Mom raised chickens for eggs and fryers. The chickens that didn't lay eggs became fryers. She sold milk, eggs and fryers to pay off our land and house.

She would go out to the hen house after dark when the chickens were roosting in the overhead rafters and grab the ones to dress out and sell.

I had a pet hen and she always made sure she did not bother my hen. But, after about two years of having chickens squawk around her when Mom would grab them by the legs, my hen had a heart attack and died.

We found a baby raccoon in the woods whose Mom had been killed. Mom let us take it home and bottle-feed it. He was a great pet. We thought.

Our raccoon had the run of the house. Problem was he also would go in the icebox and get whatever he wanted to eat. One day he was raiding the icebox and Mom fussed at him and told him he couldn't do that any more. He got really mad and started throwing dishes.

By the time Mom got him into a cage outside, she didn't have many dishes left.

We had a number of dogs and cats during my growing up years. None of the animals were ever allowed in the house after the raccoon incident.

We didn't have many toys (a doll for me & cap guns for the boys); but, we sure had lots of animals to play with. I didn't realize until I was grown that I grew up in a petting zoo. We loved it.

I would pop my doll’s head off, we would get a stick and play baseball. When we got through playing ball, I would pop the doll’s head back on.

We had chores to do each day. Gather eggs, help feed and water the animals, help milk the cows, help wash and iron the clothes, help clean the house and help work in the field. We didn't mind because Mom made it fun. She was always right there working with us and she made a game out of it.

Mom had moved so much when she was a child that she wanted us kids to be able to go to school in the same place. She and Dad decided they would not move until the last child graduated.

Just about the time Mom paid the farm off, she saw Dad walking around with a strange man showing him the farm. She knew he was selling it.

When they came in, she offered them cake and coffee. The man said, "Well I guess I just bought me a farm." Mom asked him if he knew what all came with the farm. He named off the house, barn, livestock, etc. Mom said, "Did Mac tell you there is a wife and three kids that go with the farm?"

The man left and Dad laughed. He never tried to sell the farm again.

Prov 31:26 - 29 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: "Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all."

Background picture of animals similar to some of the ones we had on our farm.  We had at different times Maude our mule, Baby our Jersey Milk Cow, Old Red our long horn red Milk Cow, a bull to butcher, a pig to breed, a pig to butcher, Milk Goat (Nanny), Geese, Ducks, Guinnies, Cats, Dogs, Fryers, Laying Hens, Brooding Hens, Rooster, turkeys, rabbits, raccoon, and some I probably forgot.