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Serenity Animal Farm, Clanton, AL (2025)

09/17/2025

Hello Farm Friends! I think it’s going to be a cold Alabama winter this year. How do i know this you ask? Because something is happening around the farm that tells me it’s going to be a very cold winter this year. If you look around there are signs everywhere.
First it was all our big birds. Usually around the last of October or early November they start eating more in preparation of the impending cold weather. I think it’s to put extra fat on to help with enduring the cold weather. This year it started the first week of September. Instead of eating one bucket of feed suddenly they are eating two buckets of feed a day. Yipes, more food.
Then it’s our big tortoises. It usually takes them two days to eat a bowl of tortoise pellet food. Now they eat a bowl of food in a single day. Yipes stripes something is going on that tells me it’s going to be a cold winter.
Then look at our persimmon trees. For as long as I can remember our persimmons usually don’t get ripe until after we have had the first frost. This year our persimmons were ripe the first week of September. Yup, September. Most of them have fallen off the tree already, and it’s only September. The squirrels and deer are getting an early treat.
Old timers say persimmons seeds can predict the weather, but allegedly there is no scientific basis for predicting weather with persimmon seeds. It may be folklore but it really works. The seeds this year show a knife which means it’s going to be cold, really cold.
Jumping Jehoshaphat, something is going on which is unusual for September.
Also, our Osage Orange aka Hedge Apple trees have already dropped all their fruit. Large, yellow-green, wrinkled fruit are lying all over the ground. People call them monkey balls because they look so odd. Farm visitors pick them up and ask what they are because they have never seen a hedge apple before.
I think that fellow Osage that named the tree the Osage Orange must have been into the corn squeezing’s. Who names a tree Osage “Orange” but says let’s call its fruit a Hedge “Apple”? Really? In a post later this week I will tell you about how we got our Osage Orange trees on the farm. It’s a doozie of a story.
The goats are also starting to show furrier coats of hair. It’s always a tell-tale sign that cold weather is not far off.
The Farmer’s Almanac says this winter will be “Mostly Mild—with Pockets of Wild”. That sounds like an accurate description of the farm instead of the weather. Lol.
What in the wide world of weather is “pockets of wild”? I sure don’t know. The Farmer’s Almanac also says the South will have “potentially heavy rain” this winter. Huh? Rain down South? This usually equates to freezing rain, something which shuts down the south faster than a speeding bullet.
All I know is that it’s September and we had better start cutting firewood, knitting sweaters for the chickens, and jackets and hats for the camels and kangaroos. Ever see a camel wearing a “boggan” or a kangaroo wear a jacket? If you live in the South, you will know what a “boggan” is. People up north call them toe-boggans, which is just a warm knitted winter hat.
One of the farm adages we have learned from trial and error is, “if you don't think it is safe, it probably isn't", so please stay safe and travel well farm friends.

09/15/2025

Hello Farm Friends! I walked out onto the front porch and saw the dogs had something. They were standing there sniffing it. I looked and saw it was a baby eastern box turtle closed up tighter than a drum. I don’t know which dog brought it on the porch or where they found it on the farm.
I quickly took it away from them and examined it. There were no bite marks or injury to the shell anywhere. I carried it inside the house and put it in a big cake pan and set in on the kitchen table. I put a few pieces of carrot and a little shredded lettuce in the bowl in case he was hungry when it decided to come out. I figured he would eventually come out and then I could examine him to make sure he is ok and was not injured. Since he was closed up, I couldn’t inspect his limbs.
I came back inside a couple hours later and went to check on the baby turtle. I looked in the pan and he was gone, disappeared. The lettuce and carrots were there but he was gone.
I got down on my hands and knees and scoured the entire kitchen and living room. He was nowhere to be found. I looked and looked everywhere but didn’t find him. He had slap disappeared and apparently found a good hiding spot. He was really good at hind go seek.
Now we have a baby box turtle wandering somewhere around the house. I just hope we can find him and relocate him back out in the woods before the weather starts to turn cold. I put some cut up produce out in a few locations and hopefully we will figure out where he is.
Every corner of our house holds a memory of an animal. Now we can add lost baby eastern box turtle to the list of memories.
Exactly two weeks later he finally came out of hiding and was walking across the living room floor. I put him in a big cage with some produce and a peanut butter jar lid of water. He came out and quickly climbed into the water bowl. He drank a lot of water so he must have been thirsty after two weeks of hiding. He was examined and was in excellent condition except being thirsty and hungry. He gobbled up the lettuce and shredded carrots.
After a day to get something to eat and drink he was relocated outside and released safely into the woods. For those of you that don’t know, eastern box turtles are protected and it’s illegal to keep one as a pet. You should always release a wild animal back into the wild, unless it is injured, to allow it to live its natural life, learn essential survival skills, and maintain healthy populations.

