Cuteness Overload
The cutest thing that’s ever lived on the farm (okay, ever lived on the farm in the last 3 months) made its appearance two weeks ago. Not that I knew…
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Book 1 of the Servant of the Crown series
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Posts
Kali Update
I was very concerned about what might happen to my llama Kali after he lost Scout. After all, the two llamas had been together their whole lives, or so I…
Black Eyed Peas and Collards
Now here’s a title that ten years ago I would never have dreamed I’d use. To explain why I have to go into my genetics. You see, my maternal line…
Farm Merger
Over my years on the farm I’ve seen a lot of cross species mergers. There was my second Jersey cow Cissy, who was certain she wanted to be a dog…
Good-bye Scout
Today, the farm said an unexpected good-bye to Scout, the blind llama. This truly took me by surprise. Scout, who arrived with his buddy Kali in mid-July, had been doing…
Karaoke Cowards
The people at the retreat center across the creek from us are having way too much fun. I can’t speak to the extent of their dress, but we can hear…
Jujubes
I apologize for the late post. For the past eight weeks I’ve been struggling with what the podiatrist (yes, I went to see a doctor; unbelievable, I know) diagnosed as…
Karma is a Female Dog
The turkey came home to roost for Radha today and she most definitely earned it. As you may recall, I’ve been battling for months to get my hard-headed, dominant and…
Oh to Cukes!
The title of this post was supposed to be “An Ode to Cukes.” I actually considered writing an ode, but after some research on the format, which I vaguely remembered…
Getting Edgy
Yeah, not that kind of edgy. Edge-y. As in sharpening knifes because last Saturday I had no sharp knives. None. Nada. Nil. It was that day that my friend Mike…
Summer’s End
It’s still 64 degrees outside as I write this and even though I know the temperatures will be back near 100 degrees later in the week. Although it is still,…
Hypochondriac
Did you know a dog can be a hypochondriac? I didn’t. At least, I didn’t until last week. Okay, in all fairness to Rupert, he is a vaccine-injured dog. (He…
I’m So Sorry!
To the woman who appeared next to me at my chicken tractor Thursday morning, I am so profoundly sorry. I cannot believe I did what I did. I know it’s…
Draggin’ Hoses
What happened to our Monsoon season? One storm that drops only enough water to dirty the truck is not going to cut it! I need my rain because, other than…
Dog Days
Here we are again, starting into the dog days of August, and boy, oh boy has it been hot here. We had two days–maybe three; I can’t remember because the…
Llamas
A couple of weeks ago I was having lunch with my friend Su. Su and I have known each other about nine years now, having met while exhibiting at a…
Bear’s Big Adventure
So Bear gave me a scare last week. It was my fault because somehow I managed to leave two creekside gates open overnight. I swear the heat pickles my brain,…
It’s Happened
I know this will be hard to believe, but the impossible has happened. I have run out of baling twine to use for my building projects. Oh, the horror! What…
Truant Teen-aged Chicks
So, I had a brilliant idea the other day. I was in the garden looking at a butternut squash vine, or rather I was looking at a pair of squash…
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Before I jump into the wicked ways of the world around here, I want to offer multiple updates. First, several years ago I began growing comfrey. I am now a…
Turkey Merger
Before I talk turkey I want to offer a garden update. Between the high temperatures and me remembering to water, the first of my all-volunteer sunflowers are now over eight…
Too Many Tomatoes?
Is it possible to have too many tomatoes growing in your garden? I’d like to think not, but this year I may well discover the answer to that question. Like…
Birthing
Any remaining doubts I had about Tiny, my oldest ewe, being pregnant (not just fat) were answered last week. Not that I had many doubts remaining, not after her udder…
Rabbit Coop Failure
Firstly, I apologize for missing last week. Technology on the Farm got squirrely prior to the big weekend, and then got worse. By Sunday we had radio, tv, telephone, and…
Switchel
I was going to write about Rupert, who has become a swimming dog now that the temperatures have climbed into the 90s. He slides into the ditch and lets the…
Teen Rabbits
Let me say, if you haven’t experienced life with a teenager of some sort, you just haven’t lived. I, unfortunately, have enjoyed that experience with human children (ugh), puppies (lordy,…
Rabbits, Turkeys, and Gardens
It turns out Bitsy wasn’t pregnant. This confounded Christina, who was certain she’d felt little bunny babies in Bitsy’s belly. (Say that three times fast!) With an eye on the…
Locked in ’til Lunch
That’s my egg laying chickens I’m talking about. As you, my plucky readers, will recall, my laying hens have endured predator pressure for the past two years, including golden eagles,…
Rupert the Garden Dog
When I first moved up to Northern Arizona I left behind the (tiny) garden of my dreams that I’d created in the backyard of my (equally as tiny) Scottsdale home. …
Ducks are Weird
The Mason Ditch, which runs like a stream through the middle of my farm, has been empty for much longer than anyone who depended on this water liked. Well, sort…
Mushrooms and Messengers
It’s been four years since I last plugged a log with mushroom spawn. The oyster mushrooms that resulted were prolific and delicious, but after two years the log was spent…
Ready for Poults
Before I bounce into talking about the home we’ve built for my soon-to-arrive turkey babies, we need to do a bunny update. Why? Because they’re unbearable cute and I can’t…
New Home for the Bunnies
It happened this week. The baby bunnies went from infants to tiny rabbits. They’re two and half weeks old now and have quadrupled in size. Their eyes are open and…
Spring Cleaning
Before I start on what I’ve been sprucing up for spring (with the able assistance of Christina), I need to bring you up-to-date on the baby bunny situation. That situation…
Bitty Baby Bunnies
I know. An awful alliterative title but I just couldn’t resist. They are bitty and SO-O-O cute! That’s right. My bunny girls are now bunny moms. They kindled (yes, that’s…
Another 31 Days
This is it. The thirty-first day after Babs and Bitsy spent “quality” time with Buddy. Today, Day Thirty-one, is the day that the girls should kindle. That is, give birth…
Easy Peckings
It’s the time of year again, the short period when the Mason Ditch shuts down for maintenance. That means it’s time for chickens to feast! As the water drops to…
Still Working on the Creek
And oh man, is it work. Christina and I are shifting between her chain saw and my hand saws and clippers. My fingers ache, my hands are sore, my arms…
A New Predator
Well, maybe a new predator. I’m remembering last summer when I found the puppies with eviscerated chickens and accused them of killing birds, then found a carcass outside the fence…
Busy Little Beavers
That’s what Christina and I have been these last two days, in the true sense of being a beaver. We’ve been working down on the banks of Oak Creek, removing…
Disappointment
Well, there were no babies for Babs this week. I’m not sure what this means. It could be she’s not pregnant but would like to be. Or it could mean…
Waiting on Babs
There are going to be baby bunnies here on the farm! Despite Buddy Bunny’s lack of experience and a wayward sense of direction, he achieved what he was meant to…
The Return of Joy
Like the returning sunlight after the solstice, joy is beginning to once again creep over the farm. Bear is finally recovering from Moosie’s death. I knew Bear had been mourning…
A Few Warm Days
A few warm afternoons and all of a sudden everything is thinking spring has arrived. Of course, “warm” is subjective in this case. Since New Year’s Day morning chores have…
Oops
So the ram lambs are getting close to grown up now that they are almost 6 months old. How do I know that? Because they’re playing their two lamb games–“headbutts”…
A Christmas Storm?
