Chicks, Buddy Bean, and Fall Gardening

 I've started seedlings for the fall garden, and they are coming along:

This week, I plan to plant some radishes and carrots in the ground.

Buddy Bean is pretty adorable.

Lydia plays with him every day.  He loves to hop around the deck and explore.  

She's teaching him to sit still on the bench, so one day she can show him in rabbit competitions.

Lastly, we moved the rest of the chicks outside.  They all seem to be doing great.  They forage well.  I've seen several catch worms, and they enjoy the clover I planted for them.  (They ate all the first planting, but I replanted, and you can see the green popping up in the picture.)

Moving Out

 Malachi and I spent an hour yesterday reinforcing the chicken wire in the smallest yard, and then Lydia and Malachi moved the meat chicks out to it.

We put Mama Hen in that yard, too, since she has been really picked on by the rooster and other hens.

She seems to be getting along pretty well with her new flockmates.  The regular chicks are still in the shed.  They are quite small still, but we plan to move them out with the rest in another week.

Around the garden, I am very happy to see my pumpkins growing:

And here are the Aztec Sun flowers, which are the yellow counterpart to my orange Mexican Torch sunflowers.  As you can see, the butterflies like them, too.

I haven't seen any hummingbirds on the yellow ones, but they do love the orange ones.

Animal Updates

 The chicks are all growing quite quickly, but it is easy to see the difference between the regular chicks and the meat birds!

Lydia posed these two again, but the two below I just happened to catch next to each other in picture mode!

And Buddy Bean is doing very well:

He is adjusting to being picked up, but once he's in your lap or arms, he is quite content.  

In gardening, I have a cushaw growing below.  Can you spot it?

The front berms didn't turn out exactly as planned, but they are doing ok.  Next year will be better!  I plan on planting a lot of bulbs for spring flowers.  

Introducing Buddy Bean

Lydia is one happy girl.  She got her bunny. 

She named him Buddy Bean, and he's so soft and cuddly.

He's a Holland Lop.  They are a very small breed.  She is excited to show him when rabbit club starts up again.

 

Chicken Photo Shoot

 I needed a current picture of me, so I asked Lydia to take one, and then I turned the camera over to her.  She did get some of me, but she got many more of chicks:

She did also get a couple of me and Panther, and then I turned the camera on her!

Farm Yard Fun

 On Saturday, we went to a nearby farm and were the only ones on the playground.

Yes, that's Malachi on the bars.  He asked for a haircut a few days ago, and now it is buzzed.

Back at home, we had an issue with one chick.  It is having trouble walking, perhaps due to a leg problem.  The other chicks were picking on it, and Lydia and Malachi wanted to quarantine it to see if it will heal.  And so, we bring you chicken quarantine: 

Overall, the chicks are doing very well.  They are growing.  Below, you see some on the brick pecking sand.  It serves as grit to digest their food.  

They Grow So Fast

 The chicks hatched (and were mailed) Monday afternoon.  They arrived Wednesday morning, and we have loved watching them ever since.  They are already getting little wing tip feathers.

On a side note - I harvested 14 ears of corn from the garden, and it is so dellicious!

Ok, back to chicks:

Lydia loves that this kind look a bit like penguins right now.

We also threw some red clover buds into the brooder, and we were treated to a game of chicken football.  They would take the bud and run, and the other chicks joined the chase.  It was so funny.

Chicken photo shoot:

Chicks are so much fun.  Go buy a few, or forty. 

Fun

We went to my parents' cabin on Lake Barkley last weekend, and we had a blast.

Gyunay now loves the boat ride, and he really enjoyed watching his siblings on the tube, although he wouldn't try that himself.

My talented sister made this cute fruit frog for my niece's birthday, which we celebrated as well:

And we got a little something new today:

We got 40 chicks!  The yellow ones are meat birds, which we will harvest in about 8 weeks.  10 of the gray ones are straight run Lavender Orpingtons, which Malachi has been wanting for years.  The other 10 are Sapphire Gem pullets.

Currently, the chicks are in the brooder in the shop, where our lovely cats can't kill them.  In a few weeks, they will move to the first yard/coop, but for now, they seem pretty happy in their new set-up.

Book Review - Acceptable Risk by Lynette Eason

Acceptable Risk by Lynette Eason is a fast-paced romantic suspense that is heavy on the action.  It is the second in a series of books, but it is easily a stand-alone novel, and readers should have no problem reading it without any knowledge of the first book.  Main character Sarah is well-written, and her drive is understandable.  The tension between her and her father seemed very realistic.  This book is published by a Christian publisher, so the romance and language are very clean, but it doesn't really focus on religion so much as themes of forgiveness, so I think non-Christians could easily enjoy this book as well as Christian audiences.  This story line centers on issues of PTSD, suicide, and ethics, and it does a good job of  giving a portrait of some of the challenges our military personnel face.  Overall, this book keeps the reader interested and invested in the story line.  Once again, Eason portrays multi-dimensional characters in military and post-military situations in a realistic and respectful manner.  I recommend this book for those who enjoy action and suspense with a light sprinkle of romance added in.

I received this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.