Twas the Night Before Christmas...

.....and all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring,

Not even a mouse.

The children were nestled,

All snug in their beds.....

Merry Christmas to you from all of us

at Bee Haven Acres!

We will be spending the next few days with our two legged kids....

so posting may be sporadic.

It is our hope that wherever you are,

your heart is filled with peace and contentment

this holiday season and throughout the

coming new year.

Frosty Morning

I awoke to a clear, frosty morning today....perhaps the coldest yet this year.

As I was doing the morning chores, the only sound was the distant "who-who-whowho-who-who-whowho" of a great horned owl. The snow remains on the ground, continuing to make my world a magical winter wonderland. I love this time of year, when the world is held in frosty slumber. Each day unfolds as it does throughout the rest of the year, but in a quieter way. The animals all involve themselves in munching to maintain their warmth....so the loudest sound is that of chewing.

For those of you who wonder how Rod is doing.....he has adapted to his new lifestyle quite well. Ordinarily he spends his days outside the barn, but on these cold, cold mornings, is hesitant to leave his warm dry stall. (I have received several comments asking what type of bird Rod is. He is a white Polish Crested chicken.)

Frequents visitors keep him occupied throughout the day.

One of whom keeps stealing his warm spot. TomTom loves Rod's heat lamp. I am waiting for the day when I find them both snuggled up under the lamp together.

Chicken Reorganization

Yesterday morning I decided it was time to start to move the "baby" chickens to their permanent home with my other layers. These "babies" were hatched in August and have lived in my smallest henhouse (which I use as a brooder house) since then. Now that they are almost full grown, that house has gotten a bit crowded.

So, yesterday morning I cleaned out my two largest henhouses, and covered their floors with fresh pine bedding. I spread fresh hay in their yard (chickens hate the snow) so that they would have warm, dry footing.

Then I gathered a couple pet carriers and headed to the "babies'" house. Catching these hens was the biggest challenge.

I snatched them, one at a time, clipped their primary wing feathers, and gently placed them in the pet carriers. Then we took off on the gator for their new accommodations.

I carried them up to the upper house and opened the carriers....out they spilled into their new spacious quarters. It took no time for them to acclimate themselves to their surroundings...finding both their water and food.

Elvis and a couple of the old girls stopped by for a visit. Elvis laid down the law and then went back to the lower henhouse.

I checked on the babies a couple of times during the day.

...all was fine. They even ventured outside their new house for a bite of scratch. By nightfall, all were tucked in securely....the old with the new. I breathed a sigh of relief....it seems that this has been a peaceful transition for all. We'll see how everybody looks this morning when I open up their henhouse for the day.

Babs and eleven other "babies" remain in the old henhouse....a much more manageable and comfortable number for the size of that house.

By the way, I think this chicken might be the rooster that I have heard crowing within the baby house....although I have never actually witnessed him doing so.

He has grown much larger than the rest and his feathers are much fancier.....time will tell for sure.

And More Snow.....

Here are a few more pictures of our weekend snowfall. We were lucky enough to have Amanda and Tim snowed in with us. We spent Saturday making lasagne, baking, watching "White Christmas" and working on a puzzle. Sunday we all took the girls for a walk in the woods, then came back to hot chocolate and a roaring fire. It was a perfect weekend....quiet, peaceful and serenely beautiful. The rest of the week should be cold enough to keep the snow on the ground for Christmas. YAY!!!

The Bigs (Donnie Brasco and Moonbeam) in back, the Littles (Ollie and Red) in front.

Sadie, the mountain dog.

Amanda, Tim and Jack with the dogs.....me following with the camera.

Our arena....covered in snow.

The trail into the Hundred Acre Wood.

Amanda, Tim, me and the girls.

Just me and my gals.

Tim and Amanda, build a snowman.

Oh, how the girls love the snow!!

Becky's horses....Fagner, Ava, and Duffy.