I’m sitting at my desk, looking out the window at thick dark clouds. Rain, or even snow is predicted for Christmas day. That has me thinking about moving my truck…
Happy Puppies and Bunnies
It’s official. Rupert is here to stay. Just as I expected, a full week plus a few days on the farm has made a world of difference for him. Between…
Rupert
Well, I did it. I got Radha her own puppy. This past week Bear hasn’t been able to play with her at all and she was clearly bored. Since a…
Rabbits and Bunny Tractors
I finally got the first rabbit tractor finished! Is it perfect? No, it’s definitely a prototype, although I fully intend to house a rabbit in it. However, it has square…
Brave Little Lamb
For the record, vacation was wonderful. My sister and I shared a cottage on Tomales Bay, which is an inlet between the coast of Marin County and the peninsula that…
Best Buds
First, an update on the plans to build a rabbit tractor. I have the frame assembled! Not too shabby, considering how often I stopped, took things apart, re-measured, decided the…
Regarding Rabbits
I’m presently in glacier mode–moving very slow and feeling incredibly lazy. Post-book vacation, which thus far has consisted of reading other people’s books. This is something I haven’t done in…
Sheep-tastrophe
This post is late because, although the writing is finished, the rest of the work has now kicked in. I’m formatting the print book now that the digital version is…
A little something
This week’s post is going to be short. This is because 1) I’m tired and 2) the book is almost finished and 3) I’m written out and can’t think of…
Duck Eggs
I’m late this week because yesterday was harvest day. (Non-meat eaters should skip the rest of this paragraph.) Ten ducks, all twenty-four of my full-grown and startlingly heavy Red Ranger…
Farewell to Moosie
Oh, but this is a sad post to write. Even knowing the possibility of losing Moosie loomed didn’t make it any easier when the moment came. Worst of all, the…
Miracles
I’ve been enjoying a series of tiny miracles lately. Let’s start with the ducks. Who knew they’d be so easy to manage (so far, knock wood)? The past three evenings…
Daring Ducklings
As you may recall I got seven new ducklings for 50% off from Tractor Supply in August. In one short month they are now almost the same size as the…
Sad Little Lambs
That’s right. It’s weaning time. Yesterday afternoon I locked the seven little lambikins into one of the alleyways, away from their mothers. No more sheep milk for them! For the…
Rabbits
The time has come the Walrus said to speak of many things, Of ships and string and sealing wax, of cabbages and Chins… Yes, I’m borrowing from Lewis Carroll’s Alice…
Dog Food
These days I make a lot of dog food. I guess that’s what happens when you have four dogs and are committed to feeding them unprocessed raw food, otherwise known…
A Paralyzed Chicken
Well this has certainly been a bad year for my chickens. First the bald eagle harvested a few. Then Radha has taken (she got another one today while I wasn’t…
Miracle Moosie
As usual you need to catch up before I can move forward. I swear, it’s no longer life in the slow lane out here on the farm. Nowadays, the days…
My Headbutt Buddy
Once again, I’m going to offer a couple of updates before I start talking ram lambs. That’s because in my last post I mentioned that Moosie was hurting again. Well,…
House Chicken
First an update on my last two stories. We had a gully-whomper of a rainstorm the other day and the turkey hen did not choose wisely. Rather than hunker down…
Dog Days and Dies Mali
Here on the farm, I am officially suffering the Dog Days of summer. Not because we haven’t had one worthwhile Monsoon storm, not one decent roll of thunder or cooling…
New Fences
I know, I know. I mentioned I was installing new fences last week, but with the chaos of that day, I didn’t really appreciate what I’d managed to make happen….
What a day!
It’s 7 PM and I’m just now getting to the computer. My head is aching and my leg is throbbing. Once again, one of those big red ants climbed up…
A better week
Of course, it wouldn’t have taken much to improve on last week, but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I love that saying. As I…
Managing Death
This post is late because the last seven days have been unbelievable. It all started on Wednesday when Rosie decided she was done being pregnant. She swiftly and easily dropped…
Summertime
Summertime, and the living is easy. And humid. Okay, I know our 35 to 40 percent humidity here in Arizona passes for tolerable in most places, but everything is relative….
Collars and Crawly backs
Today I bought collars and leashes for the puppies. I’ve hesitated to do this mostly because of Bear. He looks at a collar on any dog smaller than he is…
Creekside
There are many things for which I’m grateful in my life, but until recently I’m not sure I would have put finding this property at the top of that list….
Belated Beans
First, a turkey update since the black hawk just interrupted my blogging by trying to take a baby turkey. Tom’s girls laid about three dozen eggs and settled down to…
All Grown Up
No, not the puppies, although they are growing by great big leaps and bounds. Only two weeks ago they were cute cuddly not-very-heavy things. Now I swear they weigh twice…
Time for fruit
Before I get to today’s post I want to do some updating. The puppies are doing very well. They have mastered “sit” and the art of herding chickens and sheep,…
Puppies!
