Rainy Day

Here I sit...inside our cozy 20 X 20 A-frame, waiting for a break in the rain, so that I can get a little garden work finished. I cannot complain, it has been quite a beautiful Autumn...barely any rain at all until today. No work is happening on the farmhouse...it remains half torn down...awaiting its final demise.Jack found this curious fellow crossing the driveway in the rain....amazing colors! I think we'll name him Sal.Even Donnie is soaked to the gills...(what happened to our wooly pony?)

The Sweetest Pony

If you have been reading my blog for the past year, you already have met my pony, Moonbeam. Moonbeam is a Haflinger. He came to me by way of a local Amish breeder. Moonbeam is schooled in driving. He has pulled carriages in competition and has also worked the fields on an Amish farm. He is calm and patient and very sweet natured. He is a little on the chubby side these days, however. His best buddy is Donnie Brasco, our little brown pony. They play together and groom each other most of the day. Moonbeam was feeling rather photogenic today, so I thought I would share a few pictures.

Moonbeam also has a great sense of humor!

Winter Warmth

Today was a day of preparing for winter. Our little guest house has been insulated and today new energy efficient windows were installed. The cutest little wood stove was installed today as well. Looks like we will be toasty warm when the snow flies!

The strawberry patch has been tucked beneath a blanket of straw...

And the ponies have begun to grow their wooly winter coat.

It won't be long now until Old Man Winter breaths his icy breath down our necks.

Frost on the .......

...Strawberries. Unbelievably, our ever-bearing strawberry plants are still producing. I am sure that this will soon come to an end as we have had 4 frost for the last 4 mornings. Old Man Winter is tapping us on the shoulder. Very soon, we will tuck our berry plants under a blanket of straw for the long winter months ahead. But, before that.....just one more taste. Mmmmm, just as good as they were in June!

8:00 AM....and still a little frost on the leaves.

We Just Love our Chickens!

There is no better investment on a farm than chickens. For the low price that you pay for just- hatched chicks and the low cost to feed layers (they just love the vegetarian table scraps that they get!), you get so much value back in return. Our eggs have been a great selling item. We sell them as quickly as our girls can lay them. That has prompted us to enlarge our flock; and we will most likely add more chickens in the Spring, too.

Pictured below are a couple of our new gals....growing, growing, growing. The funny, little striped chicks are the new guinea babies.

Mmmmm, Mmmmmm....love those eggs!

Demolition Continues

Here is how the old house looks today. The garage is completely deconstructed. The excavator dug a hole in one of our fields....and there we will bury just drywall and cinderblock. Everything else in the house will be recycled! Yay!!!! Who's head is that peeking into this picture???

I spent much of the day in the asparagas patch....weeding and mulching. Now is the time to get our garden tucked in for the winter. See my constant companion? She's not much help and very often lies right in the middle of my work, but she is great company and very generous with kisses!

Are you done yet, Mom?

Farm Visitors

We had another exciting day at Bee Haven Acres this weekend. On top of fabulous Fall weather, we were treated to a visit from our friends Ann and Tim and their horse Roeluf. Roeluf is a magnificent Friesian. Roeluf is about 10 years old....and enormous. This picture of Jack walking with him is misleading. Jack is uphill from Roeluf, thus making him look more like a pony. That's Ann behind Jack.We had a picnic and then hooked the horse up to his carriage and rode through our woods on our horse trails...what a treat!
Here is Roeluf enjoying a much-deserved shower. Fagner and Duffy are quite interested in this handsome fellow!

Oh My...

Here is the progress on the de-construction of our old farmhouse. Official excavation begins on November 1st. We are told that our foundation and basement floor should be complete by December 1st. And then the logs go up! WooooooHooooooo!

Love is in the Air!!

It's mating season at Bee Haven Acres. I thought I would share this year's pairings with you. I can hardly wait to see the adorable babies that these three couples make. March seems so far away. Our boys were so relieved to finally get to visit our girls....they went right to work!

Skip and Missy

Chip and Jill

Smoochie and Myrtle

Maddie Loves Helen

Poor, dear blind Helen has been moved to yet another home. This time I think she is much happier. She now occupies the yard and house that were originally built for our yet to be acquired heirloom turkeys. She seems to be thriving there...living very close to her other chicken "friends" (although I use that term loosely...as they would peck her to death if given the chance.) She spends her day looking through the tall grass for tasty bugs and such. She has even begun to lay her daily egg. It seems she enjoys whatever company happens along and is not averse to an occasional petting. Today, Maddie, our Newfie has decided to camp out with her.

I just had to share this picture with you. I took it early this morning as I was cleaning stalls.

Avian Update

Well, as with all news, we have to take the good with the bad.....

Chickens.....we have 20+ new baby Rhode Island Red hens. They are a week old and doing quite well. Eventually, they will be living with Helen (our poor blind chicken). We hope to introduce Helen to this little brood as soon as they are big enough to escape being blindly stepped on and squished. Helen is doing well, she now occupies the turkey house and yard and has even started laying.

Guineas....we still have our remaining 6 originals. The entire flock that we raised over the past several months has gone ferral...who knows where they are by now...maybe several counties away! We have ordered another 18 hatchlings and will start over again.

Ducks....only 3 of our new ducks remain. Apparently there has been a hawk stalking them lately. And of course Methuselah survives.