Sunny and the bunny

I have spent the week dealing with the needs of Sunny Boy, my geriatric rooster, and Winston, my escapee angora bunny. Brian started off one morning with an alarmed "HEY, Isn't that Winston out there?!" Sure enough, the bunny was galivanting around the backyard and under the deck behind the house. We managed to lure him with some fresh greens and get him safely back inside, but I knew I wouldn't be able to postpone building his rabbit run much longer. Actually got the supplies today and should complete it tomorrow.
My patriarch rooster has been another concern. Once I got the baby chick area completed, I caught him and put him with them so I could reconstruct his retirement area. He submitted to the treatment, but was not to be found that evening when I tucked the babies in for the night. I finally located him in his old retirement area, buried under a pile of the 6 month old hens who have grown up in his company. Apparently, all of them are devoted to each other and fencing is no deterrent when it comes time to settle in for the night. Sunny had to fly over 2 sets of fencing tto get back to his girls! I separated them, but the next night was the same story, so I let them stay together and accelerated building a secure coop for them to all stay in together. One little hen couldn't figure out how to get over the fence and was FRANTICALLY trying to get in. I opened the gate and shooed her in. She promptly hlopped up on top of the crate where the huddle was and burrowed her way under Sunny's left wing. She is full grown and so big she almost flipped him over sideways, but he just adjusted his wing and settled down over the top of her. Now THAT. Is why I like a good rooster. What a tender hearted boy.


Got his coop built and all are settling in nicely.

Feeling like Julie Andrews

Springtime is my favorite time of year: just makes me want to burst into song with its delights. The weather is finally warm enough to get outside and do all the fall chores I put off until winter weather made them impossible. The ground is bursting into life, surprising me with reminders of flowers I had forgotten were planted there. This spring the flowers have gone insane. Things that have NEVER bloomed are covered with blossoms. All the rain in the winter must have done wonders for their root systems. Allergy sufferers everywhere in the city are miserable. I'm SO thankful my family has been spared.
I also love watching baby chickens hatch. Three of my hens have "gone broody"- meaning that they stay in a nesting box and try to defend the eggs they have laid with their life. If they manage to stay on the eggs for 3 weeks, then they are rewarded with babies and they will only return to laying eggs once the chicks are functioning well on their own. I have been taking the eggs from two of them, but one that I know was an attentive mama from last year, I have allowed to keep about 6 eggs. Should hatch in the next week or so. I plan on building her a nice private broody house to raise them in sometime this week.
Then it will be on to building a rabbit run so that the bunny can get outside too!

No, no news yet!

Yes, I am aware that it has been a long time since we started this process. I've actually been reminding God of this fact a lot recently. "Have you forgotten us?" "Have you forgotten there are children involved here?!" I finally felt the answer in my heart yesterday...."did I say this would be easy?" Um, well no. "Did you sign up for this knowing it could take a while, and still be worth it?" Um, yes. Gulp. The agony and pain of the wait disolved as the veil dropped and revealed root cause: my selfishness. I want what I want when I want it. I don't like having to wait. Buti DO trust God's timing and know that we are in the homestretch while God builds myknowledge base on the needs of adoptive kids. So hang in there, dear friends. I anticipate good news soon.

Parenting tips from my pets

My mom tried so hard. She begged, she reminded, she instructed and demonstrated. Guess who finally taught me to make my bed? My border collie. If I neglect to make my bed, I return to find it filled with dirt. She LOVES to sleep in my bed and she doesn't wipe her feet when she comes in. If the bedspread is not pulled tight and secured,she will paW it into a lovely nest to curl up in, depositing most of the dirt from her paws in the process. What an AWFUL feeling to climb into a sandbox of a bed at night. So moms of the world, take heart, you now have a secret instructional tool at your disposal- just sprinkle dirt in unmade beds you encounter and blame it on the dog! Your kids will be making their bed in no time flat!
And guess who taught me to pick up my clothes off the floor? My cats. (Yes,you guessed how...they pee on them, hide poop in them,etc.) I DON'T reccomend peeing on your kids' clothes, but recycling poops from the litter box might be effective. Just be sure to let your spouse in on the plan or you could come home one day to find that your pets have been taken to the pound.
Best wishes!
More later on what my chickens have taught me....

