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3/10 am Wednesday It's another faultlessly clear cold day about 10f. None of the animals are complaining. The wind has died down. Little Buffy hen is getting her nerve up to hop off her perch without being pushed. She darts around and grabs some feed and water but not enough to lay eggs on. As soon as she has had a few bites she goes right back to her hiding place. She is an odd looking bird about 10" high with a fluffy head, skinny neck, round body and fluffy legs. She has an upright posture which makes her look rather like Big Bird. 3/10 pm My new milk customer, Nancy, came back for two more gallons today. Helen gave 1.5 gal today. Ten eggs. I need an egg customer. [To Top]

3/11 Thursday This morning I polished up my collection of eggs and took four dozen down to a little health food store that opens on Thursday. They gave me a dollar a dozen. They are nice eggs, all different sizes and colors and taste great. I sorted out all the bantam eggs and made a four eggs custard using eight little eggs. My vet was here today and I gave him some lunch with the custard for dessert. As he was leaving I saw a long new trailer home gliding into position on the lot of my burned out neighbors. It snowed much of the day, slushy snow. Temp about 30f. Eight eggs today plus several bantam eggs. About 1.5 gal milk. [To Top]

3/12 am Friday It's overcast today with more snow expected. Temp last night did not fall below freezing. Helen gave a bit over a gallon this morning. Helen's total today was about 1.8 gallons. 3/12 pm We did get a little more snow today and did not see the sun. Eight eggs from the layers plus four bantam eggs that I know are fresh because I've been watching the nests. I made my favorite lemon bar recipe today using a collection of bantam eggs that I didn't dare sell because they were cracked from freezing or of indeterminate age. I broke each one separately into a cup. All were fine except two had stiff yolks because of freezing. I used six where the recipe calls for three eggs. I am going to post this recipe on my web page because it is so easy and very tasty.[To Top]

3/13 am Saturday Fine weather today, well above freezing and bright sun. Helen gave 1 gallon + 1 pint this morning. Either her production is responding to the breath of spring or she is not having to put so much energy into keeping warm. To rejoin the steers, Helen has to walk down a narrow passageway. I go down it and open the latch leaving the door slightly ajar, then walk back out and ascend the ladder to the hayloft. She leaves when she is ready. This morning Henry, the adventuresome Jersey steer, nudged open the door and came racing up the passageway to join her. I jumped off the third rung of the ladder and landed in front of him. He was so startled he pranced backwards down the passage pretty much on his hind legs. I had to laugh at him. Later I noticed Helen out my back window chewing bark off a cedar post.The boys put barbed concertina wire along the back of the garage shed which has cedar shakes so the cattle can't get at those any more.. They had been tearing them right off the wall. What can it be about cedar? 3/13 pm This morning I spied a little hen sitting on top of some hay bales and later when she was off the nest I counted 10 eggs. I took eight. None had been frozen. I found three more bantam eggs here and there but only five from the layers. I guess they are having a day off. My neighbors whose place burned last month are now connecting up their temporary home, a very commodious trailer. They also have an adorable new puppy, an eight week old Samoyed, same breed as the one they lost in the fire. They gave me a goose egg and promised a couple more.. I'm going to try to hatch them. [To Top]

3/14 am Sunday Once again last night it did not freeze. I can tell without looking at the thermometer because the cow wash cloth which I leave out in the unheated buttery freezes stiff as a board most nights. I always pour a gallon of boiling water over it in the wash-up bucket . This is what I take to the barn. Helen gave one gallon plus one glassful this morning and the hens had laid five eggs by 8am. The bantam roosters are responding to Spring. Now every morning a couple of them are assuming classic poses for a little cock fight. They jump at each other a few times but forget about fighting when I throw down cracked corn. 3/14 pm Helen and the boys were out there stripping bark again today. Not only have they eaten all the cedar they can find but they have also stripped the staghorn sumac. I doubt there will be a surviving bush. This has never happened before. About 1.6 gallons today. One dozen eggs counting nice fresh bantam eggs. [To Top]

3/15 am Monday This morning I awoke to a heavy snowfall. It is coming straight down and is very beautiful. Helen was crabby this morning for no reason I could think of unless it was that I was a half hour late milking. She hit me across the face with her tail which was wet from standing out in the snow.. That is very annoying because even a light switch of a tail is painful when it hits one's eyes. But it's a waste of time getting mad at a cow although I did say "Helen!". I had just combed out her tail as I do every morning when I brush her so at least it was clean. She gave 1 gallon plus 1 pint. The layers were back on the job. I got seven eggs by 8am. 3/15 pm I had eight grosbeaks at the feeder today. This is the first time I have seen them in months. Also, the chickadees are getting up their courage to come for the black thistle seed and black sunflower seed. The cover for them near the feeder is poor, just a tangle of bare rose canes. I spent time today getting a place ready to house the bantams. The boys nailed new chickenwire over the front of a run-in area behind the barn two weeks ago. I put some boards up into the rafters to serve as perches. It will take some more work before I can start putting birds in there. I find there are lots of places bantams could still escape. Helen gave 1.75 gallons today. And I got 13 eggs counting the bantam eggs. I sold two gallons of milk today and a dozen eggs. [To Top]

3/16 am Tuesday It's colder and a violent wind is rearranging yesterday's snow. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose power. The cows don't seem to be bothered but all the chickens make clear they hate it. But Helen gave a scant gallon this morning. 3/16 pm The wind is still howling. The chickens are miserable. All the same I got about a dozen eggs, I lost count. Helen gave 1.75 gallons. I always spend extra time stripping so that she doesn't dry up. It's supposed to come on warm after this wind settles down. If the cold weather doesn't return I will have plenty of hay. I'm using two bales a day for the three animals. [To Top]

3/17 am Wednesday Sunny, still windy, definitely warmer. With longer days and thawing the barn begins to look awful. Time for some housekeeping out there. A gust blew open the door of the corridor where Helen exits and Henry, her nine month old steer, came prancing in before I could stop him. He frightened the bantams so 20 or more flew into the air squawking and making a cloud of dust. He seemed to enjoy this and circled around saying Ha Ha, or so I imagine. Got a bit over a gallon of milk this morning. 3/17 pm The wind let up and we now have lots of slush. I worked on the bantam area where I hope soon to confine them. My work was to a low standard and included chinking some gaps with rolled up paper feed bags. Later I saw Henry out in the barnyard shaking one like a dog with a sock. He had pulled it on through from the outside. You'd never see Herbie, the black and white Holstein, playing... Helen gave 1.75 gallons today. Seven eggs today plus three bantam eggs. I have a goose egg that Melody and Stewart gave me. They said it would hatch if I could find an incubator. I can't find one. But a bantam has gone broody. She was sitting on the ivory billiard ball. After dark I returned to the barn and took it away and gave her the goose egg. I wonder if she is up to the task. She is pretty small. The egg must weigh half what she does. [To Top]

3/18 The hen was off the nest but the goose egg was warm. She was off having her breakfast. Her husband was hanging about watching the nest. He must be some proud of that egg. By the time I left the barn she was back on the nest. When I move the bantams I'll have to try not to snatch her husband. They all look much alike but he is somewhat larger and shinier than most. Helen came in and left in orderly fashion this morning. She gave one gallon. It is so balmy and so much snow has melted off the plowed section of lawn that the bantams were all outside and even the cats were slow to appear for their breakfast. 3/18 pm Some other hen popped her egg under the setting hen. They do that. I took it away. We had warmish slushy weather today, not weather to love. Helen gave 1.75 gallons. I got 14 eggs and sold four dozen to the healthfood store. [To Top]

3/19 am Friday Weather here not all all nice. 34f, blowy, damp, muddy, slippery. There are patches of lawn showing which is encouraging. The fields are still entirely covered with snow. The bantams are having so much fun outside that they had not eaten the pan of feed which as usual I had left out for them. This is the first time this has happened. I spied a new nest this morning. The clamour of a dozen roosters surrounded me and Helen during milking but we ignored it. They get up on high places and scream at each other. One gallon of milk this morning. The bantam on the goose egg remains faithful to her task. 3/19 pm I milked extra early so as to go to the benefit supper for Melody and Stewart who got burned out in February. Helen wasn't quite ready to give me 1.75 gallons; she missed it by a pint. I think I got 18 eggs today half being bantam eggs. I used a bunch of bantam eggs in a double chocolate pie for the supper. It went fast. [To Top]

3/20 Saturday Gusty all day with flurries. Little Buffy was in a laying box this morning. I checked back later and she had laid an egg! So she must be getting enough to eat. She darts out and gobbles as fast as she can especially very early or late when others are eating. I got 20 eggs today and not from finding a big nest. It was all in ones, twos and threes. More than half were bantam eggs. Stewart stopped in with more feed for his steers. He said the benefit dinner brought in close to $1000. But he is still depressed about the loss by fire of his dog, guns and memorabilia from his father. [To Top]

3/21 Sunday I got to the barn a half hour late. All the bantams were out foraging. There are patches of grass showing. Helen gave slightly under a gallon. Later I put a few things on the pulley clothesline which I seldom use in winter, but now spring is officially here and there is some pale sun today. The line runs out the back of the garage and over the paddock where the cattle walk to drink. Henry stretched his neck up and did his best to pull things down. I won't be surprised if this afternoon I discover tea towels on the ground. And this from my son in Australia who read about my bantam and her attentive spouse: "That is very funny about the bantam with the goose egg. We had a pair but something killed the little half-bantam rooster. He was just the same about his little girlfriend - so funny to watch. Especially because he was such a scruffy little bugger. Half mini-silky, I think. A very unfortunate cross, looks-wise. 3/21 pm The predicted flurries did not occur and the temp got up to 44f but the sky was mostly dark. Spring is holding back. Helen gave only 1.5 gallons. I got 15 eggs including the bantams. It is quite fun looking for their nests and picking up eggs. Too bad there are no kids here to enjoy it. [To Top]

3/22 am Monday I awoke this morning to discover the power was out and the phone was dead. The snow turned out to be hard rain. It makes one aware in a hurry how many tasks are electricity or phone dependant. I am fortunate to have a constantly running spring which fills a granite sink in my kitchen and an Aga cooker which operates without electricity. I also have a fireplace in the kitchen. (Before anyone feels envy, I must add that apart from those lovely features my kitchen is awkward, almost devoid of counter or cabinet space or proper lighting.) The stock water is provided by a drilled well with electric pump so that is a problem in case of a prolonged outage in freezing weather or a drought. The rain had melted most of the ice around the barnyard water trough, a huge Rubbermaid product which spent the winter upside down and frozen into the mud. I was able to free it up and position it under the barn eaves to catch rain water. But the outage only lasted about 2 hours. Helen gave a bit less than a gallon this morning. The hens are all crabby. They hate rain. 3/22 pm It rained all day and the river is ready to spill over its banks. One of my "fraidy cats" that has never let me touch her had kittens today on an old blanket in the garage right where everyone walks past. She is less than a year old and small. This is her first litter. I suppose she didn't know what was happening to her. My first hint of the event was hearing that high pitched desperate mewing of a lone kitten. I suppose she jumped up and ran when Muffin or I walked by. I left it where it was, put Muffin in the house, and tiptoed away. Soon she came back and laid down with it. She remained curled around so I can't see how many there are. Helen gave 1.5 gallons today. I got one dozen eggs not counting the one that broke when I stuck it in my pocket where I had some nails. I got a pocket full of egg. [To Top]

