Debut-in

We got lots o flowahs poppin up around the yahd.

Thought I'd snap some pictures of them to share.  The flowers are too pretty not to share with others.

I am noooooo photographer.  I snap pictures with my phone and sometimes luck is on my side to get a good one.  Most times my phone does a good job grabbing the same image I'm seeing:)

Hope you enjoy.

The climbing rose in the front yard.  I think they are called peace roses..... I dunno though. I just call them roses.

"I'm ready for my close up Mr. Demille." 

"Suddenly Seymour." 

“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.”  

“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don't they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.” 

The Tailess Wondersaur

Last night was a late night.


We had some errands to do and then get baby girl in bed.   By the time we were done it was 11:30 when I went to go close up the chickens and ducks.


There was one pullet still out.  It was one of the new girls.
Since they haven't quite learned that I'm not the "official," boss of them, (the rooster is) they are usually pretty tame and easy to get in the coop.

Shine a light on them- they stay still- and you grab them and place them back in the coop.


Well.  Not tonight.


As I reach for the bird, she dives off the coop and into the yard, face first into a little hole in the ground.

A slight chuckle at the sight of a chicken taking a nose dive into the ground as I walk over to her.

She is still
Face in the ground.

I'm trying to be light on my feet.

Shine her with the flashlight, right in the eyeballs.
She won't see me coming.

I grab her.

She.....


flies.


Clear across the yard.

I'm....


stunned...


I have never seen a chicken fly that sort of distant, while screeching,  and then as if she never existed.....disappear into the moonlit night sky.


She was gone.

Was there ever really a chicken there?

Was I dreaming?

I look down at the hole she had just flown out of.

No sign of her there.

Not even a cloud of dust.

I shine the flashlight alll over the yard.

No.
chicken.

I look down again, and whats in my hand?

Something soft.
Warm.
Fluffly.
Something that smells a bit like....
pee.

Its feathers.

But no chicken.

I realize....

I'm holding her tail.

But not the chicken.


So as I look at the clump of tail in my hand, a thought occurs to me.

Chickens really are dinosaurs.
Not only do they screech, have the ability to fly across the yard at night, are mindless meat machines, but they also have the ability to lose their tails like their great lizard cousins?!


I swallow hard.

I look back at the coop.

I hear quiet clucking.
Plotting?

I am caring for a sum total of 45 shin high dinosaurs.

Its a full on Jurassic Park in my back yard.

Roll with me.

You ever hear the saying "like water off a ducks back?"

Cause water rolls right off- it doesn't soak into their feathers.

Well I thought about this yesterday and today, while the rain showers did their thing.

And I watched the ducks and chickens.

While the chickens stand in the rain, get soaked and look miserable.

The water does indeed- roll right off the ducks back.

But not only that-  the play.

and play hard.

A rainy day is as good as a sunny day to the ducks- if not even better.

So while it pours, gets muddy, and looks "icky," out.

The ducks, splash, play in the mud, get dirty, talk loud enough you can hear them over the wind, jump from puddle to puddle, and embrace the downpour as if it were brought on---just for them.

The chickens.

Just stand, look miserable, and wear disappointment terribly.

The ducks have alot to teach.

ChickyBoomBoom

This title is not to make light of things.


But the broody Mommas eggs didn't make it.



I was sick to my stomach.

 But as the years go on doing this sort of "work,"  the more prepared your heart becomes for disappointment.  (but as the years go on-  it does not break any less for the actual disappointment)

SO ---   The eggs were rotten.
You could smell it.

Having dealt with rotten eggs under a broody hen before I knew that they had the potential of exploding.


(yikes)

So as my brother and sister in law watched (eventually in horror)

Take them out from broodyboo
and
I chucked them.



Not too far though
Cause I wanted to see at what stage of development that these chicks might have been in.

curiosity

BOOM

BOOM again-


The eggs explode as I chuck.


Then

Drop.

So I go and check out the egg that "dropped."

Crack its shell

Lo and behold

a chick.

Gasp.  Gasp.  Gasp.

And pass.


As my brother and sister in law watch.


sad.


( so sorry guys-- I was NOT expecting any kind of chick.)

SO what happened.


there was a chick - that was developed.

But not fully.

The chick should have been at breaking point of getting out of the shell. (which it was not)
It should have been "peeping."
It should have been cracking the shell on its own.
There was plenty of yolk still left.
There was poop in the shell(yes poop)
There was a chick not fully there yet
and the poor little thing was days passed its "due date."

So did I kill it-
I feel like I did.

But as the other eggs burst open (some with chicks long gone and stinking pretty bad) I knew this one had no chance.


But that does not make me feel any better about it.

A life is a life.
A heartbeat a heartbeat.
A chick is a chick
A baby is a baby.



As far as Momma-  she sat on an empty nest for all of fifteen minutes.

