Burros?

There's been a lot of publicity of late regarding wild donkeys/ burros near Waikoloa. GB read that 100 of them were being airlifted to California, and called to find out about adopting one (or two). Apparently they dislike dogs and would be good protectors for the goats.

He and Luka are going to check them out this week. We may end up with a baby (who would require 3 months of bucket feeding!). OR... there's a pregnant mama who needs a home. We wouldn't have to keep her baby (due in 4-5 mos, they guess), or we could keep it.

It's a new adventure!

plant and woe

We've started some end of summer planting here. I love planting new stuff. Even though it's a lot of work, the potential for new food/ trees is awesome!

Today we planted this bamboo (blue bamboo?) that Stardove and River gave me for my last birthday.

Last week I planted these two figs here near the house. They're hard to see, but this gives me a record.
I also weeded the pineapples and mulched them heavily. I want to see how long the weeding/ mulching lasts
One of a few pineapples we got this year. I bet next year is a bonanza!
All was peachy keen. GB and I were working together, and we had the bamboo in the ground already. The backstory is that since we got the plants (these including some atroviolacea bamboo), we've been walking the property trying to figure out where to plant what. Since the atroviolcea and mango are large, it's important we make good decisions about where to put them!

So we chose a spot for the mango near the firepit. I thought that maybe the phone line went thru that spot, but GB assured me that the phone line was in with all of the other utilities and we'd be fine. Famous last words.

To make the digging "easier", GB got on the tractor. One swipe with the bucket and he was leaning over looking at something.... the severed phone/ DSL cable. shoots!

Luckily, Gerard, the electrician was a mere 5 minutes away and came and made a temporary fix. He's got to order the part to splice it permanently. No teenagers were home to scream about the lack of internet. Gerard saved the day.

And we got the fairchild mango planted--- Well above the shed and any utilities ;)

Pippi

Before talking about Pippi, I wanted to give a duck update! We went to the mainland and left 5 wee ducklings. 2 weeks later they are full on DUCKS!

We let them out of their cage and within 24 hours we had lost one (to an 'io, I think). We put them back in for another 5 days and they were big enough and now are growing fine! With a larger area, they aren't quite as smelly!

But the big news is Pippi. I have been really angry with her, because right before our trip I found her breaking open one of the chicken eggs. Previous to that, I had been thinking about getting her a boyfriend....

When we got home, though I found her sitting in this planter box. Hmmmmmm.
When I heard her fly away and start cackling, I went down to the box and found these!

Without a male, we're obviously not going to get any babies, so we brought in 3 of the eggs to taste. GB read they are like chicken eggs. It's hard to see how large they are in the above photo.... but they are, and the shell feels a lot stronger/ thicker than a chicken egg.

Cracked in a bowl:

For comparison, 2 large chicken eggs in the same bowl

Verdict? Peacock eggs are delicious!

And Pippi is still sitting on the 4th egg (and we haven't seen anymore since). She is on her nest all day (even when we have a party) and gets up once a day to eat and do her business. When she does get up, she makes a lot of noise to scare away predators. I'm a little sad for her that her eggs won't hatch, but since I don't need any more peacock poop, I'm happy I never got her a boyfriend.