New dogs on the farm has been an idea swirling in my head for a year now. Bear, God love him, is now seven–not six as I’ve been telling folks…
A’sheep Shearing Go
Back when I first starting writing historical novels, I fell in love with a folk group with the odd name of Steely Eye Span. Their music set the mood for…
Vacation
I don’t leave the farm often, mostly because it takes about a week to prepare to go and a week to catch up on the work that didn’t get done…
Too Stinking Cute
I gotta ask. Are these not the most stinkingly cute critters you’re ever seen? Ducklings! I got ducklings and it’s not even Easter yet. I’ve been wanting to raise ducks…
A Naked Bear
First, an apology for missing last week. I expected to be late with my post because I spent a good part of the previous week immersed in a grand experience….
Burrowing Chicks
I thought I had them. But N-O-O-O. I have burrowing chicks. Raising these chicks is like a remake of “Chicken, Run.” (I must be on a children’s movie kick.) The…
The Great Ram Wrangle
First, I apologize that this post is a day late. Work came out of the woodwork yesterday, chores and tasks falling over each other, all needing to be completed NOW….
The Chicks Are Here
I intended for my new chicks to arrive a few weeks ago, but their delivery date coincided with Oak Creek making its foray onto my property. Fortunately for me, I…
And now the trees
First a flood update. Yes, the snow has begun to melt and the water is rising in the creek again. I think it reached eight feet yesterday because it overran…
Snowed In
It started with posts on Facebook. Folks from my local area were sharing maps of the predicted storm. It looked like a lot of snow was going to come down…
Flood!
Most of the time I love living next to Oak Creek. The water tumbles merrily in the cool shade of the tall trees as the otters hunt for crayfish. On…
Down, Moosie!
Before I get to the dog part of this story, I thought I’d update you all on my newly completed brooder coop. At last, after sorting through all the many…
More Lambs
As of January 31st, my youngest ewes reached ten months of age, and that’s the right number if you want your ewes to give you little lambikins. But in order…
Oh No!
It’s almost 70 degrees outside today! How could spring have arrived so early? Wait. I know better. This is Cornville, where spring behaves more like a coy girl peeking around…
A Brooder Coop
If you remember, oh plucky reader, the last time I got chicks–the Brahmas–was two Januarys ago. For their first two weeks they lived in an old cast iron tub that…
A New Queen
I once again have seven cats living on the farm, courtesy of the new guy in my life. Molly is a Somali Cat, which means she looks more like a…
Turkeys in the Truck
Years ago, when Tom was the only turkey on the farm, he would spend the day staring at himself in the big shiny bumper of my ex-husband’s truck. That was…
Snow Day
Okay, be kind, dear relatives from Duluth. I know you sneer each time I mention it, but I have snow! The big, heavy flakes began drifting downward at 10:30 this…
Christmas Eve
It’s almost Christmas on the farm and that means…nothing. I don’t decorate, not inside, not with indoor cats. A Christmas tree is nothing but a challenge to a cat. They…
Egg Dreams
Now, onto my persistent egg dreams. For the first time in seven years I have no chickens and no fresh eggs except for those I buy from my local farm…
Tiny’s Shadow
The conversion of Lonely Girl from pig to sheep is now complete, at least in her mind and much to Tiny’s complete aggravation. That aggravation is complicated not just by…
6 Sheep
This is an update on Lonely Girl. My last little (okay, not so little) piggy girl got tired of constantly complaining about being alone somewhere around the middle of last…
Lonely Girl
It’s that time of year and four out of my five piggies are now gone. That leaves me with one lonely girl, who faces the same fate as her siblings…
A Bit of Joy
Thank goodness for tenants and my piggy girls. If not for them, my continuing spate of catastrophes would have been hard to tolerate. This last week I discovered a crack…
Really?!
“Really?!” I said, my head tilted up to the gorgeous blue sky on Thursday morning. I was limping again, having tweaked a tendon even though I don’t recall stepping wrong….
Sadness
Saturday evening, June gave me the spotted heifer I wanted so much. My first inkling that all was not going to go well was when I saw Little Iris’s hooves…
Another disappointing week
So here I am, another week older and I still don’t have a new calf (or milk) and I haven’t finished that #$%^@ book! That said, the book is much…
Nothing ever changes here
You can probably guess what that means. Yep. The book’s not done and the cow is still pregnant. Okay, I’ll admit that we’re both WAY closer to producing something. I’m…
Pig update
I’d so like to tell you that June delivered her calf. I can’t! I swear, she’s doing this just to make me crazy. Actually, the only reason I’m not crazy…
Squash Soup
First, I would so like to report that I have a new calf. I can’t. Although June is getting more serious about letting that baby go, she continues to bide…
Still Waiting!
Sigh. There’s no calf yet, at least not outside of June’s body. All the signs are there. Her tail’s loose as are the muscles around the birth canal. Her pin…
In the Waiting Room
I’ve waited to the last minute to post this, hoping I could report that the big event has happened. A calf is born! That’s right, after three years, here I…
Arachne
For those who don’t know the story, there was once a beautiful and talented weaver in ancient Greece named Arachne. She was so talented that the goddess Athena, also a…
Toadly
The other day I sadly swept a small, dead, completely desiccated toad out of my basement. I love my toads. I love them despite the fact they make the weirdest…
Morning Chores
First, an update on that epic battle of mine. IPM (integrated pest management) came through! The lacewings and ladybugs, along with more than a few spiders, have disheartened the ants….
