Lots getting done thanks to help, also Chickens!

Sorry about the low quality pictures, but we've been keeping busy and I really didn't want to miss another blog post today. Last wee was a consequence of me not understanding just how exhausting first week of college would be from the perspective of being the phone tech support guy. It's still very busy at work, but I am not quite as fried in the evening which is good for actually getting things done. Speaking of getting things done, as you can see Above you see that we've managed to move the chicken coop and run near the house instead of behind the studio barn. That's thanks to a group of friends coming by and helping out Saturday letting us get a lot done!

I know it's blurry, but this is another photo of what folks helped with. People came by and bucked and split firewood as well getting a good load started which is very helpful. I unfortunately couldn't manage a decent enough photo to share of the vast quantity of weeding they got done. They have a greater than dog sized pile of weeding in the yard which is great. The amount of work they were able to help us get done is a major thing given that we were just falling further and further behind on everything we needed to get done between pregnancy, new job, and everything else.  The help was a real life saver

The other thing I did on Saturday was I taught someone how to kill and dress a rabbit. I was reminded that one of the things I should make sure of when teaching someone to butcher is that I need to keep the speed down, and demonstrate clearly. I also was reminded to cut down on the times that the angle of cutting can't intersect my hand as I cut myself fairly deeply. Not badly enough to go to the hospital, but seriously enough to require some time under cold water with pressure. So while there are times with butchering without ideal tools you have to cut towards yourself, really, try to cut away at all times. You'll thank yourself. Other than that the teaching went well. The person I was instructing ended up not doing any killing this time, but cleaned and skinned the rabbit very well. We'll do killing another time if they would like to.

The big news right now other than the huge amount of work that we got done is the arrival of chickens. So far we only have our new Rooster from Blessed Acre Farm who we've named Mr. Bond. He was a surprise among a group of hens she didn't want, and we're happy to have a rooster! We'll be getting other chickens some time this week. He's very quick, and got the name Mr. Bond due to his daring escape during the coop move. I opened the coop to catch him and put him in a cat carrier, he launched himself over me, bounced off the door, and went under the wood pile. Due to an exceptional effort from a friend who is well named after foxes, he was captured digging under a stone wall to get away, and he's been in since. He's a bit skittish for now, but he'll come around hopefully. The Lady of the House is extremely happy to have small dinosaurs back around the property. So far he hasn't been That noisy, so we'll see how it goes. With the coop closer to the house it'll be easier to keep light on them and the water warm. Hopefully it will also keep the weasels away.

Last but not least, the babies are doing well. I've been trying to breed the mothers, and some have acquiesced and others have not. I'm hoping that the litters out of Herbie turn out well since we do like him and would rather hold on to him given the positive influence having outside bloodlines would have on our population. I'm going to keep this short today, but look forward to more and better photos on Thursday!