3/23 am Tuesday Helen and the boys have been drinking rainwater from the tub under the barn eaves. The rain has quit but the tub is still half full. After I threw down hay this morning I noted Herbie, the Holstein steer, butting Helen away from the feeder. He is getting aggressive again even though he was dehorned. About once a week I make a gallon pot of skim milk yogurt for the layers. I took them a quart or more this morning along with other scraps. It makes a good use of skim milk which they otherwise would walk in, spill, or simply not drink. They like the yogurt. I give them a pound or so of cracked corn every morning which they love. This would be enough to depress laying were it not for the added protein from the yogurt. [To Top]

I set a saucer of cream down near Fraidy Cat. She growls and huddles with a look expressive of both fear and pleading. She wouldn't move ten inches to reach the cream. I carefully moved it closer and a few minutes later when I peaked around the corner at her she was drinking it. Later I gave her more and some ground meat. She ate it all without moving off her kittens. After awhile another cat knocked a lawn sprinkler down the stairs from the attic right next to her. This scared her right out of sight. So I was able to count the kittens, an unbelievable five. One is grey stripy, the rest are black. Helen gave over a gallon this morning. 3/23 pm Today I noticed that one hen among the bantams is growing bigger and looks almost like a layer. When she perched on a ladder I caught her with my 'grabbing her legs from the back' trick. Then, with the pruning shears I keep in the barn for this very purpose, I snipped offer her pinion feathers. I put her in with the layers and she settled right down. She is a quiet bird. Helen gave more than 1.75 gallons today. And I got 15 eggs. [To Top]

3/24 am Wednesday It's a fine sunny day. Helen and the boys have returned to use of their high tech water system under the garage. It's got a warmer in it. I suppose they didn't choose to use their soft noses to break the ice on the tub of rainwater under the eaves. Fraidy Cat hardly growled at all when I put ground meat down in front of her this morning. I wonder if she will move her family tomorrow? They often do on the third day. Then, half the time inexperienced mothers forget some of the litter leaving me wondering what to do with a couple of blind and weeping kittens. Helen gave one gallon this morning. 3/24 pm Dark and blowy today, not very cold. Buffy, the timid bantam that resembles Big Bird in miniature, was milling around with the others at midday when I collected eggs. She is laying about every other day now, and eating regularly. I have a pair of piliated woodpeckers living in a dead tree. They are very handsome. Helen gave only about 1.6 gal. today. 15 eggs [To Top]

3/25 I raced off to town this morning with four dozen eggs for the health food store. My eggs are better than those fancy high priced eggs from hens said to have a "pure vegetarian diet" (they lie) and "receive no animal fat in their diet" (there's none in the ordinary layer mash either). Later when I collected eggs Buffy was on the perch next to the highest nest waiting in line while the other bantam laid her egg. There is this second bantam that was given me with Buffy. She doesn't seem to have any self esteem problem and is always front and center. She is red. Most of the snow is off the front lawn and the free living bantams are all over the place now. I found a nest with 9 eggs so ended up with 25 eggs today. 1.6 gal from Helen. [To Top]

3/26 am Friday One of Fraidy Cat's kittens died. I found it stiff and cold at the edge of her blanket. It appeared to have accidentally crawled off in the wrong direction. A wrinkly old dog blanket wasn't a real smart choice for a nest. It's bright and sunny today but colder. Helen gave over a gallon this morning. 3/26 pm On my way home from Farmington what should I see out in the north field but Helen, Henry and Herbie running around like crazy and kicking up their heels. The sun today has some power in it and melted off at least half of the snow in that high field. I'm afraid I spoiled their fun by closing off the gate after they came back to the barn. Tomorrow I'll take a tour around the field and check the fence before I let them back in there. Suki, one of my house cats, was running in and out crying. She was ready to have kittens and yesterday I opened a file drawer and lined it with a towel but of course she spurned that. There is a playroom over the kitchen, a sort of attic space which cats like, accessed by stairs from the kitchen. I went up the front stairs to remove the styrofoam panel that blocks it off in winter. By the time I was back to the kitchen she had caught the scent of playroom air and was up there checking out boxes.. Within about 15 minutes she was having kittens in a box of books. After milking I looked at her again and as I suspected, kittens were slipping down into cracks among the books. One poor little wet thing was standing on its hind legs in a crevice trying to get out. I emptied out another box, lined it with a towel, and moved Suki and her partially delivered family to better quarters. She herself was hand raised so isn't shy of me. About an hour later she raced down to the kitchen and demanded a snack. I gave her a saucer of cream. She drank it and raced back upstairs. Helen gave more than 1.75 gallons today. I lost count of the eggs but it was well over a dozen.[To Top]

3/27 am Saturday Helen was happy this morning even though I was late. The sun is bright. Got one gallon of milk. Off I go with my bucket of tools to mend fence. 3/27 pm All three cattle had been right round the fence inspecting it. Helen had stopped short of the farthest north corner where the snow is still thick but Henry's tracks went all the way. Fortunately there were no serious breaks in the fence. I only had to drive one new staple. At a few points I broke off branches along the woods to make crutches for low wires so there is at least the visual effect of a fence. But it is not into the swampy woods that they are likely to head. Although the field is now three quarters bare, a lot of the walking was on snow, step, step, step, sink over my boot. So it was slow going. As usual along the stretch that borders the road there were beer bottles and cans thrown into the field. I guess people around here aren't really poor. Maine has a bottle deposit and every one of those has a 5 cents or more deposit. I put them in my bucket. I went around all three fields and along the river. I saw no moose tracks or damage and few other tracks except of crows. The cattle had been along the riverbank. The river is very high and is flowing swiftly and silently. Suki is taking good care of her family of four. Some little cousins came today and picked them up but she just lies there and purrs. Helen gave slightly over 1.5 gallons and I got 15 eggs. It was up over 50f today. [To Top]

3/28 Palm Sunday When I let Helen out of her stanchion after milking on her way back to her quarters she has to pass the pan of food I keep out for the bantams. I always whisk that pan out of sight or she will stop and eat it. In the evening the birds are already roosting so they don't remind me to put it back out. Consequently about half the time I forget. That means it isn't there at their breakfast time. Now that the snow is melting I always know if I forgotten to put out their feed. A great committee of bantams comes nearly to the house to request food. They make it real clear what they want. One gallon of milk this morning. 3/28 pm I put a purple dress and blue towel on the line today and wheeled them way out to the end so they would be too high for Henry to molest. Henry could reach. So I wheeled them back in but they caught in a tree. I could barely get them down with a broom. What a pest he is!. It was warm today, up to 55f. A bantam has gone broody in the hayloft. If she's still sitting tight by tomorrow night, I think I'll set her with a few eggs from the large layers. The bantam on the goose egg is still sitting tight. She gets off only for a fast snack. 1.75 gallons today and 15 eggs counting bantam eggs. [To Top]

3/29 am It rained an inch or so during the night and carried off a lot more snow. A black and white speckled bantam hen has been laying her egg in Helen's feed pan. There is always a bit of hay in there because she gets a flake of her special treat hay at milking time. That little hen was sitting in the feed pan when I went to pour Helen's grain in. I lifted her out and set her in another likely spot but she wasn't satisfied. All through milking she loitered around us and the minute I let Helen out she hopped right back in the pan to lay. The hen in the hayloft which I hoped to set was off her nest this morning and the eggs were cold. So I'll have to find another broody hen. I know I am not finding all the bantam nests. I've been searching the ads for some sheep. Daughter Sally wants wool suitable for rugmaking. So far the sheep advertised are either purebreds three or four hundred dollars each or are already sold when I call. One gallon this morning. Twenty-one eggs today (found a nest with 9 and took 7) Over 1.75 gallons milk. [To Top]

3/30 am Tuesday It's damp and overcast today, well above freezing. I have planted seed trays of leeks and Savoy cabbage. The bantams are now ranging very far from the barn and appear to be finding bugs judging from the way they scratch and peck. One gallon this morning and a bit more. Helen is very friendly lately. She has rubbed off some patches of winter coat. Redwing blackbirds are at the feeder. I saw one robin but Cousin Marcia has a whole flock. 3/30 pm After this evening's milking I tried to take pictures of Helen and the boys. But they wouldn't pose. All they do is try to lick my hair. I've continued checking periodically under the bantam on the goose egg in case other hens have put their eggs in her nest. But after the first few days there have been none. I wonder if they somehow know that after about three days the eggs would not get fully incubated. A hen will remain on her nest with chicks under her for as much as two days if she believes more will hatch. Then she and the chicks move off the nest to feed and any unhatched eggs chill. 1.75 gallons today. 15 eggs. [To Top]

3/31 am Wednesday Another fine sunny day. Quite windy so it seems colder than the thermometer reading of 45f. The bantams have divided themselves in three separate flocks of about 10 each. The layers still hate going out into their run which is part mud, part icy snow patches. But I make them come out by sprinkling their corn out there. I'm making them a couple of gallons of clabbered skim milk today. I've gotten pretty far ahead on skim. A couple of customers didn't make it last week. Anybody with a cow needs to have a plan for the extra skim or it will break your heart. The cream of course can be made into butter which is easily stored. If I don't want to make cheese I can always clabber it for the hens. 3/31 pm I went out about 4:30 to milk and the bantams were already in the rafters. The roosters all came raining down ahead of the hens in case I was passing out feed. I guess a couple of them must have bumped into each other because they immediately started a proper little cock fight in the declining sunbeams. They were a perfectly matched pair (Poorly matched ones don't fight.) They really are very entertaining. Heads lowered, golden hackles extended in a ruff, they jump at each other in unison striking chests together. A tempest in a teapot. These only jumped about two feet into the air. But I once had a pair that started fighting in the morning with four foot leaps. They kept it up most all day. By afternoon they were still making weak little stumbling rushes at each other. Just didn't want to quit. Reminded me of some people. Today I ordered 20 broiler chicks to be delivered in May. The last supermarket bird I bought was utterly tasteless, I might as well have been eating tofu. About once a year I fall for one of those beautiful looking roasters and am always disappointed. Not sure how much milk I got tonight. I underestimated what was in the bucket when I strained it and it went all over the table. [To Top]

4/1 am Thursday I found the speckled bantam already sitting in Helen's feed pan this morning. Helen doesn't like that. I picked the little hen up and set her in another comfortable spot but she would have none of it. All through milking she dithered around us waiting for Helen to leave. Within seconds after I let Helen out that little hen hopped back in the feed pan and soon laid her egg. The barn water is running again. That was a surprise. The ground is still partly frozen. As I came in with the milk granddaughter Rosemary, traveling from Chicago, called to say she would be in Lewiston in 45 minutes on the bus. Lewiston is 45 minutes away so I left immediately. She is a farm work dynamo and set right to work digging in the garden, muddy though it is. Then I had another surprise. A lady who saw my "free kittens" sign stopped in and the only kittens I could show her barely have their eyes open. Then she saw pregnant Martha and I quipped "How about Martha? Take her and you'll have all the kittens you want." By golly she did! I lent her my cat carrier. Martha, who is not that used to being handled and never saw the lady before allowed herself to be picked up and set right in the carrier. Helen gave 1.75 gallons today. There were 15 eggs. [To Top]

4/2 am Friday Rosie was in the barn at milking time last night so shy Helen circled around instead of coming in. It looked as though she was about to go back outdoors so I ran over and closed the door to their loafing area. Unfortunately I forgot to go back later and open it. This meant the cattle couldn't go out to their water all night. I got one gallon this morning. They had not finished their hay. I guess they ran out of spit. 4/2 pm Such a fine day, nothing but sun. Rosie did a lot more digging. She also worked on the pen for the bantams. I sifted some lovely compost. Helen made up any deficit from this morning: 1.75 gallons today. 16 eggs. [To Top]