I grabbed twelve more eggs and gave them to her.
I did not "stick," them under her
But instead "asked," if she wanted them-

She excepted them all.

Gently rolled them and tucked them, as she clucked.


What happened to the other clutch??
Your guess as good as mine.

temp? first time momma? one bad rotten egg? young rooster ?  Who knows.

But there is a second chance.

So we will see if this clutch hatches.

I pray they do-





On other farm stuff notes-

The bees are in. Yea!!!!

We got the new batch of chickens!!! (yea again!)
The old hens are still with us!!!! (((((shhhhhh---- don't tell David but YEAAAAAAAA!!)
and it was our daughters first birthday --- (amazing yea<3)
(can't believe she is one)
(............wow.......)


The ducks are good- and ooooh so sweet.   I love watching their agenda.   We definitely have three hens out of the bunch and Phil is the only male.  Prettttttty excited about that!







SO that all I have for tonight-.

It's like that.

You ever read a book, so good, that you know it has quietly and dramatically changed your life.  Your view point is slightly different.  You remember certain quotes and repeat them daily.  Maybe there is a chapter that you'll never forget?
It's like that.

You ever been away for the ocean so long that when you get the chance to go back to it, your driving and you smell the sweet salt before you see the water? And you swear you could float the rest of the way there?
It's like that.


When winter feels eternally long, that when spring arrives, you cannot wait to feel the grass on your bare feet?
It's like that.


It's the joy of an early sunrise when no one else is awake.  You feel that God has risen the sun in such a precise and colorful way, that only you think he has drawn it just for you?  Right then and there.

Its the feeling of relief when you slip into bed at night and all is quiet.  Your belly is blessedly full, and your lungs are breathing the cool night air, in and out.
It's like that.

You ever have a day that was just so good you wish you could repeat it?  You talk about it for years, as if it just happened yesterday?
It's like that.



The warmth of colorful Christmas lights that bring you back to wonderful childhood memories.










The taste of candy.
The smell of the atmosphere after a storm passed
The unexpected feeling of existence when someone tells you they love you.
The question of existence when you look at the stars.
The sight of your favorite stuffed animal, that no one knows you still have.
The comfort of coming home.
The smell of hay
The excitement of an upcoming trip
The feeling of the earth in your hands
The comfort of a warm blanket
The breeze of the summer wind thru an open window when you pass by.
The feeling of a dog leaning against you for a loving pat.
The chirping of a newly born chick
Green roots sprouting from the ground so fiercely that if you just listen hard enough, you can hear them doing so.
The blue glow of snow on a full moon winter night.




Your favorite song and your friends there to dance along with you.
It's your husbands love
Your wife's joy
Your mothers embrace
Your fathers smile
Your brothers laugh
Your sisters understanding.














































































It's all like that.



But it's also more.
So much more.


There are no words.
No image.
No emotion that could fully describe how i feel when I look at our daughter.
















                     

She ignites my bones.

God I thank you.


   
On my knees I thank you
For the miracle, she is.
The gift you have given us.
For this year of vast changes.
For this new role
For the tender care
For the music of her heartbeat.

For the love I never knew could exist.














Happy happy first birthday sweet Reveille.

You are poem, written by God<3

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Blessed Be

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

Happy Mothers Day<3

The Story of The Roosters. A Public Announcement.

Look how these ladies flock to Magneto.

Magneto exerting his power,  as his ladies stand in awe.

So what happened.

Sigh.

We had the two white roos.  Bohanan, and Hildago.

They became very ungentlemen like.  This I explained in a previous post......They were both given a two week- completely free range (as in NINE acres) to ---ahhh---calm down.

They did not.

Hildago got worse.

He got put on death row.

Bohanan didn't get worse- but he didn't grow any manners either.

The rooster previously named Mr. Ferguson just remained calm, cool and collected.

So as I watched for the two weeks hoping (really, really hoping) that (since these boys have already peaked in their (block your eyes) sexual maturity)) that they would hopefully just relax a bit and let up on the ladies.  But they did not.  As the two weeks went on, and I had the whole crew out from morning until they brought themselves in at night- it only seemed to get worse.

I had hens hiding.

Getting torn up.

Egg production went down.

The ladies steered clear of the boys.

And as I watched the two white roos go running ACROSS the yard JUST to peck at a hen and rip her feathers out- I thought--- this.  is.  it.

( I contemplating posting a picture of our hen that actually got bloody.  No feathers on her back,  wings,  or rump.  But its just too sad, and weird looking).

So what was the last straw?

After everyone had gone back to their yard,  ducks included,  I threw some scratch out for them to nibble at.   The ducks and chickens were very excited so they all run to the first pile I threw down which happened to be at the ducks.  The ducks not really tolerating the chickens near their pile of food typically put their heads down, open their mouths, and chase a chicken away.  No biting, just a "get outta here, look"  and the chickens mindlessly walk away.  Its no biggie for either of them.  No stress.  Just "get your own pile of food," with an "ok."

