What you might ask does a modern day homesteading sort of woman want for her birthday?   Well in my case I bought myself five new laying hens - two dark mahogany Rhode Island Reds and three Black Australorps that have shiny black feathers with hints of green and purple in the sunlight.   Supposedly the Australorps are peaceful, friendly and prolific egg layers.     I'd like a certified dairy scale too, but I think that will have to wait until Chanukah.  :)

And last week, as an early birthday present we adopted "Cindy" from the St. Helens shelter.  She does like to chase our cats, but is otherwise fitting in well with our family.  She is friendly with our other dog, and protective of the house.  And she just loves to be where her people are.   Most of the time she can be found curled up at my feet.