Returning with animals

My son has an ability of finding things which can become a chore, when it is yet another stick, which apparently makes a fantastic gun. It is such a pity that he has not found a big bag of money, but he continues to search. The other problem is that he chooses completely the wrong moments to find things, typically when I am trying to leave the house.

Getting my son to school is one of those frantic times of the day, when nothing ever goes right, and there are at least five occasions when I have to stop and move away from the car. Yesterday was no different, with one eye on the clock, and car keys in hand I was attempting to leave, as the drive has to be timed to perfection or we will be late.

Not only do I have to beat the other Mum's who drive far slower than me, the school bus, cyclists, dead animals on the road, and quite often tourists who are blatantly lost in the wilderness, once I reach the local town the traffic is a nightmare. All of these reasons mean I have to leave on time or my mood rapidly goes down hill.

I managed to be in the car, engine on, moving towards the gates, when I heard "Mummmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeee" which my son has perfected. I attempted to ignore him and wave, but this did not work very well, as he then proceeded to jump up and down in the drive, arms waving, very much in a panic pose. I drove towards the gates to see him leap over the wall, shouting "the cat has got a baby bunny" at that point I stopped the car and jumped out.

OMG, I thought the cat had one of our bunnies, now I love my cats but that is a step too far, but then he shouted "its running away", which meant that it couldn't be our rabbits as they are wriggling, defiantly not running, so what the hell was he chasing. As I stood there, looking at my watch thinking of shit I'm now very late, he returned with a rabbit.

Looking extremely pleased with himself he asked to keep the rabbit, which of course was a no as it was a wild rabbit, however, I knew I needed to leave, so I told him to put it in the rabbit hutch, and I would deal with it later. 10 minutes late, in the car we then had the typical debate, "why can't we keep it" what should we name it" I was adamant all the way there that this rabbit was not staying, needless to say it is still here, enjoying the straw, water, and food that it has now been given!

Headbutting

Jack is now rather large, and several of his body parts are also large including his horns! which means that if you come into contact with them, you will regret it very quickly. Being in the goat pen has never been an issue before, however, lately Jack has taken play time to the next level, and fails to realise that the rest of us do not own bloody great horns.

Once again I Googled, and it seems that Jack is attempting to show his assertiveness, by head butting people to see who will fight back and defeat him. The problem is without horns and a thick skull like his, this can be difficult. Jack had not been a problem, only to my daughter, and we told her that was because he didn't like her very much!

However, I was in there the other day, and Jack decided to perform his death move, which is when he hooks his horn behind your leg and pulls. This was not amusing, and caused me to want to kick him in the head, don't worry I didn't (only because I couldn't lift my leg that high!) So off to Goggle I went to find a solution that wouldnt cause jack to be booted.

Google suggested that water was the answer, as goats don't like being sprayed in the face, this sounded like a plan, and I needed a water pistol. However, before I could get to the shop to purchase one I had to go back into the goat pen, Jack approached head down ready to strike, unfortunately for him I was stood next to the water bucket. Jack received the full contents over his head, which might have been excessive but he retreated, round one to Mummy.

They are still alive!

I have probably jinxed it now, but the bunnies are still alive! I would like to think this had something to do with me, however, Miss Thunderpussy is an excellent mum. I do check on the bunnies every day just to ensure that they are still there, and at the moment we have them all, alive and kicking.

Rabbits are strange creatures, as they spend no time with their babies at all, and miss Thunderpussy is often seen sunbathing. However, this it seems is normal, and nothing to be concerned about, I bet there are several mothers that wish they could do the same.

Baby bunnies are ugly, there is no other word to describe them, as they have no fur, and look strange! We appear to have one bright pink one, and several black ones, which ponders the question what colour the pink one will be, but time will tell.

The debate about whether to keep them has begun, and it is a definite NO, the babies were always destined for a Spanish guy, and they need to make us money! So, for the moment I am keeping a close eye on our investment, and ensuring that they stay alive and healthy.