Spring is Here!

The trees are flowering, a riot of pink and white blossoms with yellow forsythias and daffodils adding their accents from the ground. But what REALLY shouts spring to me is the incubator full of baby chicks I just brought home from the elementary school. A customer of mine is a kindergarten teacher and I loaned her an incubator and plenty of eggs to fill it with. They had a successful hatch on Monday and I just picked up the brooder with all the baby chicks in it. They had a pure white chick! The first one I've ever seen.... usually a pure white chicken is bright yellow as a chick. About 10 dark black chicks, probably Marans. Several grey ones, likely Aracaunas and several golden ones, also likely to be Aracaunas. With no set breeding pens, they are all technically mixed breeds, but I like to guess at their parentage based on how the purebreds look when I get them.

Emily and I stared fascinated for about half an hour as they ran riot in their little brooder, chasing each other and fighting over bits of leaf or straw. Watching chicks play tug of war is fun! My last batch of chicks was in November and it was FREEZING then, so not so nice to just hang out and watch them play. Suddenly, one chick's head just drooped and it fell asleep standing up. Then another. They are SO like human babies. Play hard, then crash hard. Emily suggested we should go and let them sleep, so we came inside. They are likely now in a tight huddle, all sleeping together with an occasional restless one on the outside of the heap keeping watch.

It is awesome to have chicks in the workshop again.

I am running an infirmary

Seems like every time I turn around, I am finding an animal in need of care. Our oldest rooster started the trend about 6 months ago. The other roosters started picking on him and left him wobbly, with one wing that won't flap the same way as the other. So I kept him with the baby chicks while they brooded in the workshop and now have built a little pen for him to live in by himself. His "retirement villa". Then I discovered that one of the hens has developed a cataract in one eye that has essentially left her blind. I moved her into the pen with Sonny. Then our rabbit fell ill, and his fur started falling out in huge clumps. He got moved into his hutch and brought into the living room to keep warm. I bought a Snuggie for him (it was designed for a dog). He looks ridiculous, but his ears are now warm and it relieves me to think he won't be using calories to stay warm. I am closely monitoring his food and water and giving him lots of fresh kale as a treat. He is slowly putting on weight and I think he might just make it. My job for today is to catch the rooster who is hopping around on one leg, dragging his other one behind him. I want to put him in with Sonny so he won't get eaten by a predator. I know that he can't get off the ground at night and have no idea where he's been sleeping lately. I also know in my heart that I should probably just put him down, but he is such a beautiful rooster that I just can't seem to do it. I think that all of this combined has been truly reminding me that nature and my critters are truly out of my control and in God's hands. I can feed and water, but it is God who decides who lives and dies. It is hard to feel out of control. It would be so much nicer to know that if I put the effort into curing an animal, then it would be cured. Just doesn't happen that way. Helps me accept the process of waiting on our adoption process. Nothing I do will make a difference. Praying helps advance my relationship with God and prepare me for the end result. So I'll keep praying for everything. Oh, that's right. That's what we're supposed to be doing after all. Better go feed the rabbit. And send a quick prayer of thanksgiving up for my many blessings.

There Ought to be a law.

There ought to be a law that says mothers should never have to leave the house at 7:30AM and run errands solid until 5 PM. It's just too much to bear. None of it individually amounts to very much, but cumulatively, it's enough to stop a steam engine.

I just had one of those days. Got home ready to collapse. Sat down to supermarket rotisserie chicken and paused to give thanks. My weary body thankful for someone else's labor. Grateful Brian won't have to share the meal (he's working late- he HATES rotisserie chicken and the likely expiration date of the meat that went into it.) And grateful for a roof over my head and a warm house to enjoy it in.

Especially in this day post-earthquake in Haiti. Cannot imagine being in their shoes. In a country where the poor routinely eat a mixture of mud, oil and sugar to fill their empty bellies. So many suffering, in my thoughts and prayers tonight.

So this little bird seems a Thanksgiving Feast and I am grateful. Despite errands and fatigue. I think I'll curl up in my armchair and knit.