The view from our Hundred Acre Wood...looking towards Becky's house and barn.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Most of us along the East coast have received a good dose of holiday snow this weekend. I thought I would share just a few pictures from around the farm. We all love the snow so much...that is everyone but the goats, chickens, and guineas. They stay indoors and just look out at the stuff, while the rest of us romp and play....

Looks like we'll have a white Christmas, after all!

Important Duties

I posted a picture a few months back of a lovely cat who lives on our farm. We call her boots, because of the white sock on each of her legs. She is not one of our barn kitties (well, not officially), but she eats her meals in the barn (she's quite stealthy....eating only when I have left the barn), and I think she sleeps in the barn (I often hear a flurry of kittty footsteps up in the hayloft when I first come into the barn in the morning). She is always quite shy....I have been unable to get close to her.

On this particular morning, I returned to the barn after a visit to the manure pile. Underneath the old pine tree I saw......

I tried talking to her...enticing her with "Here kitty, here kikikikiki" in my highest pitched,

squeaky mouse voice. And this time, instead of running, she stayed. She started to dig a little hole.....

And then I realized why she didn't run. She had a little business to attend to....

fertilizing the old pine tree. She tidily covered up her little duty and then took off running. So much for socialization! Oh well, I will keep trying.

Another Cat Tale

The other evening my last stop for the afternoon feeding was the barn....to feed the kitties. Most afternoons, when I walk through the barn door, I have to watch my step. There are usually three kitties trying to cozy up to me, wrapping themselves around my ankles. I suppose they think this is one way that I will be sure to not forget to feed them. Well, on this particular afternoon, there were only two kitties begging for their supper.....just Ella and Bobby. I called for TomTom....over and over, but no TomTom. How unusual, I thought, TomTom is usually the first one around when the food comes out. He is my starving Kitty and eats at least twice the amount as the other two.

Figuring that he was out hunting, I ran down to our neighbor's house for a moment.

On the way home, this is what I saw......

Apparently, when I was gathering eggs, TomTom slipped in the back door of the henhouse and was locked in when I finished. He quite often tries to accompany me into the henhouse, but I usually catch him and keep him out. I have never thought that he would hurt any of the birds, but there is really no reason for him to be there.

Now, each morning, he comes along with me as I clean out the henhouse. He peeks into the nesting boxes....making sure that everything is ok. He is the farm supervisor, afterall.

Amazingly, the chickens could care less.

Quips and Quotes

Here are just a few cute pics....and the conversations overheard as the camera snapped.....

"Hang on, Ollie, I'm trying to break us outa here!"

"My favorite time is nap time!"

"Hey, howzabout lettin me in with those chickens!"

Here is Smoochie blubbering over the chickens.....(turn on your sound)

Should I be concerned about hearing these conversations?

Perhaps I have been spending just a little too much time alone on the farm!

A Poem from a Blog Friend

In response to yesterday's post with a picture of Ella Bella sitting under the red glow of her heat lamp, a reader wrote this poem. She posted it HERE on her blog. I have copied it and pasted it here for your reading pleasure. Ella Bella was quite happy to be immortalized thusly:

CUSHION COMFY CAT


I'm Ella Bella with my Infra-Red!
It's a lovely warmth that streams from overhead.
The People bought it for me
To prove that they adore me,
And it's here I like to make my cosy bed.
*
The cows are blowing clouds of winter steam;
And the horses are continuing the theme.
The dogs are wearing coats
Which reach from tails to throats,
And I just sit here pleasantly and dream.
*
I'm sometimes asked to share this special lamp,
If the night is really miserably damp,
But I feel it's not fair!
Royalty doesn't share!
And shifting-up a bit gives me the cramp!
*
The People are rugged-up from head to toe.
There are icicles wherever they may go!
All that's for Him and Her;
I just bide my time and purr,
Even though we find we're inches deep in snow!
*
Some creatures try to get above their station;
Pet dogs are just a poor cheap imitation.
So things like Infra-Red
Are just for the well-bred.
After all, we cats are Lords of all Creation!

