Little Ones and Home Projects

Hello dear friends!  It has been a busy few days around here lately... I'm on my second round of baby chicks this year, and there is a third round coming soon... am I crazy or what?!  Some of my hens are refusing to lay eggs, and just want to be broody, so I figured I might as well have them do something productive.  Pepper was hatched out last week (she is one of the black chicks above). Two of the other eggs that were with her did not hatch out, and I felt really bad for Pepper, as she was so lonely.  So we went to the feed store and brought home "Salt" .  I named her this because she has two sprinkles of "salt" right around her beak, and she is otherwise black.



Pepper and Salt were so happy to be together.



This past Sunday morning I went to the coop, only to find another egg had hatched that I did not think was going to hatch!  It was a banty egg, and this wee little one was sooo tiny!

 I was so happy to meet her!

She is the cutest, softest, fluffiest little thing you can imagine!  Welcome Buttercup to the world!

She is the sweetest little chick, and is working hard to keep up with the two bigger chicks.

Here, Buttercup is only a day old, and the other two are about 4 days old.  You can see how little she is compared to them!  I am now calling them the "Little Ones", and the 7 pullets born in March the "Little Girls".   And towards the end of May, first of June, there is a possibility that we may have more little ones, if the eggs hatch out.  I've found the egg hatching business to be quite a gamble.  One of the eggs didn't hatch out, and as it broke, I could see the baby chick all formed.  I gave her a proper burial.  Such is life on the farm.

We have had many projects ongoing here recently!  My garden has been a very busy place the last few days.  You may remember my children bought me a greenhouse for Mother's Day.  I was shocked and amazed at such a special gift from them. It took quite a bit of work to lay the foundation for the greenhouse to sit on.  It was also hard to decide where in my garden to put the greenhouse, since full sun is something that is very scarce here.  Finally we decided on a spot, and we got to work.  A friend came over to help us.  

The directions to put the greenhouse together might well have been in Chinese for all the help they were.  We had more luck looking at the diagrams than trying to read the instructions!

Rudy and the hens offering their thoughts on the whole event....

Finished!  Such joy in my heart to have my own little greenhouse! It is 6' x 8' long, and just perfect for what I need it for.

 My daughter and I dug out the ground under the greenhouse, and then shoveled dirt up to the top of the timbers.  We added a few boards to walk on.  My husband hauled in 12 concrete blocks from which I formed "tables" with 7' long lumber on which to set my plants.  As soon as it is warm enough here to plant, I will be putting all the veggies in the garden. I also plan to plant some herbs and heat-loving plants in the greenhouse along the sides later.

Around the yard... Mr. Simba keeping an eye out for new sleeping spots... he is always turning up for a nap in the funniest of places!

Poor Roger was sick a couple of nights ago and caused quite a mess for us to clean up in my son's room. He must have ate something that didn't agree with his stomach.  However, he seems to be feeling much better today.

The wild roses are beginning to bloom!  It is a joyful sight to see!

I have begun to pull my garden decor from storage, and have lots of work in the garden to do, but some pretty pink petunias were happy to have their own spot staked out for the summer!

These are onions that came up from last year... I love the gorgeous purple blooms on them!

My peony is about to bloom!  Roger ate all my peony blooms last year before they ever opened up. I now have my peony safe in the garden away from all nibblers!  I can't wait to see it in bloom :)

A peek inside my greenhouse...

The unplanted area of my garden is covered with wild strawberries!  Each little white bloom produces about 2-3 wild strawberries.... they should be ripening fairly soon! After all the strawberries have ripened, then I will be able to mow the unplanted area of garden, as it is growing high, fast!

Lupins are blooming now, abundantly, and amazingly!  

Their brilliant purple hue is simply delightful to see all over my yard!

As I was taking pictures of the lupins, Annie laid down in the grass close by.  She just thought I was taking pictures of the lupins.

But the lighting was perfect, and she was lying there so pretty, I got more pictures of her than the lupins, lol! She hates the camera, and always looks away or comes to sit at my feet instead, if she thinks I am taking her picture.

But I tricked her!  I pretended like I was taking pictures of the lupins, and got some beautiful pictures of her instead...

Such a happy face!

She looks like she might be smelling the lupin, but in all reality, she was after a bug, lol!

This beautiful wildflower doesn't have the loveliest name ... it is called the Foothill Death Camas.

https://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Toxicoscordion%20paniculatum 

On the website listed above it says this:
Toxicoscordion species - all 8 of them - grow from a poisonous bulb. The bulb is similar in shape to the edible bulb of the true Camas - genus Camassia - which has made many people make the unfortunate mistake to eat the wrong bulb. This was a staple of native Americans, who knew to dig the bulb while the flower was still on the plant to avoid that mistake.

Well, we won't be eating the bulb, just enjoying the beauty of the flower!

Unsuspecting that she was the focus of my camera... these beautiful shots of Annie were captured.

Such a sweet girl!  She never behaves well for pictures at all, so I was so thankful to have captured these of her!

The latest event happening around here is that our house is getting painted. A dear friend of ours is going to paint the house for us.  He is an excellent carpenter and all-around handyman, and we are so thankful that he is going to do this project for us. Some of the siding has to be replaced, some of the wood trim needed to be fixed, and so on.  It was a project that none of us were looking forward to.  Now that we are having him do this, it will mean one less thing on my poor husband's to-do list!

The basic colors I had in mind to paint the house were beige and chocolate brown.  However, the color I chose turned out to be more sandy than I realized.  It was a bit of a disappointment to see this color at first, but the more I look at it, I know it is going to be just fine.  The trim around the windows will be painted dark chocolate, and I am looking forward to seeing how it will all look when it is finished.  We have been joking about the colors... I must have been thinking of breakfast, because the two colors were "Morning Coffee" and "Belgium Waffle", lol!  We are using Clark & Kensington exterior paint after reading good reviews on that particular paint.  

As you can see... life has been quite busy around here, with all the new little ones in the coop, my greenhouse to play in, and the house being painted.  Spring is always a busy time, but wonderful. The wildflowers are beginning to really bloom out, and the brilliant greens of the budding leaves and grass against the colorful backdrop of flowers are just a joy to behold. 

We really have had such a magnificent spring this year, and I'm soaking it up and enjoying it.  Soon enough, the heat of summer will be here, so for now... if you're looking for me... check in the garden first, or the coop... my kids are calling me the chicken whisperer now... lol!  Wherever I am, you'll usually find a chicken or two following me.  They are very curious creatures, and like to know everything I am doing.  I can't even walk to the mailbox without some of the crew following behind me!  

So, please forgive me if I am not posting as often as I usually do... I'm enjoying the beauty of our spring... each and every moment of it! :)