dog…
February 8, 2017

Don’t Count Your Chickens…

We all know the old saying, right? Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. And so, we've got 43 eggs cooking in our brand new incubator (as of last night) and are super curious to see how many actually hatch :-) Twenty days and counting! Also, if they all hatch (or even if most of them hatch) and you're local…
February 6, 2017

Kitty’s Clutch of Twelve

I finally got some good photos of Kitty's clutch of 12 eggs and wanted to share them with you here! Such a good, protective mama she is, and all settled into Ricky's shelter where she'll wait patiently for her ducklings to grow and hatch. Because last weekend was so warm, she spent a good amount of time off the clutch,…
February 2, 2017

Shown, Unshown – January 2017

Shown I do believe Mama is officially pregnant!  How do I know without a blood test or an ultrasound? She's asking for love and letting me pet her again, with a passion :-)  She is usually very aloof, but we learned last year that this changes dramatically when she's pregnant. So, YAY! (Pretty sure Lucy & Ethel are pregnant, too,…
January 30, 2017

Loss & Hope – A Duck’s Tale

Two days ago, while doing the morning chores, it was discovered that we'd lost a duck to a predator. Feathers everywhere under The Grandmother Tree, a limp body in the acequia, scared siblings, and a missing momma. We were in a rush to leave the property with a sick toddler in tow, a day of juggling said, sick toddler and mandatory work…
January 20, 2017