Ten More Chicks!

Yep, you read that correctly. Hub and I went to a local farm auction tonight. Our running joke (we ALWAYS have a running joke) was that I would probably buy a baby goat. Of course, we aren't prepared for a goat, baby or otherwise. Imagine my surprise when Hub bought day-old chicks.

Araucana chicks, ten of them. These are the "Easter Egg" chickens. These lay light green eggs. They are adorable.

There is one that may not make it, it seems quite frail. We'll see how it does. I say "it" because we have no idea--since they were billed as laying green eggs, I assume some of them are female. No guarantees--there could be one or more roos in the bunch.

We drove home in a storm, awful, it poured so hard we could barely see the road. At home, we had to go out in the rain to bring in the brooder, bedding, feeder and waterer.

They are now nice and toasty in the master bathroom, heat lamp in place. I hope, hope, hope the little frail one survives. The rest are quite lively. Some are a brown/yellow stripe, two are yellow, some are a rich brown.

So, surprise! More chickies! I'll post pics soon.

Things have been quiet

The garden looks good-mostly. I have had a problem with caterpillars eating my cabbage. I just received a shipment of diamotaceous earth and I hope that will help with my pest problem.

The chickens are thriving. Work on the coop has stalled. The temporary run is working fine and the girls seem quite happy. I love to pull up clover and feed them through the chicken wire. They love clover. We have also been feeding them the occasional garden pest, like the above mentioned caterpillars.

Hub has been working on fixing up and apartment for our younger daughter to live in while she attends the local community college. Its an expense we hadn't anticipated and I am not sure how we are going to pull it off. One day at a time, I suppose.

I have just received the book, "Worms Eat My Garbage." It looks very thorough and even entertaining. Hopefully I can start composting with worms soon, although Hub wants me to slow down a bit on revving up the homestead.

I suppose I have been rushing things a bit. Or trying to, anyway. I want worms, rabbits, goats---but I know I can't get them all at the same time.

We are going to a nearby livestock and farm auction this Friday. I don't intend to buy, I just want to get the lay of the land. I am pretty excited about going--I've never been to this type of auction before.

I must remember to enjoy the process.

Casey digs archaeology!

I went to Historic New Harmoney today to see Casey working on the dig. I was very impressed with my petite daughter lugging five gallon buckets full of dirt two at a time. She showed me around the site, which is small, and explained what they had found so far. They have located an area that held a barn long ago. Today, they were working on the area that may have been a summer kitchen.

I watched her dig for a bit as she explained the process and what she might find. We spent the rest of the morning at the screen area. I was so impressed as she worked the dirt through the screen. She found some sizeable shards of red ware, a local glazed pottery. There were bones, not human. Casey said they were most likely from pigs as that was primarily the type of animal bone they had been finding.

We also talked about personal things, her boyfriend, school, and how she was trying to be self-sufficient. How she has matured in this last year. I am so very proud of her.

She thinks she will finish her psychology degree at USI, then do her graduate work in anthropology. As she was working at the screen, covered in dirt and sweat, she said one thing I will remember forever: "Doing this makes me happy."

Then, my darling, this is what you should do.