Oh my goodness! This is the longest I've stayed away. I don't have much to post this morning, but wanted you to know that I am still around. You were probably hoping I had taken my silly blog and disappeared. But no, not yet. :)
This picture was taken Sunday night. Thinking it was unusual that Lucille and her baby were sleeping on the ground, I ran inside and got the spotlight. Could there be a snake or some predator hiding in the little bantam's home. Nope, nothing. I picked up a stick and moved the hay around to be sure. Nothing.
Lucille's little hillbilly looking husband Festus was on the roost next to the box, like normal. I felt a little uneasy but decided everything looked okay. Maybe Lucille wanted to sleep on the ground with the baby under her wing.
Out early Monday morning with my feed bucket I was absolutely devastated to fine the baby missing. Totally missing, without so much as a trace. Why did I leave them? Poppy brought his gun out and searched every crack and crevice, but found nothing. If it was a snake, it will come back said Poppy...I'll get him!
We also lost five new born baby guineas last week...or the guinea parents lost them. Better move on and try to cheer up. I could still cry over all this.
This was Eli and Smokey playing on the bed yesterday. Looks like Smokey wanted to nap and Eli wanted to play.
We are really needing rain. The teeny tiny garden is dry as a bone, but still producing. I have picked pan after pan of big red ripe tomatoes, but the tomatoes are not that good this summer. Seriously, the tomatoes are too watery tasting.
The yard long beans and the okra have been the best vegetables so far. I have thoroughly enjoyed these long beans stir fried in olive oil and garlic. I hope to grow them again next year.
It's looking a little cloudy now. Maybe there is a shower coming. That's about it for now. Suppose it will take me a while to visit and catch up reading all my favorite blogs. Hope to be back real soon. Thank you for visiting.
Love,
Henny
Out early Monday morning with my feed bucket I was absolutely devastated to fine the baby missing. Totally missing, without so much as a trace. Why did I leave them? Poppy brought his gun out and searched every crack and crevice, but found nothing. If it was a snake, it will come back said Poppy...I'll get him!
We also lost five new born baby guineas last week...or the guinea parents lost them. Better move on and try to cheer up. I could still cry over all this.
We are really needing rain. The teeny tiny garden is dry as a bone, but still producing. I have picked pan after pan of big red ripe tomatoes, but the tomatoes are not that good this summer. Seriously, the tomatoes are too watery tasting.
It's looking a little cloudy now. Maybe there is a shower coming. That's about it for now. Suppose it will take me a while to visit and catch up reading all my favorite blogs. Hope to be back real soon. Thank you for visiting.
Love,
Henny
Darn varmints.
ReplyDeleteIt's a forever problem, my daughter lost two of her hens to coons :(
The produce look amazing, you just can't get any better than home grown !
~Jo
That is so true. No matter how careful you are, you just can't protect them all the time.
DeleteSorry about the young chicken, would a snake eat something that large? You must have large ones. Any snake is too large for me. Our tomatoes in SW IN are not good this year as we have had too much rain. I keep thinking they will improve but they are either not totally ripe or start to rot before full ripe.
ReplyDeleteHey Linda. Thank you. A snake could have eaten that chick. The baby chick looks bigger in the picture than it really was. It was tiny. Our tomatoes are just like yours. As soon as I pick them they start to rot. I've been stewing and freezing them. These tomatoes are tasteless!
DeleteSo, so sorry about the chick. Whatever could have taken it? And to lose the other ones, that would be the hard part of a little farm for me. You have lots to manage, and are the best at it, so I have no doubt all of your creatures would thank you if they could talk. And with those dogs and cats, I know they do!
ReplyDeleteWishing for some beautiful farm fresh produce, I'm hungry now! Cheering thoughts sent your way my friend!
Hey Pam, thank you. We really think it was a snake. But where did it go after eating the baby! Wish our tomatoes tasted as good as they look. :)
DeleteSo sorry about your young chicken. Eli and Smokey look very cute! The produce from your garden looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThank you. It did make me feel terrible. I should have put them in a cage for the night because of my uneasy feeling. :(
DeleteOh so sad about the chick. Makes me think there had been something in the nest box, before you got there. Obviously whatever that something was, it came back before you were out there in the morning. So so frustrating. Well I'd use stronger language, but this is your blog, so I'll keep it clean:) Are there any holes where something could get in. I could see a snake maybe getting through the holes in the chicken wire, looks like 1", but once it swallowed the chick I don't think it would be able to get back out the same way.
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes look amazing, but it made me laugh when you said you needed rain because the garden was so dry, but on the other hand the tomatoes tasted watery:) Must be the variety?