An Epic Battle
It’s been an interesting year for squash here on the farm. Early in the season I planted Hubbard squash from a three-year-old package and spaghetti squash seeds from a package…
Death Defiance
That cow! Remind me the next time I decide to buy a cow that I need to ask if she was raised by other cows or raised by humans. I…
Felt-backed Ewe
I now know why sheep have to be sheared, even though my Dorpers don’t have wool and supposedly shed their “hair.” Tiny has been working on rubbing off last year’s…
Lack of Balance
If there was anything in my life I’d like to change it would be my lack of balance. No, I don’t mean my physical balance, which I do admittedly lack…
Cross-species grooming
So, it’s been another crazy week here on the farm. We’ve had storm after storm, most of them offering rain–enough that my grass is now knee-deep. And me with no…
Chicken Habits
I wanted to title this post “Seven Highly Unsuccessful Habits of Chicken Herders.” But, however accurate, that was just too long. You see, I’ve done it again to those poor birds….
Humidity
Humidity isn’t something most people, including Arizonans, associate with Arizona, but we have entered our season of damp air. For those who don’t know, Arizona has a Monsoon season. Just…
PCU
It’s official. I’m not selling the farm. What makes my decision official? I bought piglets. I made the purchase before I realized that I didn’t have a surefire way to…
Beaver
Over the past eight years (and this month it’s officially eight years that I’ve been a co-owner of this property), I’ve only once seen a beaver. That was about five…
Flies, ugh.
It’s only been a few years since I last had dairy cows on the property, but in that short time I completely forgot how awful the flies are. However, before…
Summer is here
And how am I certain that summer has arrived? Because on Friday the temperature got over 100 degrees while Saturday brought us a lovely all-day rainstorm. It was overcast, drizzly,…
June-bug
You know how some people are shoe fanatics, or have shelves full of bobble-heads, or collect those theme plates? Well, I’ve decided I’m an animal-aholic. It’s for this reason that…
Worm-free
I wasn’t a helicopter parent with my kids, and I’m not a helicopter farmer when it comes to my animals. I’d rather watch and wait to treat something until I’m…
Wheat!
Back in October I tried for a second time to plant grain as part of a grain assessment for the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance. My first attempt in May of…
Pond Life
When I moved up here from Scottsdale (where else does a farmer come from?) I left behind a gorgeous backyard that included a recirculating pond with a bio-filter. Every morning,…
Sheep Tales
That title should read More Sheep Tales, but it’s been a week of sheep giggles for me. First up is Mari, who has made an amazing turnaround. I had her…
BA!
I’ve never owned a dumb farm animal. That’s not dumb as in unintelligent. From the cows to the pigs to the turkeys, every one of my critters has proved capable…
Finished Coop
I’m getting to this post late today because I wanted to finish the last bits on the coop so I could take a proper picture. And I did, both finish…
Tool Time (again)
As you, my patient readers, may recall I recently stretched my “I can build it” muscles and added flooring to my stairway. In that process I conquered my fear of…
Into the Drink
First, a Bear update. His toe has healed up very nicely. It never even got infected and he’s feeling great–eyes bright, nose cold. Most importantly, he’s running much more easily. …
Bear Necessities
For the record it turned out that six sheep is better than simply sufficient. Having just the new moms and their babies has been both peaceful and easy. Tiny only…
Eight is Enough
Tiny, as usual, was late but efficient. Her lambs finally made their appearance on March 28th. At birth both of them were larger than Mari’s little guys. That didn’t stop…
Spring Lambs
I was surprised by lambs again this past week. That’s not to say I didn’t expect to have lambs toward the end of this month. It’s that I didn’t expect…
Addiction
I might have written this post once before, but it bears repeating. My name is Denise, and I’m an addict. And what, you might ask, am I addicted to? Plants….
Welcome Spring!
What a gorgeous spring day it was today. Not quite as nice as the weekend, which was the PERFECT. What could be better than twenty-four hours of sweet gentle spring…
Back to Work
The farm is on the market, the house is so clean you really could eat off my floor, and my neighbors keep stopping by to tell me that the grounds…
The Other Foot
Before I get started, I’m here to report that it seems I now have semi-domesticated ducks. This morning when I reached the turkey coop to release Tom and his girls,…
Cold Day, Wool Socks
What a change. January brought days in the 80s but now that it’s late February we’re enjoying a stretch of cold, wet weather. Today, the wind is howling, the sky…
Flooring!
When my ex-husband and I bought this place back in July of 2010, we were told that Sam, the previous owner, had upgraded the house from a tiny, tar paper…
Lamb St-oup
Before I throw myself into this week’s post, I have to kvetch over the recent full moon. I know everyone was going on about it being this blue-blood-full-eclipse moon, but…
Peanut’s Big Adventure
First, the bluebirds are back! Every year for the past six, a flock of Western Bluebirds have visited the farm. They may have been coming for longer, but six years…
Dandy Ducks
It appears from this title that I am on a “D-D” kick. Perhaps this is apropos as my initials are “D.D.” Over the years a few people have tried to…
Danger Deer
Once again, I’ve managed to work my way through another week of barn cleaning. OMG! Whole counters are bare. How awesome is that? Another few days and I’m going to…
Ms. Clean
It’s time to come clean. I admit it. I am not a spit-wife. What, you might ask, is a spit-wife? That’s my translation of what the Dutch call the housewives…
Happy New Year
Well, it’s happened again. Somehow an entire year–a full 365 days–has slipped past me at light speed. Where does my time go? Into writing books and farming, of course. Which…
Eggnog
Nothing really funny has happened on the farm since the pigs became pork. This is very frustrating for me. I mean, the high point of my day has been walking…
The Egg Thief
I caught him (or her) in the act! Friday morning I was preparing to take a load of household goods to Prescott for donation. I had just called my friend…
Not-Beavis and Butthead
It’s time for a lamb update. I can hardly believe that the two little guys (who don’t have official names for a reason) have been around for almost 3 months…
Wicked Week
I did not miss last week’s post because I wanted to. In fact, after a trip to Prescott Monday morning to help a friend, I rushed home and sat down at…
Winter is here
Typing this post is going to be interesting. I’ve got tape on three fingers, two of the cuts are on my fingertips. I’m hoping writing this will break in the…
A “down” day
It’s 3 PM on Sunday and I’ve had a glorious day. I’m still in my robe and jammies. This is the first time in more than five years that I…
November Tomatoes
