...and a partridge in a pear tree

Ok, well, more like a Partridge Rock in a regular tree. Doesn't make any less strange. Some of the chickens love to fly up into the large tree in the barnyard. Last night, 5 of them stayed up there all night. They were so high even Bob could not get them out. I don't mind them being up there, but I don't want them to be harmed by a predator. I also think it will be hard to collect eggs that have been dropped from the top of the tree!

We have been steadily getting an egg a day. We think it is probably the mystery chicken that showed up in our barn one day. She is probably a little older than our other girls. The chickens will be 20 weeks old this Saturday and should all start laying soon. I made some fried rice last week and used about 3 of our eggs. I can't believe how yellow the yolks are! The eggs were yummy and I am looking forward to making a nice breakfast one of these days.

There is a small group of hens that like to hang out by the kitchen door. They are there every afternoon. One of the Red Rocks comes right up to the storm door and bangs her beak on the glass to get my attention. It is pretty funny when they show up, though we don't like the bird poo everywhere. Enzo likes to eat it, so we really need to keep him on a short leash....dogs, ugh.

The day are getting shorter and shorter. I noticed this morning that it is now still dark when we finish with seminary in the morning and it is always dark by 8. I dread the days where it is dark by 5 pm. We are starting to look at heating oil prices and snow throwers. (I thought that was why we had kids???) Gosh, I can't believe winter is almost closing in. We have a really large driveway to clear and there is no way we can do it with a shovel. New toys are fun, though!

Our garden is waning. We havested about a 5-gallon bucket of sweet potatoes, 10 pounds of carrots, another gallon bag full of green beans, baskets of tomatoes, and of course, our pumpkins that are still out there growing. We have been eating the fruits of our labor just about every night. It is really delicious! We learned a lot this summer about how we want to do the garden the next time. It will soon be time to till the ground and lay our manure out for the winter.

The short days, work schedules, and church callings are keeping me really busy these days. I have been trying to get at least 30 minutes of exercise in each day, but it isn't always possible. That doesn't leave much time for farm and house stuff (and blogging). I do have more pictures to get loaded, so look for a photo update soon!