New Life ~ Chicks & Lambs

A new lamb, she is a lilac Jacob Sheep lamb,

a newly hatched chick  (This is a Self-Blue d'Uccle  bantam chick, I love blue chickens. ),

lambs playing leap-frog over the downed tree , tree frogs chirping down by the pond, new chicks emerging from their eggs, hummingbirds and honeybees swarming the sugar-water feeders and flowers ~ why it must indeed be spring !

Chicks Just Make Me Happy

 Two granddaughters spent a few days here with us and of course they loved holding and playing with my new chicks ( as in baby chickens ).

 How can you not love holding such tiny softness , such fragile beauty ?

You just try keeping these two out of the chick pen , no way... these two returned as often as I allowed to hold the baby chickens. Oh my, am I blessed ! Granddaughters to play with and baby chicks too. I hope you have special joys in your life, and I know you do. Just look around, see how your life has been blessed. No matter your set -backs , the tragedy and chaos you have suffered and maybe suffer even now, you can find even a small glint of light, of hope, of blessing. Bless you today as you travel on this journey of life and appreciate the every day things so many take for granted...a bit of food, a place to sleep, something lovely to look at and somebody who cares for you. You truly are blessed !

Me, my chicks make me happy, and my granddaughters make me happier , I am blessed !

Summer Time & The Living Is Busy !

Ella & Fella my Sebastapol geese enjoy the long hours of summer by eating grass , swimming in our pond, and following me around as I tend my flocks and weed the gardens. When I sit on the porch and spin my wool into yarn they sit under the bleeding hearts plants nearby and watch me , sometimes poking their bills through the porch rails just to make sure I am still there.

Hawk, our Viszla is afraid of Ella & Fella. I'm not sure when they taught him to run away from them , but they did a very good job of it. He sits on the porch with me, but when he spies the geese he runs to the opposite side of the porch. The geese are not allowed on the porch and at least Hawk can count on it being safe , but he makes sure he is as far away as he can get from them. We seem to have our own little comedy show here on our front porch , but Hawk probably thinks it is not so funny.

My Jacob sheep lambs are growing up quickly and some are already stretching their necks for the trees and bushes growing overhead.

I have four hens raising chicks they've hatched out and two batches of chicks brooding in the garage. They are my future laying flock , plus some bantam chicks I am adding to my Silkie and Cochin breeding program. ( Yes, I have a plan and a program ! ) The chicks shown here with their mama are Porcelain D'Uccles my grandson gave me. The father of these  chicks did very well in an open poultry show recently and we have high hopes for the chicks.

Here Ella & Fella are walking their babies around the gardens. Their babies are actually ducklings Ella hatched out. The ducklings have been well tended by their adoptive parents but bit by bit they are becoming ducks . Waddling, quacking, and eating like ducks ...not geese. Poor Ella & Fella try and try to keep the ducklings with them but the ducklings are spending more and more time with my other ducks, leaving the geese to forlornly follow me without them. I hope next year Ella & Fella are able to successfully hatch out their own goslings , they're good and devoted parents.

We had the last Thursday Ladies Bible Study of the season last week. We won't meet again until the fall . This Bible study has had a tremendous impact on me and I am so thankful for the ladies God has brought into my life. It was an eventful year for all of us and all the ladies involved have had life altering events . One of the ladies became a widow, another happily remarried. One of our members has moved to the east coast to live happily ( yes ! ) with her daughter and daughter's family & to spend much time with 4 of her beloved grandchildren. There are other big events not to be shared publicly, but all the more a blessing we have been able to meet, study the Bible, pray with and for each other and always bring it back to the One who knows and loves us perfectly.

This must seem a long post, but the days are long and the hours I need to be working outdoors in the summer seem to stretch from very early to very late and when I come indoors there is little time for me to spend on my computer, so I am summing up my thus-far summer days in one post . Weeding, tending my herd & flocks, spinning wool when I have time , training my dog, playing with the old dogs, keeping my home neat & clean, and as I get older, I am working on taking the time to sit and appreciate the bounty of my blessings. The best part of all is sitting on the porch with my husband, sipping coffee as we watch the birds at the feeders and enjoying each others' company. Summer time and the living is busy, but not too busy to enjoy !

Spot On New Chicks & Blogging

This is one of a dozen new chicks that hatched out yesterday, under the careful brooding of 3 Silkie hens. The chicks are purebred bantam Cochins ( white) or bantam Silkie / Cochin crosses. They all have a frizzled father, which means they can have very curly feathers causing them to look like your fluffy house slippers.

My husband & I have been working overtime to replace our storm-damaged fences, clean up our acreage, harvest our gardens, harvest the honey from our bees, get ready for the Puyallup Fair where we exhibit my Jacob Sheep for 5 days, prepare for the winter by stacking firewood & hay to last, and joyfully get ready for my baby sister to stay with us for awhile while she considers what job she'll choose and where she'll live. Yay! My youngest sister will finally be home where she belongs!

