Flourishing

Spring is looking beautiful all around us.  The chicks are growing well, too.

It's now easy to tell the different types apart.  They all huddle together when we come around, which really doesn't make sense.  We've been handling them since day one, so they should be used to at least Lydia and me by now, but they are still very skittish.  

It's Holy Week, and around here, we've had two birthdays as well.  It's a very busy time, but we are trying to finish strong before Easter and spring break.  

 

A Mountain of Mulch

 When we got the latest stimulus money, Nathaniel asked what I'd like to spend it on.  My answer?

A mountain of mulch!

Or, more accurately, about 18 cubic yards of natural mulch.

We have been making good progress with it so far.  And by we, I mostly mean me and Lydia, although Pilot and Malachi each worked for an hour yesterday, and the little boys filled up the wheelbarrow once or twice.  Today is a rainy, stormy day, so no mulch work today, but we've got several areas done and more in-progress, so I am happy so far.  

And Sir Panther spent a great deal of time being pampered in the house last night.  He even rolled over for a belly rub.  

It's All About the Chickens

 So, we finally got our meat chicks yesterday.  They are 2 weeks younger than the other chicks, and you can sure tell the difference!

Can you pick out the meat birds?

Lydia was thrilled with how tiny they are.  Of course, they grow so fast, and soon they will be bigger than the regular chicks.  Most of them look very active and healthy, but we did quarantine one today that doesn't seem to be doing very well.  There are 20 meat chicks in all, and 14 "regular" chicks. If you look closely, you can tell which chicks are barred rock (striped wings) and which are astrolops (more black on top with white bellies).  

In other chicken news, renovation has begun on the little yard.

First, Malachi started removing the chicken wire ceiling.  Elijah later joined him:

After taking out the rotten back wall, the big boys and Nathaniel worked to get the new, heavy wood panels into place.

 

Phase two will include digging down around the perimeter to bury hardware cloth and covering the yard with chicken wire.  When we are done, it should be very secure.  We have a couple of weeks or so before we need to move the chicks out there, so that should work out really well.

Saturday Fun

 It was cool but very nice yesterday, so we headed to the state park for a hike (and playing with sticks).

We wore the boys out.  (Lydia wanted to keep going and going!)  It was a lot of fun.  

Back at home, Nathaniel built a couple strawberry planters out of pallets.  

Lydia and I lined them and filled them.  We only have 10 plants so far, but 50 more will be coming in the mail soon, so at least we are somewhat ready.

And Sir Panther has been particularly cuddly lately.  He's such a lovey dovey cat.

It's Beginning to Feel Like Spring...

 It rained hard last night and was still raining this morning, but by noon the sun was out.  It has turned into a beautiful day, so we enjoyed a walk/run/skate.

It's That Time Again...

 

Chicks!

The brooder looks huge with only 14 chicks in it.  Last August, we had 40 in here.  I do plan on adding meat birds within the next week, but I couldn't resist getting started with these dual-purpose chicks.  They are all straight-run, so I don't know how many laying hens we'll get, but they are breeds that taste good, too, so it's fine.  I bought 4 orpingtons, 4 barred rocks, and 6 astrolops.  Right now, we can't tell the rocks and astrolops apart, but as they age, we will be able to tell.  

Book Review - Unknown Threat by Lynn H. Blackburn

 

I didn't want to put Unknown Threat down.  It had lots of action and suspense, but it

 also had great characters.  I enjoyed the character development, and the romance between Luke and Faith was very good. Secondary characters were also well-drawn, and I enjoyed meeting many of them.  I stayed up late to finish this book, and it was well worth it.  I did think the last chapter was an unnecessary recap, but overall, it was an excellent romantic suspense novel.  I appreciated the moments of dry humor, and the friendship and loyalty themes were great.  I had never read any books by Lynn Blackburn before, but I will definitely be looking for her books now!

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

February Harvests

Egg production is really up.  We collected 169 eggs in February.  We also made 2 quarts and 1 cup of maple syrup.  Here is the sap boiling away: 

Buddy Bean enjoyed hopping around the deck for quite some time while I was boiling.  

Nathaniel and I ended up boiling late into the night, but the syrup is delicious.  We've pulled the taps for this year, but I do think we could easily get a gallon of syrup made next year.