Writing Project

When you keep chickens, you spend a lot of time thinking about predators. Hawks circle overhead. Foxes lurk in the woods. Raccoons test every latch and weak spot they can find. We’ve spent time learning what to watch for. What we didn’t expect was a snapping turtle. In fact, snapping turtles weren’t even on our radar as chicken predators. The whole thing started when Ryan sent me a text that…

He came to us as an Anatolian Shepherd puppy—or at least that’s what the random lady at the farm swap booth says. He’s 12 weeks old now, and honestly, the breed label feels more like a rough draft than a fact. The longer we have him, the more we wonder if he’s actually an Anatolian Shepherd… or if there’s some mix of Border Collie and Great Pyrenees in there. He has this weird combination of…

My sister-in-law, niece, and little cousins all went to a giant multi-acre farm swap with one simple goal: find a goat friend for Bumble. That was it. Just one calm, reasonable mission. In reality, it immediately stopped being simple. We walked row after row of pens and trailers looking at goats, and the options were all kind of extremes. Either they were way more expensive than expected, or…

The first time Hitchy met the goats, we kept him on a leash and everyone stayed on opposite sides of the fence. Jingle, Hermie, and Bumble were in Goat Section 8, and Hitchy was on the outside trying to figure out what he was looking at. The goats were curious right away. Jingle walked straight up to the fence and just stared at him. Hermie followed and started sniffing along the wire, sticking…

One Saturday morning after bringing home Jingle, Hermie, and Bumble, I went outside to check on the goats and immediately decided Jingle looked cold. The temperature had dropped overnight, and while Hermie and Bumble were running around acting normal, Jingle was standing there with her ears back looking annoyed at the weather. Was she actually cold? Maybe. Was I about to fix the situation…

There are few things in life that bring Hitchcock pure, unfiltered joy. One of them is a blanket. Another, surprisingly high on the list, is a plastic baby pool full of water. We refilled it recently, and the reaction was immediate. The second he realized it was back, he went into full celebration mode. Not subtle excitement. Not polite interest. Full-body enthusiasm. He circled it like it was…

Just when things were starting to look promising in the garden, the seeds finally decided to wake up. Little green sprouts started pushing through the soil in the raised beds, and it felt like we had officially crossed into the “this might actually work” phase of gardening. Naturally, that’s when the weather remembered it had one more trick. One last unexpected freeze showed up like it had…

We’re at the point in gardening where I have to report that Algernon the mouse is now officially involved in our crop planning, whether we like it or not. Everything started out normal in the raised beds. Seeds planted, soil smoothed over, a brief moment of optimism where you pretend you’re in control of nature. Then Algernon showed up. He dug into one of the beds overnight, leaving behind a…

This spring, Ryan decided our yard needed a serious upgrade, and by “upgrade” I mean he casually built four raised garden beds out of cedar fence boards like it was no big deal. There was a lot of measuring, cutting, and that very focused silence that happens when someone is trying to make sure everything is square and level and absolutely not going to fall apart later. By the end of it, we had…

Spring break this year was just me and my 9-year-old niece, which meant the day unfolded at a very specific pace: part sightseeing, part snack mission, and part stopping to admire absolutely everything. We started in Colonial Williamsburg and did what you’re supposed to do first—eat. Our first stop was the The Cheese Shop, where we got giant grilled cheese sandwiches. Not small, reasonable…

We used to think Hitchcock was just impulsive. The kind of dog who saw a blanket and grabbed it without much thought. That is no longer what I believe. This felt planned. On day one, I had just finished sewing a blanket. The kind of moment where you actually feel a little proud of yourself for once. I set it down in the middle of the living room floor, stepped away for a second, and came back…

Sometimes even the best-laid plans come with surprises—but ours started with confidence. We had a design picked out, a clear plan in mind, and a quiet certainty that this fence was going to get done. Little did we know that the universe had a few curveballs waiting for us. Day 1: The Delivery That Wasn’tI spent the day at home, fully expecting to meet the Lowe’s delivery person and sign for the…

Our yard has a few personalities now, and yesterday added a new one to the mix. Hitchy and Joey, our resident troublemakers, discovered Stripey Bird, who’s been living in the hospital coop while recovering from an injured foot. As soon as the boys caught sight of her, they went absolutely berserk. Barking, squawking, circling, and carrying on like they’d never seen another living creature…

If you raise chicks, you know pasty butt can sneak up at the worst times. One of our newest additions was struggling with it, so it was time for a trip to pasty butt jail. For those unfamiliar, pasty butt happens when droppings stick to a chick’s vent, blocking them from going to the bathroom. It’s uncomfortable for the chick and can be dangerous if not addressed quickly. Our solution is…