Meanwhile, I am still tending my flocks of chickens, turkeys, ducks, sheep, and all the while preparing for many imminent events of great joy. I have not been able to spend much time on-line because of the things I need to do daily, and also because our computer is not behaving . Naughty computer. I have been reading your blogs, of course, downloading blogs  is taking a lot of time, so I get household chores and cooking done while waiting to read my favorite blogs. Then, because my computer is in need of replacing, I have to take time ( LOTS ! ) to comment. After this month my husband and I are hoping to replace our dinosaur of a computer , but please know, I appreciate your comments and I am reading your blogs, and hopefully soon, will re-join active blogdom, comments and all. Because, really, how can you NOT read a great blog and comment?

If you're interested in chickens, check out my other blog, JUST CHICKENS *.

A Whole Lot Of Brooding Going On Around Here

There is a whole lot of brooding going on around here.Inside the dove cote in front of the house...

...doves are sitting on eggs. They've gone "broody", which "describes a hen's condition in the period during which she is intent on incubating her eggs and is often reluctant to move off the nest until they are hatched." 'CHICKENS' by Derek Hall

On the floor of the dove-cote there is some brooding going on too. See the stump in the top right part of the picture? Look closely...

...yes, there! Sitting oh so quietly and calmly, is a bantam frizzled cochin. She won't leave the eggs she is sitting on, rarely leaving to eat or drink. If I try to move her she seems catatonic, but if I take her too far away from the clutch of eggs she is sitting on she squawks and flaps fiercely in her attempt to be back on her eggs.

The other 2 bantam cochins, her sister and the rooster, leave her to the eggs. They know better than to disturb her. Smart chickens!

My midget white turkey hens are also sitting on eggs. They simply scratched a bowl shaped area of shavings out and laid their eggs. They won't move off their eggs either. I can walk around them, add feed & water to their pen, but they steadfastly sit,almost as if they are deaf and blind to anything but what is under them.Like the chickens and doves, they seem to be focused inward, oblivious to everything but the tending of their eggs.

In the bantam pen in the back of our home the story is the same. bantam hens striving with each other to sit on a clutch of eggs. Often the hens will steal eggs from each other by rolling them away from a nest mate and under their own feathered breasts.

These 4 ( FOUR! ) hens have decided to share the nest box. They sit together, day after day, keeping the eggs warm, turning them, and often gently, oh so gently, slyly sliding an egg out from under a nest mate, to warm it under their own breast.

Either way, the eggs are being incubated, and when hatched, will be tended faithfully. I will remove 3 of the hens just before hatching because I have had hens fight so fiercely over the chicks that the chicks end up being unintended victims as they try to get under the wings of their fighting mothers.

Meanwhile, back in the dove-cote, look what just hatched!

5 new bantam white cochin chicks, tended by a devoted mother.All this brooding going on around here is going to make for a lot more drama and entertainment on Cedar Pond! 

I hope any brooding around your home is productive, leading to righteous fruit and a happy home, and not hen fights! Remember, when hens fight, little chicks get hurt, and big chicks do too! "Let all be harmonious , sympathetic,brotherly, kindhearted,and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil, insult for insult; but giving a blessing instead;....And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed." I Peter3: 8,9,13

Small Blessings

This is a busy time of year, when isn't it though? Do not be so carried away by the activities surrounding a time we say we are celebrating because of the birth of Jesus that you forget to take time for what is truly important.A lavishly decorated home filled with an abundance of presents, too many parties, frantic comings & goings, spending too much money on gifts that will be forgotten too soon all lead to being worn out and an empty heart. Treasure the true gifts of your family and friends, remember the One who gave His Son to save you, rejoice in your blessings. ~ Above, our grandson holds one of his new little Christmas bantam chicks. I think he knows how to take joy in the small blessings before him, and my husband & I take joy in his excitement and wonder over the chicks. What every day blessings make your heart sing this time of year?

Chickens For Christmas !

Our first-born grandchild C.T. is passionate about animals, especially horses, reptiles & chickens.He gets pretty excited when talking about certain breeds of bantam ( tiny ) chickens. He has been raising Mlle Fleurs to show but his parents' hunting dogs have thwarted his loving and hard work by breaking into the pens and killing the chickens our grandson loves. For his Christmas present his grandpa & I decided we would order chicks for him, to raise here. C.T. & I ordered a variety of Mlle Fleurs, D-Uccles, Porcelains, and 5 black bantam Cochins for me.

The chicks arrived almost 2 weeks ago in a box via the U.S. mail.

Aren't they cute? ! ?

C.T. was so excited and very eager to share his enthusiasm over the little bundles of fluff with his baby brother, Little 'J'.

The weather here is very wet & cold. The temperatures have been below 30 degrees most nights, so the chicks are being raised in our sun-room for now.Because we have indoor cats who stand over the brooder and lick their lips, we protect the chicks by placing old barbecue grills over the stainless steel bucket. The aluminum foil is used to cover the bucket to keep the heat in (without risking the fire danger other coverings might cause) as this is the coldest room in our home and baby chicks need to be warm to thrive.

It is kind of hard to decorate for Christmas around a batch of baby chicks who need their brooder cleaned at least twice a day...the parakeets in the cage to the left seem to be enjoying the chirping chicks though.