Billy is a girl!

I know my duck knowledge is not good, however, neither was the duck "expert" that we bought the ducks from, as we can now confirm that Billy is defiantly a girl. Billy had begun to spend less time with the other ducks, and kept wandering off, which led me to believe that he/she had eggs. The problem was where, as there is a lot of land for a duck to explore.

We spent one evening searching but no luck, and I knew that Billy couldn't be far, but just couldn't find him. Billy had been missing the whole day, and when he/she appeared for food, operation stalk duck had to commence. We all loitered around the pond, pretending to tidy, faff and generally loiter as Billy seemed to know what we were up to.

After what seemed like an eternity, Billy made his move, and slowly begun to wander off, towards the compost heap. From there he went round the back, down the slope, and into a nicely made Billy sized hole in a pile of sticks and bushes. The hole was completely full of white feathers, a she had made a perfect nest for his eggs. Oh yes we had eggs!

As I sat on the bank, staring in disbelief Billy happily chirped as ducks do when they are pleased to see you, and thought how did we miss this nest! Billy knows that he needs to stay on his/her eggs, and is happily there all the time now. The problems will begin if both him and Lucy hatch their eggs, as that is a lot of ducklings, crispy duck anyone?

We have babies!

Expecting the baby bunnies in a few days I thought nothing of it when I wandered past the rabbits yesterday to see Miss Thunderpussy laid in the sun without a care in the world. However, as I got closer she got up and ran to her nesting box, and excitedly jumped in and out, as if wanting to show me something. I crouched down and could see nothing, however, in all honestly I had no idea what I was in fact looking for.

As I went to move away the straw/fur pile that she had created begun to move, and there was definatly something in there. Now either something had moved in to her box and was quite happily living in her fur, or she had given birth. I sat and watched the straw breathing for a few moments, before rushing off to Google.

Now, everyone had said DO NOT TOUCH so, I had left them alone, but as I Googled more and more, it seems that you need to touch to check they are all alive! So, decisions do I touch, or do I leave well alone. Armed with lettuce I decided to see how the new mum felt about me being in their with her, and to be honest like everything else in Casa Chaos, she was far more interested in the lettuce than me.

So, I gently removed the front of the box, and moved the fur back to reveal the strangest little creatures. I had never seen baby bunnies, so had no idea what to expect, but they were odd, all naked, and wriggling, but cute in a strange sort of way. I had a quick poke around, and think there is 6 or 7, but with just lots of legs everywhere who knows.

Placing the nesting box front back on, I left mum and babies, and have decided that I will check everyday as my fear now is keeping them alive, and out of the jaws of rats! I am hoping that Miss Thunderpussy will defend her babies, and that she is  a good mum. So far so good though!

We are pregnant

Well either Miss Thunderpussy is pregnant, or she has eaten far too much rabbit food, and needs to shed some pounds. This event has been a long time coming, as we have had her since July, and nothing has happened. The statement of rabbits breed constantly is untrue here, as she took six months to get going, but it looks like she is finally ready to pop.

Like any expectant mother she spends many hours laid in the sunshine, doing nothing, and it has become an effort to hop around. As I watch her carrying her huge belly to her food and water, she has the look of any expectant mother, of "get these out of me, I have had enough"

At present she is still allowing people to stroke her, but I keep telling the kids do not touch, as I have read so many horror stories of bunnies eating their young if people get involved. Rabbit cannibalism is a step too far in my mind, so we are trying to leave her to it, and wait. Up until yesterday I was still pondering if she was just fat, but then we saw in her nesting box.

In one corner was a huge amount of fur, again, another strange thing that rabbits do is to pull out their own fur to make a nest! Animals are the strangest things, but hey who am I to question rabbit logic, so, we have the fur nest, the overweight bunny, and the male rabbit pacing up and down on the other side. Everything is set, so now we wait for babies, I Googled (yes, I know that is a shock) and it says from nest making to labour is two days eeeekkkkk not long now then!

