Mostly happy snaps today, plus one wee tale of woe. Life is flourishing around here, but for two middle-aged folk, it’s getting harder to keep up!
We’ve got kittens and lambs and chicks and some rain and decent temps for a change, that’s keeping the critters and crops and me very happy.
I think the old cliche about when life is giving you lemons should be updated for the modern era. Lemons are already a luxury, after all.
I think it should reflect the shitshow the modern era has become and read: When life gives you shit, make more compost.
And we have LOADS of it at the moment, the good kind that makes fantastic strawberries, not the useless kind, that populates DC.
Do you care to know how much shit it takes to make carrots and strawberries so good? 😆
Guess what else loves loads of shit?!
And while some homesteading results are obvious— like more shit equals better produce— others remain a mystery.
After three perfect sets of twins, we have a reject. It’s one of those very odd occurrences we have yet to experience and it’s confusing because it’s halfway between cute and sad.
One bad mama has rejected one of its offspring. He’s a sweet, spunky little survivor we’ve come to call ‘Scrappy’ because he’s fighting so hard and it’s wonderful to witness. And also sad, like I said.
Hubby found Scrappy at the fenceline in the morning not long after birth, already abandoned. But, the sibling lamb and mama were fine and healthy and not too far away.
It’s a mystery because one, he was not just alive, but cleaned off, and very vigorous. And two, because had she cleaned him off, she’d surely recognize him as her other offspring. So, who cleaned him off?
Because she pushes him off immediately at any attempt to nurse. Even still, after 4 days and every attempt we’ve tried. We’ve resorted to holding her down 3 times a day, he at the front end, me at the back end, while poor Scrappy voraciously sucks down whatever he can manage before she out-maneuvers the 3 of us!
Then Hubby goes back to bottle-feed him 3 more times a day.
Of course, he’s not the first critter here to obediently follow Hubby everywhere!
Scrappy’s getting fed with a combination of powdered milk specially formulated and goat’s milk, thanks to Summer, who I’m still milking from her last freshening, last spring.
Skittles (below left), looking tough as always, but her kittens are already getting accustomed to an easier life, from the barn to under the porch.
Careful kitties, domestication has its costs, which is probably why Skittles keeps hissing at the hands who feed her. 😆
Thanks for stopping by!
Kensho Homestead 
The little black cat has the most unusual white lips. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. Can’t wait to see what kind of name you’ll come up with to go with his (or hers?) unusual lips. Does it look the same face on or is that just a strange angle?
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They are white along with his white paws, very cute, we’ve been calling him Mittens. Yes, unusual, have not seen that before either.
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Have the cats ever gone after the baby chicks? In some areas peoples’ cats are killing birds as they like to hunt them & then play with them like they do mice & are putting a dent in the bird population. How do you stop that hunting instinct?
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We were also wary about cats, more for the wild birds than the chicks. They don’t have any access to the chicks, so that’s crucial. But, once the chickens can fight back, they leave each other alone. We’ve never had an issue since getting Skittles a few years ago. But I thought she might go after the wild birds, since we have feeders nearby, but she hasn’t. We have seen a decline in the moles though, thank heavens, so maybe she’s too busy with those! Thanks for stopping by, Granny, nice to get your comments/questions.
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