09/12/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Marty and Matilda wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe weekend. Stay tuned for updates next week. We have been so busy this week there hasn’t been any time to do updates.

09/05/2025

Hello Farm Friends! The farm dog we call “Big Cash”, aka Johnny Cash, our little 140 pound farm dog came walking across the yard carrying his feed bowl. He marched up the front porch and when I opened the front door, trotted right in with it in his mouth.
When I looked at his feed bowl he had chewed the bottom slap out of it. Yup, no bottom in his feed bowl at all, he chewed it smooth out. Never have I seen a dog do this before. I’ve seen dogs chew on the sides of a bowl but not the bottom. I don’t know how he managed to chew the bottom out of the food bowl. I know it’s not because he is hungry because by himself, he can devour a 50 lb. sack of dog food every four days.
He trotted right inside the house and plopped right down on the floor and commenced to chew on the bowl. He has plenty of chew bones and toys but on this particular day, decided to chew his food bowl up. Duct tape won’t fix this.
If you have never experienced the joy of owning a big dog you don’t know what you are missing. They are amazingly funny, goofy, and make great farm companions with a little training.
It’s taken us five months of training to integrate him into our mix of other farm dogs, but he has been a superior student and quick learner and a joy to have around.
The only issue with having a big dog, If you want the best seat in the house, you'll have to move the dog, because he takes up the whole couch when he lays down.
Be nice, be kind, and always enjoy the sunshine.

09/01/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Every now and then strange things happen around here that we can’t explain.
Recently two Emu’s were missing from their pen. It didn’t take long to find them, and they were both standing in a tortoise pen. We have no idea how they got into the tortoise pen. We looked and McKenzie, the Sulcata tortoise, had backed into a doghouse away from the Emu’s walking around in his pen. I wondered what he thought when he looked up and saw two big birds staring down at him. I know it scared the ba-jeepers out of him.
We just opened the gate, and they both walked right out and down the road back into their pen.
However, since they can’t fly and have no arms to open a gate, it’s a mystery how they managed to get into the tortoise pen. Some things simply can't be explained. They just are and we are used to it around here.
Hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day.

08/28/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Ms. Samantha, one of our Sulcata Tortoises, finally outgrew her enclosure in the front of the house and was moved down to “tortoise row”.
She will have more room and a bigger house and a lot more grass to munch on. All the other tortoises will eat carrots but her. We can shred them, slice them, dice them and she won’t touch them. The other tortoises will eat every carrot slap up.
She stayed inside the house with us for many months. Her favorite thing to do was stop and stare at the talking bird. Whenever we couldn’t find her all we had to do was check by the parrot cage and there she was. I always wondered what she thought about a bird that talks.
Tortoises can tell us more about the road they take in life because they travel slow and steady, and don’t miss anything on their journey. Unlike some people that go through life so fast they miss the joy that is all around them.

08/26/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Happy National Dog Day! Every year on August 26 is National Dog Day, which celebrates the bond between humans and dogs and encourages dog ownership while spotlighting the many dogs still in need of a loving home. It's a day for dog lovers to honor their furry companions, advocate for better treatment of animals, and support rescue and adoption efforts. Whether your best friend has been with you for years or you're just beginning your journey together, National Dog Day is about recognizing the role dogs play in our lives. When seeking a new companion- PLEASE consider adopting from the local shelter. They are full of mutts, mixes, and pure breeds. It doesn’t matter the type you get at your local shelter because every dog there deserves a chance to have a good life.
I always tell everyone, if you want to be healthy and happy, get a dog. Dogs do more for our mental health than all the medications in the world. We have lots of dogs, so we are healthy and happy here on the farm. They need us and we need them! Did you know there is a word for dog lovers? Yup, there is. A person who loves dogs is called a “cynophile”.
Please be kind to all animals and please give your dog a hug today!