Written by Brenda Bryant of Australia. You can view her blog here.

Thanks Brenda....love your Rinkly Rimes!

Stop by her blog and read some of her lovely poetry.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

This has been the coldest December that I can remember. Our Decembers are usually temperate...and snow for Christmas is often a long shot. However, it looks like the snow on the ground will still be around for the holidays.

The snow on the ground makes grazing a bit difficult, so we are into our heavy hay usage season.

Each morning the Bigs head out to the pasture, with flakes of hay spread around the old pine tree in the center.

The littles spend some time munching and playing in the dry lot.

Around noon the Bigs and the Littles switch places and the wild times begin. As soon as the littles hit the pasture they take off running....and they run and run through the snow.

All of the horses seem to enjoy the white stuff, and seem undaunted by the frigid weather. They all have grown long, wooly coats.

As long as they have fuel for their furnaces (hay for their bellies), they munch and stay very warm.

The cats, on the other hand, are a whole different story. They spend short times out of the barn to supervise and then return to bask in the warmth of their heat lamps.

Amazingly, the goats and chickens seem to be unaffected by the cold and continue on their usual routines.

As for us humans....we survive by wearing lots of layers. And, when the work is done, we return to the warmth of a roaring fire and cups of hot tea or cocoa. I actually prefer the cold of winter to the heat of summer.

The Long And The Short Of It....

Yes I was absent yesterday...no post....the first missed post in a very long time. Forgive me. I have only one excuse....OBE (that's overcome by events). The Christmas season has brought with it lots of entertaining. Much of my time these days has been filled with cooking and cleaning....which has the creative side of my brain much neglected. The animals will tell you that I have not neglected them. In fact, I have been furiously cleaning henhouses (yes in this frigid weather) and horse stalls, etc. Unfortunately, I have neglected to carry my camera.

So the subject of the long and the short of it comes into play in many ways. For instance, we are rapidly approaching the shortest day of the year. It seems that no sooner do I get the morning chores finished, than the sun begins to sink into the horizon again. My chore list is long, but the days are so short.

These short days have had no effect on my chickens....they are laying like gangbusters. We are selling our eggs, and still seem to have some left at the end of each week. Hubbs and I are eating deviled eggs like candy. Come to visit us and I guarantee you will be served some deviled eggs (and sent home with a dozen eggs, too!)

So on the subject of eggs and the long and short of it...........how about these??

I am not sure why on some days we have such a wide variety of sizes. I can't bring myself to eat that tiny egg on the right...it's just way too cute.

Well, in a matter of a couple of weeks we will pass the shortest day of the year, and then the days will begin to get longer again. The question is....will my list ever get any shorter?

Addendum to Today's Post

Here is what greeted me this morning as I went out for morning chores....another three inches of snow fell during the night. Unfortunately the snow turned to rain, making this morning's chores a bit soggy.

I opened the barn and chased Rod out of his night time stall. He took one look at the snow on the ground and ran right back into the barn and into his stall. I headed out to open the chicken houses....but none of the hens would come out. Even the guineas are staying indoors today. Here are Star and Stella....happily munching away in the comfort of their warm, dry houses. It seems that I am the only one crazy enough to go out in this mess today. Now, to get out of these soaking wet clothes and into a hot shower.

It looks lovely outside. However, it is wet and cold. I think I will take a hint from the animals and stay in the shelter of the house today!

