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Smile

November 19th, 2013

With the slaughter of the pigs on Sunday and butchering happening today, our days have been filled with very heavy things. Luckily there’s still a lot of beautiful life around Chiot’s Run that keeps things from getting to be too much.  Here are some sweet things that I captured with my camera yesterday:
cuteness 1
cuteness 2
cuteness 3
cuteness 4
Death brings a greater appreciation for life, I’m certainly loving all the beauty in the lives that still surround us.  All these animals bring a deep richness to our lives.

What beautiful things are filling your day with life today?

7 Comments to “Smile”
  1. Marina C on November 19, 2013 at 6:34 am

    So sweet!
    Of course Dexter loves your new scarf… Such a sweet and so cat-like thing to do.
    I was always finding our older cat sprawled on my desk, all over the mail. I knitted a lining for an old basket, and now we still share the desk, only my mail does not end up on the floor. She stays on the couch these days, but the young one has adopted the basket now.
    Two gfogs also

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  2. Marina C on November 19, 2013 at 6:48 am

    Sorry about that!
    Two yellow labs also follow me everywhere, and they are like happiness dispensers: always ready to come along, and think that whatever we do is fun, tail wagging all the time.
    Today is window washing day, as soon as the ladder comes out, they will think, fun, something new and different to watch.
    I am going to raise a puppy for the Seeing Eye Dogs, dogs so enrich the lives of people with disabilities.
    Animals sure enrich our lives!

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  3. Robin on November 19, 2013 at 7:46 am

    Ducklings melt my heart a little. I have only hens now after a bobcat killed my drake last winter. I’ll order a few in the spring with the idea that at least one will be a drake.

    Today is a road day. I’ll be taking my camera with me in hopes of finding a bald eagle, ducks and a muskrat at Magurrewock marsh.

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  4. Sierra N Hampl on November 19, 2013 at 8:41 am

    I’m sure it takes some getting used to. I try to be non-chalant about our chickens and we’ve stressed to Isabella that they are “farm animals” but I think we’d all be sad to lose one. I look up to both of you and your achievement of self-sustainability.

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  5. Nebraska Dave on November 19, 2013 at 9:34 am

    Susy, Heavy work days are indeed a test of a homesteader’s mettle. There have been many heavy work days at Terra Nova Gardens this last month. I keep in mind that lots of work now will be enjoyed with much less work in the future.

    Since I have only wild life to watch, the beauty of life in the garden is from a distance. One lonely feral totally white cat that roams the neighborhood searching for mice. She has been there since I obtained the property two years ago. The wild turkeys look like they have had a good year. With feeding off my property and getting fed from people in the neighborhood, their life is nothing but the best. I saw the V shape of geese flying over head yesterday. It’s always a sign the Winter weather is on the way when geese start their journey south.

    I am impressed that you got a podcast done after having such a heavy work day. Thanks always for allowing us to see into and learn from your homestead life.

    Have a great meat processing day.

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  6. amy on November 19, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    Love all the sweet photos of your critters….Funny! that Dexter has the entire couch at his disposal but will choose to sit on that small spot that your scarf is laying on…..That dog is just gorgeous! What living things make me happy besides my children and husband…..My little orange marmalade kitten…Alice…greets me every morning…..She is so delighted to see me in her cat like way…..very different from the way our three dogs say good morning…but all equally delightful!

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  7. whit on November 20, 2013 at 10:41 am

    We are experiencing the same with chicken butchering day upon us tomorrow. These chickens were our first for our farm. Some were given to me for a birthday present.

    Like you, I try to focus on the beauty around me. The barn cat that sings to me each morning. The ducks that beg for their oats with that little smirky look about them. The new chickens we’ve raised that are sllloowly learning where their treats come from and recognise the sound of the sleigh bells on the back door when it’s opened and come running. Is there really anything more uplifting and spirited than watching a glutenous chicken run? :)

    Hope your roast is pleasing to your palate!

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About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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Cultivate Simple 54: Think Before You Eat

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