08/25/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Do you ever have a real good belly laugh watching something? We do around here almost every day dealing with all the animals.
The other day some of the farm dogs were just hanging around the feed barn waiting on me while I loaded the feed wagon.
Suddenly they saw something and lit out running up the road wide open and barking like they were headed to tear something or someone up.
I looked to see what they were after and had a real good laugh. They saw a balloon that was slowly floating to the ground. To them, it was an alien creature that had come to land on the farm and was a threat. It hovered about six feet off the ground and couldn’t decide where to land.
When I tell you they were giving it the devil as it floated by, they literally went berserk barking and following it down the road as it floated by. Each one wanted to be the first to get to it but were all afraid of it.
When it finally drifted to the ground, they just stood there barking at it. It took a few seconds before they realized it was harmless and went back to business as usual, lying around lazily and waiting on me.
Whoever had an anniversary and released your balloon, it landed here on the farm and had a memorable welcome by a pack of mud hounds.
Love is like a balloon, too much air and it bursts, too little and it deflates. Let it go and it drifts away, hold it too tight and it becomes a chore. Just remember, don’t let it go because you don’t know how far away it will travel.

08/23/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Mr. Rocket and Ms.Priscilla wanted to wish all our farm friends a safe and happy Saturday. Helen Keller said it best, “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light".

08/22/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Do you hear that beep, beep, beep? It’s me telling the National Academy of Science and the Aalborg Zoo in Denmark to back that d-a-r-n truck back up and pound salt. Way back up. Please let me explain.
I mill around the farm and don’t get involved in current affairs, religion, or politics. Why? Because I am happy in my own little world surrounded by animals, family members, and good friends and it usually does not affect my little world, so I usually keep my opinions to myself. It’s a lot less stressful that way and makes life so must more enjoyable. Also, because everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I respect that to a certain degree, except when it affects me, my family, my friends, or animals.
I hear rumors about city people recycling their garbage - everything from leftovers, glass, paper and plastic. They think this can change their carbon footprint and will help the environment. I also heard how they want to do away with plastic straws, cows, gas stoves, and light bulbs because they are also allegedly harmful to the environment. Have they even looked out the window at the pollution coming out of the smokestacks every single day from factories around the world?
While some people may be willing to sort plastic and paper, or get rid of regular light bulbs and plastic straws, the so-called climate activists are now saying that, “if you really want to help the planet, you’ve got to do something difficult”. Now they are saying you’ve got to get rid of your dog”. Really? MY DOG? I don’t think so.

A recent study from the National Academy of Sciences declared that the three best things you can do for the environment are 1) avoiding plane travel, 2) using renewable electricity, and 3) not getting a dog, or getting rid of your dog.

Did you hear what I said National Academy of Science, I don’t think so. The reason, the study says, is that dogs are big meat eaters, and eat lots of beef in their dog food. They go on to say that cows are beef (like this is news to us) and beef production produces a lot of greenhouse gases and is causing deforestation.

Now I assume these so-called climate activists are all college educated but they are just really nut jobs. They are the kind of people that have to read the instructions when they buy a new bread toaster from Wal-Mart before they can use it. Let’s see….Step 1- plug toaster in. Step 2 – put bread in (not toast). Step 3 – push lever down to cook the bread. No common sense whatsoever.

In my lifetime, I’ve learned that a college degree does not automatically equate to intelligence or common sense. Furthering your education can enhance personal knowledge and critical thinking, but it doesn't guarantee the ability to apply that knowledge effectively in all situations or possess any practical wisdom whatsoever. They may be able to rewire a space shuttle on paper but can’t figure out how to put air in a car tire without reading the car manual. Yup, there really are alien creatures that live amongst us. An alien doesn’t have to be from another planet, just look around or look at the news. You will see they are everywhere coming up with ludicrous ideas without any regard for common sense, practicality, decency, or logic.