...but the happy smiles and joy it brings from our oldest Grandson make it more than worthwhile. C.T. is going to keep a detailed record of these chicks and help me at least once a week with the cleaning and set-up involved with keeping them here. His ultimate goal is to move the best of them to his back yard, raising and breeding them for show. Another part of his present is that after Christmas, he and I will work on a joint blog all about our poultry raising endeavors.

Sometimes Mother's Day Hurts

Mother Hens Dora ( black) and Lucy ( red) protecting their chicks from me as I take pictures.These little tiny balls of yellow fluff are so cute,but it is easy for me to resist picking them up because as soon as I get too close to the chicks both mama hens fling themselves at me and squawk and scream , making a horrible racket. Though neither of these hens weigh more than a pound , they are scary when they attack me like that. Bantam hens are notoriously very good mamas . In Matthew and Luke Jesus compares Himself to a mother hen as He laments "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her ! How often I have wanted to gather your children together , just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it !" What a blessing mothers are to so many, most mothers love their children more than words can adequately express, and strive to provide the very best for their children often with self-sacrifice.Most mothers would not think twice about saving their children from danger at the risk of their own lives. These little bantam hens react instantly to perceived danger to their chicks , and almost every danger to their chicks is easily able to dispatch a tiny, angry, protective hen. We live in a fallen and imperfect world. There are mothers who are not so loving, there are many who do not have a mother in their lives. Mother's Day can be a painful reminder to many they are unable to have children of their own, or that their beloved mother is dead. Some mothers mourn the loss of children, or estrangement from the children they love more than life itself.Sometimes Mother's Day just plain hurts. God in His wisdom knows this. He can take the hurts and loss and hold you tight. He loves you and your children more than any human mother ever could. "He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge;" Ps. 91:4 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have compassion on the son of her womb ? Even these may forget, but I will never forget you." Isaiah 49:15 ~

"Mother : An appellation given to a woman who exercises care and tenderness towards another, or gives parental advice ; " Webster Dictionary

-Thank-you Lord for the wonderful children you blessed me with, and most importantly, they claim You as Savior ! Thank-you for the 8 grandchildren You have given me through them. You are kind and merciful beyond what I deserve. Thank-you Lord for my husband who is also an amazing father , making it possible through great sacrifice for me to be able to stay home and raise our children, a choice I will never regret. Thank-you Lord for the mother you gave me.

Teacup Tuesday & A Winner!

Isn't this a lovely teacup? I thought it unusual to see a stag and a windmill together, but lovely. I found this teacup at The Salvation Army Store. There were many tags on the bottom of the cup and it appeared it had started out at the store quite pricey but had been marked down several times. The cup is obviously hand painted, but the gold paint on the handle is worn off in a few places and there is an oh- so -tiny chip on the rim. These two little chicks were brought inside to help show you the cup. Two little chicks fit into it comfortably. Look at the luster of the blue around the rim.

The other side of the teacup. There are no markings at all on the bottom of the cup.

One of the chicks snuggled way down into the cup and went to sleep.

Now for the winner of my teacup pincushion~ I wrote all your names on paper in as many squares as comments you left since I announced the give-away and placed the two little chicks on the paper to help me choose a winner .10 minutes later ( 12:10 a.m.) the chicks had chosen.We have a winner and she is..... ...Dolores! Dolores' blog is Moving Forward With Alzheimer's*and well worth reading, so check it out. Dolores, e-mail me your snail mail address and I will send you your new pincushion~ Please visit these ladies for a treat today and see all things tea! Terri*, Martha *,Lady Katherine*,Wanda Lee *, and Pam *.

Teacup Tuesday !

Teacup Tuesday is here and I could not resist showing off this lovely teacup yet again. This teacup is a favorite around here now and I am sipping very hot Red Rose tea from it as I blog tonight. I am looking forward to visiting so many other blogs and seeing the teacups on display. "Each cup of tea is an imaginary voyage." Catherine Douzel

This little granddaughter loves her tea. She will drink at least four full teacups of Red Rose tea each time I make a big pot of it. "Its ( tea ) liquor is like the sweetest dew from Heaven." Lu Yiu I know her tea is definitely sweet, she adds at least 4 to 6 spoonfuls of sugar to each cup of tea. The pleasure on her face as she carefully fills each spoon with sugar, then stirs and stirs the sugar into the hot tea until it is dissolved is only magnified when she drinks the tea.

Granddaughter seems to lose herself in her cup of tea and barely notices me. "Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world." Tien Yihang

The teacup is fine bone china made by Royal Grafton of England.

The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose." George Gissing

"Tea is a cup of life." Author Unknown

"If you are cold tea will warm you. If you are too heated tea will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited it will calm you." Gladstone

"Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasure of company." A.U.

Tea, it just hits the spot! To see many more teacups and tea parties just click onto the names of these lovely ladies : Terri *, Martha *,and Lady Katherine *.

I am so excited to be participating in a Rooster Party this week! It begins on Friday and is hosted by Bella Vista *. If you would like to join in on any of these events check out their links. I decided to join in on the Rooster Party early with baby roosters in my teacup. ( I did wash the teacup before using it tonight.)