And The Winners Are

Amelia and Debbi! I ask William to draw the names and you two ladies are the lucky winners. I have Debbi's mailing addy but Amelia I need yours please. Hope you like the book as much as I did. I will be giving more books away so stayed tuned.

Crackers had baby ducklings!! This is the duck that was hatched and raised by a chicken. Who ended up hatching and raising a chicken herself because her duck eggs didn't hatch the first year. I never thought she would ever have a baby duck to raise but at the moment she has 2. Tessa, the turkey is still being mom to 2 baby chicks. Hopefully she will hatch baby turkeys one day. Bonnie and Clyde (the geese) didn't hatch eggs this year. The rain flooded out her nest so the eggs went bad. She is very very jealous of Crackers and went so far as to fight Crackers and tear up her nest. We gave her a few of the duck eggs to hatch but she destroyed them. She keeps trying to get at Crackers and her ducklings but we have them where she can't. Bonnie is usually a happy, sweet goose so maybe she will lay more eggs this year to hatch. The baby starling Isabella is growing and eating ALL the time. I feed her and try to get things done and she starts screaming at me to feed her again. I took her outside today and let her sit on a small tree branch next to me while I worked. She was so cute. She kept looking all around her and watching my every move. Then she got hungry again and the whole neighborhood could hear her screaming. She is flying a tiny bit but not much yet. I let her stay free in the house and on the screened in porch but she mostly sits watching the world go by or sleeping for a few minutes and eating the rest of the time. I will take a picture tomorrow to show how much she has grown. Rusty loves her until she starts screaming for food. Then he barks at her till he sees that won't work and goes to hide under the sofa. He loves to watch me feed her. He and Troubles the cat just sit and watch. When Isabella flew to the floor Rusty stood over her and barked till I came to pick her up. Troubles doesn't even think of her as food. He sleeps by her when she is sitting on my lap but I am still keeping my eye on him around Isabella. He likes his food delivered to him on a plate instead of having to catch it himself I think. He goes with me to feed the chickens morning and evening and has never tried to chase or catch a baby chick or bunny. He just walks with me and Rusty as I feed. I think because I raised him like a puppy he thinks he is like Rusty. I am a bad influence on animals as they always do things different than whats expected of them.
Gardens are doing wonderful after the rain except for the worms that ate the leaves on my broccoli and brussel sprouts. I mixed up some dawn dish soap and a little salt in water to spray on them and think they will be okay now. I have tiny squash and tomatoes so it won't be long. The radishes are about all gone but still have plenty of lettuce and spinach. Will pick the last of the peas tomorrow. Have picked 2 bowls of strawberries the past couple of days. They are just now ripening good. Working hard on my herb garden. I have a picture in my head how I want it to look I just need figure out how to get it to actually look that way. Precious is getting use to being here at the homestead but still a little shy. Hopefully the animal crackers will bring her around. Wizard the turkey along with the hens and ducks are loving it here. Wizard comes up to me every feeding time for bread. I put the feed in the feeders and then crumble up bread for the chickens, ducks and geese. Wizard loves the bread and stands there waiting for me to crumble up some for him. He even stands and lets me pet and talk to him while he eats it. The rooster that we thought had a hurt foot before we brought him home has a sore where his leg meets his body. I found it the other day so have been cleaning it each day with peroxide and then putting neosporin on it. He isn't limping now but am still not happy with the way its healing. Hopefully it will mend soon. I am always told I need help with feeding and caring for the animals but I love doing it and when I am feeding and watering them I am watching and checking to make sure they are okay, eating, drinking, pooping, etc and not injured or sick. By being right there with them I can catch or prevent things early on. Besides, there would be no fun animal stories to tell if I wasn't around them all the time! LOL Rusty is letting me know its time for his potty break before bed so have a wonderful night and don't forget to count those blessings.... no matter how small.