Yes, I’m pretty sure eight billion people living on this planet could affect the environment a little bit but now saying we need to eliminate our dogs is absolutely absurd. I guess they think we can feed these eight billion people on earth with only potatoes, like that feller Matt Damon lived off of while stranded in space in that Hollywood movie called The Martian.

I predict in a few years that you will be able to buy a genetically altered potato that is chemically enhanced to taste like steak, seafood, or chicken. For all I know they might be currently working on this behind closed doors in a laboratory somewhere in the world with our tax dollars paying for the research and development.
If these climate activist aliens can grow meat in a laboratory petri dish in New Mexico, I am pretty sure they can make an Idaho Spud that tastes like chicken.

If this nonsense about getting rid of our dogs is not bad enough, now a zoo in Denmark is asking pet owners to donate their animal pets; their guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, cats, dogs, and even small horses, to feed to its predators. The Aalborg Zoo stated that it welcomed all animals regardless of circumstance. Really? Have we just lost our ever-loving minds? There has to be something bad in the water that’s causing all this silliness.

Have you climate activist aliens thought about saving the cows that give chocolate milk? I don't think these type of cows are contributing to greenhouse gases since chocolate is derived from a fruit.

I think that the 475 million people that own over 900 million dogs in the world would agree with me, and say to these climate activists and Danish zoo keepers, “Nope, you’re not getting my dog, end of sentence”.

08/20/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Nothing like a weekly trip to the local feed store. When I was a kid many, many, moons ago, I would go with my dad to the local feed store on Saturday mornings. He would gather a pile of burlap sacks and pile them in the back of the farm pick-up truck and off we would go. I loved Saturday morning trips to town. Back then the feed store was a grain mill. They carried grains like corn, wheat, and oats. The mill processed the grains. This involved using stone mills to crush and grind the grain. After milling, the ground grain would be sifted to remove the bran and germ. Inside the grain mill it was always noisy and dusty.
We would back up to the old wooden loading dock and take our burlap sacks inside. There were always men hanging out on the loading dock. It was a meeting spot for local farmers to hang out, a community hub where farmers could interact, share news, and discuss farming practices. My dad always had to stop and talk a spell while I carried the burlap sacks inside. Dad would tell the man what we needed, and he would take our sacks and put them under one of many different overhead chutes. He would pull a piece of tin to open up the overhead pipe, after our burlap sack was under it. In a few seconds the sack was full of feed, and he would push the tin back in to stop the flow of feed. The feed man then twisted the sack and tied a small piece of twine to secure the sack. He had a black belt in tying the twine on the sack. I tried to tie a feed sack like he did but could never get it right. Then we would carry them and put them in the back of the truck. The same burlap sacks and twine ties were used over and over. Yup, we recycled way back then. It had nothing to do with the environment. Why did we recycle burlap sacks? It’s because a burlap feed sack cost a quarter so we reused them. Quarters added up. To fill a 50 pound burlap sack of feed was around $3.00.
Oh, how times have changed. Today we get our feed from the local feed store in Thorsby, called Garrisons Farm and Supply.
We back up to their loading dock and go inside to place an order. The feed bags are in individual bags all sealed up and then loaded on the truck by their employees. The grain mills are all gone and just a memory these days.
There are many feed stores around the county, including a few big box feed stores. If you compare prices they are all usually close in price unless someone is running a special. So why do we use Garrisons for our feed? We do it for several reasons. First, it’s because they carry everything we need in one place. The other local feed stores don’t carry the specialty feed we need for some of our different animals. We can get feed there for everything from A to Z or as we like to say it, from Alpaca to Zebra feed and everything in-between. They also carry everything else we need from fencing, gardening supplies, livestock halters, pet supplies, plumbing supplies and animal medicines. It’s a one stop shop for us. Also, it’s a family-owned and run local business where relationships can be built. We always support local family businesses when we can because they support the community and help it prosper. As a family business they offer more personalized customer service, which helps with all the stuff we have going on with the farm and all the different types of animals.
I find joy in simplicity and the beauty of everyday moments in life. I emphasize the value of slowing down and appreciating the natural world around us, including the local family owned feed store.

08/19/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Ms. Snuggles, a Huacaya Alpaca, wanted to wish everyone a wonderful and safe Tuesday.

Serenity Animal Farm

09/17/2025

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