the chicks are getting in lots of feathers!

As you can see here, "the girls" have started to really fluff out in feathers. We had to move them to a different holding area last night - they have gotten big enough to hop up to the edge of the trough and even grab the netting we had fastened across the top.

Since we figured it was only a matter of time before they were able to pull it down (duct tape not withstanding) we put them in an extra bunny hutch we had. It is a bit taller and they are able to hop/flutter up to the perch we put in there.

I have gotten way more entertainment than I expected from watching and listening to them. I had no idea chicks could make so many different peeps, cheeps, chitters, and trills. They sound more like song birds most of the time.

Gorgeous Spring Morning

the hen house

I meant to post a pic of the hen house before this, but just hadn't grabbed a pic. I got one this morning, and here it is.

Chicks!

The chicks came in yesterday. We have them in a galvanized trough with a heat light as a brooder. They are perky and funny when they are running around. It also cracks me up how they will suddenly stand still, start to sway, and "Plop!" go to sleep.

In Memory of Buddy

First of all - Buddy was a damn fine dog. He was better than most people.

Funny enough, he came to join our family as a "third hand dog," in Summer, 2001, the other two families saying he was unmanageable. A few questions revealed he had been cooped up in a small apt and ignored for 12-16 hours a day. I'd be pretty unmanageable too!

From the first moment, he was sweet, kind and loving. His only weakness - he needed to be around his people. Somehow, that isn't really a weakness from where I'm standing.

When the war started, we had to move to a small apartment - sort of a "doggy hell," and rather than coop buddy up, we asked Steve's parents to help. They were Lab people, and had just recently lost one of their labs, so Buddy went to live with grandparents on the farm. He also got to spend about half his time at the beach. He pretty quickly decided he LIKED this kind of living! And I know he and Jack (their other lab) really got along and gave each other doggy company.

By the time we finally move out of the city and into the country again, Buddy and Jack were too used to each other to part ways, and Buddy was already HOME at the farm/beach. So Buddy would come to visit us, with the rest of the family.

Yesterday, we got the news he had gone to the vet, in a lot of pain and unable to get up. It seemed really sudden. Today we got the news that he didn't make it, and that he had a kind of cancer. I just wanted to put up a space where he is remembered on this blog, because in our family, he will always be remembered in our hearts.

In the Summerlands, it's always Spring in the mornings, and winter duck hunts in the evenings, with a warm fire to stretch out in front of at night.

Virginia helping in the garden last Spring

Found this picture of little bit planting potatoes last spring. I am getting really ready to start working in the garden already! Thought I'd share this moment of cuteness.

lotsa snow!

We got about six or seven inches of snow, Sunday night, and the girls got to see what a nice deep snow is really like. Up till now we have only seen a couple of inches here and there. Compared to S.C., where we were, that's still a lot - but this is more like I remember from being a kid.