Our Spring Break in Pictures

Our hatching eggs didn't hatch

and we plan to try again,

but another 4-H family did have success

and since they don't live where they can keep chickens

their two hatchlings will be coming to live on our farm.

WOO HOO!

We toured a butterfly garden.

We played Putt-Putt.

We went to the zoo.

And we played with the goats.

I just love Spring Breaks.

It already feels like summer!

Watch Out for Lizards

The lizards can get really big in this part of Florida.

Watch out.

They love to sneak up on you and steal a smooch.

Taking a Walk Outside

Today was the day for the new babies to take a walk outside.

They loved it, of course, and did great.

Barnabas and Blessing especially needed me there

because I look after them and the big, wide world can be a scary place

without someone by your side telling you everything's o.k.

It's hard to do this without a mother, you see.



Three of Ester's quads stayed with her and explored.



And Sarah became the Pied Piper of the herd.



It was a pretty spring day.

A good day to look for wildflowers on your brother's shoulders.

Biscuit also needed our help. 

He cried more for us than his mother.

He's a little bottle-fed baby too.

Little flowers were popping up everywhere.



And Sarah made sure to find one in every color.

I hope your spring is warming up.

And I hope you take some time to breathe deeply

and enjoy it.

Little Dot Delivers

I suspected Little Dot was in early labor

on the evening of the 14th

while I fed the animals and did barn chores.

~ But I wasn't certain ~

Early the next morning, 5:30 AM, as usual,

I went out to feed the animals and checked on her first.

Now, as you can see, Little Dot is very hairy.

In fact, we gave her a trim before she delivered.

We just thought it would make it easier

for her babies to find milk.

So when I popped my head into her stall the first time

I didn't see her two bundles of joy laying on the hay behind her.

 Imagine my surprise when I came in the second time!

The first guy I saw was big and his little ears hadn't popped up yet.

We have named him BEAR.

He has a real layed back personality.

This little guy I saw next.

He is jet black like his mother and we named him BINGO.

Just like the song:

"There was a farmer had a goat and BINGO was his name-o".

.....or something like that.

Being born on April 15th is not so bad.

As long as you don't get a name like.........TAXES.

THE EGGS ARE HERE !

Today is a great day!

It's the day I have been waiting for.

We are going to try and hatch chickens!

I have wanted chickens
since I was a young girl on my grandmother's farm gathering eggs.

I have wanted chickens
since we moved to this small farm over 13 years ago.
I have wanted chickens
since it takes a dozen eggs and a slab of bacon to feed my crew breakfast.

When I opened the box it wasn't all pretty.

I ordered 40 and they sent me 48.

Which was a good thing because the nine pictured here are broken.

I ordered "the rarest of the rare breeds".

That means we don't know what we're gonna get!

(That reminds me of Forest Gump and his box of chocolates.)
Anyway...

This is our incubator.

Our 4-H club built these out of boxes.

We found an internet site that explained in detail how to make them.

It is the cheapest way to make an incubator yourself.

As for success.....that remains to be seen.

Most hatcheries have a 70 - 80 percent hatch rate.

This incubator should give us a 50 percent hatch rate.

And since our egg box had a rough time while being delivered...

I'm just hoping we get one to hatch.

Can't you just hear the pitter-patter of little chicken feet?!

I've got my fingers crossed.....21 days to chicken hatch.....

and counting.....

Alex is 18

For every birthday since my first child was born,

I have hung this sign up.

Today I realized it might be the last time

I get to hang it up for Alex.



He turned 18 today.

He's graduating next month.

And he's leaving home in four months for college.



 We reminded him that now he can:

vote

sign a contract

and get married.

~ ~ ~

He reminded us that he could now:

buy a lotto ticket

and go skydiving.

~ ~ ~

A good friend told us that now he can also:

get arrested and be sent to the big time.

~ ~ ~

18 has lots of options

And most of them scare me.

Spring's Perfume

 Recently, I had over 50 children plus teachers and a few parents

walk over to the farm for a tour.

They pet baby goats, fed other goats, each gave the horse a carrot,

and learned about chickens from my friend Becky.

It was a beautiful  day and you could just smell spring.

The children were between 4 and 5 years old

and while waiting for them all to arrive

I passed around a cut-off branch from this vine

and asked the children to smell the flowers

and guess what the name of the plant was.

Without any hands raised

I decided to give them a few hints.

First I said, "It starts with a J".

And then I said, "And it is the name of a princess".

At that hint, a little 5 year old girl's eyes got really wide

and a smile exploded on her face

and she exclaimed, "JASMINE!". 

"Yes!", I said.

~ ~ ~

If you grow up in the south, you just gotta know this stuff.

Two at a Time

 Kevin helped me feed the twins today.
Barnabas and Blessing

Barnabas is always faster drinking his bottle than his sister

and has to be kept busy until she finishes.

Kevin is keeping a close eye on him

so he won't try to steal Blessing's milk.

Drive-Thru Bird

 While visiting our local McDonald's
we came upon a new customer:
The Drive-Thru Bird

As we were leaving he looked as if he might jump in my car.

But the employee said he was looking for french fries and not to worry.

 Sorry "Drive-Thru Bird",

we didn't get any french fries.......

just ice cream cones:-)