They say every summer has a story. Around here, it's the summer of love. S U M M E R is like the ultimate one-night stand: hot as hell, totally thrilling, and gone before you know it. S U M M E R where all the days run ...
Pantry Reorganization
Lately I have seen a lot of bloggers posting about re-organizing their pantries. I don't have a pantry per se, but I did convert a couple of large cabinets on the service porch into pantries. They have gotten so disheveled I couldn't find anything in ...
Laziest Goats on Earth
Laverne and Shirley, twin sister fainting goats could not possibly be lazier. If I didn't have almost three years worth of feed invested, I'd be asking for a refund. Really girls? ...
Animal Sightings
Sometimes when you have animals, you see things you can't un-see. We are about to experience our first emu mating season here at the Buck 'n Run Ranch. I am afraid we are going to see things that we really wish we hadn't seen. Until then, there's ...
Somebody’s gonna need the Stick-of-Shame
If you are unfamiliar with horned goats, you may not know that they seem to always find a way to get their head stuck in a fence. Our fainting goat Laverne is guilty as charged. This is her fourth time since we moved to this property. Some goat ...
Book Give-a-way! Signed Copies of “Chickens in the Road”
Congratulations to the 4 winners of Chickens in the Road. Thank you to all who participated and we look forward to seeing you at the next giveaway. Michael and Mary O'Brien Farm blogger Suzanne McMinn from Chickens in the Road just ...
Martha Stewart, the chicken.
On October 4, 2008 we traveled with our granddaughters to CETA Foundation Ranch in Vacaville, CA to pick out our first chickens. Emily picked a Naked Neck and named her Judge Judy. Michael and I picked chickens, named them Nancy Grace and Paula Deen. ...
Emu Mayhem
A little back story: Chica has been on the outs with the other three emus since we moved here almost a year ago. For whatever reason, she started displaying mating behavior quite early. That set her apart from the others and resulted in her being ...
Goats vs. Terrier
Fainting goats Laverne and Shirley tolerate Tucker as long as he stays on his side of the fence. Shirley is just curious about Tucker. Laverne wants a piece of him! Today Laverne and Tucker got into a little disagreement. In this case, good fences ...
Pasture Morning
The farm animals are at their best in the morning. The chickens are noisy, the donkeys are goofy, the emus silly, and the goats clumsy. I love my mornings in the pastures feeding the animals. I offered to trade shifts with Michael the other day, but ...
Intruders
Lately the locals have been making pests of themselves on our property. I know this because I relocated my office temporarily to my upstairs bedroom until the downstairs air-conditioning is replaced next week. Being upstairs all day has ...
They were faking lazy.
Laverne and Shirley, our fainting goats, are lazy goats. They spend all day like this. Or like this. They might lift their heads from time to time. Sometimes they watch The Nature Channel, lying ...
The night shift.
The routine animal chores take place twice daily at the Buck 'n Run Ranch. Scratch is tossed out for the chickens, the emus and goats are fed, and the donkeys get a carrot and their fly masks put on or taken off. I am a morning person so I take the ...
Laverne and Shirley
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iPad in the pasture
I took my iPad out with me this morning when I went to feed the animals. They were all very cooperative with my picture taking, with the exception of mini donkey Diana. Imagine that. :-) I am pretty sure I heard her say "Get that thing outta' my ...
Weekend Wrap-Up
I spent a lot of time cooking and photographing food this weekend. I learned that French fries need to be photographed almost immediately as they come out of the fryer. If not, they start to wilt and look unappetizing. I managed to get a couple of ...
Emus Love Water
Emus love to get wet and muddy. We used to hose them off several times on a hot day. They even like to swim. At the last property we owned they had a pond to cool off in. Honestly, they love a good wallow in a mud puddle even more than a swim. Here ...
Little green apples and other stuff
We had a glorious morning here at the Buck 'n Run. Michael mowed the grass yesterday, the sun was shining, it was 65 degrees. It was a perfect morning. I took my camera with me hoping to get some pictures of the baby chicks that hatched under my ...
Laverne! Really? Again?
I was out taking video of the emus this morning. An online friend who lives in the Australian bush and researches emus asked me to videotape Chica strutting and drumming. I was doing that this morning, and if you look closely at the video, you'll see ...
Louis has a boo-boo.
Louis, the sweetest of our four emus, has an injury. I noticed it a few days ago. It is a large hematoma and feather loss on his back. He seems to be acting perfectly normal despite his injury. Well, as perfectly normal as an emu is capable of ...