Professor April McGonnegal

This is April taking a cat nap on the ironing board. Isn't she adorable?

She came straight from heaven. Well, FarmBoy Gary says she was kicked out. In my other life I used to manage apartment buildings. One day a resident heard tiny little "mews" coming from the wall. I had the maintenance guys chop a hole in the wall where we found an entire litter of kittens that had fallen three stories. I found homes for all of them; yes, April came home with me.

FarmBoy Gary and I took turns feeding her milk from a doll bottle every 3-4 hours. She was just too cute with her little paws on that bottle sucking away. That was in 2004.

The problem with "bottle babies" is they bond with humans and forget they are animals. April loved us but hated any other cat that came near her. During the last ten years we have had a plethora of cats. Number one: we love cats. Number two: we live on a farm and need serious rodent control. So, yes, April hated each and every one while simultaneously giving us lots of love.

Here she is working on her Doctorate in Cat Napping. She got very good at it; in fact she was the top of her class.

For her first five years April was an indoor city cat. For her next five years she was a bona-fide indoor/outdoor country cat. She surprised us by loving the outdoors; she especially loved, you guessed it, cat napping in the greenhouse which she cleverly entered via the window.

Cat napping on FarmBoy Gary's lap.

We do love our baskets...big and small.

April also loved sewing. She especially loved to UNthread my serger. Can you see her initial M on her forehead?!

A couple of weeks ago I found April curled up in a little box...she died in her sleep. Professor April McGonnegal went back to heaven. Rest well little sweetheart, you were loved.

Mini Auzzies

What can I say. We love 'em. Australian Shepherds are the lightening, the thunder, oh heck, the whole storm. They gallop through life with the exuberance of straight wind with tornadoes on the side. They are loving, smart and loyal.

This is Sophie, our first mini-Auzzie. A bundle of go-getter wrapped in affection.

She absolutely loved playing with soccer balls. My husband and I exercised her by throwing a ball back and forth between us. Just before we moved to the farm Sophie was run over and killed by a speeding car while we were visiting our son. Totally broke my heart.

As it so happened the same breeder we purchased Sophie from had a litter ready to go the very next week. So, we bought Sophie's sister, Cassie.

Cassiopeia Star "Cassie" at seven weeks old. She was a totally different personality than Sophie. Sophie was outgoing, a real people person. Cassie was very shy but still loving and adorable.

Cassie loves to ride on the tractor with FarmBoy Gary.

And, she loves cats. She has "nursed" two litters of kittens; loving and bathing them just like their mom AND she even made milk!

Ever since we moved to the farm we've wanted to raise Auzzies, but all our attempts with Cassie have ended in disappointment. So we decided to try to find another one to adopt. We searched far and wide and just couldn't find a match so we just quit looking. Then out of the blue a friend had one they were looking for a home for. An acquaintance of theirs had to move and couldn't keep it so it was up for adoption. A little tri-colored female, 14 months old. (Sophie and Cassie were both tri-colored).

When we went to have a look at her, we fell in love so Mollie moved to the farm.

Mollie fit right in. She and Cassie get into an occasional power struggle but all in all they get along.

Mollie has learned that cats have "sticker" feet and is learning not to chase chickens or goats.

This week we picked up our third puppy from our breeder--a little tri-colored male. He is not related to Cassie or Mollie so we have renewed hopes for a breeding program. Both Cassie and the new pup have merles in their lines so we can have both tri and merle puppies. I told FarmBoy Gary he could name the males....so he put out the word on his fb page for names. THANKS GUYS! Lots of good suggestions. And the winner is Tobias, or Toby for short. Now we have Cassie, Mollie and Toby.

New Blood

We sold several chickens this year because it's time to cycle out older egg layers and cycle in young ones. They still lay eggs but just not enough for an egg-selling establishment! I had no idea chickens were in such demand! They all went to good homes and will spend their days clucking and singing for someone else.

Some of my Araucana's love to fly up and perch on my head. All I have to do is start walking toward the chicken coop and they will come running, flying, squawking to me and sit on my arms, head, shoulders, whatever is handy. The buyers wanted tame chickens. I think they got them.

Our new chicks will arrive this week...some Jersey Giants (Black pic)--I love that breed and we sold all of our original ones so am so excited to get more, plus they make GREAT MOMS--and some Cuckoo Marans (Black & white pic). They lay CHOCOLATE eggs. Well, not really chocolate, just chocolate colored...beautiful.

AND, my chicks are bringing some new buddies this year...DUCKS!! This is our first foray into the world of quack-quack and I'm so excited. I'll post pics when they arrive.

BE HEALTHY

If you know me at all you know I am a proponent of REAL FOOD. Good old fashioned food from the garden not a corporate field. Good old fashioned food from the kitchen not a factory. Good old fashioned bacteria that work hard to keep you well (probiotics).

If you begin to practice eating right you will see your health skyrocket. Here at Rocky Creek we garden like two fools. We experiment with organic gardening techniques. Then we take those foods and experiment in the kitchen. We have pots and jars of probiotics "perking" on the counter--kefir, kombucha, cultered veggies, sprouting grains. It's a veritable living laboratory.

This lifestyle is shared with our livestock--just today they got their dose of probiotics.

I follow several real food blogs and I do have my favs. One of these is WEED EM AND REAP. I love this blog. CHECK IT OUT HERE.

My beautiful kefir babies. I alternate them in real milk so they can eat and coconut milk which I can eat!