November. That is not a month most folks connect with tomatoes ripening on the vine. I sure wouldn’t have, but there seems to be a lovely little miracle occurring in…
Radishes
It’s a science geek-out day for me. Once again, I’m growing radishes, which I emphatically hate but cannot stop myself from eating. Not sliced in a salad, but the instant…
A Clean Barn
For the past almost three years I’ve wanted one thing: a clean barn. A barn organized the way it works for me. One that isn’t cluttered with stuff that, should…
Bobcat
Once again, the dogs treed a cat, this time a bobcat. I knew the bobcat was hunting this area for two reasons. First, my artist-friend Jacquie had sent me a…
Lickety-split
That’s what happened on the farm yesterday morning. Creatures were moving at the speed of “lickety-split”. Let me step back and set the scene for you. For the past months…
U-bolts and Handy Panels
First a few farm updates. Tiny’s new little boys are doing great! After a couple of days offering a bottle of goat milk to little Patch, he started toying with…
Surprise lambs
Okay, they weren’t precisely a surprise. I could see that Tiny was pregnant. But as of yesterday she didn’t look nearly as tubby as she’d looked with her first lambs,…
Planting Day
Ya-HOO! I completed enough of the sheer drudgery work on my list that I took the day today to plant my first winter garden. The drudgery included putting the dirt…
Awaken the Sleeping Heart
Available now on Amazon for $3.99 AN ANCIENT PROMISE OF MARRIAGE, A WEALTHY WIDOW STOLEN BY A POOR KNIGHT, AND THE KING DETERMINED TO KEEP THEM APART Stephen de Brazdifer…
Head Spinning
Dang it, I just finished editing the print version of the book and opened this page to start this post, only to remember that I have water running on my…
Awaken the Sleeping Heart
As you may have known, I’ve been working on my first Medieval romance in …well, a few years. With fourteen pages left to write, I’m almost done. You can get…
A Quick Note
Only one chapter left! Well, one chapter–the hardest one, of course–and an epilogue. But I don’t count epilogues because they’re more postscript than chapter. I just read through the book…
Eclipse and Elderberry
So, I’m sitting at my desk watching the day steadily darken with the eclipse. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to see. Here in Arizona, the place famous for 360 days of sunshine…
Free Water?
When I say “free water” I do not mean the stuff that’s been falling from the skies so copiously of late. Although that free water is really nice and has…
Li’l Pink Crocs
Get ready for it. This post is about one woman’s obsession to find a pair of shoes that fit and what failing in that quest cost her. Cinco got me…
A Wet Season
So, today is Sunday and not Monday. Usually Sundays are my chore day. That translates to my “day off”, which means I spend the day doing laundry, cleaning cat boxes,…
Storm Damage
Yesterday afternoon, we had the storm of the summer. I hope. I swear the wind hit a hundred miles an hour. It blew in from the east. At least that’s…
Predators
It’s been quite a couple of weeks for predators out here. This is because something large–the mountain lion, I assume–killed something equally as large between my fence and the creek….
Monsoon Season
India isn’t the only place where Monsoons are a given. Northern Arizona has its own rainy season and it started with a bang last Friday. Well, not a bang as…
A Difficult Decision
For anyone uncomfortable with the idea of animals being slaughtered for meat, you may want to skip this post. I promise there will be nothing graphic, just a difficult description…
The Prime of Miss Jean Broody
Don’t ask me why the title of that movie (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) came into my mind as I looked at the little black hen sitting on nine…
Heat Wave
Surprise! It’s Arizona in the summertime. Okay, technically it’s not summer yet, and won’t be until 8:24 pm tonight when we hit the summer solstice (according to Google). And, this…
Compost
Yes, that is a picture of dirt. Well, not dirt. It’s compost, specially made for me by piglets and chickens. It started out as the contents of the turkey barn….
Tomatoes!
Once again, I lost a day. Monday whizzed by while I was caught in the early 13th Century, researching just how long a Medieval courser can gallop on summer-dried ground….
Piglet-y Hordes
Oh man, and I thought the sheep were a ravening horde! They got nothing on piglets. Today the eight of them decimated my new chard on my new hugel. When…
Mea culpa
This is a hard post to write. However, I feel if I don’t write it I’d be painting a false picture of farming life. Last week was a week of…
Ouch
It was bound to happen. In all truth, I’ve been living on borrowed time. I mean, in the last few years I’ve fallen off the walls, tumbled down the hillsides…
Piggie Post
She did it. On Tuesday night at 10:41 PM, Miss Piggy delivered the first of her eight babies. The firstborn piglet was small, black with a vivid white stripe around…
Moms and babies
My goodness, is Miss Piggy HUGE! Her belly is so big between her legs that she waddles even worse than she usually does. She’s also overdue…sort of. From what my…
In my spare time
First, a foot update. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions. I tried them all and, for future reference, wearing hiking boots was the best remedy until I realized that the…
The Visit
After much schedule juggling my granddaughter Judah finally made it to the farm for a twenty-four hour visit. She’s sixteen, is joining the National Honor Society, and has two part-time…
This and that
What a week! I’ve done nothing but herd sheep, dogs, a pig, chicks and the occasional cat. And I’ve done it with a strained ligament in my foot. Ouch. I didn’t…
Storm Break
Well, this time my post is late due to the weather. As I sat down to the computer to write this post on Monday, I glanced out the window to…
Sheep Deprivation
Peanut is killing me. Once upon a time, back say about fifteen years ago, I had no trouble working twenty hours a day, grabbing four hours of shut eye, then…
A sprung spring
My apologies to everyone for skipping a week on the posts. The delay was the result of a perfect storm of events. First, spring fever hit with a vengeance. The…
Peanut
So, I lost a fortune on YouTube today because I cannot keep my phone/camera on my person. I blame this phone-avoidance on the fact that my first “real” job was…
Lambs!
I finally got those stinking lambs…Thursday the 23rd. Not between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM as predicted (so all those nightly walks were in vain). Instead, Tiny gave birth to twins,…
Skunked (briefly)
OMG. Moosie got skunked this morning. He tried rubbing it off in the sewage-scented dirt left by the septic pumping crew, but both Bear and I believe this was a…
Chicken “Coop”
Once again I choose a title that doesn’t reflect the total lack of lambs in my life. OMG! She’s driving me crazy! Now that I’ve vented, I’ll tell the story…
Pumps and chicks
It’s a lame title but that’s because I can’t use “Still No Lambs” twice. STILL NO LAMBS! I don’t know what to do with that ovine girl! She isn’t in…
Still no lambs!
