update on the babies

Well, the chicks have all made it ten days. Hurray! According to the hatchery, we can start lowering the temperature of their pen five degrees per week until we reach seventy degrees. So far they seem like they've been very comfortable... They don't pile up under the heat lamp, but they also don't scatter along the walls to get away from it.

This week we will add some fascia and soffit to the hen house to keep the cold drafts out. Once the roof is sealed off, it will be easy to maintain the needed temperature, so that the chicks can soon move to their permanent home. (Yea!) My fear is that they will do one of those overnight growth spurts, and we'll wake up to seventy-five chicks pooping all over the house. (I think I would just go back to bed and tell Hubby to wake me when they're gone!)

It's amazing to watch how fast they are growing! When they first arrived, they looked like a ship on the ocean in that huge pen. Now, they pretty much fill up the space, but still have plenty of room to roam. I remember going out into the garage to hear them chirp. Today, I can sit in the dining room and listen! I am resisting the urge to post more pics. I will wait until they are a full two weeks old and snap another shot at the same angle as last week's progress post.

goodbye handyman

Well, this is it. The handyman that was doing all the work for me, in trade for the old Lincoln, finished today. His last job was moving many, many wheel-barrows full of large rocks through the mud from my dump spot around to my front flower bed. It was so nice to have someone around to get the things done that I have a hard time doing by myself. We will miss him. Not only was he a hard worker, he was an extremely likeable guy. He had lived a country life in his past and had lots to talk about with us. He said he was very accomplished in the saddle, so perhaps we'll invite him back to ride sometime...

One of the blogs I follow is titled, 'when I am rich'. I too have said that quite often. Today I say, "When I am rich, I am going to hire him full-time."

their own space and cash to burn

Finally! The shed has been erected. We bought one of those small metal backyard sheds last year but never got it put together. The guy doing the work for me finished it today. Now the girls have their own storage space. The bikes, helmets, big wheel, balls, bats, Frisbees, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, archery set... everything is coming out of the barn! It seems the bikes and stuff were always in the way, or they were buried where I was afraid the grandkids would get hurt trying to get their stuff out to use. (I take a huge risk just looking for a wrench!) Anyway, now I have yet another project on the list... painting the shed. I plan on painting it to match the barn, but I also want to jazz it up. With the girls help, I'll add faux windows, flowers, whatever to dress up the outside. When I get around to it, I'll post pics, but for now it's off to the next project.

While the two oldest grands were here, I took advantage of the help. I paid them to help me pick up the big #2 rocks from where they had been dumped beside part of the driveway. They've been there a while and have been driven over with the tractor. They were mashed well into the clay. We sat on the ground and picked them out one-by-one and tossed them in the wheel-barrow. Then we took turns pushing the heavy load up the driveway toward the road. We filled in all the potholes with the big rock while I sent Hubby to the gravel pit to bring back a truck load of 57s. The girls helped shovel the smaller stones from the truck to cover the larger stones we had put in place. When Mommy came to pick them up, she was delighted at the smooth drive in from the road!

After we finished the driveway, we took a couple more heavy loads to the goat shed. Right inside the door where we stand to feed them their grain was a low spot the was extremely muddy in wet weather. We again place a layer of the big rock on the bottom and then covered it with the smaller stone, bringing it up almost level with the door sill. Now Papaw Ray has a smooth, dry place to stand at feeding time.

It was a long day, but to have three jobs crossed off my list in one day is a rare treat! And the kids took home a pocket full of cash...

buying free stuff

I was just reflecting on the ways Americans find to spend money on things that, once upon a time, were taken for granted because they are FREE! Of course, even I have shelled out my hard-earned cash on rocks and dirt. But the rocks were prettier and the dirt was richer than what I could scavenge.

And yes, long ago and only for a special deal and a friend, even I paid to get a suntan. However, I thought then, and still do, that it was just plain silly to pay for concentrated sunlight. I remember how I laughed when bottled water started popping up... How on earth would they ever get people to pay that kind of money for water! But I've been in situations where my only choice was to pay for water or pay for a carbonated beverage... What can a girl do?

Now there is a growing trend - oxygen bars. OMG! It's true! People go to these establishments and pay to breathe! They claim it makes them feel better. You wanna know how I'd feel if I paid real money for air? Stupid! What's next... rain?

see for yourself...

You be the judge... The chicks were shipped to us last Wednesday at one-day-old, making them eight days old now. One photo was taken last Thursday, the day the chicks arrived. They looked about the same on Monday. Then yesterday morning, their legs just seemed to have popped out! I snapped the other photo five minutes ago. Can you tell a difference?

growth spurts...

I almost wish I had taken measurements of the chicks when they were just a day or two old. It was hard to tell how much they had grown from the day they arrived until yesterday. But I swear they have doubled in size over night. Yesterday they were still tiny little things... Today they tower over their feeders! In the beginning, Hubby thought he had made his 'pen' far too large. Now we're hoping it's big enough to keep them in until they're ready for the outside weather! Tomorrow marks one full week from when they arrived. I will post side-by-side comparison pics and let you be the judge. I will also try to get some good shots showing the different markings the various breeds have. They're just so doggone cute! Dirty, nasty birds...