Babies!!!

No, I wasn't pregnant. No, my dog didn't have pups.

We had baby chicks!

Days Old Baby Chicks

Week Old Baby Chicks

Feathering Out at 3 Weeks

What did we do to deserve this?!

Peek!

Aren't they adorable? One of our hens, Betty, wouldn't give up setting no matter how many times we picked the eggs out and shooed her away from the nest. Ok. We let her set after the weather became more agreeable. We got 10 eggs under her and marked them all with a pencil. We did that for a very good reason. Last time we had a setter, the other hens used to lay eggs on top of the setter and she'd gather them under her. We marked in pencil so the eggs would remain viable. If we would have used a marker, the ink may have poisoned the chicks. Of all 10 eggs, we had 7 hatch. 2 were rotten and we composted them. One got eaten by a snake. I got the snake.

After about 4 or 5 weeks, we had to set them outside with a light and lots of straw to keep them warm. Why, you ask? They escaped. They were trying out their wings, got to the top of the feeder and waterer, then jumped out. Roadrunner and Gabby did. Pooped everywhere. Hubby chased Gabby and she kept on pooping. I came home and cleaned and did soiled bed clothes. Hubby was wore out.

This was our baby pen when we got some chicks from Tractor Supply. These little guys and gals (don't know which are which yet) just love being out there. They are hilarious to watch. It's hilarious to watch the big birds watching the little birds in the cage next door. If you look behind the baby cage, you'll see the red coop and run.

They are Americauna barnyard chicks.

Take care. I wish you all the best!

Some Things Growing

Here are some of the things growing in my garden.

Japanese Snowball Bush

 Isn't this spectacular? I've had it for about 4 years and it just gets more beautiful every year.This blooms in early spring. The show is over now.

Weeping Holly

 I've had this about 10 years, now. It has really grown a lot. In the spring, I trim out as much dead branches and stalks as I can. This gets little white flowers on them which the bees really love. Then those flowers turn to berries which feed the birds in the winter. You can see some of the berries still on there.

Strawberries!

Our strawberry garden did well for the first bearing. We shared a lot with the squirrels, rabbits, birds and slugs. (grumble, grumble) We are looking forward to the next bearing in June. The second bearing always gives really nice berries on stems that do not lay on the ground.

Take care.

Night Walk

Tonight I asked Hubby to go on a night walk with me. I just finished baking a batch of double chocolate cookies and felt like taking a walk. It is hot inside and cool and windy outside. The temperature is about 75 degrees F, so it is really nice out. We took small flashlights and the dogs came too. We visited our back garden with the strawberry plants in it and our side garden with all of our tomatoes in it. We checked our driveway solar lights and replaced a couple that had fallen over. It is really neat to see how different everything looks at night. Our 'Eywa' is beautiful and swaying in the breeze. I wish I could get a good picture of it to show you! We checked our peach trees and oak trees that we transplanted a couple of months ago. The peach trees are in bloom. The oak trees are blooming and coming to leaf. We checked the chicken yard for rats...none there tonight. The chickens heard us talking and a couple of them gave out a little coo.

It sure is nice to live in the country. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else! If I HAD to live in the city, I'd make sure I had the whole yard in gardens and bird feeders. Luckily I don't HAVE to live in the city. No offense intended to anyone. I just don't see myself living in the city any more. I'm a country girl and love it!

Take care.

To Go? Or, To Stay? (rant)

The neighbor issue has brought up a question. Since we've been having so many problems over the years, do we find a new place to live? Or, do we stay and tough it out?

If we go, we would be giving up. I don't like to give up. I've got a tough personality to put up with crap from people. I've been putting up with peoples' comments all of my life and not much bothers me. Hubby takes more to heart than I do. He grew up in a tough neighborhood, but he's got a good heart. He's the kind of person who will help you until his last ounce of strength is gone. Then he'll figure out how he can help you more.

