Vacation for all, except for Bessie

After all the veterinary-related drama, life has finally gotten back to normal here on the farm. Although I have to admit, our "normal" seems rather chaotic to anyone unused to sharing life with over a hundred critters of varying description. (So what if 75 of them are chickens? It's still an impressive number). Both Thing 2 and Ceri seem to have conquered their ailments, and are now medication-free with the exception of Ceri's allergy pills. Sadly, those are a lifelong investment. Apparently each pill takes over nine months to manufacture, so I don't foresee those prices dropping anytime soon. That's longer than it takes to pop out a baby!

At any rate, the most exciting news of the month has to be Bessie's arrival. Gene had his surgery last week, so she flew out to help me with the animals and lifting anything over five pounds. Although she's been here numerous times before, this is the first time she's actually had to help me with chores. Anticipating an overnight stay in the hospital, I figured the best way to make sure she could handle everything was to make her do all the chores for three days prior to the surgery. Her visit has really turned into more of a vacation for me, I have to say. She's actually doing quite well, although she has no inherent chicken wrangling skills. Apparently that's not an ability people are born with, I just happened to win the genetic lottery. I did convince her to hold a chicken, and once the high-pitched "get it off me" screeches had subsided, the experience was enjoyed by both Bessie and Mama Buffington.