Yawn. This is getting ridiculous! For over two weeks now, I’ve been walking out between 2 and 3 AM to check on Tiny. Stumbling out is more like it. Sleepwalking…
IPM
I was hoping this would be the post where I happily announce the arrival of at least one lamb, but NO! That ewe is purely obstinate. Every sign that points…
Soil
Before the Earth, a Tiny update. Tiny the Ewe remains pregnant and, boy oh boy, does she look miserable. Her udder isn’t big, but it’s as round as a ball…
Successes and Failures
Well, Boinker is no more. She didn’t leave the way I planned and that’s on me. The one certain rule in life is that if you want it done your…
Piglets? I think so!
Before I launch into the description of Pigs in Heat Part 3, I have to take a moment to celebrate. After two years of watching the wild blackberries engulf the…
P.I.H., Episode Two
First, before I launch into the tale of “Pigs in Heat, Episode 2”, I don’t know about anyone else up here but I’m swimming in a sea of mud. Even…
Dogs and Cats
My dogs are about to be famous. Okay, probably not famous-famous, but more famous than they are now. In the next few days their first book will be published. That’s…
The Remains of the Gate
So many titles fit this post. Like Pigs in the Pen or Pigs in the Pokey or even Pigs in HE-E-Eat. (Anyone out there remember the Muppets and ‘Pigs in…
Beef-and-Cheese Foldover
So before I throw myself into another recipe, I need to make a porcine update. The day when I have one piggy instead of two is drawing rapidly closer, but…
Butchery
Butcher n. 1 a person who slaughters or dresses meat 2 a person who mangles, ruins or bungles something… Toby, my Dorper sheep (technically a wether, or castrated male) went…
Another Soup Day
I was hoping for snow last night, but that didn’t happen. Probably just as well since the turkeys really dislike snow. They walk through it like one of those fancy…
Happy Thanksgiving
‘Twas the eve before Thanksgiving and all across the farm the last turkeys roosted, certain they were safe from all harm. The chimney was clean, swept out with all care…
The Supermoon
This “supermoon” has been a killer, literally. After almost six years living smack-dab in the middle of this predator superhighway, I’ve figured out the cycle. On normal nights, the hunters…
On Strike
That’s right. With all my heart, I’m resisting writing this week’s post. That’s why it’s a day late already (but I hope not a dollar short). I want to ball…
A Dog, Two Pigs and a Mushroom
Poor Bear. He got bitten while I was off visiting relatives, although my farm sitters didn’t recognize the marks as a bite. Theories ranged from Pink Eye to a bee…
Homecoming
Vacation–real vacation, not just a hiatus from the computer–was GREAT! I can hardly believe how much fun I had. There wasn’t much “doing” but there was plenty of high-class wine…
Vacation?
I haven’t left the farm for “time off” since July 2015. Prior to that excursion, I think I’d only been on vacation once since I moved onto the property in…
Just Duck-y
It finally happened. I got the ducks I’ve been wanting forever. I was ready for them. Last winter, my neighbor was moving dirt and needed to find a place for…
Drunken Bees And Helper Hogs
This post started out about the bees but then my two way-too-big helper pigs appeared and I couldn’t resist adding them to the story. But first, a Moosie update. His…
Sourdough Bread
I fell in love with Sourdough bread on my first trip to San Francisco. I was 18 and living on my own in Denver when my father was transferred to…
Frankenstein’s Tail
Well, he did it. Moosie finally bit off more than he could chew. Or rather tried to bite something that could chew him. Yesterday morning I got up at my…
Unexpected “Vacation”
My apologies for missing my post last week. After a lovely holiday weekend spent with friends who came up from Phoenix to escape the heat, I did something stupid. That’s…
Pig-erator
First, I want to thank Joel Salatin for (1) being Joel Salatin and driving the cutting edge of the sustainable ag movement. He’s the one who coined the term “pigerator”…
Greedy as a pig
The sheep occasionally escape over the electric tape that’s supposed to contain them in their piece of pasture. This isn’t a huge problem because it’s usually only one at a…
Writer’s Block
Well, that’s going to be my excuse for today’s post…that I have writer’s block. It’s not really true. Nor can I blame my delaying tactics on the view outside my…
Here kitty, kitty, kitty
Well, it’s been one of THOSE weeks again. It kicked into high gear on Thursday morning. Just as I finished morning chores and went inside to brew tea, the dogs…
Yet more storms and catsup
It rained all night last night, leaving Oak Creek once again Willy Wonka brown. Plus, the water is very high, or at least higher than it’s been since the last…
Another storm’s on the way
I missed my Monday deadline because a HUGE storm blew in. The winds were so strong that my grill went skidding across the porch until it hit the table. Cushions…
Elsie
I got the call early last week. Elsie’s new owner was in tears. “I had to let you know,” Becky said. “Elsie’s dying and I don’t know why.” My heart…
Boinker and Oinker
Yes, the little gilts have names now, thanks to my friend Ken Sanchez. The bolder of the two is Boinker (bold oinker) while the shy girl is just Oinker. Of…
Got Pigs?
Years ago, I heard an NPR article about a hog rescue farm. The farmer said (and I’m paraphrasing), “Dogs have masters, cats have servants but a pig thinks everyone’s a…
We’re all melting
What a week! Okay, so I know other places are hotter than Cornville but I don’t know that I’ve ever been more miserable…not even when I lived in Corpus Christi,…
Pioneer Woman
Oh yeah! That’s me. I once again proved this to myself this morning as I turned my little ram lamb into a wether. For those folks who don’t know, a…
New and Improved Bear
Wow! Having sheep has changed Bear. He’s become Mr. Protective. Well, when he’s not being his usual sweet doofus. This includes a big step up in his barking. As I…
Razzle-berries!