I also don't like aggravation. Hubby and I are too old to play games with people which is why we're considering leaving our home. We live in the country to have peace and quiet. We like to garden. We enjoy sitting outside by a campfire in the evenings to listen to the tree frogs and crickets. It's just when we mention common sense things to people - nicely - is when we get chewed out from top to bottom. C'mon! Common sense is common sense! It seems to be at an all time low in our area! We are not know-it-alls. We learn new things every day. We make mistakes and take guidance from others...even when guidance is not asked for. We at least consider a new viewpoint before we make rash decisions. We look at things from all angles before making decisions, which is what we're trying to do right now.

Copping out and leaving means we'll be leaving behind a piece of land that has 12 years of our history written on it. Two of our dogs are buried here. Another thing is, we'll be taking ourselves with us. For us, that is a good thing. However, whatever we're experiencing now will follow us in another way. It happens. We can't run away from ourselves. Maybe we're creating our problems? Hmmmm. Maybe we're going against what is being asked for us to do? We're not listening to our inner guidance systems? Hmmmm.

If we stay and tough it out, then we'll feel like we have a strong backbone. We can decide not to communicate with certain people. We can create our own little experience on our land without the help of others. We can live our lives as we wish as long as we're physically able. Then we'll be able to bury our last two dogs with their sisters.

I don't like the thought of leaving. I love everything about us and where we live. We have a good life doing as we do. I'm all for staying. I just hope Hubby will feel the same way once this last issue blows over.

Sorry for the rant and rave. Thanks for reading. This is better than professional help. : )

Take care.

No More Poopy Coop!

Today is the funnest day of the month! Not really!

Coop cleaning is one of the messiest, stinkiest and dirtiest things I do. Top that off with an escapee chicken and nosy dogs, then you have a day of learning how to do many things at one time. Mainly, watching lots of animals at one time so no one gets hurt or eats stuff they shouldn't. (Yuk!)

However, it's a very quiet job. Raise hands to show how many would want to do this job? Thought so. These are my babies and I take care of them.

Lola

 Around the house, if you want something, you do it. This has been my job for about the past 10 years. They are so cute! All of my pet chickens have gone to the great farmyard in the sky. I used to be able to hold them or let them ride on my shoulder. Lola was the last pet chicken to go. She was really funny and a holding chicken. She liked jewelry and always pecked at my earrings and rings. That was the easiest way to catch her. Flash her some bling, and she'd come running!

Well. I have to go for the day.

Take care.

BEES!!!

The other day, we had bees. Ground bee yellow jackets, to be exact.

These little buggers (pun intended) attacked my husband as he mowed the ‘back 40’. We don’t have 40 acres, but it’s the back of our 2 acre lot. It seems like a long way to walk back there, if you’re up in age like we are.

He only got stung by 3 bees, but it could have been worse. These little guys will swarm in a heartbeat if they are agitated. The sound of a lawnmower chopping over their little hole in the ground stirs them up. Yeah! My husband was VERY lucky!

OK. Now my husband has a death wish for the bees. So do I.

Hubby’s version to kill: pour gasoline down the hole and light it. Right now!

My version to kill: Wait until dusk. Check to see if there are any bees flying around the hole. If so, come back a little later wearing long pants and a dark shirt. No bees? Then, soak the hole with a stream of foam wasp spray so they don’t fly back at you. Pour a whole quart of high-potency bug killer down the hole. Check for an alternate exit hole. You’ll definitely see them if there is one! Go away. Leave the bottle over the hole for a few days. Keep checking, from a distance, to see if any bees are flying around. If so, make other plans to have this baby professionally killed.

Guess whose version won out? Mine did. It would have been interesting to see hubby do a dance around the bee hole if he didn’t listen to me.

With ground bees, you have to destroy the WHOLE nest. Otherwise, they’ll just move from spot to spot and you’ll never get rid of them.

I’m so glad my Hubby is OK.