What's new on Bunting Road?

So, Saturday night we were coming back from OITF. It was about 1030 - late for your BHFarmers. As we turned onto our road, Christian said, "I wonder what's new on Bunting Road." I smiled, as nothing is ever new on Bunting Road.

And then we saw the donkeys.

A family of donkeys, three adults and a young'un were loose and wandering down our road. It was made even more strange by the fact that not one resident of Bunting Road owns donkeys. We had no idea where they came from.

They paraded up and down our street eating grass from various properties pretty much all night. ...Which drove Goatrude and Nightshift in-freaking-sane. It was an epic, all-night bark-fest.

In the morning they were still there and the little bastards had knocked off our mailbox. I immediately suspected the jackasses, as the box was on the ground, but there were no telltale dents to suggest wayward teens playing mailbox baseball. No, it was the jerk-faced donkeys.

My suspicion was confirmed as they started in on the neighbor's box, right in front of me.

Jerky, jerk faces.

Still and all - they were pretty cute.

We still have no idea whose donkeys they were. We alerted the sheriff and hoped someone would come collect them. After Sunday mid-day, we did not seen them again, so I guess they either were picked up by their owners or are off destroying mailboxes on some other road.

...what's new on Bunting Road, indeed.

Outstanding in the Field

This year we were privileged to be a part of Outstanding in the Field again. I say priveleged, which we were, but honestly I solicited the invitation with some less than gentle self promotion. I was not willing to let the opportunity pass.

Based on the success of last year's, they held two in the Houston area this year. One back at Jolie Vue and one at Animal Farm in Cat Spring. We went to Animal Farm this time.

Last year I used the word fabulous at least a dozen times to describe the event. This year was no different. Beyond fabulous.

The chef for the Animal Farm event was Randy Evans, whose new restaurant Haven will open soon. (Randy was formerly at Brennans - before it burned down during Hurricane Ike.) He used our feta in a LOVELY salad with arugula and sun chokes and he also served our cajeta for dessert. Practicing my new "friendatarian" diet, I also indulged in the main protein course this year, too - the most amazing chicken dish I have ever eaten. Ever. (Chicken raised by Olde Wold Farms in Dobbin - friends of ours at Bayou City farmers market.)

Wine and food flowed with a crazy abundance and a good time was had by all. If you can get tickets to one of these events near you next year, you really should. They are the most inspiring combination of art, sustainable farming and fine dining. Truly an unbeatable night out.

Skeeter

Meet Skeeter. He is so cute, I can't stand it.

Skeeter is on loan at BHF and will be in charge of knocking up a few of the ladies here, including Binder and Penny Lane, who we did not want to breed back to their Daddy.

Penny is big enough and has already had at least one heat cycle, but little Skeets is still only about 4 1/2 months old, so I'm not sure how ready he is to work. I guess we'll see in the next 21 days when Penny cycles again.

Skeeter is so sweet and he's not all stinky yet, so I am giving him lots of love. I like to pet his silly dewlap thing. So soft and jiggly. Bishop doesn't have a dewlap.

Speaking of the Bishop, I vaguely remember when the he was this cute. Here is some pretty amazing Bishop before and after.

2007

2009

Skeeter will get burly and yellow someday, too.

Rosebud & Radiance

Well, the kitties have adapted to their new life beautifully.

They have been out for a while now and are both, after about a week of separate feedings in the coop, eating with the big kitties now. This is good, because I like to make the Stupidest Job on the Farm worth it.

Radiance, the all-black one, is the braver of the two. She was the first to go chase bugs and do normal kitty things, and is now the one threatening to let me pet her just for the fun of it. Rosebud will generally follow Radiance around, but she stays a few paces back when Radiance does things like sniff a goat or take treats from a human.

I have yet to see them take down a varmint, but they are so adorable that I don't really care if they ever "work."

Here are some recent photos. Oh, and if you wondered about the names, they are actually the Secret Service code names for the Obama girls. We thought they were pretty awesome and had just been waiting for the chance to name some farm members the same..

Guest Cows

After a painfully droughty summer, that big storm (and a few small ones that came through soon after) convinced our grass that it was really OK to go ahead and grow. Practically overnight, our brown, trampled pastures sprung up with grass and weeds. So much so, that we invited the neighbor's cows to come help graze it down a bit.

I love when we have guest cows. The babies make me go, "Eeeeeeeee!"

Chicken's Big Party

Little Chicken is a bad dog. Sweet, sweet, sweet - but not to be trusted alone in the house. She is a chewer. :( The decision was made, after she chewed up a very expensive pair of my shoes, to put her outside every time we leave. Every time.

We did that last week, but then C had to come back for some reason and she snuck back in and did the "Home Alone" as we did evening chores.

This is what we came back to.For those of you counting at home, that is seven shoes. One of which - mine, of course - was chewed up pretty severely.

But what is all of that other stuff, you ask?

A zoom in reveals an expertly opened birthday gift, discarded it would seem, since Chicken's ears aren't pierced.

That gift (lovely seaglass earrings, one seen to the right of the boot) was beautifully wrapped with a nice bow (which we later found, intact in the dog bed) and pretty paper (seen here), around a sturdy, cotton-lined box (also pictured).
Bad, bad dog. But still-- a pretty impressive job for a girl without opposable thumbs.

Oh, yeah.

Peep and Star have "matured".

Let me just that say unless you are a human, there is no privacy on this farm for your mating habits. None. I will be nearby. Oh, yes. And I will likely have a camera.



Now off to catch the Bishop (who is feeling great, BTW) with his girlfriend of the day, Lucinda. Bow-chicka-bow!

Whoa.

We had an amazingly intense storm come through last week. I mean, seriously intense.

At the end of it all, we had more damage than we did with Ike, and a greater appreciation for our dairy barn, which -- while rated for 150 mph winds - had a little more "give" in the roof than we would like to ever see again. Sucking sounds and leaks aside, it did manage to keep us from being killed by flying things, and the roof did stay on, so there is that.

It started like any late afternoon pop-up shower, if slightly darker and more menacing. At the peak, it found me, Christian and 15 of the goats in the small milking parlor made for four goats. ...not ideal, in case you are wondering.

We came out to missing roof panels on three of four barns, several downed tree limbs, missing panels on one barn, a broken water pipe and some seriously freaked out goats.

This was Thursday, and most of the cleanup is done, though roof repairs still await. Good times on Blue Heron Farm. At least the girls helped do their part on the cleanup. (After an initial period of confused, investigatory unhelpfulnees.) Yummy trees!