Quote of the Day: Robert Burns
“The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn, and violets bathe in the wet o’ the morn.”
Robert Burns
I almost missed these lovelies last week because I was so busy sugaring. So thankful to see a little bloom in the garden. I also have Johnny Jumpups blooming in the back potager – I think spring has finally arrived!
What’s blooming in your garden?
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Broody Hen
I finally have a broody hen, which is funny. Most people try to figure out ways to break their hens of their broodiness, I’ve been wanting one of mine to go broody. This little lady started to feel broody a week or so ago, she spends more and more time in the nesting box each day.
Now that she’s sitting all day I’m going to move her to a small dog kennel with a nest and a few eggs I’ve been saving from my Wayndotte hens. Hopefully she’ll hatch out a few chicks. ‘Tis the season, it seems all the wildlife around here is started to get ready for the upcoming warm weather. I’ve seen lots of activity with the local ravens and hawks, they seem to be getting ready to make nests and raise new clutches of little ones.
Have you noticed any animals starting to get ready for the season of babies?
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Hello Sunshine
The days sure are brighter now that the sun in the the sky for a few more hours. You can tell that it actually warms the house significantly, on sunny days we don’t even need a fire to warm up the house.
I’m not the only one loving it, the chickens are as well. They’ll be much happier when the grass starts to green up, until then they’ll be happily finding bugs and other goodies under the leaf litter.
Have you noticed more light in your days?
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ENJOY
“Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living.”
― Jim Elliot from The Journals of Jim Elliot
I was thinking about this quote as I bundled up on Sunday morning. It was 3 degrees when I went out to feed the chickens and ducks. I love a good brisk morning, the cold air invigorates me and gives me energy. This time of year I have to be careful not to start hoping for spring and wish away the last precious days of winter. I’m trying to soak up the last weeks of winter while they’re here. Tara is great at this, she LOVES winter and the snow. Every evening we take her on a walk through the woods, when we reach the back field she gets all crazy getting rid of the last of her energy. Such sheer joy playing in the snow, she’ll really miss it when it’s gone!
We need to learn from Tara to embrace what we have for what it is! I’ll be enjoying the dripping maple sap, the slushy snow underfoot, the cold air in my lungs, the comfort of knee high wool socks and shearling lined boots and the joy the dogs have for the snow!
What are you enjoying about this particular moment?
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Crazy Chicken
Two nights ago when I went out the chicken coop to count the birds, our Buff Orpington chicken (aka Big Ginger) was nowhere to be found. It’s really strange for Big Ginger not to be in the coop, she’s always the first one to roost up in the evening, sometimes she’s in the coop roosting at three in the afternoon. We looked and looked everywhere and she couldn’t be found. There was no evidence of foul play and I had spent most of the day outside so I would have heard any commotion from a predator attack. Plus Tara would have barked or alerted.
The next morning, she was standing out in a wooded area behind the house. Then I came up with a theory about what had happened. She ventured over the hard snow in the morning but then didn’t want to walk on the soft snow in the afternoon. So she roosted in a pine tree on her little island of earth surrounded by snow. The following night she was in the coop at three.
It was just a theory until yesterday when the same thing happened again. She got stuck on the little island once again. I had to go out and chase her over the snow so she could head back to the coop for the night. I’m glad she wasn’t nabbed by a predator, but it would be nice if she was a little smarter!
Anything funny happening in your garden this week?
