Mud

It's a gorgeous day. Little Sis and I went for a hike, checked on the chickens, and enjoyed the sunshine.  I'd hoped to get the beets planted today...but...

We've had a bit...ok..a LOT...of rain lately. It POURED last night.  Cats and dogs fell with abandon. I'm pretty sure it kept it up ALL NIGHT.  This spot (see boot, above) is normally a well drained garden spot. But this time of year, we get so much rain that even my high ground is soaked. The low ground, ugh, you need a canoe. Hopefully, it'll have drained enough by tomorrow to get some beet seeds in the ground without fear of them building a little ark and floating off into the wild blue yonder.

These gals don't seem to mind the mud and muck. Shifting the tractor from one muddy section of yard to another gets them all giggly. All those drowned worms, just waiting to be devoured! It's heaven for them.

A note on our chicken tractor adventures: one evening, we heard chickens squawking. I went outside, armed for coyotes, and found out it was the TRACTOR chickens sounding the alarm, not the lone free range bantam roo. I discovered the side door hadn't shut all the way, due to the build up of ice and snow, and an opossum had ventured inside, mistaking the tractor for an all night KFC. How does one get a 'possum out of an enclosed area without blasting a hole in the side of said tractor? Um...you really don't want to know.

The next time I heard a similar alarm, I expected the same thing. This time it was entirely my fault for leaving the door between the tractor yard and coop open. Pure laziness, I admit.  Something had dug underneath the tractor yard and gotten into the coop. So, I yank open  the side door, expecting to encounter another angry opossum.

Little Sis distinctly heard me yell, "EFF THAT!" as I headed back inside.

Why? I'd opened the door to see a fluffy, adorable, stinky SKUNK! He stole a few eggs and hightailed it out of dodge. So now I'm a little more careful about the door to the tractor.