I have always loved the country life. When my husband and i moved to the country, my mission was to find a wringer washer and rinse tubs. After quite a search i came home with a bargin.

I wasted no time setting them up and hanging my clothes line. Mmmm, i could almost smell those sheets. Only one small problem, no luck on the rinse tubs. I rounded up some plastic tubs, filled them with water and went in to gather the clothes. Bad idea! While i went inside my tubs were unprotected and the ducks were planning a morning dip. As i stepped out onto the porch, I heard the splashing before i saw a single duck. As i came around the corner to the back yard, with my arms dripping with sheets, the ducks scurried to safety.

I used buckets, scooped out the water and poured it over my flowers. Trip after trip cursing those dreaded ducks. I cleaned and refilled the tub and covered them this time. After washing a load and getting them on the line, i started another batch. Just then the phone rang. You guessed it, forgot to cover the tubs. Again I cleaned and refilled them. Only this time i just dumped them on the ground by some bushes.

The afternoon was wasting away and i had yet to get anything done. I folded the first load and put the second on the line. Now we are getting somewhere. I should have known! The ducks after finding my puddle and hearing how all the spa's used mud, decided to take a little mud bath. I ran out shooing them away. Wouldn't you just know it, they flapped their wings and splattered mud all over my clean sheets.

I finally got the sheets done, but no bread baked for dinner, so we had corn bread. Hey i'm flexible.

Later that night as i slipped into bed, my husband exclaimed "these sheets smell great".

I rolled over in a huff!

"Honey is anything wrong", he said.

"No dear i was just thinking", i replied with a sigh.

"How about duck for dinner tomorrow night".

This was 8 years ago and i have remembered alot and learned even more. I would love to hear from anyone with tips, recipes, stories or just chat. Happy farming!

-- Shau Marie Miller (shau@centurytel.net), January 10, 2001

Answers

Thanks, I needed a laugh today. My daughter left the chicken coop door open and all the chickens and chicks escaped. After quite a tussel we got them all back in. Chicken for dinner seems a good idea.

-- Linda (wklkmorgan@ifriendly.com), January 10, 2001.

Have you ever tried catching Shetland sheep on the loose? I could develop a taste for lamb chops!

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), January 10, 2001.

I had gotten three piglets to raise. They would come running for fig newtons so when they got loose (which was alot in the beginning until I finally got a good pen fixed up) all I had to do was call them. Anyway, I sold two kind of small so they were easy to get into the trailer. The last one got to be 250 lbs thereabout and no believed that I could get it into the trailer with cookies so they tried to force her in. Ever try forcing a pig to do anything? After the three of us chased her for about an hour, we got her near the trailer where she smelled the cookie, stopped dead, and calmly climbed in. Sure, no one listens to me.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), January 10, 2001.

How about the time that Blondie, Mom's cow, got into the fermenting remains of some peaches that Mom had around in a bucket and got drunk! Went cavorting around her paddock, with Mom and several great- aunts in full pursuit. I wish I had been there to see it. Took them all day to get her in!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 10, 2001.

The Story of Brownie the Barbados Lamb.

Three years ago someone gave me some Barbados sheep. These are great sheep and are more like a goat than a sheep. The person who gave them to me gave me a ewe and three lambs that had recently been born. When we picked them up the runt kind of lagged behind the rest. This as what should have been my first clue, but at that point I was stupid with regard to sheep. I took them home and on the way we held the babies on our laps. When we got home we put the babies back with the mom and the runt became the object of her mother's wrath. The ewe had decided sheep didn't like her little ewe lamb. I have a feeling this may have been already going on and this was just the straw that brok the camels back. Needless to say I then had a lamb to feed. We named her Brownie. We fed Brownie goats milk and soon discovered that is awful to call little orphan lambs bums. Brownie was my favorite sheep. She never grew as well as the others who were on mother's milk, but when she lambed, she had three fine little babies. Brownie also was the easiest to handle, and she came when we called. Where the other sheep were skittish, brownie walked up to be petted when we went out to the pen. When we first sent her out to join her sheep like neighbors she wanted to come back to the house, but she soon accepted her position as one of the flock, and eventually became a fine mother. I always worried about her lambing time because of her smaller frame, but she lambed as easy as the rest. From four barbados ewes we got nine lambs last year. It was very hard for me to sell my sheep when it came time, but Brownie almost broke my heart. There she was standing in the sale pen after the sale. I walked by and she came running up to be petted and reassured that all would be well. She was a grand lady and certainly no bum.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), January 10, 2001.

My ducks loved the rain today!! I went out to check on the goats just as the rain began. I could hear them "laughing". I went around to where they were in the pen (all our free-rangers got stolen during the holidays...all at once, like I wouldn't notice??) the darker girl was talking away, then would pause while the other three laughed, then she would start up again. It was so cute!!

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), January 10, 2001.

I love the way this works. I post a cute story for a chuckle and get many laughs in return. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I guess most of you have realized that i am new to the forum. You don't see my name commonly used. I live in a small rural town in Wisconsin and enjoy this life so very much. I was injured a few days ago. So i finally got a chance to try out the forum. I have been reading for hours. I have chicken's, bantam's, pigeon's, duck's, geese, pygmy goats, a black angus calf, a horse, rabbit's, dog's and cat's. I want sheep very baaadly. Hope to learn and share with everyone! Thanks, SM

-- Shau Marie in WI (shau@centurytel.net), January 11, 2001.

My Dad picked several bushels of tomatoes one day, but left them on the shady back porch. Mom and I couldn't get to them right then, since we had 4-H doins' in town. We ran our errands, and came home just about lunch time. The normally bright white Pekin ducks were out in the yard, and their fronts were all covered in red gore. We paniced, figuring something had injured them. I ran and caught one, and noticed the "blood" was liberally sprinkled with tomato seeds. We checked out the baskets on the porch, and sure 'nuff. The goofy critters had poked a big, slurpy hole in every last tomato that they could reach! Ah, well. There were plenty more where those came from; but we had to laugh in relief.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), January 11, 2001.