4/3 am Saturday Henry, the 10 month old Jersey steer, stood in the barnyard bellowing this morning for no reason I could figure out. I went out there to have a look at him and he danced all around me acting excited. Sometimes I think he forgets he isn't a bull. I reconnected the cattle watering tub in the barnyard this morning for the first time since last fall. The faucet just thawed out a few days ago. They haven't been drinking from the tub under the garage much lately. They like the snow puddles in the field. Helen gave a little over a gallon this morning. 4/3 pm Helen and the boys went all the way down near the river today to lie down and chew their cuds. They wandered all around the field first to see if there was any grass which there isn't. They are just so pleased to be back on the field on any terms, I guess. Rosie spent hours digging and after adding some lime and chicken litter I will be able to plant peas and carrots and spinach. The raised bed approach is a winner. The ground dries out way ahead of the rest of the ground. To call mine raised beds is a misnomer since they are just defined areas surrounded by turf. [To Top]

4/4 am Easter Sunday Last night after dark Rosie and I went out and caught about ten bantams and put them in the new section. What a fuss. Most were roosting too high to be removed even with a broom. The ones on a rafter which I could reach had their feet locked on was a grip which surprised me. This morning I caught a couple more when I threw out corn but I'm afraid that now they have told each other that I am in league with the fox. I'll have to think of another ploy. The landing net comes to mind. Once into their new quarters they are perfectly quiet. We aren't going to church today. I was defeated by the time change and a 9am Eucharist. I found another litter of new kittens in the barn. The mewing of one which had crawled away from its nest alerted me. This is another first time mother, frightened and nervous. Helen gave one gallon this morning. 4/4 Sons Mark and Martin came for the day. WE went up to the lake and climbed Center Hill, a rocky promontory. There was lots of snow and ice and despite good footgear I was thoroughly puffed by the time we reached the top, about a half hour climb. For dinner we had one of my hams from the pig I raised last year. It was pronounced delicious. After dark I went back to the barn with some larger eggs to put under the setting hen in the grain room. She has been sitting tight now for three days. The same kitten had strayed again from the nest and was mewing plaintively. The mother of course fled when she saw me. I put the kitten back and by the time I left the mother had laid down with them. I managed to catch one more bantam. I had to give up because while up the ladder I dropped my flashlight and it quit. I already had one under my arm so groped my way back down the ladder but had to turn on the overhead light. A sporadic flashlight glimmer merely causes them to murmur but with an overhead light they fly like pigeons. Helen gave 1.75 gallons today. She and the boys spent Easter in the farthest field. [To Top]

4/5 am Monday Another kitten from the new litter in the barn was cold and dead this morning. I saw how the mother drags the sucking kittens with her when she jumps up at the approach of anything, the silly creature. At least she doesn't dive into the hole in the wall behind her. If the kittens fell down there I wouldn't be able to reach them. She dragged one away when she saw me coming. I put it back. She is now down to two babies. To get into the new bantam pen I have to climb through a window and down a ladder. I have arranged some cardboard boxes with hay in them for nests. A rooster had overturned one on himself and been trapped in there since yesterday. He was pretty mad when I let him out. I had to break a half inch of ice on the outdoor water tub. Helen gave more than a gallon this morning. 4/5 pm Rosie and I fixed up a box of hay for the barn kittens and put them in it. Somewhat to my surprise the mother cat accepted this and is feeding them. Rosie did lots more digging in the veg garden. I'll be able to plant all kinds of early crops as soon as I haul down some manure. It's been a beautiful day. All the snow is gone except for where it was piled up. The cows make a great show of grazing even though there is virtually no grass. They enjoy trying. Helen gave more than 1.75 gallons today. Only one dozen eggs. [To Top]

4/6 am Tuesday Another beautiful day. Both barn kittens made it through the night in their new box. A rooster was trapped behind some chickenwire in the new bantam pen. Rosie and I managed to get him out. He was noisy and flappy and mighty glad to get out. We're off to Portland for Rosie's connection to Chicago and back to school. 4/6 pm I left at 9am and didn't get back until 5. All the critters got along fine except Muffin dog missed me so much she had eaten none of her food. And Suki, the cat with kittens upstairs in the house, had gone out before I left and didn't come when I called her. I started calling a long time before leaving but she didn't show up. When I got home she was standing by the door pretty well puffed up and I expect the kittens were mighty hungry. There was a surprise in the barn. Stewart, my nice neighbor, had put a female piglet in the box stall. It is just small, maybe 8lb. It too had been alone all day and was frightened but soon overcame its fear enough to drink a dish of milk. I think I'd better get a second piglet but can't reach Stewart this evening. Helen's production is rising. 1.9 gallons today. Only about a dozen eggs. Some were broken, as always happens if I can't pick them up midday. [To Top]

4/7 am Wednesday Stewart says he has another piglet which I can raise for daughter Sally but the rest are all males. He wants to get them bobbed before bringing one. The piglet was pretty well buried in hay this morning. I brought it a pan of warm milk with bread. It hopped right up when I held a piece to its nose. The weather today is cold and blowy. Helen gave 1 gallon. 4/7 pm Stewart brought over another piglet. I found him snuggled right down with his sister. I gave them a supper of warm bread and milk, after which they dug themselves back into the hay. I sprinkled more hay over them in hopes they will be warm enough. It's rather cold and there is a high, gusty wind that is sweeping through every crack in the barn. Helen and the boys came inside, I noticed, to chew their cuds. Only a little over 1.5 gal. today. Twenty eggs. One little bantam flew over the fence to the layers and I found her in one of their nests. She looks like the one that was laying in Helen's feed pan. [To Top]

4/8 am Thursday It's raining hard today. The freaky barncat mama has moved her kittens. I suppose they are now under the barn floor and if I see them again it will be as little wildcats, darnit. The piglets burst right out of their hay for their breakfast of sourdough wholewheat bread soaked in warm milk. They finished it off completely. The male is a more persistent eater. I have decided to name the female Gilda. She stops and wanders around while chewing. Helen gave one gallon. She must be finding a few green blades to nibble as her dung is now looking more like a normal cowpat, less dry. 4/8 pm Rain and wind all day with thunder and a few intermissions for five minutes of sun. I didn't get very many bantam eggs today. Time for another big nest search. But I did sell two and a half gallons of milk and another gallon yesterday and four dozen eggs. So I gave stale bread with curds and whey to the piglets for dinner instead of milk. Today I made two loaves of dense Bavarian rye. 1.75 gallons today and 10 eggs. [To Top]

4/9 am Friday It's a fine sunny day. The bantam on the goose egg was out this morning grabbing some breakfast so I took the opportunity to water the nest. I also turned the egg. To what extent egg turning is a requirement I don't know. I've read that this long honored assumption is now being questioned. A damp nest is definitely a requirement for goose and duck eggs. Anyway, I poured a little water around the edge of the egg. A skimpy gallon from Helen this morning. 4/9 pm All the layers got out of their pen today. They got out through a hole made in their wire by an animal. I forgot to mention that two days ago I noticed all the eggs had disappeared from two bantam nests where I usually find eggs. I always leave two behind. I was suspicious that it was a raccoon because the nests were in the hayloft. Now I'm sure. Also the cat dishes have been licked clean which cats rarely do. I do hope he doesn't get my hen on the goose egg, or the egg. There is chicken food out and milk in the cat dishes so perhaps that will satisfy him. I dug a fine barrowload of well composted manure out of a corner of the beefer pen where the cows eat hay. Well buried, I found a cowbell. It was covered with verdis gris and has a good tone. Helen only gave 1.5 gal today so I guess I spoke too soon about rising production. One dozen eggs. [To Top]

4/10 am Saturday No raccoon destruction during the night that I could see. I went out very late with a flashlight. The bantams have taken to roosting about 30' over my head in the rafters. How I'll catch them I do not know. I noticed timid little Buffy bantam who lives among the layers has got up her courage to roost up among the other birds instead of in her hidey hole near the floor. One scant gallon this morning. 4/10 pm It felt like November today. I dug in about half of the manure that I hauled yesterday along with some lime. I see my kale wintered over. That's a delightful surprise. Almost 1.75 gal today. 10 eggs. [To Top]

4/11 am Sunday I'm slow today, too late for church and even missed the trash collection. It's sunny today but cold. The prediction is for clouds and flurries. I had to break nearly a half inch of ice on the outdoor water tank. Helen gave a skimpy gallon. I can tell by the behavior of a couple of the banty hens when I scatter corn that they are on their breakfast break from setting. I can't stand there with the milk long enough to follow them back to their nests. No doubt they will lead forth another generation of chicks one day soon. Daughter Sally tells me that the incubation period for geese is 35 days. I hope that bantam on the goose egg can stick it out. We're already past when chicks would have hatched. 4/11 pm It has stayed cold all day (high of 44f) but there was little wind and the sun stayed out. Nonetheless I made a fire in the kitchen fireplace. Those piglets are amazingly hungry. There isn't going to be any further problem of what to do with extra milk. Starting tomorrow morning I shall be feeding them in a regular black rubber grain pan rather than my Pyrex baking dish that I started them off with. Their favorite is clabbered milk. They don't really go for the pig pellets. [To Top]

4/12 am Monday It's still cold today with scattered clouds. There was ice again on the stock water but quite thin. The piglets bounced around for their breakfast. Otherwise they mostly stay buried under the hay I gave them. Helen gave a scant gallon again. 4/12 pm Helen and the boys have started leaving hay. A couple of times now I've gone to put more hay out and the feeder was half full. Whenever the weather is halfway decent they are out grazing, little though there is. This evening one rooster was walking around confused and I saw that his head was all bloody and he could barely see. I guess I missed a major fight. Helen gave slightly over 1.5 gallons today. Nine eggs. I did find a nest with six bantam eggs but I'm not counting them because I'm not sure they are all fresh [To Top]

4/13 am Tuesday I didn't see anything this morning of that bloody rooster. Either he recovered enough to go out scratching with the others or he found a dark corner or the raccoon got him. I saw no pile of feathers. The (assumed, I haven't seen him yet) raccoon was right in the buttery last night where the cats eat adjacent to the kitchen. A dish of ham scraps I had left on their feeding table was licked clean. Those were tough old bits which no cat could have eaten. The weather today is raw and windy. The hens are all projecting a mood of dissatisfaction, something hens are good at doing. Helen gave a scant gallon. 4/13 pm It stayed cold all day and no fine weather is in the offing. Many parts of Maine got snow today. I found a ladder and stopped up another couple of gaps in my bantam confinement pen. The inmates now number only four. I hope to catch a few more tonight after dark. Helen gave a little over 1.5 gallons today. I think she might have given more but while I was milking a great cacophony broke loose behind our backs. It sounded as though a rooster had landed on a cat. The roosters are heavy and don't fly as well as the hens. There was a great screech followed by an answering squawk and cackling from every bird who heard. Helen jumped pretty much straight into the air. [To Top]

4/14 am Wednesday We're having another cold blowy uninviting day. The cattle did not half finish their hay last night. I can cut way back on what I give them now. I got one gallon from Helen. 4/14 pm Weather no better but the cows are grazing. I threw down a little more hay although it was scarcely needed. I think I saw the rooster that was in a fight on Monday. There is one that is limping and acting worried but the blood is cleaned off. A couple of layer hens got out and when I opened their door this evening to let them back into their side a bantam noticed them and I could see him thinking "Ha! New girls!" He chased them all the way into the hen room before he realized I had closed the door cutting off his retreat. Big Red, the resident rooster, sent him flying out the other door in a big hurry. Helen was back up to 1.75 gal. today. [To Top]

4/15 am Thursday More dreary weather. The cattle scarcely touched their hay last night but this morning Helen didn't want to leave her stanchion until she had finished all her special treat hay that she gets. I'm also giving her apples that didn't make it through the winter very well. She gave a scant gallon. 4/15 pm Again Helen didn't wish to leave her stanchion until she finished off all her hay. I don't like to rush her. Actually, it's almost impossible to rush a cow. She gave a total of 1.75 gal today. I think there are 14 eggs. The health food store didn't want any today as they had not sold out from last week. Perhaps I can give them away. [To Top]

