Its been a bit since I last caught up, but quite literally I haven't sat down until now.
And I do have a blister the size of Texas on my foot.
So what has been happening? Well let me list.
New chicken yard
Bee's actually swarmed
Tree fell in the yard
I'm in love with a fox
Welp- looks like its nothing really new!
But wait- before you leave this page and go play farm/fishville or upload pics of yourself using instagr, let me try at least once......or thrice to keep your attention.
I thank thee if you have made it this far.
So lets take it from the top in order of first appearance.
The chickens:
It was pretty brutal watching the original nine chickens haze the new eleven chickens when we got them two weeks ago. It wasn't that they were drawing blood (thank God) or ripping feathers out, but it was heartbreaking none the less. It was as if they were the dorky kids trying to break into the super cool high school cheerleading squad. They would make them pay before they earned a makeover.
The new gals are still young. Although they "look," like chickens they are still pullets and make sweet peep noises. They would stay up on the roost and rather starve themselves instead of growing a set and facing the music of the floor below, where the original nine and food and water was. But since they ARE hens I guess they wouldn't be able to grow a set any ways.
SO in comes my husband Huck:)
What he did is get some chicken fencing (not wire) and create a huge yard that goes around the entire back of the coop. He wove twine over the top of it to block out hawk and other flying predators. All I have to do is open the door and let the gals out. Let me tell you- what a change in attitude amougst the whole flock. The original nine are as happy as can be and the Roving Gang of Betties (as a whole) has grown more confident by the day. They do hang out together- but when it comes to feeding they now butt their way into the flock and get their share. Its really cool watching how the pecking order does change and how the popular gals hearts has softened. Is the new yard ground predator proof? No. But it offers more protection than the our open backyard does. Our girls are still open range cruelty free and never caged. If you buy "free range, organic and cage free eggs," I urge you to look up what that REALLY means. You are not doing anything better by buying them. In fact you'd be doing better by kicking a chicken until an egg pops out of her. Buy local. See where your eggs come from. Come see how our chickens are cared for.... you'll see and taste the difference.
Ok soap box step down.
Next in order of appearance:
The bee's.
So yah- they swarmed.
*Que the doom and gloom music! *lightning and thunder strikes! *Meteors fall *Earthquakes erupt!
ok....not really
Once again this was a God given surreal moment of my life. If your not into the poetics then I urge you at this point to play your farm/fishville....but if you upload pics of yourself using instagr, then I assume you will keep on reading....
I watched at 11:30 as the bee's quietly poured out of the hive. It was Tuesday and the weather was hot and muggy. I had just come home from running errands and the Buckfast were at it again.
I didn't panic. Partly because I have seen them do it three time previously, and partly because I was expecting it.
I watched as they lazily came out and collected in a different tree. This time the bee's didn't make much noise and he swarm themselves seemed a whole lot less frantic. I saw quiet buzzing around the clump of them as they settled into their temporary spot, and watched as bee's still went in and out of the hive. I knew that not all of the hive had left, but I was unsure if that would remain the case.
I ran down the street to my beekeeping equip supplier. (Pretty cool that there is one 3 miles down the street!) and i grabbed some equip. My game plan was to set up a swarm trap, meaning I put a hive box in the middle of the yard on top of some trashcans and dowse it in lemon juice. Bee's like lemons cause they smell like a queen. If I had any chance of getting them into the box I was praying for it.
They stayed there for an entire day. It rained, actually poured, and the winds blew like crazy- but they remained. The next morning they were still there as still as ever, with bee's still going in and out of the hive.
When David woke u that morning we watched them for a bit before he got ready for work. The bee's resilance and determination was something to admire, and I feel like a clump of bee's hanging out in your tree is not something to just "pass by." Its cool. Plain and simple. When will you see stuff like that? A car passing by on your street is something you can get used to- but a horse drawn carriage would be something you would stop and watch right? Exactly.
So as David got ready for work I gave one last look at the clump of bee's and started doing some dishes in the kitchen. I had full view of the bee's and as I did the dishes I did something I often do- I prayed for them.
I am a Christian girl and do not take lightly to the "God gave dominion over the animals," part of the Bible (clearly) so praying for animals, and bee's is something I often do- "All creatures of our God and King," right? :)
So in the ten minutes (count them- ten) I asked God that "no matter where the bee's end up may they do well. May they stay strong, healthy, and tolerant. May they be safe." When I was done (with both the dishes and praying- ten minutes mind you) I looked out the window.
They were gone.
Not a bee in sight.
I screamed to David (yup I did) and we ran outside expecting to see the swarm in flight and at least hear them and see where they flew to....
But there wasn't a bee in sight.
Its as if it never even happened. Its as if i dreamed the swarm up in the first place. Its as if they never existed. Not a noise. Not and odd be out flying. Nothing.
I smiled.
As I prayed for these sweet, strong gals- they left.
I hope this doesn't get too "in your face with faith," but I can't help but help having m heart warmed knowing that as God heard my prayers for these little gifts- He lifted their wings and had them take flight.
Now some of you might not have any faith and might be thinking that while I prayed for the bee's they took off was mearly a coincidence- but I have to tell you the word "coincidence," does not ever appear in the Bible
Thank you God.
Next order:
A tree fell in the yard.
Well yes- it did.
But we have alot of them and it should be expected.
Thats it.
End of that story.
Next order:
Fell in love with a fox.
I have to say that our little Ash is looking mighty fine. Better and better and he is getting braver and braver.
His time patterns have been a little off lately but we have been getting rain at night. Even so, he has been taking his meds and looks like he is gaining some weight! His coat on his body is getting a rich red and his boots are getting blacker. His tail looks healthy, and still has some filling out to do, but I am confident the meds are doing something good to him. Last night he was jumping for his food, and he now has no fear to run up onto the porch to eat out of his dish.
Side story- The other morning we went fishing with some friends. As we were packing the car at 4:30 am, Ash was running around us watching. He ran in between our friends with not too much skiddishness, and I am pretty sure that if we had hotdogs in the car and he knew we were going fishing he would have jumped in with us. I'd bet he would be good at fishing too.
That little red coat makes my heart red<3
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