Easter has come and gone and now the only thing between us and Summer is 5 more weeks of school (as in teaching), 2 more weeks of school (as in dragging my tired behind to Pastry School every night until 10 pm), and Memorial Day; but I'm all in favor of not rushing it. Well, once school lets out, that is. Right now is the best part of the Spring time. The days are getting longer without being unbelievable hot, humid, and unbearable as is the wont of Summer in "the Lou." Most of the winter clean-up is done and everywhere you look you see a blank canvas, full of promise (and empty spots that need to be filled with plants from the clearance racks at Lowe's). One's imagination can run wild thinking up different planting combinations, what new veggies to try and grow this year, and how to get anything green to survive (not thrive, just survive) in the chicken run since they destroy every living thing that they can reach with beak or claw. Literally, there is an 8 inch wide swath of dirt just outside the fence of their run because that's as far as their necks will reach as they put their heads through the fence openings and creep forward.
Part chicken, part vulture Ursula and Miss Money Penny
all eating machine! working for their salad!
We spent Easter Sunday not doing much of anything, and by "not much of anything" I mean a little bit of everything. We woke up and took care of the morning chores - feeding the rabbits, letting the chickens out, feeding the chickens, and drinking coffee (I know, it's not the longest list, but it's a good starter). Don went out to check on the first round of eggs for the day, and lo and behold, it seems the Easter Bunny paid us a visit after all!!!
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Our Easter bunnies appear to have enlisted the
help of the chickens in crafting our Easter bounty! |
After trying to convince Don that they actually came out of the chickens that way, I settled for freaking out the neighbor by showing her our purple egg! (She actually fell for it I think, for half a second or so) We had a laid back breakfast of poached eggs and, you guessed it, MORE coffee, and enjoyed a few crosswords on the back porch. While we were planting the last few columbines we picked up at Lowe's on Saturday, our friends Kamie and Gayle called to see if it was ok to stop by with their daughter, Gracie, to see the chickens, bunnies, and Hazel's baby chicks, who won't be babies for very much longer apparently. They are SOOO big already!
A little bit later they were at the back gate so we took a not-so-deserved-but-very-much-needed break to kick back, have a drink, and visit. Kamie, Gayle, Don, and I sat around drinking coffee and chatting (about chickens, as well as the numerous business ventures Kamie has planned for me this summer-YIKES!), and Gracie was off like a flash. Now, if you think that little girls are full of energy, multiply that by ten and you would be right about Gracie. She was so excited to meet the baby chicks that she made it her day's mission to catch each one no less that 5 times. The chicks were less than thrilled about this arrangement, but were good sports (with the exception of an occasional ear splitting "CHEEEEEP") and gave a wonderful chase.
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Gracie, VICTORIOUS, after catching her
5th and final chick, Persephone (for the third time). |
After she had spent a fair amount of time ensuring that the chicks would sleep well tonight, or pass out from exhaustion, she turned her love and attention to the bunnies. It was great to see someone else get as much joy from our bunnies and chickies as I do, and the whole afternoon was an entertaining game of "cat and mouse", or should I say "Grace and rabbit and chicken".
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| Gracie getting kisses from one of our Easter bunnies, Whoopi. |
When her moms convinced her that she needed to take a breather (more for the animals' sake than for hers), she began talking with Kamie about getting chickens and which two of Hazel's babies were going to be hers. While Gayle is not a fan and has yet to be convinced that there will be any chickens living at their house in the near future, Kamie and Grace were deliberating on which two chicks they were going to take home.
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| Gayle with Persephone. This chick loves CHICKS! |
They settled on Duke and Tootsie/Dandelion. I didn't have the heart to tell them that Duke is Don's favorite, a brilliant golden orange, and will be staying with us if "he" turns out to be a "she." He was dubbed a he because the Polecat said he looked like a "Duke," and the name stuck; plus, he was the biggest of the chicks.
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| Duke (on the far right), with Mama Hazel, Persephone, and Countess Cora. |
So that is how we spent Easter here at the Homestead-soaking in the sun and hanging out with some dear friends. Before signing off, I guess now would be a good time to ask for help with something. Since we are relatively new to this chicken business, we thought it would be fun to enlist help to figure out which of these birdies are going to end up being pullets (little girl chickies) and cockerels (little boy chicks). I know it's hard to tell now, but feel free to leave comments here or in future posts as the babies get older and let us know what you think. Hey, take a guess if you want! I'm being optimistic and saying that 4 out of 5 will be pullets, but knowing my luck, we'll have five little roosters running around, here at the Hartford Homestead!
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Spending Easter with Gayle, Kamie, and Gracie,
with Ramona photo bombing the family portrait. |
