Super-cute Aretha!

Pictures tell a thousand words.... Here goes...

Jackie; Up close and personal

Here is little Jackie-well, I don't know about little. They are growing so fast! Aretha already has her full set of primary feathers and is growing in her secondaries! However, here is Jackie who is not growing quite so fast(thankfully!).

Sweet little Hillary

Hillary came out into the garden with me today. She had a few cute little poses.You can tell Hillary from Eleanor because Hillary has yellow marks by her eyes.

Eagle Hawk-eye....

In all the new life we have experienced this week with the chicks, today we had to experience some death. Eagle Hawk-eye died today. I am not sure how, but I think she had the same sickness as Amelia.

She is buried with Charles and Amelia.

Egg Carton Time...

We sell a lot of the eggs we get from the chickens to our neighbors and other friends. My sister and I design the egg cartons so they have a picture of a chicken on them, and some information regarding the nutritional content on the inside. We haven't made new ones for a few years so here are some pictures I am thinking of putting on the cartons.

Meet Dolley~

Dolley Madison is a golden sex link chicken, one of the two yellow chicks.

Lady Bird: Chick Extraordinaire

Today my friends Lilia and Kate came over to meet the chicks. The chicks turned on their charm and it was a great success. Lilia's fav chick is Aretha and Kate's is Hillary. I would have to side with Kate on this-I love Hillary, however Aretha is an excellent chick.

Here is a few pics of Lady Bird, who, contrary to my expectations, was on her best behavior! Go Lady Bird! Usually, she runs all over the place and doesn't like to sit still for too long, but today the impossible ocurred! Yay!

The chicks and I missed you, Anna! I hope you are feeling better tomorrow! I can't endure second period alone!

More pics!

Ooooohhh, I love these chicks! They are much friskier than the older one(when they were chicks), but I love them all the same. Plus, they are all extremely photogenic. Especially Aretha, here...
Shadow kept stealing people's chairs....The weirdo...

Here is Lady Bird-The first to drink out of the new watering system.

Shadow saying hello again.

Photos! Photos!

Here are the promised photos! First, I would actually like to explain their names. The theme is First Ladies. The names are:

• Jackie Kennedy
• Dolley Madison
• Eleanor Roosevelt
• Hillary Clinton
• Lady Bird Johnson
• Rosalynn Carter
• Aretha Franklin

You might have noticed that Aretha Franklin is not a First Lady. Good for you. Well, when we were driving home, one of the chicks kept singing all the way home. Mom christened her 'Aretha'. Here are the pictures! Group shot here... The two lighter colored ones are Aretha and Dolley. Nice pic of Lady Bird, the Wyandotte Aretha looking quizzical. There are about 25 pictures with her in various poses. Jackie, who we have nicknamed 'Jacque'. I really have no idea why.

Hillary the barred Plymouth rock. You can tell Hillary from Eleanor, because Hillary has these yellow stripes near her eyes. The stripes actually resemble eyeliner.

We are having so much fun with these guys! They are already growing up. It goes too fast! (Well, admittedly it has only been two days, but you know)

EEeeeekkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay! I am so excited!!!! We just got little chicks! So we were only going to The Grange to get a heat lamp and chick feed, because we had planned to get the chicks this Wednesday. However, we got there and the lady said they wouldn't be stocking any on Monday, and we were very sad. But, THEN, we went to the little chick area and there were a lot of chicks. We ended up getting three silver Wyandottes, two Golden Sex Links, and two Barred Plymouth Rocks. They are sooooo cute! All the pictures come tomorrow, but here is a hint of what to expect.

This is Rosalynn(Carter).

P.S. They are sooooo cute! and awesome!

Portraits of a cat~

I have not taken any pictures of Shadow recently, because it is very hard for her to stay still. Today, however, she was very competent and just sat and licked her tail. Here are the resulting pictures;

Proud (and grumpy) Richie

Today was such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist dropping by the chicken coop. And dear Richie, who was patrolling the outer edges of the aviary, came to greet me. He almost got a chunk out of the camera when I came a bit too close.

Richie is two feet tall(it doesn't sound tall, but it really is for a chicken), and comes up to just above my knee.
Here is where he nearly ate the camera...
Though a handsome chicken, Richie is not the nicest chicken in the flock, and it is always wise to give him a wide berth.

It is revealed!

I wanted to wait to tell you just to make sure, but now it is for sure! Yay! Well, most of you probably know already but, we are getting more chicks!!!! YAY! I know, it is going to be so awesome. We have been thinking about it since February, but at last it is for sure because I have done all the research! Yay! I had to read this 344 page chicken health guide, before we could get them, and admittedly I am not done, but pretty close! I wanted to learn more about what happened to Charles and Amelia. I've got Charles figured out-she had a type of Bluecomb disease. It has to do with infected water. I learned we have to change the water more often than we have before.

Back to the chicks! We are getting them next Wednesday!(Hey Anna can you come over after school that day? Please!). We are getting them at 7 am right when the feed store gets them. For chicken enthusiasts, we are getting Sicilian buttercups, Barred Rocks, one Americana and one speckled Sussex. Here are some pis of the breeds. Of course we are getting them as chicks so they won't look like that for a while yet! :)

We have already thought of names for them, but those will come later!

Just a Meez moment...

A few pictures I took of Meez this Sunday. And for those who don't know her as Meez, Julia. She goes by a few names around here...

Tree climbing thrill

Climbing trees is one of my most favorite things to do. Today was another beautiful day, and I spent part of it up in the top of my favorite cedar tree on our property. There is me, having fun, although I got so many scratches up my arms, you have no idea... Oh well, just part of the thrill!

Whew, I don't have a fear of heights, but this was quite high. About seventy feet I would estimate.
I found a nest in the top of the tree! Nothing in it, however.

I was going to take a picture of a certain inscription on the tree(Anna), but then I decided against it. Anyway, I hope tomorrow is as nice as today! Happy Easter everyone!

Spring at home

It was defiently Spring in Washington DC, and now it is at home too! We have this one large tree in our yard that blooms every year for around two weeks. We always wish it lasted longer. Here are a few pictures of the tree and its blossoms. You can see the chicken coop in the background and to the right.

I took these yesterday, and today it looks like it is going to rain. Darn. Well, that is just another part of Spring, I guess. Not one I particularly like, though.