Things that go bump in the night!

When it gets dark here in casa chaos there is often a sense of calm as everything goes to sleep, and you can hear nothing. This means that when something does happen, you can hear it for miles, and the whole neighbourhood learns that something is going on in the crazy finca. When there is a commotion, I am often woken, and lay there for a few minutes thinking, "God do I have to move"

This happened the other night, it was peaceful, I was asleep and all of a sudden the chickens started making a huge noise. One chicken had obviously been scared by something, and alerted the other 65 to the impending danger. The problem is with chickens this danger can be anything, which is why I am often reluctant to move, and go and investigate.

So, as I laid there listening to the chickens making a huge noise, which didn't appear to be getting any quieter, I considered what could have upset them this time. Other people are concerned with predators, however, the rats are the largest thing we have, and I wasn't going to get up and go down there for a rat!

Times like these I wish hubby didn't work nights, as a quick dig in the ribs and a grumble, would have sent him on his way to go and look. However, I had to make the decision, do I get out of my nice warm bed, struggle to find clothes, a torch and some boots, venture into the dark, which as you know I am REALLY not good with. To trudge around an orchard searching for the scary thing that the chickens have decided they do not like....errr hell no, I stayed in my nice warm bed.

There was logic to my decision, if it was a rat there was nothing I could do, if it was a chicken simply having a diva fit, there was nothing I could do, and if the scary object was larger than a rat, why on earth would I want to be in the orchard, in the dark with this object that could potentially kill me! Therefore, I rolled over, pulled the duvet higher, and went back to sleep...I know bad farmer I am!

A couple of deaths

Amongst the chaos of last week, we had a chicken and a rooster die, both had been attacked, which is starting to p**s me off now! I have enough to deal with on a daily basis  without having to worry about what the stupid woman across the road is doing with her dog. The problem is her argument is that my chickens shouldn't be in the barranco, my argument is that she is an inbred and should control her dog.

On paper both arguments look weak, however, my chickens do not rush over to her house at every opportunity, and cause damage and death. The other problem is that no one has actually seen her dog, which could mean that there is the smallest chance it is not her dog causing the damage. However, until further notice, it is her dog, and I will seek revenge.

My chickens are a pain, but I wouldn't want to wish a dog attack on any of them, even the ones that really p**s me off. So, my daily task of attempting to keep the chickens in the POW camp continues, whilst I plot how to hurt both the dog and it's owner! Both tasks are slow work, but I am determined that I will achieve my goal.

Wandering Billy

After Billy's adventure in the pipe he had remained close to his one true love, which of course is his pond. However, one night last night, Billy was not anywhere to be found when the ducks were put to bed ,which caused a frantic dash to the pipe. We searched everywhere, but no Billy, and with a sense of loss we left him outside. Even hubby searched when he got in from work, but no Billy.

The next morning when the ducks were let out, Billy was there swimming in his pond, as if he had never been gone. So, we put it to the back of our minds and thought maybe he had wandered off, and slept somewhere for the night. However, that night there was a repeat of the previous night, no Billy, this begun to puzzle me as he was there at least an hour before bedtime.

The next morning Billy had appeared, now this has been going on for at least 5 days now, with evening searches, and Billy appearing in the morning. I often wonder if Billy is in fact a female duck, and that maybe she/he has laid eggs, but that doesn't answer why Billy only wanders off at night.

Maybe Billy hates sharing a space with Jessica/Justin the psycho duck, I must admit that I wouldn't want to spend a night in a confined space with that animal. Whatever, the reason, and wherever Billy is going, it remains a mystery. But, we don't like mysteries and are determined to solve it soon.

People never cease to amaze me...

I am used to receiving strange messages from people, and even the odd request, often regarding animals, fruit, or simply because they know I will answer as oddly back. One of my closest friends Mrs S has an ability of messaging me, through the night with strange questions, or simply to show she cares by waking me up to share something funny!

