Writing Project

Assorted short stories, maybe some chapter parts, anything else that comes to my head.

[mhoganmell]

The Fourth of July We Were Not Expecting

For the first three Fourth of July holidays we’ve spent living here, we never had to worry about fireworks. Not once. It was always a pretty quiet holiday around our house. We never had to deal with loud explosions nearby, and our animals had never experienced anything like that. Then this year happened. For the first time since we moved here, our neighbor decided fireworks were a good…

[mhoganmell]

Socks the Silkie Is Still Figuring Out Farm Life

Socks the Silkie has officially moved up in the world. He is no longer living in his little cage inside the run and is now out with everyone else. We were hoping this would be the moment where he decided to join the flock, find his confidence, and start acting like the rooster he is supposed to be. Instead, Socks has decided that hiding is his preferred lifestyle. He spends most of his time…

[mhoganmell]

Our First Time Using an Incubator

Trying an incubator for the first time was something we had wanted to do for a while. I was excited, but I was also nervous. There is a lot that can go wrong when you’re trusting a little machine to help bring new life into the world. We started with 12 eggs in the incubator and ended up with 10 healthy chicks. For our first hatch, I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. Watching those tiny…

[mhoganmell]

Getting Ready for Our First Swap Meet

We are officially getting ready for our first swap meet, and there is a lot more to do than I expected. The first step has been giving everything a good cleaning. We have been scrubbing cages, cleaning supplies, and trying to make sure everything is looking its best before we load up and head out. Farm animals are messy, so keeping things clean is always a job, but getting ready to bring things…

[mhoganmell]

A Little Shop Update

We have decided to temporarily pause our online shop while we do a little restructuring behind the scenes. Don’t worry, this isn’t goodbye. We are just taking some time to make some changes, rethink how we want the shop to look, and add some new merch that we’re really excited about. Running a farm means there is always something happening, and sometimes things need a little reset. Between…

[mhoganmell]

Hitchy’s Accidental Adventure

Farm life has a way of creating moments that make your heart stop for a second and then leave you laughing afterward. This time, it was Hitchy’s turn. I wasn’t even home when it happened. Ryan was outside, and somehow Hitchy ended up loose without anyone realizing it at first. For a dog who usually has a very supervised relationship with the world, the idea of Hitchy having his own little…

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[mhoganmell]

Fenrir’s PetSmart Adventure

Socializing Fenrir has been one of our biggest goals since bringing him home. We want him to grow into a confident, friendly dog who can handle new places, new people, and all the unexpected things that come with being a farm dog. So, we headed to PetSmart for a little puppy adventure. Fenrir absolutely loved it. The second we walked through the doors, he was taking in all the new sights,…

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[mhoganmell]

A Hard Lesson and a Tiny Turkey in a Hoodie

One of the hardest parts of raising animals is realizing that even when you’re doing your best, things can still go wrong. When we brought home our baby turkeys, we were told they were old enough to be off supplemental heat. They seemed healthy, active, and were feathering out nicely, so we trusted the advice we were given. Then the weather had other plans. A cold, rainy night rolled through,…

[mhoganmell]

Socks' First Day in the Big Coop Didn't Go Quite as Planned

After completing his isolation period and getting some much-needed attention for his feet, it was finally time for Socks to meet the rest of the flock. I had high hopes. Socks had settled in nicely on the back porch. He’d gotten used to his daily care, enjoyed regular meals, and had fully embraced the spoiled house-rooster lifestyle. The next logical step was moving him into the main coop where…

[mhoganmell]

We Took Fenrir Out to Socialize... and Came Home With More Birds

As responsible puppy owners, we decided it was time to take Fenrir on a little socialization outing. The plan was simple. We’d head to a small farm swap being held in the parking lot of a local gas station, let Fenrir see some new people, hear some new sounds, experience a different environment, and then head home. It was supposed to be a quick training trip focused entirely on helping our puppy…

[mhoganmell]

Fenrir's Post-Vet Snack Appointment with Grandad

After Fenrir’s first vet appointment, we had strict instructions from the veterinarian: stay in town for about an hour after his vaccines just in case he had any reactions. Since we were already nearby, there was only one logical place to spend that hour: visiting Grammy, Grandad, and Fenrir’s buddy Finn the cocker spaniel. The moment we arrived, Fenrir was thrilled to see two of his favorite…

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[mhoganmell]

Fenrir’s First Vet Visit

Our little wolf pup, Fenrir, had his very first vet appointment this week, and he absolutely crushed it. As any pet owner knows, that first trip to the vet can be a bit nerve-wracking. New smells, new people, strange animals, and lots of waiting around can be overwhelming for a puppy. Thankfully, Fenrir decided to show everyone just how smart and well-mannered he is. While I waited in the…

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[mhoganmell]

Operation Hatch-a-Lot: Our First Time Incubating Eggs

This week, we officially started a brand-new farm adventure: incubating eggs for the very first time. My husband’s coworker’s wife generously gave us a dozen fertile Silkie/Ameraucana mix eggs, and after years of raising chickens, we finally decided it was time to see if we could hatch some ourselves. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve…

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[mhoganmell]

It’s Officially Bakey Tato Season

The temperatures have been creeping higher and higher every day, and like every responsible pet owner, I’ve been trying to keep everyone cool. The chickens are hanging out in the shade, the puppy is coming inside for air conditioning breaks, and I’m sweating just walking to the goat pens. Then there’s Hitchy. For reasons known only to him, Hitchy has decided that the hotter it gets, the better…

It’s Officially Bakey Tato Season

[mhoganmell]

the Great Chicken Disappearance

The last day of school is always a weird mix of excitement, exhaustion, and relief. After spending months wrangling middle schoolers, grading papers, answering endless questions, and counting down the days until summer break, I finally walked out of the building for the last time this school year. Naturally, I came home ready to relax. Instead, I decided it was the perfect time to clean out the…

the Great Chicken Disappearance

[mhoganmell]

The Predator We Never Saw Coming

When you keep chickens, you spend a lot of time thinking about predators. Hawks circle overhead. Foxes lurk in the woods. Raccoons test every latch and weak spot they can find. We’ve spent time learning what to watch for. What we didn’t expect was a snapping turtle. In fact, snapping turtles weren’t even on our radar as chicken predators. The whole thing started when Ryan sent me a text that…

[mhoganmell]

Meet Fenrir.

He came to us as an Anatolian Shepherd puppy—or at least that’s what the random lady at the farm swap booth says. He’s 12 weeks old now, and honestly, the breed label feels more like a rough draft than a fact. The longer we have him, the more we wonder if he’s actually an Anatolian Shepherd… or if there’s some mix of Border Collie and Great Pyrenees in there. He has this weird combination of…

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