4/16 am Friday I find that the bantam rooster who is in with my layers is the one that was bloodied in a fight. He still has a lot of dried blood on his head and part of his comb is missing but he can see. There does not appear to be any other physical damage but his spirit is broken. He has taken to hiding his head in nesting boxes. He is part Phoenix so quite a lot of elegant tail can be seen hanging down. The other limping rooster is perhaps his rival. I checked the goose egg while the hen was off this morning and it didn't feel as arm as usual. I hope she is not becoming discouraged. She did get back on. Helen gave 1 gal. this morning. 4/16 pm The defeated rooster is convalescing well. I noticed this afternoon he was ready to sit up and take nourishment. I managed to catch two bantam hens today. One was standing on the ladder and I grabbed her legs from behind. The other was on a nest. 1.75 gal. milk today. 1 doz eggs. I am three dozen ahead now on eggs so will give them to the food bank. [To Top]

4/17 am Saturday That recuperating rooster jet propelled himself out into the chicken run when I opened the door this morning, flew over the fence, and I haven't seen him since. Last night it rained and this morning Helen came in all wet. Cows will usually keep grazing in the rain if it's not too heavy and there isn't much wind. She gave a gallon this morning plus an extra glassful for me. 4/17 pm Around midday I discovered what I didn't notice this morning. The raccoon had destroyed the nest of the hen sitting in the grain room. I had put seven large eggs from the layers under her and was hoping for some new young layers. I don't believe he ate the hen as I did not see feathers. But he ate six eggs, left shells around and one intact eggs. She had only about a week left to set. I'm pretty mad about this. Also. I don't know of another setting hen to start eggs under. I have left out chicken food but I think I will put out a bunch of cat food. This may save the hen on the goose egg for one more night. I'm afraid that at this stage of her setting if I move her into a cage she'll get mad and give up. The bloody rooster hopped back in with the layers tonight. Helen gave 1.75 gals. I got 11 eggs. I'm not having much luck finding bantam eggs lately. [To Top]

4/18 am Sunday We've got some sun today. I will surely get into the garden. My hen on the goose egg made it through the night without getting eaten. The panful of cat food was empty so I guess that slowed down the raccoon. This could be an expensive security measure. Helen gave a scant gallon this morning. 4/18 pm Helen and the boys had a lovely day. The sun shone about half the time and there was a lot of wind but they don't seem to mind that. I did a bunch of pruning of grapevines and roses. I don't like wind at all. The bloody rooster didn't choose to sleep in with the layers tonight. I caught two more bantam hens today, one with the landing net, one while she stood on the ladder and I grabbed her legs from behind. It's amazing how strong those little bitty birds are. Helen gave about 1.6 gal. today and I only got nine eggs. I imagine this reflects the fact that I am giving milk to the piglets and less to the hens so they get less protein. I watched the girl piglet, Gilda, for a while after milking and it seemed to me she was trembling. I put another bale of hay in with them so they will be sure to be dry. I heard spring peepers tonight for the first time. [To Top]

4/19 am Monday When I went out late to close in the hens I noticed The Bloody One had scooted back in with them under cover of darkness. He seems to have lost all his nerve but he still has his long tail. Instead of just leaving out cat food for the raccoon, I also left chopped apples covered with peanut butter. I hope to get him (more likely her) interested in some delicious food that cats don't eat. I have found where I can borrow a Havahart trap but all I will catch is cats if I put cat food into it. This morning the peanut butter had been licked off but the apples were not eaten at all. While I was milking the hen on the goose egg hopped off to cackle, highly unusual behavior. I went over to check the nest and sure enough she had laid an egg. This means her broodiness is breaking up. She may leave the egg. Helen gave one gallon plus a large glassful. 4/19 pm Today was truly springlike. My first daffodil is opening. There is only one small streak of ice on the north side of the house. A lovely bird was singing while I planted spinach. I believe it was a song sparrow. The piglets spend a lot of time scratching their backs on the wall. The male piglet has bloody scabs. I don't know what this is caused by. I'm not a pig expert. Today Helen gave just one cup short of 2 gallons! 14 eggs, mostly bantam. [To Top]

4/20 am Tuesday There was a skunk in the barn last night. The smell was so strong my nose is burning. All the cat food, peanut butter and raisin bait was gone. So now I have two predators to worry about. But the hen with her goose egg made it and she is still setting. Last night I cooked up frozen vegetables for the piglets breakfast and added vitamin C and Beta carotene to their food. Helen gave 1 gallon plus about 10 ounces this morning. I'm beginning to see a haze of green across the pasture. 4/20 pm My female piglet, Gilda, doesn't seem as hungry as the male. Also she was shaking a bit although it is not cold and she has plenty of hay. I'll look in on her late tonight when I hope to have the trap. Helen again gave just under two gallons today. I got 14 eggs. [To Top]

4/21 am Wednesday All I caught last night was a small, worried cat. But the goose egg survived another night. I called my neighbor about the scabs on my piglets. She tells me its scabs left over from burns they got when their place was burned out in February. Several of the piglets were scorched before escaping. It is a very fine sunny day today. Helen gave a gallon plus a pint this morning. 4/21 Helen gave two gallons today. I milked a bit late this evening. She was very touchy on her left front quarter. That is the quarter I always worry about because she had a severe cut on the teat last fall. I was able to milk her. Then I left her in the stanchion and went in the house for hot water . Also I made up a mixture of olive oil, vitamin E and tea tree oil which is irritant and may help increase blood flow to the quarter. I gave her a good swabbing with hot water then rubbed in my oil mixture. I rubbed the remaining oil on the backs of the piglets. They seemed to enjoy this. Later I called the vet to get his advice on using some intra mammary infusions I have on hand; he said to use them. Unfortunately I had let her out before phoning so can't stick one in until morning. I hate mastitis. [To Top]

4/22 am Thursday A miracle! I looked out the window at 6am and there were the cows grazing peacefully in the lower field. I thought "So far so good". At 7:30 they were still down there. I guess the grass finally is getting interesting. No amount of calling would budge Helen so I finally had to go down and drive her to the barn. She really didn't want to come and almost fled back down several times. Once into her stanchion I was amazed to discover her afflicted quarter felt perfectly normal. She milked out normally, no trace of heat or hardness. I never recall this happening before. I had come to the barn armed with ampoules of antibiotic but needless to say, instead I went back in the house and made up another batch of oil like last night. This time I added buckwheat honey. Science News and another respectable source has had articles indicating that the folkloric benefits of honey have a firm scientific basis. I slathered this on and let her back out. She gave 1 gal plus 3 cups. I rubbed the piglets with the remaining oil again. 4/22 pm Once again Helen didn't want to come home for milking. I called for 20 minutes but this time she finally came in. Her bag is still fine. I rubbed in my oil formula again and used up the remainder on the pigs. They are looking better, definitely. A neighbor brought a little girl over to see Helen while she was in her stanchion. Helen behaved well but the little girl was nervous. Some new trees sent by Sally arrived today, Mountain ash and a species of maple. [To Top]

4/23 Helen was far away again this morning but when I called her she turned toward the barn and began walking. The "boys" of course, follow. Her bag is still just fine but I rubbed in my oil mixture just the same and rubbed some onto the piglets too. Today is the day the goose egg should hatch it is going to. The hen and egg made it through another night. I floated the egg in my warm cow wash water and it stood on end, a very bad sign I think, little that I know about this particular subject. My Havahart trap contained another embarrassed cat this morning. They certainly don't care for the peanut butter bait so it must be cat curiosity. Helen gave 1 gallon plus about 1 cup. 4/23 pm The goose egg shows no sign of hatching yet. Helen gave just under two gallons again today. 14 eggs counting 6 bantam eggs. [To Top]

4/24 am Saturday We have an icy wind today straight out of Hudson's Bay. It is dry and sunny and 32f but feels much colder. It must have been colder during the night because I had to break ice on the stock water this morning. Helen came in without being called and all three ate hay. I guess it's no fun out in the pasture. She gave 1 gallon + 3 cups. I caught two more bantam hens this morning with the landing net. They were sitting on nests so it was easy. Son Martin and a friend turned up last night so that they could head up this morning to Sugar Loaf for what is probably the last day of snowboarding. I pounced on them to load the tiller into the van and I took it straight over to the repair shop this morning. 4/24 pm The cold wind kept up all day. I did manage to get another load of manure onto the garden. Helen acted flighty as cows (and horses) do in the wind. I had to walk way down into the field to call her. Then she tried to run back just as I had her to the door but I managed to head her off. Then she was fine. She gave 2 gallons + 3 cups today! I guess I'll have to take away the goose egg. I feel badly for the faithful little hen and her rooster who perches above her head every night. 10 eggs. [To Top]

4/25 am Sunday When I entered the barn this morning there was such a clatter from the trap that my hopes soared that I'd caught the raccoon. But it was just a bantam hen hurling herself at the sides of the cage. One more bantam into my penned up group. I have not caught as many as half and the free living crowd is wreaking havoc on my emerging tulips and every thing else. It's still cold today, in fact the prediction for northern Maine includes flurries but the sun is out and the wind has died so it's good weather for working outside. Helen came up to the barn when I called but was reluctant to come inside. She may have been worried about the flap from the trap. She gave 1 gallon + 5 cups this morning. I took away the goose egg. 4/25 pm The weather remained fine all day and I got some peas planted. It's old seed so I may have to replant. The pigs are definitely looking better. They still do a lot of rubbing but don't act as though they are miserable and are growing. I caught a bantam rooster this evening. He was pursuing a hen and she jumped up on a ladder. He jumped up behind her and was on top of her when I caught him by the leg as they wobbled on a rung. Helen gave 2 gallons + 1 quart today. 10 eggs. [To Top]

4/26 am Monday I didn't set the trap last night because the little hen is no longer on the goose egg. She was perching up where her mate always sat but now that she isn't sitting he went somewhere else. I put her in with the confined bantam tribe. Helen came in better this morning. I realized I have been overlooking the obvious as to why she has been hesitating. She didn't like that skunk smell. It had now nearly faded out. 4/26 pm I gave away three kittens today. Nine to go! I have to work out a better plan for pig feeding. When I open the door to go in with their food they try to rush out. I say "Back! Back!" but only my foot in their face stops them. Trying to teach manners to a pig is not easy. We had an electrical storm today with brief but violent wind and hail. Helen gave 1 gal. + 1.5 cups today. 14 eggs. [To Top]

4/27 Tuesday Most of the day I was gone to Portland to pick up Daughter Sally arriving from Alaska. She is a great admirer of cows and appreciater of raw milk, cream and butter. Things are looking better around the farm. The fields are greening up and all the animals are looking sleek. I got ten eggs from the confined bantams. They must be accepting their new quarters. Helen gave a bit under two gallons today. 17 eggs in all. [To Top]

4/28 am Wednesday It's a fine sunny day for Sally to walk the lines. Helen heard her voice in the barn and she is so shy it took me five minutes to coax her inside. I think she suspects everybody else of being the vet and likely to do something she won't enjoy. 4/28 pm We did find a few fence problems and made temporary repairs. Helen and the boys followed us everywhere just about in our pockets. We also walked down to the brook to see if the fiddleheads were up. They are barely up. Two more days I think. The weather was fine most of the day. Sally filled several planters with new plants and set out two Therese Bugnet roses and a new rowan. Helen gave a bit under two gallons today. 10 eggs. [To Top]

4/29 am Thursday Today is mild, damp and overcast. Helen was at the outer barn door like a good cow but I still had to coax her the rest of the way. She gave 1 gal + about a pint. 4/29 pm The cows had an interesting day following Sally around as she repaired fence. Also a crew from the Town came and rolled up snow fence. They aren't used to so much company in the pasture. 2 gal today and 14 eggs. [To Top]

4/30 am Friday A very fine day. Sally came to the barn after I had Helen safely in her stanchion, this cow being so very shy of strangers, and milked the front two teats. Sally is a good milker. She has kept goats for years. The free living bantams now scarcely touch the feed I put out for them. I guess they now get so many worms that they don't need it. 4/30 pm Superb weather today. Unfortunately we couldn't do much gardening because of a car appointment. But on the way home we stopped at the lake and admired the early spring silence and clarity. I was nearly an hour late to milk and Helen was nowhere to be seen nor did she come when called. Sally walked out and located her behind a group of trees. She gave over two gallons today. When we got home with the car there was a note on the door from folks who had come for kittens and helped themselves to two including one that was promised, a long haired grey. Fortunately I had the number of the lady who wanted him. It all worked out OK because she said "Oh, I was going to call you. They won't let us have a kitten here." [To Top]

5/1 am Saturday Another very fine day. Helen was grazing in the farthest field but came right home when I called. She gave a gallon plus a pint this morning. The confined bantams are laying lots of eggs. It makes me wonder where all the eggs are going from the hens that are still running free. 5/1 pm The cows had a fine day. Sally had to go after them again at milking time because I was late getting to the barn. Sally again did part of the milking. Helen gave two gallons plus 3 cups today. 14 eggs. Sally planted about 15' of a new windbreak to the west of the veg garden. One bush is Siberian Pea Shrub. The others are Balm of Gilead.