However, I was not expecting the message I got last week, my phone went off as usual, and saw it was her picked it up to see "fancy a goat?" now she has predictive text so this short message could have in fact meant a number of things. As I pondered what it meant, I simply answered "couldn't eat a whole one!"

This lead to a bizarre conversation where it appears that she did mean a goat, and not to eat. It seems a fraggle had done it again, and reached an all time level of stupidity. A friend of Mrs S had been asked to feed a friends "pet" whilst she was away, which she had agreed to, however, she got the shock of her life when she realised it was a goat!

Yes, a goat in a kitchen, in an apartment, in the middle of  a holiday resort! Now hopefully at this point you were like me and thinking what the hell has she got a goat for in her kitchen. If you think this is in fact normal, please join the crazies in the other corner. So, a conversation was had about would I have the goat, as the landlord wasn't too happy, errrrrr I wonder why?

So, Rico arrived yesterday, on a collar and lead, yes you read right, she turned up with the goat on a collar. There was no doubt in mind that this lady was slightly crazy, and after she inspected where Rico would be living, and asking if he would be happy here, I no longer feel I am crazy! Rico has been spoilt  to the point that I don't think he knows he is a goat, well in fact we think he is a cow! Now there is a thought did she go out to get a goat but came back with a cow, hmmmm

Just leave me a alone!

I am so sorry for no blog this week, however, I have been ill, and I am no talking a bit of a sniffle, and a cough ill. Without sharing every horrible episode this week, I have spent a huge proportion of my week in the toilet, and the other time has been spent in bed. In fact, I have spent more time in bed this week than when I had my children.

Now being ill in a normal house is bad enough, but being ill in casa chaos is a disaster, as everything does not appreciate that you are in fact ill. The animals do not care that you cannot move, or do not want them sniffing, licking, laying, cuddling you at every opportunity. I have spent a stressful week throwing animals off of me, and shouting "leave me alone"

The other problem with being ill, and having animals is that they cannot head for the fridge and help themselves, which means they all still need food, water, and checking. The kids have done their best, however, as I have struggled to the car every morning to do the long and painful school run, I have grimaced at the state of casa chaos. The fact that tidy is NOT my daughters middle name has become even more apparent.

Loads has happened this week including dead animals, more feral chicks, billy wandering off, and a new arrival, but don't worry I will update you now I am back up vertical and feeling like a human being. Thanks for the emails wondering where I was, it does prove that people do read my mad ramblings, and even care :)

Bumblefoot!

No I'm not referring to the bad American Rock band,  I'm referring to the problem with AL's foot. Whilst randomly looking on the Internet as I happen to do quite often, I came across a photo of the same thing that AL has on his foot. Apparently he has Bumblefoot, which is an infection, causing the foot to swell and for him not to be able to move.

I read thorough the article three times  thinking OMG I have to do what to his foot! Now for you expert chicken keepers out there performing mild surgery on your chickens/roosters may be common, errr for me its not! and to say I was apprehensive was an understatement. I'm more of a take it to the vet to sort out type chicken farmer, but as you all know my vet only understands chickens when they are roasted.

So, armed with a bucket full of hot water, some towels, a scalpel, and tweezers oh and a child I went to surgery. Whilst sitting on a rock soaking AL's foot a friend messaged me, and my response of " Can't speak soaking a chickens foot" received a reply of "no worries" There are some friends that simply understand, and never ask questions!

The procedure to cut away the infected piece and pull out all of the insides, apparently is straightforward, however, when faced with a chicken foot that is in fact attached to a chicken it is daunting. We soaked and scraped, and dug around, but in all honesty, it seemed as if we were doing a pedicure on a chicken rather than surgery.

After a while, and no real progress, I gave up, betodined his foot, and bandaged it, which did look quite good! I feel more effort will need to be applied today, to try and find the core problem, and the elusive "Bumble" in the foot!

Bloody maggots again!

