What We Are Thankful For

I am thankful to have a happy farm and many, many happy and healthy animals.

Christian is thankful I still let him surf. (He's going today)

ToD is thankful we bought a frozen turkey for the holiday.

Dinner duck is thankful for cat food.

Patty is thankful that FOF Caroline helped us trim her problem hoof correctly.

Boy pig is thankful that girl pig is the one who went to freezer camp.

Bishop Don Magic Juan is thankful that the ear-less buck doesn't live here anymore.

The peep peeps are also thankful for cat food.

Karl is thankful that we showed him where the pond is. And that Vera is probably not a dude.

The chickens are thankful for cat food. (In case you can't tell, cat food is pretty popular around here.)

We are all thankful to you for being a friend of the farm and for the kindness you share when we have less than perfect days. Happy Thanksgiving.

Not enough tears

We had a horrible accident today. No flip comments, no stupid plays on words. We had a horrible, horrible accident and I am utterly heartbroken.

Boone died today.

I loved that kitten more than I should have considering the short time we had together and I don't have enough tears or time in the day to cry for him the way I really want to. We didn't see what happened, but we can guess. And we think the end was quick and unexpected and that he didn't suffer. The best we can tell, his neck was broken. There was no blood or gore. And there was no Boone left in Boone when I found him.

I am so very, very sorry little buddy. You were an awesomely weird and wonderful cat. I am just so sorry. We will miss you.

A Sad Day for Dinner Duck

Lately we have taken to calling Harpo "Dinner Duck". This is not because we are going to eat her. No...Harpo leaves her nest at mealtimes and positively BEGS like a puppy for food from us. It is all at once adorable and heartbreaking. She must be bored to tears on her nest and very, very hungry.

Well, it seems someone or something has figured out her routine.

Today we found the shell of an eaten duck egg in the driveway. There was much blood, indicating there had been a fetal duck inside. I almost cried.

I do not know how many eggs are left, but Christian only saw four when he went to check on her. Mind you, many more could have been underneath her - she was rotating them when he peeked.

I'll try to count tonight when she comes in for dinner. But we may not get ducklings after all. There are still two weeks left in her incubation. I am going to try to stay positive and hope that this one egg was the exception and not the rule. ...I'll let you know.

Edited at 7:30 pm: Well, there are at least eight left that I could see. I think there may actually be nine or possibly more. it looked like there might be an egg or two buried a little under her down. I hope whoever took the last egg does not come back.

You know you want one...

Blue Heron Farm has swag!

We have printed a limited run of official "Friend of the Farm" t-shirts. There is a Unisex shirt (shown here)and a Girlie version as well. All shirts are $18 - plus postage if you need us to mail it. Otherwise you can pick yours up at the farm or at market.

Order yours on our Website. :)

T. Boone Lickens -- Kitty Microdermabrasionist

t. Boone Kittens is growing insanely fast and has really settled in to the "house kitty" lifestyle. He is especially fond - even possibly inappropriately in love - with his dog Diva. Luckily Diva is pretty patient with him. Though he doesn't always convince her to lick his head and nuzzle him as often as he would like, he does wrangle a fair amount of bum licking. ...animals.



But lest you think we have an almost normal animal at BHF, it is not true. Boone has issues that go beyond cross-species infatuation. It has become painfully (and I mean this literally) clear that Boone was weaned too young.

You see, T. Boone has a strange compulsion. Before he settles down to sleep he has to "nurse". What that boils down to here is a session of licking my face - or the face of anyone who will let him. I encouraged it when he was tiny - it was kind of cute that he wanted to sit on my shoulder and lick my nose. But now he is bigger and his tongue infinitely closer to the texture of a sanding wheel and he stands, much heavier, in the middle of my chest to lick larger patches of my face. The good news - he has arrested and reversed some burgeoning wrinkles. The bad news - he sometimes gets really obsessive and it feels like he has removed a whole dimple.

Sometimes I can get him to switch over and lick my hand, which is not as weird or painful. And sometimes I actually prove that I am not ruled by my kitten and I make him stop. Sometimes. Already today is not that day.

In any case, we love the little nut. I guess he's going to stay. You may schedule your dermabrasion appointments forthwith.

Understanding Vera

Today Vera - the grey duck in the photo, did something unexpected. She mounted Flo, the brown duck.



This could mean only one of two things:
1. Vera is gay
2. Vera is a dude.

I am not actually ready to call her a dude yet, as we have had previous experience with lesbian ducks. It's true. Maverick and Ice Man were special friends and liked to express their love in the baby pool. They were both definitely girls. And definitely practicing the moves normally reserved for mating.

So we shall watch and wait and see. Recently Karl kind of picked Vera up as a replacement for Harpo (who is still on her nest - yay, Harpo) so I guess he is either setting himself up for major disappointment or things are about to become a whole lot more complicated at Mel's Diner.

Just because Vera may have a preference for females does not rule her out for future motherhood. We'll keep you updated as ducklings do or don't develop.

Edited to add: If it turns out Vera is a dude, I will be calling her/him Vera Wang. Heh.