5/2 am Sunday Fair again today. This is such a dry spring. Helen was very reluctant to come inside the barn today. She arrived at the door without being called but it took me at least five minutes to coax her in with grain, all the while I am fending off Herbie and Henry. Once cows get worried about something they are as bad as horses always shying at the same old harmless post. She gave 1 gal plus 1 quart. 5/2 pm Very fine all day. I got lots of digging done and more seeds in, carrots, Brussels sprouts and dill. Whenever I'm not doing something else I am trying to dig out comfrey. It's a plague here. Sally has been fencing all day. We still hope to find some sheep and would have bought some before this if we could find some available without a four hour drive. This evening Helen was actually waiting in the beefer pen (run-in area) and walked right in for milking. She gave 2 gal. + 1 qt today. The defeated bloody rooster that was hiding out in with the layers has left. I've seen him once scuttling behind a dustbin. All that stuck out was his tail. [To Top]

5/3 am Monday Helen came in when I called her this morning but Herbie, the black and white steer, missed the call and missed his breakfast. Helen gave 1 gal + 1 qt. Two more kittens appeared in the barn. They are small but not newborn. I'll have to buy more canned cat food and tame them. So far I have given away six kittens. Sal found two more yesterday and brought them in the kitchen for taming. Now this means I have to find homes for eight. I hope I can capture some of the mothers for spaying. Some are very wild. This is discouraging. Every single one is black or black and white. Most are long haired. 5/3 Suki, the mother cat with four kittens in the house, has agreed to feed the two additional kittens. I went to town and bought her some canned cat food. This gave her the courage to feed the extras. They are all eating out of a dish too. Two people inquired today about grazing their animals on my fields. I said no to both. In late summer my poor fields give out if the weather is dry. But even if they didn't, I have a daily rodeo separating Helen from the steers at milking time. They would like to follow her in, and do if I am not quick. Then I have to be quick to pour out their feed without being mobbed when I have their feed bucket in my hand. I tried carrying a stick but pouring the grain takes two hands and the stick just gets in the way. Helen gave 2 gallons plus a quart today. [To Top]

5/4 am Tuesday The defeated Phoenix rooster was huddled outside the layer's door into their run this morning. I suppose he has decided that convenient access to feed and water is his priority. He is now blind in one eye. Helen came in pretty well but Henry, her Jersey steer, darted in ahead of her. He always prances along proudly. He doesn't seem to realize that her feed is in her stanchion, he is just seeking adventure. If he ever gets his head into that feed I won't be able to shift him until it's eaten it. Helen gave 1 gal + a bit over a quart. 5/4 pm A nice soaking rain at last! The woods were dangerously dry and of course the ground needs it. Sally has been working all day on the fence of the sheep paddock. We have found a place selling Jacob sheep and will go tomorrow to buy some. Hope the van is up to the trip. Also hope they don't hop around too much. The woman who owns them said somebody who bought a ram from her reported it broke the window of her station wagon on the way home. These are the kind of sheep with four horns. The Phoenix rooster has moved back in with the layers. He just cowers in a nest. Helen gave 2 gallons plus more than a quart today. 10 eggs. [To Top]

5/5 am Wednesday Helen gave 1 gal plus 1 qt this morning. But as I milked her left front quarter got harder rather than softer. She gave no evidence of pain. But before letting her out I went back to the house for the tea tree oil and rubbed it in well. She was very patient. Sally and I are off this morning to look at the Jacob sheep, a rare breed. It's a long way off and will take all day. 5/5 pm It did take all day. The drive was 2 1/2 hours each way. But the people turned out to be log cabin dwellers with no proper driveway and little sense of organization. The woman has permission to graze her flock on neighboring land which is unfenced. So she stands there several hours each day shepherding them. The land is quite barren. We had to wait until the sheep had grazed another half hour, then another half hour while she and her children caught the sheep of our choice, two ewes with lambs at heel and a handsome four horned ram.. We got them into the van, which I had been able to drive part way onto their property, just as it started to rain, a real cloudburst. The van, a huge '86 Dodge with rear wheel drive, immediately got stuck. More and more of the family showed up to put things under the wheels to provide traction. They and Sally pushed while I alternately backed up and attempted to race forward all to no avail. Finally Sally walked back to the main road and flagged down a motorist, a nice man with a new 4X4 Toyota. The sheep people had a chain and with this the stranger soon had us out. The sheep people had no vehicle of their own, no phone or electricity and besides they lived, deliberately, far from any amenities such as a towing service. Once back here at the farm the sheep started right in eating our good grass. Sally put bells on them. They aren't as wild as I feared. Helen's bag was in good shape again tonight perhaps from the tea tree oil application. She gave 2 gal and 5 cups today. 16 eggs. [To Top]

5/6 am Thursday The sheep are still happy this morning and enjoying their improved grazing. They don't seem to have figured out where their water is so Sally carried them a bucket. Helen was inside the beefer pen waiting for me this morning. No doubt curiosity about the sheep brought them in. Helen's bag was in good shape. This morning I have to get set up for my Cornish X meat birds. They have to be picked up this afternoon. 5/6 pm The chicks are as cute as expected. We dipped each beak in water to get them started. Otherwise sometimes they don't figure it out, and die. They seemed remarkably thirsty. I also got some started on mash but the rest figured that out by themselves before very long. Within two hours they understood eating, drinking and going to the light bulb for heat. So unless the electricity fails they should thrive. Helen gave 2 gallons + 3 cups today, down a bit. [To Top]

5/7 am Friday It's a misty moisty morning. Helen gave 1 gal. + 3 cups. Fortunately it's not very hot today. Otherwise the sheep would suffer, the two still in wool. 5/7 pm It stayed damp all day which all the animals seemed to enjoy. The chicks so far have all made it. They don't seem as vigorous as former lots I've had. I know they are warm enough because they aren't piled up and they do leave their inner room where the light is to eat and drink. The sheep are doing fine. Sally spends a lot of time admiring them. Helen gave 2 gal + 5 cups today. 26 eggs thanks to my finding another place the confined bantams are laying; up inside a crack in their wall!

5/8 am Saturday Another warm overcast day, quite pleasant actually. Helen gave almost 1.5 gallon this morning. She's really responding to the new grass. All three bovines are becoming nearly indifferent to their grain as the grass gets more lush. Sally and I took a walk into the lower field after breakfast and examined a tiny lily that grows by the river. I hope to learn its identity. On the way back we visited the place where wild asparagus grows and I picked a big handful. The chicks are showing their first feathers today. So far I have not lost any. 5/8 pm I had to leave today to pick up a friend in Lewiston and on my way stopped at the Farmer's Union in Auburn. Much to my surprise I was able to buy sheep shearing sheers. They are the ancient classic design, spring steel, $20. When I got home Sally and Rosie had partially sheared the ewe using sewing scissors. We are all looking forward to trying again tomorrow with the new shears. Today Helen gave almost 2.5 gallons. 15 eggs. [To Top]

5/9 am Sunday Daughter Sally and granddaughter Rosie were up before six, breakfasted on rice pudding and are off into the woods tearing out old barbed wire. It's very wet or they would be shearing. Helen gave almost 1.5 gal. this morning. 5/9 pm It rained a lot including an electrical storm so we didn't get any shearing done. Sally and Rosie are digging up a good sized patch by hand for me to put in field corn for Helen. I've heard nothing from the repair shop about fixing my tiller so I guess it's hand digging or nothing. They picked a spot where comfrey has been growing. Comfrey shades out everything else so in the spring before it comes up it is grass free and looks a likely spot. But it is impossible to get out all the roots. They have dug out a formidable heap of roots though so the corn should have a good head start. One good thing about comfrey is that for some reason it improves the soil. Helen gave very close to 2.5 gal today. Later tonight we are going to try to catch the rest of the bantams. They roost in the rafters. I picked wild asparagus today, enough for four at supper.

5/10 am Monday Clear and breezy today. We are all groggy this morning because we drove granddaughter Rosie to the emergency room in the night. She was taken with an attack of severe abdominal cramps. The doctor was unable to determine the cause and eventually they subsided but it was scary. Helen and the gang marched right up to the barn this morning at the right time. Then they all laid down and chewed their cuds. They were so full of good grass that even shaking a bucket of grain right under the nose of greedy Henry got him to his feet only slowly. Helen went to her stanchion OK though. She has taken to urinating about halfway through milking. I jump up and catch it in a bucket but it's an annoying habit. The male piglet got past me when I opened their door and ran around the barn exploring. So Gilda got a had start on the feed until I herded him back in. 5/10 pm Sally and Rosie revised the bantam area to house the pigs as well. Now they share the same space. The pigs were delighted with their new quarters but the bantams don't think much of it. The pigs gobbled up their feed and they flew up in the rafters. Sally also mowed a bunch of lawn and she and Rosie finished digging a plot for corn. I think they over did today. Helen again gave almost 2.5 gal. 15 eggs. [To Top]

5/11 am Tuesday My new arrangement for feeding the pigs and confined bantams still involves climbing over a barrier. This is right where the cattle walk in. My efforts this morning proved to be of immense interest to them. I climbed through a crowd of curious wet noses. The air was full of freaked out birds. I left them a pan of dry pig feed and another pan of dry chicken feed. They'll have to sort it out. Later when I looked the hens were pecking cheerfully. Helen gave almost 1.5 gal. 5/11 pm Sally and Rosie and I managed to wrestle the ram, now named Dick, down on a tarp. I more or less sat on his horns while Sal and Rosie sheared him with the difficult sheep shears and with my Gingher sewing scissors. They got him about half done before we all gave up in exhaustion. Dick was beginning to seem badly stressed. He looks ridiculous half sheared. Friend Jean took some pictures and also sketched the sheep paddock as a background for the sheep pastel she plans. Helen gave 2.5 gal + 8oz today. All three cattle were so satiated with lush grass they barely ate their grain. I'm now feeding a token amount just for management purposes.