I love animals, nearly all of them, I do draw the line at spiders, some bugs, oh and dogs that attack my chickens. Yes, Honeybun has been attacked by the neighbours dog again, so operation pick out maggots is happening. Ok, I know my chicken is wandering in the barranco, but come on control your dog! How would she like it if I went over ripped open her dogs neck, and left it to die whilst being eaten alive by maggots.

Some people really p**s me off, well in fact many people p**s me off, but she is reaching an all time high at the moment. Not only is she on a par with nosey lady, she has no respect for my animals, property or privacy. In fact we have just erected a new fence to stop her staring in at the animals, trees, and generally what everyone is doing. She is one of these annoying people that pretend to walk their dog past, really slowly, so she can take notes about the happenings of casa chaos.

Anyway I am rambling this morning, back to the chicken, and the maggots, oh how I have missed you NOT! so, we have a chicken back in the bathroom, the only problem is we also have some pups in the bathroom, god our bathroom is well used! before you all say what about the hospital wing, well AL is still in there, and she cannot be out in the open due to flies, laying eggs which produce maggots!

So, we spend an hour extracting maggots with hubby helpfully telling me to "wring her neck" but I rescued her from the last attack, I will do the same again. I am currently plotting revenge on the dog that attacked Honeybun, in fact, I might just seek revenge on the owner, far better idea!

Not my goat!

Jack and Jill getting out is  a daily occurance, and they can often be seen up the mountain, munching away at whatever they munch away at, enjoying life. I have given up putting them back a sthe moment I do they appear in front of me, thinking that it is a game. I have even left the gate open which confuses them, as they stand there staring at you not knowing what to do.

I may refuse to chase my own goats now, but it seems that doesn't stop me chasing other peoples, as I discovered yesterday. We were having afternoon coffee, which sounds rather pleasant, what it usually involves is us collapsed on the sofa, watching crap on the TV for at least 15 minutes. However, yesterday our peace was shattered.

We heard a rustling in the tree below the window, now this could be a cat, chicken, duck or goat, so I wasn't that bothered. Hubby decided to get up to look, and shouted "the goat is in the barranco" now this caused alarm as they could easily hop onto the road and cause chaos. Therefore, we ran, he ran in one direction to the barranco, and I ran to the feed room for corn.

I know my goats, they love food, and there would be no way to tempt them back to casa chaos without food. Off we went in search of the goats, now Jack and Jill go everywhere together, so it surprised me when hubby said there was one goat, a brown one. However, off we went in search of the goat, and up ahead was a brown goat, every time we got closer it ran off, which was also strange.

I was determined to catch Jill and though her behaviour was very odd, but who am I to question goat logic! I finally caught up with the goat, to discover that it wasn't even our bloody goat, so I shouted at hubby, "did you not realise this was not our goat" for him to reply " its a goat, its brown, how the hell was I to know what our goat looked like"

Off I stomped back up the barranco to the house, to discover jack and Jill stood in the drive staring at me puzzled why I had gone off with their corn! Men, why can they not pay more attention to what the goat looks like, as it could have saved me time and effort, and my coffee was now cold! but, I did ponder, whose goat was it, and is it like the chickens that seem to be joining our mad world.

As hubby joined me on the drive, he flippantly commented, "oh no that goat doesn't look anything like our goat does it"!

Building new nesting boxes

My poor husband dreads getting out of bed for the fear of what I am going to ask him to make/build next and Sunday was no different. Sunday has become our fixing/building day, well when I say our I mean his with me giving unhelpful instructions. All week we rush around and step over broken things, so when it comes to Sunday it all needs sorting out. The "To Do" list continues to grow, with more and more being added daily.

The nesting boxes were causing me a headache, as the chickens had been kung foo fighting in them and smashed the front and one of the sides. This had caused them to refuse to lay in them, and were all trying to cram into a small barrel that I had placed on the floor. Therefore, these were priority, however, when I mentioned this to hubby the response was rather unhelpful.