I can’t help myself. I’m old enough to remember the Mr. Magoo version of “A Christmas Carol”. So every time I go out to pick raspberries, out of the back…
Farm Flowers
Okay, the title makes it sound like this is a girly post and maybe it is, but walking the property over the weekend made me realize just how many plants…
Always something new
First, I apologize for never managing to write a post last week, but, at least for me, finishing a book is like running a marathon. Everything but breathing and typing…
Shooting Blanks
Oh no! I can’t believe it’s happened. Hundreds of turkey eggs and only 8 hatchlings to date. Oh, Tom! Five years old and no longer the virile young man that…
One Crone Amilking
On the first day of May a rancher called to me…please come out and help me milk Cissy. So if you’re creative with “The 12 Days of Christmas” that line…
First Poult of the Year
I have the first surviving poult of the year. She (okay, I don’t really know if the little thing is male or female, but she feels female to me) is…
Bird by Bird
Thanks to Anne Lamott for this title. But, unlike her book, this post is actually about birds. That’s because this morning at around 7:00 AM I had another National Geographic…
Be-bop-a-re-bop…
RHUBARB PIE! Okay, I admit to listening to Garrison Keillor and A Prairie Home Companion from time to time. He first caught my attention was when I read an essay…
Successes! Well, sort of…
First, I get to brag. My granddaughter Judah won the People’s Choice Award in the Young Playwrights Festival in Prescott yesterday. Just as I sold the first book I wrote,…
Shy Girl
Over the last few weeks, I was growing increasingly worried about my favorite non-pet cat, Shy Girl. All my non-pets have epithets rather than “real” names. Shy Girl was born…
Inconthievable
And with this title I add to the renown of Princess Bride, the most quoted movie of all time. (“My name is Inego Montoya…”). Why am I quoting from a…
Tool Time
Funny that I’m titling this after a sit-com that I never watched. But I did see Tim Allen’s Tool Time routine if not the show it spawned. And I related! …
One of these things…
just doesn’t belong here…. Yes, I still sing songs from Sesame Street, even though my baby will be 36 this year. And that thing that doesn’t belong is named…
Farm photo bomber
Thank goodness for Gabby Gray. Without her, I’d have no reason to laugh around here any more. Gabby Gray is one of my two oldest hens. She and Gabby White…
WATER!
Okay, not quite. But in another hour or so, water will once again be flowing beneath my house to my pump house, then refilling the tank that I’ve learned over…
The Wind in the Willow
No, no, no. This can’t be happening. Not on February 22nd. It’s too early! It’s also too early for my apricots and plums to be blooming out. The apples have…
Spring-time
Ack! It’s that time again. No, not the time of year when daffodils bloom (at least where the turkeys haven’t eaten the buds before they open) and everything comes back…
Turkey Love
As I wrote that title my head immediately went to the old song by Captain and Tennille “Muskrat Love”, which, if my younger readers haven’t heard it, is a very…
A Sad Day
Today, I say good-bye to Elsie, Georgie and Hannah. As you, my plucky readers, know, I’ve not been being able to wean Hannah off Elsie. Neither heifer nor cow wants…
Help! Timmy’s in the Well!
My internet has been up and down so many times lately that I’m beginning to feel a little off. You know, that jerky weird way you feel when you decide…
Lasagna Gardening
At the request of three people, I’m posting the official Farm on Oak Creek how-to guide for building a Lasagna Garden. No, this is not a garden that contains basil,…
Curious George
Georgie, my little steer, is now nine months old. This means he stands above waist high to me and his horns (such as they are–Jerseys don’t have big horns, thank…
New Year’s Intention
I don’t mess around with any namby-pamby resolutions. Resolving is way too close to dissolving for my tastes, and that’s what most people’s resolutions do–they dissolve. If I want to…
Just Breathe
It happened. At long last, I know where I’m going to spend the rest of my life. That’s right, Cornville! It looks like you’re stuck with me for the foreseeable…
Corral Rework
The weaning process continues, and continues to fail. I’m pushing now for two days off, one day on. Part of the reason I’m so unsuccessful (I think) is because the…
Snow and Soup
When I started this post earlier today, I had just come back in after doing my morning chores in the rain. That always makes the chores worse because, for no…
Christmas Egg Hunt
It was like being in one of those Bil Keane “Family Circus” cartoons, the ones where the kids made their labrynthine route from one place to another. I knew the…
Turkey Proliferation
I think I have more turkeys now than when I started slaughtering before Thanksgiving. Okay, I know that’s not true but it sure feels like it. I think I miscounted,…
Let there be fire!
One of the best things about living the rural life are my neighbors. Not that I haven’t had great neighbors in the past. My Scottsdale neighbors, Amy, Carol, Gary and…
The Mouse Loses
I took the full four days of the “Thanksgiving Holiday” off. That meant I only handled my usual daily and weekend chores: feeding and moving birds, milking the cow, making…
Thanksgiving
I can hardly believe that a full year has passed since the ex took his nose dive into “Crazy Time”. What a year it’s been! Not only did I lose…
Harvest Time
Harvest time. Euphemistic, I know. Over the last four days I’ve processed 49 birds, not all of them mine. My personal best was 17 birds in one day. That was…
Success!
Maybe I should say “Successes!” Every time I log into my site to post I have to answer a simple addition or subtraction question. Every time I get the answer…
A Time to Wean, A Time to Make Cheese
I’ve separated Hannah from her mother and I’m sure my neighbors are thrilled. Not. The bellowing is pretty much continuous. Hannah is calling to Elsie, Elsie is calling back and…
There’s a dead otter on my porch
As I returned home last night, I saw a black mass at the top of the porch stairs. At first I thought it was one of the cats. Impossible! None…
Otters and Coons
There was a time when I thought raccoons were cute. That was back in a different incarnation, when I lived Scottsdale. Not the “Snobsdale” you’re thinking of, the high-falutin, fancy…
Bear and his pet
I’ve been trying to catch this photo for more than a year now. This morning I turned around in the kitchen and there they were, doing what they do. Bear…
Hope
Hope came home two days ago. No…not that hope. Hope the Tennessee Walker. A horse. His actual name is Bandit’s Legacy, but when my next door neighbors bought him they…
New and Improved!
