Tuesday, 07 July 2009

• This Brings On A Smile

  One of the things around home that makes me smile lately is that my baby chicks have been adopted by two broody hens. The hens were so frustrated with trying to set and raise a brood in the nestboxes in our henhouse since we kept taking their eggs that I decided to pop them into the cage with my chicks and see if they would settle down into it and mother the chicks. Since it has been such a cool summer it is handy to have two hens adopt the chicks. They keep the chicks warm and there is no need for a light for warmth. It will also be nice when it comes time to blend the new clutch of chens in with the older hens. The foster mothers will protect the chicks and keep the old hens and rooster from attacking them.
  
  Besides the practical aspects, I'm happy to watch the two broody hens be soooo proud of themselves and so happy to have accumulated a nice batch of babies. It does look kind of silly for the two hens to be trying to fit 29 chicks under their wings and now that they are comfortable with each other and with the batch of chicks they  often have little chicks climbing all over them, including their heads and necks when I go out to feed and refill their waterers.
  
  Other than that the peas are plumping up in the garden, a handful of strawberries have ripened, a second batch of rhubarb is gracing my kitchen counter and the old hens are laying lots and lots of eggs. The summer squash seeds have not germinated and the cucumbers came up but are sitting there not making any progress. The cool weather is not so good for groiwng those kinds of things. The tomato plants are slowly getting bigger but not blossoming yet. Day lilies are starting to bloom and the sweet pea blossoms are opening up today. I have a planting of them together along the bank above the driveway. I like the way they look with the bright orange sticking up out of the bright and pale pink blossoms and the swirls of green leaves too.
   
  My cherry trees are starting to inch towards ripe fruit. It is late this year too.
  
  I'm still basking in the afterglow of our Fourth of July holiday weekend. It was lots of fun to have a bit of time with our two grandsons who our oldest daughter and her hubby brought to visit. The kids loved the ducklings, kittens, cats, chickens, Guinea Hens, Chickens, pen of chicks with broody hens. We went fishing and both boys managed to catch a fish . Which was no small feat for Big Grandpa to pull off as he was the main helper with the two year old and the one year old fisherman. The one year old was pretty excited to watch the fish swimming around in the bucket after they were caught and proceeded to toss our extra bobbers in the bucket with them and then into the creek below the dam. Big Grandpa took off his shoes and rolled up his pants to retireve them with a smile after I discovered where they were now.
  
  We enjoyed the parade and fireworks and a picnic in town by the deer park. Our little one year old grandson insisted that the deer were dogs. He was certain that they were dogs and would not be persuaded to even try to say the word deer. He did mange to say chicken, cat, kitten, duck, grandpa, down, up and lots of others but not deer. Every time I pointed to the deer and told him they were deer he answered dog,dog,dog dog dog. Also when the fireworks began he frowned and intoned bad bad bad. It was fun to listen to both the boys and to share the day with our other offspring who manageed to carve out time. Another married daughter who is pregnant and her hubby came to the parade and picnic and their baby performed right on cue so her sister got to feel lots of kicks and squirms during the picnic. The sons in law had great discussions about birth and why is is scary and exciting from a guy perspective. Our youngest got to share her hopes and dreams with her siblings and we all cheered for son who was in two local parades, including the one we watched.
  
  
   
  
  

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