He could not see the reasoning behind demolishing the nesting boxes and building smaller, cosier ones, and a huge debate occurred in the coop regarding the nesting boxes. I am used to getting what I want, therefore when he questions this and tries to reason on the side of logic I hate it, and usually sulk. I explained that I wanted smaller boxes, so they would feel cosier, which he laughed at.

I however, won the debate when I pointed out if he did not build me new boxes, I would put curtains on the front, with little ribbons. I had no intention of doing so, but I knew this would work, we have been married far too long, so, I know exactly how to win. Off he went to build the new boxes, muttering how all chicken owners were crazy!

The boxes as always were fantastic, and the chickens loved them, so big pat on back to hubby, one item can be crossed off the to do list, now on to the 254 other things. I have asked him to take a week off work, you may think that I have romantic plans of holidays, but alas I just need him to fix everything!

What will 2013 bring...

Someone asked me the other day if I was making any resolutions for 2013, and to be honest I'm not as I think they are pointless. However, I have decided to make a dreamer list for this year, to focus on what we need to achieve, and see if we can manage it throughout the year. Finances will always play a huge part in what actually is achieved, so who knows what this year will bring.

Looking back on 2012 we had some hopes and ideas of what we wanted to manage, some were a success, and others epic fails. However, on the whole we achieved a lot, and leant so much more. Our list for 2012 was:

Have a successful flock of chickens to lay eggs and make money....this seems to be finally working, once we got through the molt, stress, and diva moments from our chickens.

Have ducks and produce ducklings.....well we have the ducks, but alas a fail on the ducklings, I will be adding that to the list for 2013.

Have goats and produce at least one baby goat...well we have the goats, but no baby who knows if one will appear in 2013.

Raise a piglet and butcher...this we did, learnt so much and we are pleased that we did it, but no more pigs for us.

Buy a bigger more suitable car...thank god we achieved this as going to the feedstore with a small car was un-practical, and expensive as 7 trips a week was crazy.

Keep the chickens in the orchard.....epic fail, as no matter what we do they escape, part of me has given up, but I'm sure we will try again in 2013.

Breed rabbits...epic fail, no matter what we do there are no baby bunnies, I am at a loss what to do with this one, I might just make a pie!

Have more fruit in the crates to sell than on the floor....this I am proud of as we were new to the whole harvesting fruit thing, and on the whole we sold a huge amount.

Grow vegetables...epic fail as everything I plant dies, or is eaten, I am determined in 2013 to achieve this and grow something successfully.

We hope that this year will allow us to get better at what we do, and if not oh well there is always 2014!

Lucy made the decision

After the huge debate the other day about the eggs, and what we should do with them, Lucy made the decision yesterday. In my heart I knew the eggs were no longer viable, which meant that they had died, and needed to be disposed of. However, this is never an easy decision as there may be a small chance that I was wrong.

The eggs were cold, and Lucy had begun to lose interest, but she she was sitting sitting on them, until yesterday when she got off the eggs as she always did, but did not return. I waited the whole day and Lucy showed no interest in the eggs, in fact she was quite happily laid by the pond enjoying the sun. At this point I knew that she had made her decision and that the eggs were gone.

Although this was upsetting, as we had hoped for ducklings, a lot had been learnt, and hopefully next time the same mistakes would not be made. I am hoping to encourage Lucy to lay her eggs in the extension, rather than the doorway to the duck house which will solve one of the biggest issues.

I have learnt that Jessica/Justin the psycho duck must be separated as soon as Lucy sits on her eggs, and that Lucy knows best. Who knows why they didn't hatch, who knows if she will ever sit on eggs again, all we can do is take one day at a time and learn by our mistakes!

My husband needs a medal

I have an incredibly understanding husband, who simply shrugs at many things that happen here in casa chaos, however, yesterday he did question the madness. He is used to the shouting, chasing, arguing, and generally noise level. He is used to the insane animals that never do as they are told, and the odd dietary needs of everything here. He is used to being asked to make unusual objects, feeders, bunny boxes, goat houses and he does all of this without question.

