Friday we had an enormous dumpster delivered to our farm. Actually it is only a 10 yard dumpster but it looks huge to me; it was placed on the new gravel turnaround I had created with gravel from the local quarry and our new front loader (with help from Shorty Fender, our neighbor who has a bobcat with some kind of magic leveler on it.) The local quarry which is actually only a mile from our farm has been a godsend for folks around us - we order gravel to make driveways, to fill in basement foundations, to help keep the barnyards dry - and now we understand it may be a source of sand for fracking operations in North Dakota. Locals are of course up in arms at the prospect.

But back to the dumpster. Jim and Crystal spent much of the day sorting through 30 years of miscellaneous hardware, flowerpots, scraps of linoleum, old doors, lumber, etc. and making decisions whether to keep or toss. Lots tossed, I'll admit, but the 'keep' pile seems pretty healthy to me.

I had hesitated whether to mention that we have 2 peachicks - both are still thriving after 10 days so we're hopeful that they will continue to grow. They are in the milkhouse right now, in a cage with a heatlight. There were about a dozen or 15 peachick eggs under one of the broody hens but today in our frenzy to clean, clean, clean we decided to toss them. I don't know why they weren't fertile but they weren't...either that or they got chilled somewhere along the way. I've noticed a very fat garter snake in the henhouse lately but don't think that had anything to do with the eggs. At any rate, the pigs were happy to be the recipient of these goodies.

Trouble's pups are all gone now but for one who leaves on Tuesday. They were a very fun litter - friendly, active, smart - and we are fortunate that our friend Cory is co-owning one of them with us.

Now we can focus on Birdie's puppies - Crystal is a great puppysitter and cuddler - which really is wonderful for all concerned!