Here's a woodpecker, on our suet feeder we have just outside the shop. Feeding and providing habitat for wildlife is a really important part of what we do with our gardens and land.

We call Beaker our "Wax-headed cracker hound". He loooves to "help' John make candles, and has gotten bits of soywax dripped on his head and back moer than once. (It's not that hot and doesn't hurt him a bit, we swear). And he love love, LOVES Club crackers. If he hears a crinkly wrapper noise he comes right over to see if there might be cracker bits to be had! He eats veryv ery little people food (he doesn't even really like his winter food, he much prefers fresh greens and bugs and things out of the garden), but he has a serious addiction to those Club crackers!

I haven't posted about Beaker (the goose) in a while. he's doing great! We were worried about him, after we lost our ducks. We thought he'd be lonely. He has companyduring the day while we're at work - we let him out of his pen, he wanders around the farm and talks to our cats and dogs. If John is making candles or cleaning beeswax, Beaker is in heaven (he loves to help make candles!). But during the evening we have to shut him in his pen so he is safe. We've been looking at adopting some other fowl to keep him company but 1) we haven't found any, and 2) he thinks he is a dog (or maybe a person, we're not sure), and therefore doesn't actually get all that much company from other birds. But he found his own friend....




....A few months ago, we found some baby kitties in the barn. all of our pets are spayed or neutered, but this is a farm, with a nice warm barn, and stray cats come to live here. We feed them, and care for them as best we can, but they're usually wild. one had babies last summer...we caught, tamed, and adopted out 4 of them, but apparently...there was another one. We'll have to get a trap, and find a vet who will spay/neuter a feral cat, because s/he is certainly wild. BUT. S/he and Beaker are best buddies!!! Every night when we (read:John) puts Beaky away, his kitty is waiting there for him! We are thrilled he has found some "nighttime" companionship!