New and improved…that’s the title not only of this post but for my life, and it’s all thanks to my “Brother of Another Mother” Gene Lindow. My ex-brother-in-law came to…
Autumn Pancakes
I’m absolutely enjoying this wet fall weather of ours. Cold weather means it’s time for WARM food again! Give me a soup or cooked veggies over a salad any day. …
What a Week!
Sorry about missing the second post last week, but I lost control of my life. As always happens when I do that, sprockets spring, springs sprocket and colored streamers and…
“Barn” Cats
Before I go into my rant about my cats…what an amazing storm this morning! At 4:00 AM I woke up to what I was sure was the sound of gravel…
Hamburger!
Oh LORDY! I think I’m done with my cows, hence the title of this post. I just can’t deal with their never-ending search for ways to get to my very…
Something in the Turkey Coop
Something broke into the turkey coop two nights ago and I don’t have a clue how it was done. There’s no doubt that it happened. It was around 7:30 pm…
Red Sky at Morning…
I love that saying: Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning. I didn’t know know until my fabulous step-daughter Amberly Neese informed me that this…
Pluviophile
Pluviophile: noun, someone who loves the rain, who finds joy and peace of mind on rainy days. Many thanks to my friend and fellow author Christine Eaton Jones for posting…
Calf Games
Little Hannah Mae is doing very well and growing like a weed (and now taking almost all of her mother’s milk–no cheese for me!). I’ve learned some interesting things about…
Autumn Dances
Finally! The weather is cooling off and the mornings are glorious–almost cool enough that I could use a jacket. The only downside to the beginning of Autumn is the new…
It’s Official
On Tuesday the recorded divorce decree landed in my inbox. It was a bittersweet moment for me. While I mourn for the man I loved for 28 years, I don’t…
Hatchlings
For the last month I’ve been moaning and complaining about the cats. No, not the eight house cats I’ve got, all of which were intended to be barn cats and…
Oma’s Red Cabbage
So, when he-who-shall-not-be-named (the dastard!) and I got married, one of the first things he talked about food-wise was Red Cabbage. His paternal grandmother, fondly referred to as “Oma” mainly…
OMG! It’s going to be a working kitchen!
Today I spent an hour in the kitchen with Robert Mumper, a Yavapai County health/restaurant inspector. My kitchen is provisionally certified to make jams and jellies (and as of today…
Apple Cider Brined Turkey
If you’ve bought a turkey from me–or even if you haven’t–this is the recipe to use. Trust me, you’ll never go back to roasting a bird! A few people have…
Pop Goes the …???
Oh my goodness, it stinks in here today. Moosie, my Akita/Sharpei mix dog, injured–or possibly killed–some very smelly creature last night. Not a skunk because the smell is more musky…
Sugared-out and Eyes Streaming
First, I love sugar, or I thought I did. I mean, what’s not to like? It’s sweet, and sweet is good, right? As “THEY” (that’s the ubiquitous they, that mysterious…
Garden Deprived
One of the hardest things for me to give up in my recent divorce, when I became the only farmer here, were my gardens. But the choice had to be…
Ballet-Slipper Hooves?
My new heifer Hannah Mae is two weeks old today. It’s stunning to me how tiny she seems when compared to her big “brother”, Georgie–my orphan calf who’s five months…
The Rapscallion
I used to be afraid of cows. After all, a grown Jersey cow can weigh 1000 pounds and maliciously stand on your foot because she’s angry at you. But now…
The Dance of Dysfunction
After my recent post on what went wrong with my marriage, a friend called and confronted me. She felt I’d been disingenuous and given myself a break in the responsibility…
Mayonnaise
For my first recipe I’m publishing the one concoction I use most of all: Mayonnaise. If you have a food processor, this recipe is so simple and so easy that…
Mammal Emotions
So here’s little Georgie, our mother-less calf, reluctantly adopted by Elsie when she realized that all the other cows were dead. I watched him today as Hannah was coming into…
Welcome Hannah!
At 1:30 this afternoon (August 20th) Elsie gave birth to a heifer, Hannah. The new arrival is tiny (for a cow–not more than 40 pounds) and adorable, and already up…
The Wee Hours
Why, oh why, am I typing at 4:00 AM? Blame it on Bear, or rather Moosie. At 1:45 AM I was startled from my well-deserved slumber by Bear barking. Now,…
Sic et Non
That’s Latin for “Yes and No”. That’s how I feel about being 60. In the YES category are: I don’t care what people think about me, because I like me. …
She must have eaten a bee!
It was a weird weekend…! It started with me finding this turkey hen. She’s one of the 3 moms with the newest babies (unlike chickens, turkeys mother in groups). I…
Georgie
This is Brighty’s calf Georgie giving Tom a hard time. At the end a few of Tom’s babies appear with their moms.
Dead Turkey…not.
They do this to me all the time. I walk out and there’s a bird, sprawled lifelessly on the dirt. That is, until I get close. With a squawk they…
A Milestone!
It happened. At long last, my commercial kitchen is approved for use. Only for jams and jellies at the moment, but after 3 years of agonizing struggle…IT’S DONE! Jalapeno Jelly,…
On how I got to be 60 and single
Let me start by saying that when the word “divorce” finally came up a year ago last June I was devastated. I truly thought this man I’d been married to…
Moosie makes a mistake
Okay, I have 15 new chickens. Well I had 15 new chickens. This morning I have 14. Chickens hate to have their routines messed with. If you move their coop…
Old Farmer-ess
Farmer-ess. That’s like being a goddess but a lot healthier. And maybe a little sleep-deprived. I start my days at 5:00 AM because the house cats begin suggesting it’s time…
Shrink Wrapping Birds
So I slaughtered 17 chickens for some folks and this time I wanted my work to look professional. Thus the shrink wrap bags. The tube channels the air out of…
Hair Doodads
This is for any long-haired girl or woman who has stayed at my house and lost a pony tail band. I am presently rearranging my breakfast nook area into my…
© Denise Domning, 2023