Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The chicks are growing up!

Goldie and the Twins have been on their own since Goldie went back to the flock.  We have been putting them in a tote with a lid and carrying them from their nest in the water tank in the old barn to the Moop each night, trying to get them used to being with the flock.  The hens are not very nice to them.  When they hop out of the Moop in the morning, their mission is to find a place in the fence that they can squeeze through, and still being small enough, they find one.  Then they run around outside the chicken run all day, free from the pecking and abuse of the older hens.  Then the cycle starts over again, and we haul them back to the Moop the next evening.

Late yesterday afternoon, I opened up the gate into the chicken run and closed all of the doors into the old barn, hoping that the chicks would go into the Moop on their own, since access to their nest was blocked.   Then at dusk I sneaked out to the Moop to see what was happening.

Little Susie was in the Moop!  Such a smart little girl!!  The Twins were bedded down under the Moop, and it took Clay and me working at it a few minutes to get them both out and put inside the Moop, but we got it done.  We will do the same thing tonight and hope for the best. 

Another batch of chicks is on its way to being part of the larger flock.  :)

Friday, October 4, 2013

Fridays off - it's like summer vacation, only in the fall!

The Farmers Market in South Bend is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, year round.  I look forward to being there.  It is a great place to be three days a week. However . . .

April through September, we are open on Fridays as well.  That extra day seems to push it from a pleasure to a job, if you know what I mean!

On Tuesday and Thursday, Annemarie, whose mother has the booth next to me, opens for me and works at my booth until I come in with the raw milk and market baskets at about 11:00 am. But on Fridays, Annemarie is not there.  Having your booth open on Friday is voluntary, so many are empty. 

Fridays are pretty dead; being late is not a big deal.  I try to get there by 9:30, but I usually roll in an hour later.  The lunch counter at the market is pretty awesome, and we have many regulars who are there every day, so most of my business occurs over the lunch hour.  But that doesn't mean I'm not busy.  It is the perfect time to dust jars on the shelve, do inventory, make shopping lists and sometimes get out from behind the booth and do a little shopping myself.  Friday has its redeeming qualities.

Today is the first Friday off, and it is quite lovely!  I'm playing catch-up with paperwork, and will be heading down to the soap room when I'm done with lunch.  Today I need to make Belly Butter, Drummer's Hands and Organic Yarrow Cream.  It will be nice to have the luxury of getting this stuff done now, instead of cramming it into my evening, or worse yet scurrying around in the morning trying to make sure the products are ready to go by the time I leave.  No late arrivals on Saturday!  I'm out the door by 7:00 at the latest, and it means getting up by 4:30 if I have product to make before I leave.  Ugh!!  But not tomorrow.  I can "sleep in," alarm won't go off until about 5:45.  Yup, I love my Fridays off.