You never know.....

Someone recently told me that they looked me up on Google and found my blog....funny thing is my life has been so crazy that I haven't posted anything on the blog since 2010.
So I decided maybe I need to update a few things and fill in several areas of the farm journey. I really don't know where to start and instead of sounding winded, I will try to condense the last 4 years into something readable and highlight the important and significant parts to bring this up to date.

Since 2010.....I have become a grandma...two beautiful grandchildren that fill my up my time.
I have expanded my chicken operation immensely.....adding coops, chickens and meat birds. All has been very successful. My husband and I have also become empty nesters. It doesn't mean we are any less busy, just differently busy.
My mother passed away just over a year ago, and that has made a big impact in my life in so many ways.
One of the most significant  impacts was the fact that I have an older brother I did not know about. Long story short, mom had gotten pregnant in the 50's and had given the baby up for adoption but had never mentioned it to anyone outside of her immediate family, parents/siblings and my dad who was her steady at the time. He did know either until he returned from his tour in the service. It was what you did in those days..... fast forward to her death bed and her delirium and things were said and noted and the search began for my brother. Some great detective work from my younger brother and he was found, living on the other side of town. Contact was made, and we sat patiently waiting for a response....it finally came in February of this year and we have had the pleasure of meeting him and sharing time and stories with him.You would never know he had not been part of the clan for 57 years, it was like he lived in another state and had come home.
 The funny thing is when he went to look us up on the internet, he couldn't find anything except me and my chicken blog!!
The whole thing is amazing, I cannot stop looking at him...he looks so much like mom. I wish she could have met him, but I think there was a reason it was meant to be this way....we never know what are destiny is and where life takes us. I truly believe divine intervention also led us to him.
We also have to realize that you never know what someones back story is, so don't judge, don't make assumptions...give everyone and everything the benefit of the doubt.
As for chicken and cow stories.... We now have a cow that is 18 years old, and she is still producing calves despite her age.  She is also a great pet and grass cutter.  
I have updated all my coops. We have expanded them and made the larger. We have laid concrete flooring and added electric and lights.The electric comes in handy to keep the waterers from freezing and the light make it nice to do chores in the dark. The concrete flooring makes it marvelous when it comes to cleaning the coops!!
I have added meat bird production into the mix and have filled my freezers with tasty meat birds. I have 100 layers and I am harvesting 5/6 dozen eggs a day despite the cold and lack of daylight. I have turned my neighbor onto raising chickens and she raised Banty's and Fancies this year, and I am sharing coops space and information with her. She is my backup when  I am late doing chores or coming home. She is a great friend and neighbor!  So that is all for now, I will try to be better about updating the blog, not only for you  but for myself, it is a great way for me to journal my life and stories!

Services were held today for Hector Kosman. Hector was the beloved Mascot for Bad Attitude Farm. Hector was a hard working rooster and loved his hens. He fathered many peeps and was a good friend to his owner, Berni. He was laid to rest on the farm in his favorite place. He truly will be missed. RIP Hector.

New Babies at the Farm

Tina had her calf on Monday night.

She is up and running around this morning.

She stays pretty close to her momma!

She was running around the pasture in the warm sunshine!

She still needs a name!

Spring/Summer

Well Spring came and went and Summer has begun.

The temperatures were weird and too warm too fast for Spring.

Dave is ahead in all his planting and ground work.

He started making hay, earlier than most years.

We had a few activities happening here at the farm.

Dad turned 75 so we celebrated at the Winery!

The hens are laying eggs galore!

One hen is laying a HUGE egg every other day.

They weigh 4.5 oz. The largest was 5 oz.

They are double yolkers!

I worked real hard and made a new cover for the porch swing.

I also made some covers for the other patio furniture.

The garden is finally in and all the chicks have

been moved to their new coops. The new batch should start

laying in July!

A robin decided to make a nest on the mirror of the truck.

It laid 4 eggs in the nest but then abandoned the nest.

It was neat to see how resourceful the birds can be

when they want to build a nest!

Summer looks like it will be a hot one.

I have already turned the AC on in the house

and the fans are blowing in the coops to keep the air moving.

Good thing we saved so much on natural gas for heating,

because it is going to cost us a fortune for electric and the AC!

Winter Ice Fog

At 5:00 this morning I let the dogs out. There was a fog in the air. They call it Ice Fog.
By definition it is only seen in extremely cold Arctic air. Well it was only 6 degrees this morning. I think that is Arctic enough. Some how ice crystals hang in the air and they seem to deposit themselves on everything. It reminds me of little feathers sticking up off the branches.

The trees were covered by the time the sun came up, and they just glistened. I couldn't take enough pictures. I also realized, I really need a better camera to take some of these shots.

The crystals were on everything and they stuck out only on one side of the item they were attached to.

Except for on the barbed wire, the ice crystals seemed to go all the way around it.

I think this was the coolest picture I took today.

Every bit of the wind chime was covered.

Hopefully my pictures are worth a thousand words, because you really have to see this to really appreciate it.