Inseparable

Ordinarily when two beings are as close as my Littles are, I would say they are joined at the hip. However, in the case of Red and Ollie...they are most often joined at the lips!
These two adore each other and spend a good deal of the day playing. They nibble at each other's faces and chase each other for hours on end (that is when they aren't eating!)
I try to let these little guys out in the dry lot for a portion of the day so that they can take a break from eating. To quote Becky: "Mini's get fat breathing air!". I try hard to never over-feed these wee horses. Once the weather turns a bit colder, they will have hay available all of the time, but for now a wee bit of a "diet" is being followed. But even with that you can see that Red still sports a rather wide belly. Ollie, on the other hand, seems to stay a little slimmer....he is just smaller all over. So with nothing to eat, they turn to torturing each other to pass the time.

So cute....if you could watch these two for just a few moments, you would surely fall in love with them. I have, that's for sure!

Oh, and by the way...Bobby loves the Littles....especially Red. He follows me into the pasture each afternoon to bring the Littles in for supper. Most days Red hangs on to the end of Bobby's tail and follows him in. Once again, those inter-species relationships just amaze me!

Smoochie's Fascination

For the past several days, when I am out for the morning feed, I have noticed that Smoochie (one of our fainting goat bucks) has been blubbering at the fence beside the chicken yard.

"Blubbering" is a mating ritual for male goats. When they are desirous of something on the other side of the fence from them, they weave their heads back and forth on the fence and make a blubbering noise. This sometimes goes on for hours on end. Smoochie's recent blubbering has made no sense to us, though. The only thing on the other side of the fence from him is chickens. Has Smoochie developed a desire for chickens? A couple of days ago I thought perhaps Audrey was teasing him. Audrey is one of our Dwarf Nigerian goats who's yard is on the opposite side of the chickens...with a lane between, also. She stood like a statue on top of a stump for about an hour one morning as he was blubbering. But then, I noticed he continued that behavior when no other goats were visible. A few more days of thinking about this behavior has led me to believe it has something to do with the corn/oat scratch that I feed the chickens in the morning. I think he has his signals confused, and wants some of the scratch....but doesn't quite know how to ask for it. So, each morning, as I feed the chickens their tasty treat.....Smoochie continues to blubber on the other side of the fence. Because he is a grazer, corn would not be good for his digestive tract....so, sorry Smoochie......no corn, no chickens, and no girls for you.

Cat Tales....Olympic Training Camp

Yes, it's Olympic training time here at the farm. This year TomTom has decided to try out for the Olympic diving team! I know this because I caught him practicing. Unfortunately, I can only share the "after" picture with you. The action happened so fast...and my camera was not in focus at the time.

I spent a good deal of Saturday morning working on my dry lot....the area where the horses

hang out during the daytime, when they are not out in the pasture. I spread some new sawdust in a large area in front of the run-in shed. As I was walking back up to the barn, I noticed an orange kitty butt and tail sticking out of the top of the horse trough. Realizing that TomTom was hanging onto the edge, upside-down, getting a drink, I grabbed my camera to get a shot. As my hand dug into my pocket, I suddenly heard a loud splash and instantaneously saw TomTom shoot out of the water tub....soaked to the skin. I suppose that during his long drink, he lost his balance and did a swan dive right into the tub. Cats have amazing super powers when they are suddenly thrust into a body of water. They can fly.....they can even walk on water. I know this, because I have witnessed this more than once. As for TomTom....he has perfected the swan dive. .....now he just has to figure out a way to do it without getting wet.

His leap from the clutches of the horse water landed him on the other side of the dry lot fence onto the top of the rain barrels. Here he violently shook each of his four legs...if I hadn't witnessed the whole escapade, I would have thought he was having seizures.

He spent the better part of the morning towel drying himself with his little kitty tongue.

Meanwhile, EllaBella and Bobby were on the sidelines holding up their score cards. They each gave him an "8" for Degree of Difficulty and a "5" for technique. Olympic training is hard work. Looks like TomTom has a long road ahead of him.

More Wintery Pictures

I thought I would share a few more views of this weekend's beautiful snow.

The view from our loft....out the back...over the pool deck....

from the front deck...

from the loft out the front windows....

down the driveway...

