There has been a lot of happenings and developments this past week at Wild Sage Homestead. We’ve celebrated many things and grieved the loss of others. Here’s a summary list of events…
Thursday, June 16
Jes and I celebrated 10 years of marriage! I couldn’t be happier with the girl of my dreams. It’s easier when you fall more in love every day. We headed to the East End of Charleston to have lunch at Tricky Fish (everything is amazing; try the fish tacos!) then over to Ellen’s Ice Cream on Capitol Street for dessert. After browsing Taylor Books we headed to Books A Million. We always like to support the local bookstore first, but we just love to browse books and magazines.
I ended up purchasing a book at said big box because, well, it was only $1. I took a gamble and, after reading the inside cover and first chapter, am glad I did. Do you ever wonder how some books become best sellers and many of those become movies while others are forgotten, left to sit on the bottom shelf to collect dust? My one buck book was Tim Stark’s Heirloom and I cannot wait to read more. If nothing else, I enjoy the cover design and feel $1 is a steal for that alone.
A simple day by some standards, but we just love being close, spending time together.
Friday, June 17
I should have mentioned that I took the day off work yesterday for the big anniversary and I surprised Jes by taking Friday off, too. She was ecstatic! As I mentioned above, we have a lot of fun and just like to be together. So even without big plans, we were going to enjoy a nice, long weekend.
We ended up picking fresh mulberries from a tree at our friend’s farm down the road and Jes made a delicious cobbler!
Saturday, June 18
After some yard work and simple chores around Wild Sage Homestead, we enjoyed the rain. Our garden was happy, too.
Sunday, June 19
Happy Father’s Day to me! We had a great morning at church then lunch with my dad. I was happy to spend the day with Jes and our kids, no matter what we did. It was a wonderful day.
Until, we realized, one of our chickens was injured. An eye was swollen and some of the feathers were matted with blood. The other eye was slightly bleeding. Was it sick? Or something else? We listed all the possibilities and concluded it was harassed by our rooster, Moses. He is, in fact, an American Game fowl, a breed traditionally bred for cockfighting. Does he still have this fighting desire in him? We separated him away from the flock just to be sure, putting him in the small rabbit hutch that served as our original coop.
Upon closer inspection, this little one was in bad shape and suffering badly. I decided to put him down and give him a proper burial. It left us sad and confused. Quite the sickening feeling.
Monday, June 20
Another day off for me for West Virginia day. (One of the benefits of being a state employee.) I highly suggest everyone take a 5-day weekend on occasion … It was a nice break. However, we didn’t rest for long. We awoke with less chickens. Eight missing in total.
It took a minute to comprehend, but we realized Moses was not the culprit afterall. The flock had been attacked in the night. Long story short, a raccoon was sneaking in and opening the coop door. Our flock of 37 was now down to 29, almost in an instant. Lucky to have over two dozen left, I added a lock and some extra preventative measures around the coop. Locked up like Fort Knox, nothing is getting in there now. Moses was reintroduced to the flock and took over his duties right away.
It was amazing to have a 5 day weekend and very humbling to have lost so many little lives. It is a reminder that with nature, you never know. Life is ‘but a vapor’. Nevertheless, we are blessed and we were together. We continue to be thankful for each day and live it to the fullest out here.