5/12 am Wednesday Helen exceeded 1.5 gallons this morning. She was in the farthest field but came immediately when I called. Still, she stopped at the beefer pen door and had to be coaxed the rest of the way.. The pigs aren't happy with their new feeding program. Instead of mixing their slops up warm, I'm giving them a large pan of dry pellets to eat ad lib with plenty of fresh water about 4' away. Most pigs are fed this way so no doubt they will adapt. I also have a pan of poultry feed in there for the bantams. They are ignoring that in favor of the pig feed. 5/12 pm Tonight Helen brought her day's total up to 2.5 gal + 1 pint. Our vet stopped for lunch today and gave us advice on worming the sheep. Sal and Rosie pulled vast quantities of barbed wire out of the woods. Over on her field a careless earlier effort to fence for horses had wire wrapped around several noble trees. It had killed them. They are making a new fence on my property line to the north. Besides defining the line it will make will make a boggy area available to the cattle. Then they can water there in a pinch. I finished mowing the lawn. Several of us have worked on it over the last week. We have nearly and acre comprising several garden "rooms". [To Top]

5/13 Thursday Helen gave very close to 3 gallons today. Sally and Rosie spent much of their last day completing the new fencing.

5/14 I left at 4:30am with my three guests to drive to Lewiston where they caught the bus to Boston. I took the occasion to begin drying off Helen as it was impossible to milk her at the usual time. I milked her at 11:00 am and she gave 1.75 gal. Then I skipped the evening milking. She is acting confused and hanging around the barn. The sheep appear to miss Sally. They did a lot of blatting when they saw me. During the afternoon I dug two 5gal bucketfuls if dandelions and comfrey and took one bucket to the pig/bantam combo, one to the layers. [To Top]

5/15 Saturday The fine weather continues. I am doing some watering. Helen came in fairly well this morning. She had a tight udder. She stood nicely and gave a little more than 2 gallons. She was back at the gate this evening wondering why I didn't bring her in. We are all already despairing at the prospect of not having any fresh milk, cream and butter. About mid afternoon I heard sheep bells where they should not be (Thank God we put bells on them!) The two ewes and one of the lambs were up by the back door. As always when animals are out, the first thing I did was run and close the big front gate to at the driveway. This prevents confused animals running into the road. Then I opened the nearest paddock gate and began herding the ewes back in. It was quite easy as soon as they were sure the lamb was following. They appeared relieved to be back in familiar territory. I walked down to the river today to see if the linden was blossoming yet but it is not. I did find some wild asparagus. [To Top]

5/16 am Sunday We have another beautiful day. Helen was very slow to make it through the door this morning. I'm using this idle time while she makes up her mind as an opportunity for barn cleaning and tidying. I should have thought of this before. She gave more than yesterday, 2 gal + a quart. The defeated Phoenix rooster who has been hiding out in the layer room is convalescing well. He waits until I open the door and let the others into their yard, then hops down to eat and drink. Yesterday I even saw him jump on a hen but Big Red soon put a stop to that. 5/16 pm Today I gave away five kittens! I suppose because it is Sunday and more people are driving around. I got some more garden dug and took a bucket of weeds to some grateful hens. They make a highly contented noise when they get something they like. Also mowed a section of lawn. Helen came up to the barn at milking time and watched me feed the pigs. After about a half hour of looking at me she went back to grazing. The sheep are getting used to me. One ewe came running when I called and the rest soon followed. They have learned to go under the garage barn where it is cool and there are few flies. Their water is under there too. [To Top]

5/17 am Another sunny day, quite cold this morning as have been all recent mornings but no frost. Helen took 40 minutes this morning to come in. I'm not certain what she gave because many have not returned my milk jars and I had to put milk in a pitcher. But it looked about the same as yesterday. [To Top]

5/17 pm I'm feeling very tired today but did get a few things done including some very rough carpentry. There is a window from the grain room into the pig/bantam pen. I got together materials and my drill and Skilsaw and built a nasty looking shelf outside that window which is about 6' above the ground. Now the bantams can fly up there to eat and I can put out their feed through the window. Not that the pigs like their pellets, in fact they totally ignore them but that won't last. Chances are they will soon be eating the chicken food or possibly even the chickens! So far the pigs have not even figured out they can eat eggs. There are always a few in the ground level nests. Mostly the hens lay inside the wall cladding, compelling me to reach my arm into a dark spidery hole. I also got another section of lawn mowed. When I finally looked up from my fog of black flies there were the two ewes and two lambs on the lawn. They had found another place to wriggle under. Their paddock is fenced with woven sheep wire. There are some flabby areas at ground level. After herding them back through a gate I pinned the wire down with old electric fence rods. Presumably the ram's set of horns prevented him getting under. [To Top]

5/18 Tuesday Helen isn't slowing down much. This morning she again gave more than 2 gals. She came right in, no dawdling. I heard the piliated woodpecker again this morning. I was afraid the pair living in my dead elm had left. The apple trees are in full bloom. Every breeze brings down a cloud of petals. The ewes and lambs were out again today. As before, I got them back in easily. I found where they got out and fixed it. When I gave the sheep their evening scoop of grain I added a handful of ground kelp. They went crazy for it. I don't know if this means they lack salt or iodine. It was fair again today but with a strong wind.

5/19 Wednesday am It looks like rain. We need it very badly. Helen gave 2 gal.+ a pint this morning. She is giving more now on once a day milking than she was six weeks ago on 2X. What a gal. 5/19 pm We had a good soaking rain most of the day. The sheep acted as though they remembered last night's grain with kelp. They required no calling in fact they stood by their pan calling me. The broiler chicks are growing so fast that I shall have to move them out of the brooder in a day or two. Neighbor Stewart who has raised them many times thinks I don't have to rig up heat for them in the barn. That is very good news. I devised a new high up place for the caged bantams to lay eggs. Up where their roof meets the hayloft there is an aperture in the wall. From within the hayloft I placed a big computer box against the hole facing so that they can go into it like a little room. Then I packed hay around it to keep them from sneaking into the hayloft. This is very low tech. A raccoon could push right in in case he noticed it. [To Top]

5/20 Thursday Helen gave exactly 2 gals. this morning, a slight decline. I sold 3 doz eggs and gave away a dozen. I'm getting about a dozen a day still. The rain stopped so I ran down while the ground was moist and moved the spinach seedling around so they aren't all bunched up. Now they are in a nice double row. I made 2 1/2 pounds of butter. It is once again bright golden. Then I spent about 2 hours cleaning out a room in the barn which formerly housed the piglets. This involved a lot of pitching of dirty hay. Some of the floor is quite rotten. I scraped and swept the area and have left everything open to dry. There is a good wind. This is where I plan to put the broilers. [To Top]

5/21 am Helen gave 2 gallons + 1 cup. She's not slowing down much. It's a fine Maine day but more rain is predicted. All the animals are happy. Five toddling kittens were poking their noses out in the sun in front of the barn this morning. This is discouraging. How will I ever catch them? 5/21 pm I worked all afternoon on the box stall for the broilers. I decided I had better repair the floor. First I had to saw and rout out some old parts of floor joists, then put in some new supporting pieces. Then using the Skilsaw I cut two 6' boards and fit them in, then patched in some more pieces. It went better than I expected. I fancied the spirit of my father, always noted for creative patching with lumber discards, was offering guidance. The floor is now solid enough to hold a calf if not a pony. I finished up by putting up chickenwire on all walls where a raccoon or cat might get in. After that I set out a dozen broccoli plants and watered my spinach seedlings. The lawn needs mowing again very badly (I'm not doing it! -ed.). [To Top]

5/22/99 am Saturday It's another beautiful day. Helen was waiting nicely to be milked and came in after only about three minutes of staring at me and chewing. She again gave two gallons. I forgot to mention last night, the bantams have taken right away to their penthouse laying box. There are 11 little hens and I got 11 bantam eggs. 5/22 pm I limed the new quarters for the broiler chicks and spread sawdust. Then I made several trips with the garden cart to transport their operation out there, bringing the birds in a cat carrier. To my chagrin one bird did not survive the trip. I am aware of the hazards of a chick pile-up and thought they had enough room. Now that the chicks have the whole room and their feeder is not inside the brooder they aren't going into it. I do hope they don't chill. The sheep are getting quite aggressive about their grain. The ram, Dave, is really using his horns. My missing cat, Suki, showed up. Very hungry of course. One more kitten found a home today. [To Top]

5/23 am The remaining 19 broiler chicks all survived the night. They are such foolish birds compared to bantam chicks which are so lively and enterprising. These chicks don't even know enough to walk back inside their brooder to get warm. They just huddle in heaps outside it. Last night at bedtime I went out to the barn and repositioned the brooder and put them all into it. But they all straggled back out. It was not an entirely wasted trip as I discovered I had left the barn water running. Helen continues to give two gallons in the morning. 5/23 pm Today I finished mowing the lawn. I did the hardest part, all around the veg garden and fruit trees and by the time I was finished I had black fly bites and the deer flies had found me. I couldn't seem to stop until it was done. The consequence of this was that I didn't get much else done today. The chicks are beginning to like their new quarters. I hard boiled half a dozen bantam eggs for them and ground them shells and all in the Cuisinart. The chick starter mash is not really adequate for them. I also replanted carrots and zinnias. The sheep can see me feeding the pigs and Bernadette, the ewe most likely to get under the wire, was making a concerted attempt to escape. I suppose she thought this would speed up her supper. Now I know another spot to reinforce. [To Top]

5/24 am Monday It is raining this morning, a steady soaking rain. I am very glad I got the lawn mowing done. Helen gave her 2 gals. this morning but was very irritable. I don't know if this was because I cut back her grain further or some other reason. The broiler chicks light had gone out due to a loose connection but they did not seem very distressed although some were huddled next to the cold bulb. 5/24 pm Rain continued all day. It's a little cold, 55f, but no wind. None of the animals appear to mind it. I got an egg customer today who prefers bantam eggs. Most people don't want them even though their flavor is usually conceded to be superior, and I have been eating them myself and giving them away. I called a dairyman friend of mine to consult about Helen's refusal to dry off. He said keep her in and restrict her to dry hay. I actually knew that but had kind of forgotten. She will hate this. I'll wait a few more days. He told me about one cow he had that came into production as a heifer before she was ever bred and was a big producer. This is a rare but not unknown circumstance. [To Top]

5/25 am Tuesday. With animals you have to be ready to revise your job list. Mine was scrapped this morning when I saw the two ewes, Agnes and Bernadette, off in the cow pasture grazing. I couldn't fail to notice because Dave, the ram, and one of the lambs were bleating piteously about being left behind. Since the ewes seemed quiet and happy, I ignored the situation until after milking and feeding. Then I locked the cattle in the barn so they would not complicate matters with their curiosity and herded the ewes back in. Then I spent until 10 o'clock repairing fence. Bernadette hung around and gave me a demonstration of her escape method. She selects a spot in the woven wire fence, jams her head through and hurls herself forward to enlarge the hole with her shoulders. There is a great deal of their fence which will not be proof against this tactic. Helen gave 2 gallons plus a quart this morning. 5/25 pm I got some more planters filled with flowers and put in some more lettuce and carrot seed. A wild Canada goose was parked in the pasture today not far from the barn. It was eating grass. Now 9pm, I just filled the chick's feeder for the fourth time today. They seem very happy. I'm about out of the chick starter mash. Yesterday I went two places to get it without success. I had to buy regular layer mash which is 16% protein. The chick starter is 20%. This type of chicken will die if they don't get enough protein. I've had it happen before when I ignorantly gave them the layer mash. I'll mash up some hard boiled egg tomorrow to augment their protein. [To Top]

