Just so you know...

 When the going gets tough these Homesteaders get working! The last few weeks have given us some set backs but Chance and I are pushing back.
   The Pigweed is coming under control by us pulling it.So far it has only popped up in the walk areas around the garden. We purchased plants for the back garden to make up for the Rooster eating the seeds.And in a couple more weeks it will be early enough to plant some of the fall things.So growing food is happening!
  We opted out of the geese coming and instead we will soon have two Spanish Turkeys.Our friend needs to move the Turkeys out from her coop since her Ducks are beating them up.The deal we worked is one will be our friends and one will be ours.Both birds will be dinners when the time comes.
  Also, the rumor around town is folks are looking to learn to butcher their own chicken more than ever and no one is doing it.Chance and I have decided to pick up the slack and start teaching again.Soon we will have dates for group classes and more information on private lessons. So far we have worked out that the group classes will be $30 a person with the individual providing their own chicken to be butchered.For the private lessons it will be $50 base rate with variables depending on what the person is needing.I.E - they want us to stay and walk them through a whole flock of birds.Chance will also have Culling/Killing Cones for sale at the classes. Please help us get the word out.People can email us through the blog.
 Yesterday morning Chance and I found our last remaining hen from our first flock had passed.We had been watching her and thinking this day was coming for a few weeks.We had noticed that she had slowed down,would get lost and was found soundly sleeping in the yard at times.She had gotten kind of low but perked up for a couple more weeks but finally she was done.
   This has happened over the years as the hens have aged so we knew what we were seeing.The hardest part about watching this for me is I struggle with just letting them linger and go on their own or putting them down to put them out of their misery. So far we have just let them go on their own since none of them have had any signs they had something the other birds could catch.
  I have the mind set that the hens are live stock and not to be mourned over.I love and care for them but I know they go away one way or another.I broke that yesterday and found myself teary eyed over her going.Cleo was a great girl who had laid beautiful green eggs every day until she was 4.She was also just a sweet hen in general.She had a good chicken life and we thank her for it.I suppose I was teary because it was kind of sentimental,the last chicken from the first flock.The flock we started waaay before chickens became the thing to have in your backyard.
  Chance and I have also come to realize that we both miss the way things were before I went to work.There are many things we have let go of over the past months and they are sorely missed.So we are working out how we can get back to where we were and how to maintain it all for the long run. We had created a homestead that ran as well as it did because I was home full time and could manage most of it on my own.We need to re-group and find our balance point again.
 
Rois