So as one of our ducks (prob Willie) gave a wandering chicken the ol "find your own pile of food," look, and the chicken did the "ok," and walk away-  Hildago saw the whole happening and decided to then beat the ever living crap out of the hen.

It happened so quick the hen had no idea what happened.

I had to boot him off of her.

I looked at David and said - "thats it."

The pardon was gone.

He was a dead man clucking.

So as I went inside, and washed the sorrow of feeling like a chicken master failure, I drank a glass of wine.

I looked out the window as David calmly grabbed Hildago, held him nicely, gun in the other hand....

I yelled out the window-  "make sure that its Hildago!  The "more yellow," rooster!"

David yelled back.  "Thats the one I got."

I finished my wine, and walked away.

I felt really bad.

Gohead make fun if you want - but anything with a heartbeat is something of value.  Life should not just be regarded as a mute thing.  I felt bad that I was the deciding one of this roos fate.

But I had to think of the ladies.

And its ladies first.

So off they went.

The next morning it was quiet.

No cockadoodledoos.

I open the hen house seeing how mellow everyone was.

But wait a min.

Wheres Bohanan?

I come back to the house, and ask David.

Ooops.

It appears that they went down together.  When I walked away from the window I didn't realize that David had also grabbed Bohanan thinking that I had also excused any pardon on him as well.

I was silent.

For a good part of that morning.

David felt like crap.

I wasn't mad at him.

But now I felt wicked,  wicked bad.

Then "this,"  happened.

I walked out in the yard and saw the Ferguson rooster, quietly clucking, calling the ladies, and the ladies drawn to him.  No screaming chickens.  Everyone eating. And the hens actually following Ferguson around!

All was quiet on the farm front.

And as I walked to the chicken yard, and peered into the ducks lil house I saw her.

The ransacked chicken.

She had hid in the ducks house the day before.  Didn't go into the coop that night.  Rather sleep with the ducks than go into the coop,  or even chance going out into the yard.

My heart broke for her!

But once I got her out and she realized she would no longer (lets say) be violated,  I knew that the choice to have the two boys go to the big coop in the sky, was sadly correct.

Since then (last weekend) egg production is back to normal.  The hens (and ducks) have been happy and actually hanging out with each other.  They aren't eating much feed, because they are happily out in the yard, roaming, and not worrying about having to ....run.

Its actually a really nice sight.

So why the name change on Mr. Ferguson.

Well I believe in new beginings, and I think this boy deserve a new one himself.  

There so happened to be the X-Men movie on the other day and my geek side came out.

So I named a rooster Magneto.

He has a red hat, wears gray, and the ladies are drawn to him.

Thats why.


You thought it would be some profound name change right?

Yah not really.

Just a geek appreciation thing.

The Colorful Chorus

Just some pictures I snapped around the house yesterday.  Flowers and suches.

The flying flower

Flower Cheerleaders.

View to across the street.  When the wind is blowing the hay fields look like an ocean of green.   One of my favorite sights.

Princess Buttercups

Old milk jug we found on the property.  I feel like it deserves some decoration:)

Four legged children.

Fireball.

Handsome

Johnny Jump-ups

Just some duck pictures.

Yep.. Thats whats this is. Just some duck pictures.








boy- do I love them......<3

Sweet Silas 

Phil and Jase

Ducks in a row---(the saying doesn't get old)

Chatter, Chatter, Chatter.

Back to business.

Its cute.

Watch "VID_20130511_191342_549.mp4" on YouTube

The ducks running over when they saw us in the yard--- I wanted to say hi, and so did they....

Now Announcing.

MAGNETO

the rooster.

There has been a slight name change.

and for good reason.

I will be making a public statement regarding this in the next few days.  

Today IS Wednesday right?

Just some pictures from today to share.

Nice weather alloted for some outside work- continuing to clean up the place and make it look all pretty and polished.

I did some random flower pot planting today. Pansies.

What a great word.

Pretty Silas being her sweet self, enjoying the dip.

Philly and Jase. Phil sees something up in the sky.

Jase, Willie, and Phil.

Our official farm stand signs were finished and David picked them up in his way home from work.  What an awesome surprise because we thought they would be a little longer still.  Seeing the signs really kinda smacked me upside the head sideways.........like- dude--- this is real.

Here's our attempt at a family picture with the signs.

Reveille grabbing sticks.

"Reveille don't eat the stick!"

The best one we could do.

There was lumber delivered to the house this morning.  Davids father (Pops:) ) will be building shelves and tables in the farm stand for us!  Wicked excited to have him here, and helping with the whole process.  He's a skilled craftsman, and I know that the shelves will be beautiful!

Pops, David and Reveille.  (Reveille playing in the dirt......thats our gal!)