Another animal adventure...

Another adventurous week on the farm. Friday night our family attended a memorial service for the son of the woman who was my second mother. I had not seen her or her children and grandchildren for many years, and it was a bittersweet reunion. We get home from Kansas City at about 11:00, only to find a opossum lazily munching eggs in one of our nesting boxes. All the chickens were accounted for, all that is but Aggie, the chicken I adore, my mother hen. My husband was furious because he was sure this smelly pest has taken her from me. I was not so sure in my heart: there were no feathers on the floor, a tell tale sign of a varmint's chicken dinner. Aggie is pretty foxy, and I was hoping she was just roosting in a nearby tree until morning. Now, the story gets a little rough at this point, and I'm sorry for any trauma this story causes. Aaron decided that he was not going to use his pistol to kill the "killer" because he wasn't sure the bullet wouldn't penetrate the coop wall, so he sent the boys into the house, and decided a potato fork would be this opossum's fate. I won't give details, but needless to say, the pest will never eat another unhatched chick again. Now, back to my Aggie, that little cluck came traipsing out of the darkness after Aaron killed the opossum, and trotted right into the coop, and hopped right up onto her clutch. We had a great laugh at this point, kind of giddy from the relief that not only was she OK, but she patiently waited for us to clear the way for her. Now you have some idea as to why she is my favorite. Getting up early for the Columbia Farmer's Market was REALLY hard, but we all four did it, and as always, we met a lot of new people, gave a lot of advice (wanted or otherwise), and sold our plants. We are going to start going to the Friday market at Smiley and Providence, so I hope to see some of you there! And please, if you have any questions regarding my plants or produce, just ask!!!