Living in a Children's Book

If you have never read The Cow Went Over the Mountain, written by Jeanette Krinsley and illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky (one of my all-time favorite illustrators), just go ahead and order yourself a copy now. I don't care if you are over nine years old and children never frequent your home, there is something about that book that could bring a splash of joy and beauty into anyone's day.

Every once in a while, I am wandering out back behind the house, catch a glimpse of the calves meandering through the thick grass and clover, and almost expect to find a frog and a pig rolling around next to the calves, laughing because the grass is so munchy and lush right here at home.

 Isadora, who I thought had abandoned a clutch of eggs over a month ago, decided to give it another shot and has been on this nest for a while now. Since I didn't notice exactly when she settled in, I am not sure when the eggs are due to hatch. When I check on her every day, I have been listening anxiously for the telltale peeps of chicks.

Not too long ago, I noticed Rockstar, another one of our hens, limping around the farm. I don't know if she pulled a muscle in some chicken calisthenics, or if some predator got a hold of her briefly, but I decided to keep her locked up while she recovered from the injury. With nothing else to do, she got broody, and has been sitting on some eggs as well. The excitement for all these potential babies (that I don't have to care for!) is growing daily.

On a sadder note, Lizzy has gone missing and, although no trace of feathers have been found, is presumed to have become fodder for some predator. Chris is especially feeling the loss.

My tomatoes are doing well in spite my my neglect. The rest of the garden remains unplanted. Aside from the focus on the house, the lack of fencing and daily rains have been quite the deterrent. Even if we don't get around to planting Finley's eggplant seeds this year, I really do need to get that fence up. I may never forgive myself if I allow the chickens access to any ripe tomatoes.

 At least the girls' trough garden is doing well. I had them harvest their radishes last week, but failed to tell them to only pull the ones that looked big. As a result, there were only a handful of edible radishes, and quite a few tiny red nubs.

 And Zivah has finally lost her first tooth. The tooth fairy's wife set an alarm this time so that the tooth fairy would not forget his duties. Dressed in pink wings and tiara, he tried to sneak into the kids' bedroom, but was discovered. From here on out, the tooth fairy is determined to be more cautious.