Autumn Morning on the Homestead

Autumn is a bittersweet time of year. The harvest is filling basket upon basket to bring in the house and can, dehydrate, freeze, or store in the root cellar. Our extra chickens and ducks must be processed and roasted or frozen. The chilly mornings give way to gorgeous blue skies with wispy clouds floating by.

The chickens love these cool mornings and enjoy searching for worms and bugs lingering in their pasture. Everywhere I walk, grasshoppers and crickets hop about…but not in the chicken pen! I toy with the idea of fencing in my entire yard for them to roam around. The memory of stepping, barefoot, into ‘escaped duck’ poop makes me think twice.

Sooner than I like, snow will cover the pasture and the hens will stand in the doorway, refusing to go out in their pasture. This will be my first winter with ducks…I wonder if the snow will stop them from enjoying the great outdoors?

Past the chicken pen and overgrown garden, the sun is rising above the neighbor’s treeline. I love this time of day, when no one but me and my chickens are out and about. Sucking in a chilly gulp of air, I close my eyes and think back to countless dawns I’ve witnessed in my life.

The morning light turns dew into jewels sparkling on the grass…

 

And the field of corn ‘next door’ glows in golden splendor. Autumn stirs my heart with gladness for the remaining days of warmth, and yet I am reminded of the icy days that will follow. I linger in the field until the sun dries the dew and my mind returns to the tasks that I must accomplish on our homestead today. With a happy heart I head inside.

 

What is your favorite time of day on the homestead?

 

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