I think hubby copes incredibly well, and is a saint to put up with everything that happens here on a daily basis. Like the rest of us he has resolved himself to the fact that this is our hectic life, and he also gets to escape every day as he goes to work. However, I think the goats pushed him over the edge yesterday and he questioned something, which is incredibly unusual.

Jack and Jill continue to escape and I'm sure they do it as a game now, rather than to actually escape, but the cries of "goats out" seems to be happening at least 400 times a day. I am to the point with the goats of "WHATEVER" as I refuse to get up and out every time they find a new place to get out. This appears to have confused the goats as they stand and stare at the house as if to question why we aren't calling and chasing them.

This is what pushed hubby to ask the question yesterday..."Why are the goats standing on our terrace?" I stopped for  a moment and thought, "Why is he asking this question?" the goats standing on the terrace, or on the wall beside the terrace is perfectly normal to me. However, hubby pointed out that normal families do not have goats on the terrace, and as I pointed out we are far from normal. In fact we are the complete opposite, and if goats on my terrace is all I have to worry about today..its a bloody good day in my opinion!

And still she sits....

Thank god Lucy is more patient than me, as I am so bored of the whole waiting for duckling thing as I have the attention span of a gnat. However, she continues to dutifully sit on her eggs, leave for short periods of time, return and sit on her eggs. Now she either knows something we don't or she just enjoys sitting for long periods of time.

In my feeble attempt to understand why she is still sat there I Googled, I spent a long time Googling yesterday, and it seems that she will not sit there unless the eggs are viable, so she must know something we don't. However, I was still curious to discover why they are taking so long, and every website recommended candling the eggs.

Now quite frankly I am crap at candling eggs, and can never see anything, a bit like those pictures that the psychiatrists use to determine whether you are mad, I always say the wrong thing! However, i was determined to give it another attempt. So, off I wandered to the duck house with a torch and a candle and some small amount of hope that it would work.

Lucy was sat happily on her eggs, so I perched in the door way and gently took an egg, whilst balancing in the doorway. I realised that this position just wasn't going to work, so I slowly got in the duck house, now this would not be an issue, but I am rather tall, and the duck house is rather small. Which lead to me looking like a contortionist, attempting to squeeze myself into a very small box.

As I sat in the smelly straw with Lucy staring at me in a strange way I realised that I still couldn't see anything in the eggs, and that I should really just be more patient. Yeah like that is going to happen!

WOW its 2013...

You know that feeling when you are getting old, as you didn't go out partying for New Years Eve, and you get up the next day as if it was any other day...well I'm there! I think that the start of a new year is a time to reflect on the last 12 months, and ensure that improvements are made to the one that is ahead. Starting a new year provides us all with amazing potential, and infinite possibilities, it is up to us all to not waste these.

As I look back on the last 12 months, it has been a roller coaster of emotions and events, many I would not change, some I would tweak, but on the whole very happy in the direction that we are heading. We have lived in Casa Chaos since March 2012, my god it feels so much longer, but it has been a hectic 9 months. We have grown with the finca, and begun to lay roots, which is essential, and every step may be a challenge, but that is life.

That was all rather serious for me, so back to the chaos, the first day of 2013, what will it bring...chasing goats no doubt, probably a few chickens, attempting to keep the loopy duck away from the eggs. We still have AL in the newly built hospital wing, as his leg doesn't appear to be getting any better.

Omelette is doing well with her chicks, but she is one of the good mum's. The feral chicken appears occasionally, usually to eat. The goats are the goats, not sure if Jill is pregnant, but the amount of jiggy jiggy that goes on I cannot see how she isn't. The rabbits are still not producing, which is another mystery!

Something I would like to say is thank you to all my followers, your comments and emails make me smile, and realise that I may be mad, but there are other mad people in the world with me.