5/26 Two gallons again from Helen. It took me until after 9:00 this morning to get all the chores done what with cleaning the chicks waterer, mashing their hard boiled egg, skimming the cream and so on. The sheep were in their paddock. It's been raining steadily although lightly. Perhaps this dampened their sense of adventure. 5/26 We had curious weather today. About six showers interspersed with sunshine. During dry periods I got out and dug two flower beds. One had not been dug over in years and was matted with grass. It felt like a day's work clearing that plot. It is against one of my granite block walls and deserves to be a beautiful bed of iris. I was lucky enough to catch one of the barn kittens. It had gone to sleep amongst a nest of two week old kittens and was so groggy I was able to pick it up and bring it in the kitchen. All Suki's kittens are now gone and I am hoping she will feed it. [To Top]

5/27 am Thursday I caught another kitten this morning, this one a bit older. I popped it into the kitchen where it promptly disappeared under the cupboard. There is food waiting for when it decides to come out. Yesterday's kitten is still crying. Suki has not been willing to have anything to do with it so far. Helen gave 2 gal again this morning. Her bag is in very good condition. 5/27 pm I caught a third kitten and now there are three somewhere in the kitchen mewing in turns. Whenever I find one I give it some canned catfood to encourage it. [To Top]

5/28 Friday Superb weather today. Helen, Henry and Herbie were way down in Pocket Field this morning grazing in the lush grass. They looked so beautiful. Helen came right up when I called her, in fact was again waiting this evening at milking time. Perhaps she thought I had changed my mind about evening milking. I did more work today in the garden, began a new round of lawn mowing, made bread and also made 13 pints of chutney. I used the recipe in the new Christopher Lloyd book, Gardener Cook. He is sniffy and patronizing about Aga stoves but it's the ideal stove for simmering chutney. [To Top]

5/29 am Saturday Another fine day. Helen finally dropped to about a pint less than a gallon this morning. She came right in when called. Every morning when I let her back out she has been in the habit of dropping a series of plops along the aisle. This morning I let her out another door so as to break up the habit. Although most likely I'll skip milking entirely tomorrow. I have so much to do in the garden I hardly know where to start. My Grammie used to say she felt like the old woman who had so much to do she couldn't decide what to do first so she went upstairs and took a nap. 5/29 I got 15 bantam eggs and six hens eggs today, just about average for the last month. I give the sheep a little grain each evening to help fatten them up. They were very thin. It's also to keep them tame. The ram, Dave, destroyed one tub with his horns and I have switched tubs around now to provide them with a black rubber one. Dave doesn't act aggressive towards me, only towards the ewes and the tub. I've given them their own tub. One of the lambs now eats grain and for some reason Dave allows him to share.

5/30 am Sunday Memorial Day Well, I didn't milk this morning. Helen was disappointed not to come in and kept circling around towards the door. Her bag did not feel packed. I'll check it again this afternoon. I left her shut into the beefer pen with the two steers for company and gave them some hay. My big black altered tomcat, Mouncey, has been missing for several days. This morning as I was assembling the trash for pickup I shifted the cat carrier. It was much heavier than it should have been. There was poor Mouncey stuck inside for heaven knows how many days. Bags of clothes for the thrift shop were pushed against the door. He must have curled up in there to go to sleep. He never made a sounds that I heard. He flew out of the cage and leapt onto the cat feeding table and began eating. 5/30 pm I left Helen in overnight still on hay and water. I felt awfully sorry for her. But her bag is not in trouble.

5/31 am Monday This morning I brought Helen into her stanchion and gave a her a little grain which I probably should not have done but I expected to need to milk her. However her bag although very heavy is not in trouble. So I let her out without milking. All three were glad to get out. It's a very fine day. 5/31 pm Temp up to 84f today. My gardening efforts were pretty well fried out but I did a lot of watering. I brought Helen in again and decided to let her go another night, this time not locked in. I will milk her out in the morning. Son Mark took a turn around the pasture and found some fence down. It had the look of deliberate damage.

6/1 am Tuesday Another hot day is headed our way. I milked Helen this morning. She came right in like a lamb. I got 2 gallons + a quart. I had thought I would just give it to the pigs since milk that's been inside a cow for three days tends to taste a lot like boiled grass. But I strained it and put it in the frig anyway, experimentally. 6/1 pm It was very hot all day. I got my corn plot planted. It's just four rows of 28' each. This seed is called Mandan Bride. I hope to grow a little feed for Helen.

6/2 am Last night's temp low was 62f. Time to plant all the warm weather vegetables. At dawn the sky was cloudy and we had a light drizzle. This soon cleared to a hot muggy morning. I brought Helen in to check her udder. One quarter, the left front, is firmer than the others but not hot. The steers are looking about as fat as you could expect a dairy breed to look. They are very friendly. The pigs, Hamlet and Gilda, are growing and look healthy but Hamlet is much bigger than Gilda. Nonetheless, they bicker very little when eating. They dislike the dry pig pellets and waste a lot unless I pour something on them. Now that Helen isn't producing, they get water. I add a pint of Milk Plus, a high protein amendment. The bantams that live with them seem scarcely worried about them at all. 6/2 pm We had several showers today so Helen was eating wet grass. She definitely made milk. I have kept them all in on hay and water. I got my bush beans and cucurbits planted today. Even during the rain the temp did not drop below 70f.

6/3 am Thursday Helen was mooing in a complaining tone this morning from inside the barn. She hates to miss the June grass. I put her in her stanchion and felt her bag all over. She made little or no milk last night. But I kept them in another day. Even though they are in a large room, three cows make it too warm. The hay drop is open above their heads and I opened the hay access door upstairs in the mow to let out the warm air. We had an electrical storm last night and a lot of rain. There are great puddles everywhere. The roses are opening. The sweetest rose in the world is out next to an area formerly used for pigs, now part of the sheep paddock. I always call it the Pigpen Rose. It has tiny thorny ferny foliage. The rose is about 2" across, semi double pale pink. The bud has a carmine stripe. 6/3 pm After delivering eggs and picking up feed I came home and made a little expedition to the river. I needed to get some grit for the broilers. I found some nice sand and some lovely decayed wood to plant a begonia in. I also took along a saw and cut down a nice poplar to use for bean poles. I hated to cut it but it was in a crowded position. I also pruned out a rampant honeysuckle bush that has been blocking the view from my office window. The peonies are starting to bloom now. So I have oriental poppies, iris, roses, the first day lilies and the first peonies. At dusk I set six eggs from the laying hens under one of the two free living bantams. I've been collecting from her nest always leaving two or three eggs. She has been setting for three days. If it had been darker probably she would not have stirred, but she fled squawking. I took her own eggs away and left the six new ones.

6/4 am As I thought she would, the setting bantam returned to her nest and is on the new eggs. Helen did not make milk last night to any appreciable degree. I have let them all out. The weather has cooled and is perfect. 6/4 pm The other free living bantam hen has now gone broody. So have several confined birds living with the pigs. That's the trouble with bantams. They have a full set of instincts and will only lay for a limited period even if one takes away the eggs. They insist on going broody, quit laying and just sit there. Helen's bag was not too overfilled tonight so I let her stay outside. I got some of my tomatoes in and now they are talking about overnight temps in the 30's. This is scary.

6/5 am Saturday Helen's bag was full this morning but not rock hard or dripping. I decided to let her stay out. She sure doesn't want to dry off!

6/5 pm At last we are making progress on the drying off. Helen's bag was less hard tonight than this morning. And that's on grass all day. Only four bantam eggs today from the pigpen birds. Only two are broody in there that I know of so this is puzzling. Weather today was very fine. I finished planting the tomatoes. I drove a stake next to each one and tied the plants to the stakes with old knee-high stockings. Also replanted carrots. Although since the rain a few of the first lot are coming up. Everything looks very promising in the garden. The little old fashioned roses on the stone wall by the house are now in full bloom, very profuse this year. Also the crabapple tree has set a lot of fruit. Last year thee was none at all due to a combination of rain and wind on the blossoms.

6/6 am Sunday D Day Helen's rear quarters were very tight this morning but not hot. I let her go back out. 6/6 pm My corn is up. I planted it on June first. I have watered it every day. We had a nice rain today which was good because I had company today and no time to water anything. The bugs are terrible. Helen's bag was not much tighter tonight than this morning. The front quarters were actually softer. I let her stay out.

6/7 am Monday All four quarters of Helen's bag were reasonably soft, no lumps. What a relief! I will keep bringing her in twice a day anyway. 6/7 pm This has been the hottest day of the year, almost 90f and high humidity. I worked in the veg garden until 11:30 digging over the strip for the pole beans, setting the poles and planting the beans. This was hot work. In this weather everything ought to come on fast. The broilers were so hot they were lying on their sides with one foot raised to let air into their feathers. I created more air circulation for them by propping an old screen door into their doorway. During the afternoon we got a major electrical storm with heavy rain and winds about 35 miles an hour. Except for Muffin, it didn't seem to bother the animals and did cool things off a little. Helen came in soaking wet, her bag even softer than this morning. She seems very happy. I've been letting her explore around in the barn after I let her out of the stanchion. She loves that.

6/8 am Tuesday Helen is being charming. She returned to the barn as soon as she saw me arriving for chores, came right in and ate her mouthful of grain. He bag continues to soften and shrink. After dark I keep forgetting to set better eggs under the #2 bantam that's setting in the grain room. This morning I did it in broad daylight and she fled the nest of course. I took away her three bantam eggs and replaced them with 5 large eggs. It's turning out very hot again today. 6/8 pm Yesterday's storm blew down a Balm of Gilead tree next to my veg garden. It was considerate enough to fall on a comfrey patch rather than onto the peppers which it could so easily have done. I paced it out. It was about 35' tall. This leaves very little shade in that area. The bantam in the grain room went back in and sat down like a good girl on her five new eggs. The weather continues hot and muggy, awful. but the plants love it. The bugs love it too, and great big spiders have spun webs in every doorway right about the level of my hair. Helen's bag was not quite as soft this evening as it was this morning. The bantams that live in with the pigs are no longer laying well. I got only four eggs today from them. I have arranged their own special water up on their feed shelf. The pigs do chase them for sport, I notice. But the pigs spend so much time sleeping that surely they have plenty of opportunity to quietly pursue their chicken business.

6/9 Wednesday Helen's bag was nice and soft this morning but this evening it was swelled up again, not a lot, but she definitely made milk. The weather is much cooler. The high was about 65. The vet was here and he spayed one cat, Suki, and neutered Gingerbread. I decided to have him done because he made the mistake of spraying in the house. The broiler birds seem restless and a bit unhappy today. I gave them a bale of hay to see it that would cheer them up. One bird has a crippled leg.

6/10 am Thursday The cattle were way down at the bottom of the field this morning perhaps eating wild strawberries in the sunshine. Helen's bag has softened up again nicely. Phoenix, the defeated rooster who has been convalescing amongst the layers, now ventures out occasionally. But when the other birds are actively feeding he hides in a crevice he has found where he can stick his head out and watch. He looks very funny. His head and ruff are all that can be seen. 6/10 pm A scarlet tanager sat on a branch near the feeder today. What I assume was his mate also sat nearby. There are great looping sprays of rosebush near the feeder which keep them safe from cats while they consider whether to try the seeds and suet. I went looking for wild strawberries today. I found enough to eat but not enough to pick. They were very sweet and juicy. I don't recall ever seeing so many wild flowers in the pasture. Buttercups, daisies, purple vetch, Indian paintbrush and many small purple and yellow things I don't know. The weather was perfect. Helen's bag was really soft and flabby tonight. So she is putting energy into herself and calf. I got my heirloom potatoes planted. I got only three bantam eggs today. I guess they have simply got tired of laying.

