Thursday Thirteen #5 (ed. 118)--Thirteen Farm Chores

13 Farm Chores we do at Browncoat Acres...

1. Groom donkeys (currying and hoof cleaning)

2. weed garden (well, what's left of it)

3. clear cedar (where cedar grows, grass doesn't)

4. collect and scrub eggs (the hens are on sabbatical, so haven't actually done this in a while)

5. shear sheep (this is only twice a year, and we're down to 3 from the original 8)

6. relocate rocks for landscaping/soil control (we're pulling most from the back of the property so we can establish the bigger garden/orchard there)

7. trim back rosemary bushes (we have 3, and they encroach pretty quickly. We'll have plenty for wreaths this year)

8. fetch grain and hay for animals (we have a choice between 3 feed stores, and I want to find a cheaper source for hay)

9. vaccinations (for 3 donkeys, 3 sheep, one dog, and 4 cats)

10. clean guns (DH does deer hunting in season, and we also have them around for the "varmints")

11. fence maintenance/repair (not done often, but crucial when necessary)

12. feed and water animals (we still don't have a great system, but it will be pretty moot in a little while)

13. clean out chicken coop/shred paper for nests (I think we're down to about 10 chickens now. The poop still builds up pretty fast, and we use paper instead of expensive hay)

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Halloween night at the farm, or not...

Out here in South Henly, the farms are pretty spread out, and it can be hard to meet the neighbors (or it could be my social-idiot tendencies). It also makes it difficult, if not impossible, to do any trick-or-treating (locked gates, guard dogs, and so on). Most of the "big" churches (the one that burned down a few months ago has only 200 parishoners) have some sort of "Fall" or "Harvest" Festival (gotta take the night back from those pagans *eyeroll*), and a few of the local businesses had parties over the weekend (at least one of them was charging $5/ghoul). The occasional neighbor will throw a party, but out here, it's mostly for the grown-ups.

As with last year, I wanted our son to get a better idea of what the secular aspect of this holiday is about (well that, and the photo-op that the grandparents demand), so DH and I drove up to the north end of Austin to trick-or-treat with some friends of ours (actually, our birth-attenders, they were the first to see Anthony when he was tiny and slimy) who have two little girls (one each slightly older and younger than Anthony--both redheads--whom their own father has dubbed "heartbreakers"). They live on a long cul-de-sac, which turned out to be the perfect number of houses to visit for 3 3-and-unders. At one house near the end of our route, there was a skeleton by the front door, and as I was walking up with Anthony IT MOVED. Gah! Took a few years off me right there. It didn't faze him, though (either he's too young to be creeped out, or we've done a good job of showing him what's natural in the world, so to speak), and he looked at all the decorations that she pointed out, and waved "bye" like the polite little Texan he is (no laughing from those who know better!). Oh, he was a purple-caped bat this year. He wore that cape well, and knew it, too. That's my little Leo ;)

In other, miscellaneous news, we lost one of our ewes (the friendlier one, too) to a predator last week. I guess Sombrea was concentrating on protecting Firefly (not that I am complaining--he's the higher priority), and wasn't available to drive the canines off. Last Sunday, DH and I sheared the remaining sheep, but were not able to get a really good pelt from any of them. DH bagged some of what might still be salvageable for, I don't know exactly what, carding practice, maybe? Our hens are still on laying strike, and I've no idea when the eggs will come back. They seem to have recovered from their molt, and I changed out their nest bedding, but am still seeing nada.

My main focus this month will be on my other blog; I'm participating in NaBloPoMo, but I will make an effort to check in here more often, even if it is a lot of memeage and lists.