It's Been Way More Than a Month!

I sat down today to put something new on the blog to see how long it has been since I last posted!  Whoa!  I had put a lot of emphasis on actually living life this summer, and to be honest, I am so busy living it, I have not been here very often! Not for way over a month it appears!!! I have lots to share, in all sorts of different areas!  However, for the moment I will pull a few things at random, and hopefully everyone will enjoy!

This year my sunflowers are all over 7ft tall! They have kept a great bee population around to keep everything pollenated, and productive!

Sad state of affairs, but this is all of the knitting that I have done this summer!  This owl was for Ky's birthday, and it blended in on the shelf so well, I forgot it was there, and she received it a couple of days late!  

Blueberry season is here!  Hot, humid, hazy, and lots of berries this year!  This picture is of a random field, and is looking pretty good!  I did see some fields that were blue carpets, but I found myself without a camera, and a lot of farm equipment to navigate.

Went to the Gentlemen of the Road Concert this year.  Mumford and Sons, and seven of their favorite bands. Heard music from 2pm till nearly 10pm!  Awesome day!  It was held in Portland, ME, on the Eastern Prom overlooking the harbor! 

Kylie enjoying her grandmother's birthday clams!  She ate a pound by herself!

Had fresh peas from the garden all July long!  This was pretty exciting as most people's peas rotted in the ground this spring, due to it being extra wet, and had to replant.  Second plantings had a difficult time in the heat!  So, we thankful for this blessing!

Ky cooked dinner for me and herself, all by herself for the first time!

Little birthday present for me!  It is still waiting for me to pick it up, and create!  I am waiting until it is a bit cooler!  Don't need sweat mixed in with the lovely smell of wool!

My sister loves sushi, so Ky tried sushi!  She loved it! :)  Thanks for the exposure to new things Auntie!

Bunnies have become big and fluffy, and even had their first hair cuts!!! I am not yet a "good hair cutter," so I am saving them from embarrassment by not showing the after pics! I promise to work on my technique!

Yup, I am a rooster! Started crowing last week!  This picture is from about 3 weeks ago, and the girls and boy are bigger yet! Going to go have to snap some new pictures! He still needs a name!

Well, it seems that 12 chicken were not enough!  I got three more!  These are Barred Rocks, they are the chickens that I wanted in the first place, and could not get. I found them at the local feed store when going in for rabbit food!  They are bigger now too, and my older girls accepted them into the flock with ease! Need names too!

Much fun, much action, family and friends = serious napping!

That's what I have for today!

Love and Blessings everyone!

I Believe We Have Boys Hiding in Our Midst!

I noticed something interesting in the coop this morning...something going on with my Buff Orpingtons...

Anne,

Emily,

Charlotte??? Oh, maybe a name change is order!

Then I took a look at my pictures more carefully, and methinks perhaps that may not be a Katherine either! :o

We will be watching closely! In a couple of more weeks we will know for sure!

The Girls Are Getting Bigger!

The baby chicks are getting bigger by the minute!  Last weekend I noticed that there legs were no longer thin, and fragile looking.  Feathers are slowly replacing the down they hatch with, and the beginnings of combs can be seen on some of the babies.  Feathers come in coated in wax, and preening is the biggest activity of the day!!!

Below is a Plymouth Rock, she will be totally white.  The feathers on her bum are just coming in, and are still half coated in wax.  These are Kylie's chickens she has named them Maura, Martha (after the Diva grandmother in the show Castle), and Margo.  Kylie is the only one that can tell the difference!

The chick in the middle of the picture below is a Rhode Island Red.  These chicks seem to be the most mild mannered, and go with the flow no matter what is going on!  They will comfort other chicks who seem to be a little more stressed.  I noticed this when they went from their box to the hen house.  Ky and I have named these three Diana, Katherine, and Elsbeth, cause ya know red heads are strong headed women!

My Araucana's seem to be the fastest ones to feather in, and area the ones that like to be held the best.  These girls are also called Easter Eggers, because there eggs are pastel colours.  I wonder what colours we will have?  They only lay one color egg, but they each have the potential to be different.  These three are yet to be named!  We started with flower names, but they do not seem to suit, they each have a   varying degree of black out line around the eye, and one looks like she took makeup tips from Cleopatra herself! (You can clearly see her in the first picture!)

Our last type of chick is a Buff Orpington, below in the middle, looking forward toward the camera.  They are the slowest to feather in, and are the most prone to run away from the camera and hide under other chicks.  Still they do like to be held, and settle in quickly when you pick them up.  There is very little difference in there colouring, and there are subtle enough differences to tell them apart now, but we will see if that remains to be true when they totally feather in. These little girls are know as the Bronte sisters.

This Plymouth Rock seems to be the Queen of the Hen House! I believe that this is Martha!  Kylie says she has been in charge since day one, and she will only leave that little perch to eat (after she has flapped enough to make everyone else leave the feeder or waterer,) or get warm.  We have to pick her up immediately upon entering the hen house to avoid a peck, and show her who is in charge!  Figures that one of Ky's would rule the roost! 

All chicks are being held daily, and there is very little protesting now.  They are used to Kylie and I, and due to feathers coming in, do not get too cold too quickly.

Stay tuned, new friends coming to the farm soon!

Our Newest Additions to the Farm!

Welcome to our new brood of baby chicks!  Here is Ky with her one of her Plymouth Rocks! We just picked them up this morning from Auntie Dawn's!  (A big thanks to her because they were not dropped off at the post office we thought they were coming to, harder and more worrisome than tracking Santa on NORAD Christmas Eve!)

Lucy is wondering what is going here!  There is a lot of squeaking coming out of that box!  She watched them for over ten minutes before trying to nudge the box, and was gated from the room.  She is also not a fan of us playing with them and not her at the moment!  This is going to require extra attention and cookies!

Here is one of Ky's taking a nap while she holds her chick.  All three of Ky's seem to want to nap in her hands!  <3<3<3

So, we have started here with twelve chicks, 3 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Plymouth Rocks (Ky's), 3 Rhode Island Reds, and 3 Araucana's (or Easter Eggers.)

I have been impatiently waiting for today!  I look forward to them feathering in, getting bigger, and by the end of the summer starting to lay eggs! We will keep you all apprised!