6/11 am All the critters are cheerful this morning. The pigweed (lamb's quarters) is coming up everywhere among the veg. I pull it for the pigs but can't keep up. There was a dead bird in the garden obviously killed by cats. I could not identify it. It had a beak like a blue jay but was slate colored. Could it be an immature blue jay? 6/11 pm Finally I got at the edge trimming today. It was too hot to finish every part of the lawn and garden but I got the worst done. Slugs have eaten most of a row of bean seedlings. I'll have to replant. I put a heavy layer of ashes to protect the survivors. I got seven bantam eggs today. Most were in the feed pan up on their shelf. I nailed up a nest box next to the feed to see if they will lay in that instead. Helen didn't seem to want to come in so I didn't bother checking her this evening.

6/12 am Saturday Misty moisty this morning. The no-seeums were out in force. Hopefully, the sun will come out and drive them away. They are about the worst. Helen walked right in. Her bag is now fully non-productive. Upon leaving, she headed down her exit alley while I was still in it (I always have to run ahead and open the door which is latched to prevent Henry from nosing it open and entering) This passageway is not wide enough for us both and I barely made it out before I got mashed by her wide body. Helen is shy and has never before started to walk through until I am behind her. Getting caught between a wall and a cow is not much different from being caught between a wall and a pickup truck. The width of a cow depends upon a solid structure of ribs. I will be more careful. 6/12 pm It was very hot today, certainly in the high 80's. By the time I got everything watered I was too hot and bug bitten to mow the lawn. There are a couple of kinds of biting flies that don't mind the heat. Thankfully, my neighbor Stewart came over and did it with his new racing mower, a huge Craftsman. Also today, I swept out the garage and buttery including the ceiling which was loaded with big spiders. One got in my hair and another climbed up my leg. I've spent years trying to get rational about spiders but today may have put me back to the starting post. Six bantam eggs and six big eggs. The bantams have accepted their new laying box on the shelf. To Top]

6/13 am Sunday Another truly beautiful day. High temperatures predicted for later. The roses and peonies and iris are going by very fast due to the heat. All the animals seem happy except the pigs aren't crazy about their boring food. When I go in there with nothing but pellets they take a nibble of them, than snuffle around my legs to see if I can't come with something more exciting. On occasions when I show up with a lot of table scraps they are very evidently pleased. Their top favorite was always pellets swamped in milk which they won't get until Helen freshens. I do pour water on their dry pellets and there is a handful of ground kelp mixed in. Until I pour the water on they don't eat the pellets. I also add a pound of Milk Plus which is a high animal protein feed with dried milk as the protein source. 6/13 pm I have a very nice row of spinach and today cut about half of it and froze 10 packages. In this heat it is sure to bolt soon. I also dug a section of one of my perennial borders which had been badly neglected. It was pretty near solid turf. I set out two of my clumps of dahlias. I scalded the last 3 quarts of skim saved from Helen's last milking to prevent it going sour. We need rain; everything is dry. Seven big eggs today and seven bantam eggs.

6/14 It was hot and muggy today. I set out the last few of the dahlias. I made a couple of loaves of sour dough French bread which was such a success I took their picture. Cousin Marcia stopped in and helped try it. We had coffee with the last of the cream saved from Helen's last milking on June 1, two weeks ago. It was still in very good condition. Only eleven eggs total today. Towards evening we got quite a hard shower which saved me a lot of watering and prevented me mowing the lawn. I celebrated this reprieve by reading my new book lent by Sally, Uncommon Fruits Worthy Of Attention by Lee Reich. To Top]

6/15 am Tuesday Last night about 10pm I went outside and don't remember ever seeing so many fireflies. They were everywhere, from treetop level down to my feet. Helens udder was rather swollen this morning. Could this be her own hormones already getting busy, or plant hormones of which there are many. She is very friendly. This morning is lovely and fresh after the rain but the peonies are bowed down. 6/15 pm Helen's udder was still rather swollen tonight.

6/16 am Helen's udder was perfectly comfortable this morning. She and the steers came immediately when called. It's very beautiful today and a lot cooler, down to 42 this morning. The broilers seem to be doing OK. They sometimes sound discontented but never sound particularly cheerful. Mostly they just sit there like loaves of white bread rising. 6/16 pm Very fine weather. I've been invited to do a cow care demonstration at Maine Organic Gardeners & Farmers Association Small Farm Field Day on August 15. I was pleased to accept. Back here on the farm, I almost got the lawn mowing done but ran out of gas so I quit for the day and made gingerbread. I caught the four kittens in the barn. They are very tiny but I thought I'd better grab them while I had the chance. Soon they get too wild. They are exceptionally cute. Two are yellow tigers, one is long haired grey and one shades from black to grey. There was a ferocious tomcat hanging around the house today chasing one very meek female and acting generally menacing. He even threatened me. I had half a mind to go load up and might have if I had a better idea of how to do it. He has markings exactly like one young female so I guess he's been here before.  [To Top]

6/17 Thursday I took my eggs in as usual for sale this morning. All the animals seem contented however the broilers don't seem to be eating as much. They are now about the size of a gallon plastic milk jug. The pigs find pellets to be boring. Tonight there were a lot of bread slices for them and they were clearly delighted by the change. So were the bantams. They kept darting in for pieces. The no-seeums are bad especially around the pigs. I sprinkled more lime around their muddy area as this seems to discourage bugs. The new group of four kittens I have in the kitchen are precocious compared to the last lot. They scarcely needed any encouragement to eat from a saucer and to use a litter box.

6/18 am Friday It's still misty and drizzly this morning. I expect everything is growing like mad. This includes no-seeums, midges and mosquitoes. Before feeding the pigs this morning I defended myself with a head scarf and bug spray and only got one bite. Going in the pigpen is as much of a hassle as ever. Hamlet (she thinks she's very clever for coming up with this name for a pig... ed.) and Gilda snuffle up to me and make prints of their muddy noses on my pantlegs. Helen and the boys were nowhere about this morning so they missed their breakfast. They showed up an hour later. My four kitchen kittens are thriving. I feed them a slurry of canned cat food and milk. All the outdoor cats plead pathetically for something besides dry feed. We all miss our milk but I have so little I give it only to the kittens. 6/18 pm I rushed through the evening chores in order to go to a dinner at church. 14 eggs today, maybe more, I skipped looking in the upstairs nest. [To Top]

6/19 am Saturday Cool, lovely and sunny today. Helen came right in. She is getting very wide and hates to come up even the slight rise of the indoor ramp. She won't use the big outdoor exit ramp at all. 6/19 pm At midday when I went to the barn to top up the broiler's feed what should I see but Helen's huge bulk in the chicken yard. She had mashed down the fence and walked in and was nibbling the tops off the big stand of goldenrod that is always in there. Not that she or anything else would touch goldenrod in the normal course of events. I think she just wanted to establish that she had really gotten away with something.

6/20 am Sunday It looks like a lovely day but the no-seeums are fierce! I forgot to put on bug spray before chores and came in with my scalp, ears and elbows on fire. I wonder how the Indians could stand it. They must have spent the hours until the sun is high with their heads in wood smoke. Helen marched right in and all the animals were perky. 6/20 pm Son Martin repaired the chicken yard fence destroyed yesterday by Helen. He also chainsawed the remaining trunk of the Balm of Gilead tree which fell next to the tool shed. This help was a real spirit lifter.  [ To Top]

6/21 Monday We had about the loudest thunderclap over the house today that I ever recall. It was literally out of a blue sky. The noise was like a bomb going off and shook the house. I looked out the window and thought, my God, what is falling on us? It was giant raindrops which at first I took for the stuffing in the roof raining down after some explosion. And out the windows on two sides the sky was blue! A half inch of rain fell, then the whole sky was blue again. Apart from Muffin dog, the animals appeared unfazed. This seemed like a long day. Dr. Cooper , the vet, stopped in and operated on a cat, the one Sally calls Sooty; she wanted Sooty spayed. Sooty turned out to be male which I had in fact recently figured out based on his attitude. He isn't a house cat and when he came out of the anesthetic I had to put him outside before he began knocking over vases. I can't imagine how I will get near him to give him his canned cat food laced with teramycin. He may be on his own now.

6/22 am No sign of Sooty this morning but the thunderclap brought home Sissypuss, the old spayed grand dame, who has been gone for two weeks. Helen gets more ungainly every day and doesn't like to ascend even the minor ramp from the beefer pen. She has to stop half way up the 4' distance and rearrange her balance. I continue to bring her in for her one scoop of grain. She is plenty fat but it's about time to start bringing her ration up to lactation level. I am not giving her any special mineral supplements. So we'll see how she calves. The pasture is still excellent. This morning I initiated a system whereby I don't have to get in with the pigs to feed them. It involves hauling up their feed bucket by a chain to clean it. At least the bucket now won't wander to the four corners of their pen. 6/22 pm So far the new pig feeding method is no less work. When I'm not in with them I can't drive them back from the feed pan. They crowd in and I end up spilling pellets which bounce off their heads. I started giving Helen two scoops of grain. Also a little ground kelp. Not the proprietary mineral mix that helps prevent milk fever. She is really not a candidate for milk fever. The vet says it seldom occurs before the third calving.  [ To Top]

6/23 am Wednesday Another hot day is upon us. So far my pig feeding changes aren't saving either time or reducing inconvenience. They are developing a very muddy area around their water bucket because they insist on spilling their water. This makes everything I do there yucky. 6/23 pm This evening I jumped in with the pigs again to arrange things and collect bantam eggs. Fortunately these pigs are friendly and cheerful but they can't resist making nose prints on me. Helen is hot and steamy. She's bagging up a bit. Yesterday and today a total of only 9 eggs each day.

6/24 Thursday This morning I checked under the sitting bantam whose clutch is due to hatch today. She didn't like it a bit and flew at me jumping in the air and flapping her little wings and wouldn't stop until I was 15 feet away. Meanwhile her nest was unguarded of course. It was full of fluffy balls and popping eggs. I had just fed the cats so they weren't paying much attention apart from eyeing the excitement. They are typically quite deferential towards the bantams which always appear to believe the best defense is a good offense. But they could easily swipe a chick. Maybe after dark tonight I can move the hen family into a cage. My female pig, Gilda, is really losing ground to her brother Hamlet. She just doesn't have the temperament to stand up for herself. I'll have to devise a double feeding arrangement. 6/24 pm I repaired a big cage today for the bantam and her chicks. So far she is still sitting tight. Later when it is dark I'll move her.  [ To Top]

6/25 Friday The little hen seems well settled down although I did not risk reaching in to add to her food or water. Maybe later. A light rain fell all last night, exactly perfect for the garden. And of course the weeds. My promising parsnip patch is so choked with small pigweed and grass that clearing it without damage to the parsnips is the weeding version of micro surgery. I got about half of it done this morning. Also did an hour of weeding down the broccoli row. That is much easier. There I easily filled a 5 gallon bucket of weeds for the pigs. Helen seems about the same. The steers are getting very big. 6/25 pm This evening I climbed into the pigpen for what I hope is the last time for awhile and did some very ugly looking carpentry; I nailed boards over those holes in the wall where the bantam hens go in to lay eggs. And I devised a second basin and chain so that I can serve out two containers for the pigs. This ought to give Gilda a better chance.  [ To Top]

6/26 am Saturday This morning I got up with the sun and finished weeding the tiny parsnips. I had inter planted with coriander the seedlings of which are nearly identical to parsnips. Not very smart. It took me exactly 30 minutes this morning to do the animal chores which include letting out the chickens, topping up feed for the broilers, bringing in Helen for a little grain, feeding the barn cats and steers and feeding the pigs. The pigs are a little easier now that I don't have to climb in with them. It would be a lot more fun if I were to fix up better flap doors in the chicken wire that runs above