Karen I think there was a snake hiding there too and I just didn't see it. That little pen is built very sturdy with no openings and we used the chicken wire with the smallest holes...would that be 1"? I wish now we had used woven wire like for rabbit cages. Darn snakes! There are a couple of holes that go under the chicken house, probably made by a rat. Would a snake use that? The tomatoes...it is strange how watery these are. We started off with too much rain in the spring and now it is too dry. The tomatoes have no taste! Thanks!
DeleteHow sad!!! How wonderful your tomatoes look, all our tomato plants rotted and died.
ReplyDeleteWish the tomatoes tasted as good as they look! :) The peppers are awful this summer too.
DeleteI almost didn't read your post as I was dreading you lost that little fella. Truly sorry for its Mama. And for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I've been so afraid something would happen to that tiny baby. That's just nature, I suppose, but it sure is sad.
DeleteDon't you dare go away - you're on my favorites list!
ReplyDeleteI'm over here in glass half-full land, hoping that the baby chick will pop out from somewhere tomorrow.
Good to get some ideas on what to do with beans - mine should be coming along soon. Right now we have quite a few tomatoes for us. Not enough to make sauce, but we're having tomato salad about every night. Tonight's was olive oil, balsamic, red onion, and feta.
Marty thank you! You know, I have checked several times hoping the baby had been hiding and had come back. That tomato salad sounds delicious. I'm adding red onion and feta to my grocery list!
DeleteI am sorry you lost your baby chick. This same thing happened to us! Well sorta... The only baby chick ever hatched out on our farm. Back when I had 45 girls...I had gotten very attached to the little fella/or little girl I wasn't sure.. he/she was growing up and doing well... then one day I found him/her dead... I was just crushed.... to date we do not know what killed him. My friend suspected a snake had and then he/she was to big for the snake to eat... either way its crushing for sure!!! Your Eli is always so clean, how do you keep him so clean... I do agree the tomatoes did not have the flavor this year they usually do, all that rain... which is long gone now and we could use some!
ReplyDeleteThank you. So you have been through the same thing. You know we never found out what killed out first three little bantam chickens. I will always believe there was something wrong with that bag of starter feed. Don't know why Eli looks so clean in these pictures. He is actually dirty right now. :) Poppy was washing his neck off last night. :)
DeleteThat's really sad when a chicken just disappears without a trace.
ReplyDeleteIt really is. This is the second time this has happened with the Bantams.
DeleteI'm so sorry about Lucille's baby and also the 5 baby guineas you lost last week. Hard to just put a smile on your face and carry on but I guess that's what one has to do. Did you have a nice time with the company on the weekend? I hope they appreciated the work you put into preparing for them. I do wonder why the tomatoes are watery. One of those gardening mysteries that never get solved. What do you normally do with all the tomatoes? Can them?
ReplyDeleteThank you. We did enjoy our company, very much. This is the first time our tomatoes have been watery and tasteless. I've been stewing the tomatoes. Then with the lid off the pot boil the tomatoes slowly to boil down some of the liquid. Then freeze them. Guess they will be good to cook with this winter. :)
DeleteHi! So sorry about your loss. Sad when that happens. My tomatoes are still green except for a few cherry tomatoes and sungold are ripening. I love that picture of your dog with it's paw over it's eyes. So cute! Nancy
ReplyDeleteHey Nancy. Thank you. We are are getting a few grape tomatoes that are good. I've never grown sungold. That sounds good.
DeleteOh how sad about the hillbilly baby. So sorry don't cry. We have good tasting tomatoes I wish yours were better. Love you
ReplyDeleteHey Vicki. Thank you. Glad your tomatoes are good. This is the first time ever growing such a big crop of tasteless tomatoes. Love you too!
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear about your little baby animal losses. It's tough to know there are predators lurking and you can't prevent them from doing their damage.
ReplyDeleteEli and Smokey are so cute!
That is so true. No matter how careful you are, things like this happen. Thank you Linda.
DeleteThat is so true. No matter how careful you are, things like this happen. Thank you Linda.
DeleteSo sorry about the chick and the 5 baby guineas. Such a shame about the tomatoes not tasting good as they look really good. The yard long beans look amazing, I am starting to harvest beans but they are certainly not as long as that. As always Eli made me smile.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I know. Sure wish the tomatoes tasted as good as they look! :)
DeleteHey Mama! I am so sorry about your baby! :( And I bet the tomatoes are really good. :) I will be right out for a BLT. Love you!! Your Gur.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for your bird losses :-(.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your sweet animals disappearing! I feel like crying too! I hope you find the culprit so this will end. I love the way to describe your rooster, Fetus...lol! It has been hot and dry here too and I have given up on my spindly little tomatoes...didn't even get enough green one for a batch to fry. I am ready for fall :)
ReplyDeletePoor Lucille and poor you, I hope you find the culprit! :(
ReplyDelete