Harvest and Chickens

Well, it’s looking as though harvest will be done this week.  Knut says they’re working on the last field today.  It will be good to have him home every once in awhile now.  I’ll have to say goodbye to my Jane Austen movies until next spring and say hello to some actual face to face conversation with an adult on a daily basis.

That doesn’t mean at all that Knut is done for the year.  That just means that soon he might be home to tuck the kids in to bed at night.  He might even make it for supper. 

The air is magical when I go out at night to close in the chickens.  I normally go out at sunset and the sky is full of colors, what is left on the trees is full of colors.  The black soil and the black sillouette of the trees whispers of the season next on our roster.  Winter is void of the rainbow except for the occasional sun dog on the very harsh days.  It’s like living in a vintage photograph with an occasional blue sky painted on the film.

I remember seeing my first sun dog.  I was trying to figure out why there was a rainbow next to the sun when I was driving into town one morning.  Maybe God knew that it wasn’t just in times of flood that people need reminders that it won’t last forever.

I don’t mean to be grumbling about the upcoming season.  Winter is by far the favored season in this household.  David and Knut get the most giddy about it.  Silje and I are both excited to read a book next to the fire which is constantly going in the wintertime.  We’ve only gotten a taste of the fireplace going in the mornings lately, but soon adding wood to the fire will once again be my favorite chore of the day.  Even knitting obsessed, homeschooling, stay at home mom can be a bit of a pyro at heart.

The chickens have officially been placed under house arrest until they make bail.  I check on them twice a day to make sure their food and water supply are adequate.  There’s 17 chickens in there and one of them better lay an egg. 

From everything I read, the longer it takes for them to lay an egg, the healthier they are, and they will have more productive egg producing years.  At this point it doesn’t feel like I’m pushing a teenager to have a baby as much as it feels like I’m trying to convince a 30 year old to go on a date.  Knut is certain they’ve been laying in the woods in spite of the fact that I’ve been keeping them cooped up until noon every day.  Well, we’ve taken away their afternoon time now.

4-6 months.  They’re supposed to start laying between 4-6 months.  They hatched right around May 1st, so November 1st will be 6 months.  I know they’re not overdue, but I thought that at least a few of them would start laying by now.  If I were them, I’d start laying before Knut is home after the harvest.  He may want to get food from them one way or the other. 

We never dreamed that harvest would be done and we still wouldn’t have eggs yet.  Of course, the guys always aim to get harvest done by Thanksgiving.  This is crazy early to be done.