Just January

This week we transferred the frye -turned fingerlings- into the hatchery pond. Naturally, this piqued the interest of the heron, so it had returned to its station at the hatchery pond. Evidently, these fish are too small to be bothered with, so far, as the heron is now perched above the pond which houses the largest of our trout. We had also noticed a significantly smaller heron at intervals as well. It took far to long to realize that the smaller heron is likely the young of the larger, and that it is currently in its 'training to be a hunter' phase.  He has competition though, as Dave and I spotted this hawk just hanging out above the same pond. 
I find great humor in having come from the beautiful coastal Pacific Northwest, where we would delight in seeing a Great Blue Heron in the bay, or on the riverbanks while kayaking.
Here though, they are the bane of our existence as trout farmers. 

There are officially 7400 small fingerlings after an official count this week. Even after the losses from the heron. These little creatures measure anywhere from 2-3 inches in length. The counting process was quite entertaining. Its should be noted, the count was far higher than expected. Evidently they always give a few hundred extra frye at the farm where we bought them, because the distance many people have to cover to get them, on such rough roads, will typically equate to some loss. It was a pleasant surprise. 

The cats are settling in nicely. Coming around bit by bit. Bobbie still has a rather concerning interest in them, and their food bowl. 
I had noticed that I hadn't seen any cat littler in the stores that we frequent. I finally asked at the feed store when I saw a small bag of sand that had a cat sticker on it. Apparently it is uncommon to have a house cat here in the mountains. Most cats are either indoor/outdoor or strictly farm cats that live outside, thus- no need for litter.  A quick eyeball of the bag told me that it was simply river beach sand- of which we have plenty. So Dave built a cat box, and Quinn dug some sand. Voila! Cat box. 
There are stores similar to Costco and Petco here, which undoubtedly have boxes and litter, but they're in Cartago or San Jose, much bigger cities. We have adjusted the old adage ' Necessity is mother mother of invention'. Ours is more like, 'Aversion to San Jose traffic is the mother of invention'. It is to be avoided at all cost. 

( I find it funny that in this pic 1) the cat seems much friendlier than it is. 2) In the doorway you can see the ever present Bobbie wondering how the heck the cat was allowed on the bed. 3) You can see Dave's phone, and if you zoom in, you'll see a recipe for Banana pudding pound cake. I really REALLY hope that's in our future. :-))

Still no resolution on what to do about the massive chickens. One weighed in at 10 lbs! Remember- they're less than twelve weeks old, but they look like small turkeys. I'm hoping when partners Molly and Gary arrive this week, maybe one can act as the terminator, and we can try our hands at 'harvesting' a chicken. We shall see.

The pineapple is so sweet right now! Dave has been enjoying baking and experimenting with it. Last week he made Canadian bacon calzone. It was amazing! The following morning, we enjoyed Pineapple and carmalized brown sugar pancakes. No syrup necessary.
We finally decided to make our menu offerings to the casita, fluid. Certain things are better in certain seasons, and we want to offer the best peak season fruit and vegetables we can, and from the farm whenever possible.