It was cold enough Sunday that most of the snow stayed with us. What a treat....a beautiful sunny, cold day....with incredibly beautiful scenes to enjoy all day long!

I'm Dreaming......

Of a White Christmas!!!

Today was a beautiful snowy day here in the country.

Our farm has been transformed into a winter wonderland.....

the front yard...

the woods....

the guest cottage....

the house.....

Oh how I love snow....especially for Christmas!

Although this particular snow will not last until Christmas....

perhaps we will get some more around that time.....we hope!

My Favorite Time of Day

Once I get beyond the hardest part (crawling out of a warm bed and heading out into the cold) I have to admit that my favorite time of day is early morning. Watching the sun rise as I tend to the animals around the farm is a perfect way to start the day. Yesterday's sunrise was particularly breathtaking....

And the trees in our woods looked as though they were on fire....

illuminated by the orange glow of the rising sun.

Just a few moments later, as the sun rose higher....here are the woods beyond my vegetable garden.....just beautiful. A few moments later, and I would have missed all of this amazing color. It is only when the sun is just above the horizon and the light hits the trees at just the right angle that the colors look so brilliant. Electrifying colors.....

To the north, the sky looked so wintry....

Some parts of every morning are the same, day in and day out....the chores never change. The animals have their daily routine. But, the sky......always different.....ever changing.....each day a blank canvas, transformed by the sun's brilliant palette. In this respect, no two mornings are ever the same.

Rainy Silliness

Yesterday afternoon I ran to town to do some Christmas shopping. I left the Littles in the front pasture for the afternoon, as the weather was cold and cloudy. Sometime while I was in town, however, it started to rain. This is what I came home to......

"Hey Mom, could you please bring us in....

it's cold and rainy out here and we are soaked to the bone!!"

I opened the gate and they both eagerly ran into the barn and into their warm (relatively), dry stall where dinner was waiting. I thought it a good idea to towel dry a bit of the rain off of them, but Ollie was not having anything to do with that. A couple of quick kicks let me know he was ok with being wet. Red, however, was compliant. Just as their own mother would have, I reprimanded Ollie with a smack on the butt and a stern "No kicking!".....only to have him wallop me again right on my left ring finger (breaking a blood vessel and causing it to immediately swell up.)

Conclusion: I think I have decided that come Spring, it will be time to geld little Mr. Ollie. Perhaps testosterone in such a small guy is not the best idea....at least not in his case. I call it his bad "Ollitude"! Red, on the other hand, remains the sweetest and gentlest little fellow.... behavior that will be rewarded with allowing him to keep his manhood. (Pay attention Ollie....there's still time to straighten up!)

By the way....I love cold, winter weather. I love snow. I can tolerate ice. I don't even mind frigid winds. But, I cannot stand cold rainy days!!! To me there is just nothing worse. So, bring on the snow......I'm ready!!

FAQs

Some of you have read my blog from almost the beginning.....a few years ago. And some of you have joined the fun along the way. Quite often I get questions about Becky and "who" she is. Becky is Hubbs' younger sister. Becky, or Dr. Becky as I sometimes refer to her, is an equine and small animal veterinarian/surgeon. She is the kindest vet I have ever known and has a deep and true love for animals.

She previously had a practice in Reno, Nevada. About three years ago, though, she decided it was time to head home to Pennsylvania to be closer to her family. She bought several acres adjacent to our farm, built her log home, and started a mobile vet practice.

Our farm is a joint, cooperative effort. We each have our own barns for our horses, but the goats live in pastures that lie between our two barns. We share the work load. And we are blessed that Becky is here to provide vet care for all of the animals. Together, we have laughed and cried.... she is like the sister that I never had.

I thank you all for your kind words of condolence in our loss of Mojo....and I will pass them on to Becky....it is a sorrow that we share. I am sure it is even harder for her to bear as she has the tough job of relieving our beloved animals' suffering when the time comes.