Hey Diddly Dee...

...A Farmer's Life For Me...

I long to be a farmer.  My current life is about the closest I will get, I imagine.  I can read all the books I want about the farmin' life (The Dirty Life is GREAT and I highly recommend it!) but that doesn't bring me any closer to the reality.  I can look at all the lovely properties for sale within five miles of our house, and dream, but that also does not get me any closer.  I can visit my favorite farm and breathe in the smell of manure, hay, compost and sunshine, but that only makes me want that life even more.  (Yes, it's true, I don't think "farmy smell" is smelly at all!)

In a little, tiny way, though, the chickens seem to nudge me a little closer to that dream.  They are already a week old!  (Yesterday was their official "birthday" but I had no time to update the blog.)  It's been a great week.  School work has been much harder to attend to with ten fuzzy distractions in the garage, but the girls are SO much more invested this time that I am trying to be more patient with myself about how much we get done.  (Caeley even took care of feeding and watering without being asked this morning.  I haven't even asked them to do "chicken chores" yet because there isn't all that much to do!)  I tell myself that they are developing responsibility, but really it's the habits of observation that they are fine-tuning.  Both girls can tell almost all the chickens apart!   (We are having what I am calling a "Larry, Curly, and Moe" situation with the three yellow Leghorns that all look completely identical, so they are the exception!)  I ask them, "How do you know that's Elizabeth?!!??" and they can give me ten characteristics that distinguish her from the other two or three birds of similar breed.  I'm lucky if I can still find Runty these days!  She is growing so well, right along side her partner sister, so they get harder to tell apart each day.  (I'm wishing I had banded them when they arrived, but when their real feathers and combs come in it should be easier to tell them apart.)

Who's Runty NOW???!!

Caeley showing me that the chicks are already starting to feather out.

Caeley with "her" Henny.  Short for Henrietta.  After some character in a book...

See what I mean about the Leghorns?

We are also discovering that in addition to being the hardest to identify, the Leghorns are also the most feisty of the bunch.   They definitely resist being held more than any of the others.  I had a breakthrough today, and felt like the "Chicken Whisperer" when I found a new way to hold them (NOT pictured above) so that they relax and stop flapping like crazy.  One even dozed off in my hands!  

Meara's artistic rendering of all us girls visiting the chickens.  We are standing on our chairs and stools to see into the coop, which is at the left of the picture.  Above our heads are letters so we know who is who.  Apparently some of the chicks morphed into adult chickens and are flapping happily around our heads!

As for me, I've noticed that having tons of cute creatures around has made me feel more connected to the world outside my house.  Or maybe I am realizing that "outside chores" will soon become my reality again, and this is my way of mentally preparing!   It's been hard not to notice the crisp mornings when I have to go out to check on the chicks in the garage.  (And oh how cold it will be once that coop is outside!  In late January.  In sleet.  Or snow...)  This morning was a particularly magical morning, and I'm glad I stepped outside, took a deep breath, grabbed my camera, and said a little thank you for "all creatures of our God and King."  

A peek-a-boo view of the mountain through the trees.  When the sun hits it first thing in the morning it sets it on fire with color!  This is the view out our school room window!

Sun just starting to come up.  Awesome purple sky.  But it has nothing to do with the Ravens.  I'm boycotting them.  At least until Sunday.

The hammock/fire pit area is just begging to be used.  This is my favorite tree, which always turns pinkish and is the first to change in the fall.  This picture makes me happy.