A World Walkabout: October 2015

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Chestnut Farm Homestead

Like with any new place, there are always a cast of characters that tend to make the time spent more worthwhile. Here on the farm there are two Andalusians (a mother and daughter), a miniature horse, two American Guinea Hogs (male and female...maybe more on the way?!), five Alpine goats (2 mommas, 3 kids), a Copper Maran rooster along with six hens and six chicks (that number has fluctuated for obvious reasons), a flock of Guinea fowl (the number at one time was unknown, now we are down to five), as well as two humans. :) Together they have welcomed us into their world and we have enjoyed their company greatly. The contributions made have been good ones, and the memories, those we will hold onto for life.

the herd

Bella

Blue Bell

turnips anyone?

The pigs under the mulberry tree

mulberries!!

First mulberry pie!

mulberry jam!

Copper Meran rooster

record hurricane rains

Hershey

pre remodel

post remodel

subway tile, butcher block counter top and shelves

new bathroom barn door

figs!

forest fungi

Bailey, the mini

pineapple sage

Laya (she’s 3)

2 Guineas sitting on 100 eggs. (just a guess)
none have hatched yet...can’t imagine why?! :)

a smaller nest of the barn variety, Carolina Wren

Black Snake

(great at keeping the rodent population in check, but also good at eating your eggs before you get to)

baby chick caught a snake and proudly won’t share it with momma

home grown shiitakes

stairway to garden and main house incorporating golden mean spiral

cuddles

da bees

John and the deck construction
(it stopped raining momentarily so I could take this picture)

the deck :)
(still needs post caps and natural wood balusters)

Oh, Freckle.

Yellow Watermelon, yum!!

the secret grotto :)

magic mushroom?

Comfrey

have you heard of horse swirlology?

the life of a chestnut

Goats like chestnuts too :)

Copper Maran hen and her adopted chicks

sacred geometry in life form

the girls

the newest edition, Edith and her kid, Little Bit

Laya at a clinic with Mark Russell

future Paddock Paradise laneway!

Yarrow’s beautiful eyes

misty morning

As the sun sets on this opportunity, we cannot say thank you enough for all of the incredible people we’ve met and moments we’ve shared.

We leave with many friends.

Kidding

Baby goats, or kids, are hard not to love. Like small dogs (or sometimes not so small) they enjoy human companionship, especially when hand reared. Usually this is not something we’ve done, hand rearing or bottle feeding. For one, it’s a lot of extra work heating bottles and delivering them multiple times throughout the day. Usually, we just let the momma goat do her job and provide the milk. Which they would have done in this case, but in this case things didn’t go as they usually do. With all the research we’ve done, it seems there are many complications that can happen when a goat gives birth, or is kidding, as its called. And we are here to tell you, that this is in fact true...but, this story does have a happy ending, for the universe works in mysteriously serendipitous ways.

Getting to see these two boys be born and grow was a great experience. After loosing their mother a few days after birth, they relied on us (for bottles) and later their Auntie Blue Bell for milk. Blue Bell was a first time freshener and lost her babies prematurely, but luckily for us, she was still producing ’some’ milk. The process of her adopting the boys would ultimately take a couple weeks, and a lot of persistence and motivation (including fig newton treats :)) from all of us. Today the boys are healthy and loved. They are two little goaties, that won’t be little long, who we will never forget.