Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The First 24 Hours...A Saga

The girls are here......and we survived the first 24 hours.

They came at dusk, around 8:00pm, on Sunday.



Rob and I had worked the weekend on getting the coop ready, the nesting boxes modified and attached to the wall, the bedding spread, the roosting bars made and secured, the waterer and feeder in place and filled, and we built an outside pen so they could roam and scratch a bit.

After we got them settled in their new home, Rob had to go to the office to do some work. When he came home aroung 10:30pm, he said the girls were all roosting and everything seemed calm. How cute! He had gone in with a flashlight to check and see if they were doing okay before he came home.




And on Monday morning they had their first visitors. They seemed very happy with their new diggs and were very friendly and inquisitive with all the new faces. We have 1 Delaware, she is white with a bit of black and she seems the most standoffish, 2 buff orphingtons, they are both the largest and friendiest of the group, 1 rhode island red who is dark brownish red, 1 golden comet who is the smallest and 1 golden laced wyondotte who is brown with black markings and green tips on her wings...she's the prettiest and my favorite.





And on Monday afternoon we had our first egg.



And on Tuesday we had four.




We had a bit of a scare and calamity of errors on Monday afternoon, but all turned out okay. I had spent the morning entertaining visitors. Christian came with Roger and I immediately put him in the house so Christian could see the hens. I had to spend much of the afternoon with the tech guys on some issues with my bed and breakfast software. Rob had some banking he wanted me to do and I noticied it was getting near to closing time so I rushed back home and got my things together to go out, got Roger and put him in the car and off we went. After some additional errands in the next village we headed home and I realized that Roger had not been out for a walk for most of the day so I knew he was anxious to go out. We got home and I just opened the door for Roger to leave without thinking and off he raced to the chicken coop. I jumped out of the car to chase after him not realizing that I had not put the truck in park, and I could not get back fast enough to stop the slow steady movement right into the support columns of the open porch next to the garage. By that time, my friend Dave, who had been working on the house next to Litengard ran over to tell me that the chickens were out, having jumped the 5 foot fence and were in the neighbors bushes. Then he saw the truck and the semi collapsed roof of the porch.

"Are you okay"? Yes, I was fine but, oh no, my first day on the chicken job after getting special permission from the village and they are already out and about the neighborhood!

It turned out that it was just one, my favorite, the golden laced wyondotte. We secured Roger in the house and went hunting for the loose chicken. We went around the neighbors house several times until he came out and asked what we were doing. "Looking for a chicken" we said. "A chicken?" "Yes" was our only reply as we continued to look everywhere. And then I spotted her, crouched under a bush, almost invisible.

Dave who had chickens when he was growing up said he would get her and he lunged for her and she squirted right out of his hands.

And there we were, the two of us adults, chasing this poor little chicken all around main street, desperately trying to keep her out of the traffic. We finally got her headed back onto our property and towards the barn. Once she got in the barn, Dave ran around to the back and opened the coop door and in she went.

Whew! Safe and sound and no fatalities. The books make it sound so easy.

Dave came back to the house and went to work on getting boards secured under the roof to brace it up until we could get the jacks out and the posts back up. Two came down in tact but one, not so much. I was so glad that Dave was there and knew what to do. He's worked so much around our house that he just got the equipment and went to work, however we could not find the big silver jack that could have solved the problem then and there.

However, now that the posts are down....perhaps I'll do something else with that space. Is that called making lemonade out of lemons?

But today was uneventful!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Ends of the Spectrum

Yesterday I worked for hours, side by side a seven year old boy.

Friends of ours who have a farm and greenhouse, had received 1100 flower plugs and they all needed to be transplanted into six packs. It was fun to get back into the dirt this early in the season. The heaters and fans were on and it was nice and toasty in the greenhouse.

My seven year old friend had been working before I arrived. This was his family's business. He did one job and I did another. And sometimes we switched jobs.

He was cheerful and worked steadily. He never complained or wanted to take a break. He occasionally ate a cracker and offered some to me. His dad came and offered some suggestions and corrections to him and he accepted them cheerfully. As I asked him various things about the farm he regaled me with funny stories. He told me things about some plants that I was surprised a seven year old knew about. And he was plenty knowledgeable about the different animals on the farm. His mom needed him at the house for a couple of hours and so he disappeared only to re emerge back at the greenhouse to continue his job.

I had to leave shortly after he returned but I asked him if he could show me the new piglets in the barn. He took me all around the barn and introduced me to the various animals, pigs of all ages, three young cows, hens and a rooster which he bravely shooed away. Then he picked up a pail and said he had to water the chickens, his main responsibility. So he lugged a pail one third filled with water up a hill to the chicken house. Upon seeing all the chickens in a large fenced in area I asked him how many laying chickens were at the farm. "Oh, about a hundred." Like that was nothing at all. Seemed like a lot to me.

He then hopped up into the chicken house, replenished the water and started to collect the eggs. That was his job, part of his chores on this family farm.

Needless to say I was impressed with this seven year old. He had poise, a great personality, a cheerful disposition, a great work ethic and a love for the rest of his family, younger and older. I was smitten. I don't think I know another seven year old like him.

That evening, Rob and I went to a concert at Hosmer Hall. The legendary jazz guitarist was performing and Rob had been given tickets as a Christmas present. Bucky Pizzarelli is 85 years old and he was amazing. He has played in bands with Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra. He as done concerts at the White House and Carnegie Hall. He has toured the world with Benny Goodman, Zoot Sims, Benny Carter, Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd. In 2005 he was elected to the Jazz Hall of Fame. We both said my dad, who was a jazz pianist himself, would have loved the concert.

So my day went from the very young to the very old. And they were both amazing. I guess it goes to show you that age doesn't matter. We can be productive when we are young and we still can be creative, inspiring and entertaining when we are old. Two ends of the spectrum.......with a great many years in between.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

It's a Miracle!

It's a miracle!!!

Except it happens every year, just when you least expect it!

Just when you think that you can't stand one more freezing cold, dreary day. Just when you think that you can not stand more drop of snow, scrapping the car windows, shoveling one more shovel full of snow, one more day of layering, bundling up and putting on ugly winter boots and hats which scrunch the hairdo, scarfs and gloves . Just when you decide that bears have it right and it is smart to hibernate the whole winter.

Just then, out of nowhere, there is a sunny bright day; almost 60 degrees. And they appear.



After months of rock solid frozen ground, their vast energy has pushed up themselves up to over three inches and they won't be stopped. Everything wasn't dead, just storing up energy to surprise us when we need it the most.

Nothing yesterday. But today I'm seeing signs everywhere. The crocus are up, the snowdrops are ready to flower, the daffodils are sprouting fine strong leaves, the hyacinths are peeking up through cold hard brown dirt. And everything is changing.

It was always still there. Just hiding for a while.

We've turned the corner I think. And the best is yet to come. We see the promise