morning coffee

One of the things I love most about our little farm is getting up early (when I actually manage to wake up - which is much easier to do when the hubby is shaking you, saying "The baby wants to talk to you!" This usually means that she has pooped, because otherwise he'd just get her a bottle himself and she'd go back to sleep and I would have missed this gorgeous morning. But, I digress.) and enjoying my coffee on the front porch. This morning it was actually cool enough that I needed a sweater, which in these days of 90+ degree weather, is really a welcome change.
I love the early morning sounds here on the farm. All the birds are chirping and singing, and the hawk family is calling to each other across the front pasture. I have a sort of love/chagrin relationship with those hawks. They are so majestic and beautiful, and one time I even got up really close to one when it was sitting on a stump eating some small critter or other, which was just so cool! But then there's the whole "can't free-range the chickens" thing, because seriously, with all the trouble we've had keeping chickens alive here, hawks are the last thing we need. Still, they are incredibly beautiful - as are the blue herons, cardinals, goldfinches, indigo buntings, wild turkeys (which I think are pretty cool, even though the bastards wiped out my blackberry patch!), and about a thousand other birds I can't even name. Then there's our muscovies. It took me a little while to get used to ducks roosting in trees (which muscovies are wont to do), but it's pretty fun to watch them swooping from the pond to the trees and back again.  I also had another unexpected visitor this morning - a doe - munching on our (VERY) unmown grass by the chicken coop. She didn't stay long, but still!! She was only about 20 feet away. See, honey? There's a really great excuse not to mow the lawn!

And, speaking of chickens - we're trying again. 11 new babies and 2 more turkeys. I'm thinking about setting up a tent next to the coop and living in it with my shotgun. I only wish I was kidding.