So we have been raising our chickens for about 6 months now. And we have one chicken laying eggs. Unfortunately we lost one of the ladies today. We believe that a hawk took her. All that we found was a small tuft of feathers. No blood, no sign of a struggle. We figured if a large mammal got her we would have seen some mess. So we have decided that it must have been a bird big enough to carry her away.
So I guess we are on the market for a new hen...
So we have been having an ongoing battle in our backyard that includes Nolan our cat, the chickens, mocking birds and any one of our many crops we are growing.
The pictures are not great because I keep taking them with my phone, so I might have to break down and use the real camera, because it is just too funny to miss.
Nolan of course is interested in the chickens. When they were smaller he would hunt them and grab hold of them. Well, they have gotten bigger and he tried to get one and it put up so much of a fight that he has given up. Well, not completely. He will lay in the grass watching them and every now and then will make a lunge, we think just to keep them on edge. It seems that he is aware that they have become too big for him
In come the mocking birds. If Nolan or any other cat is in our yard, we know it. The birds, (I have seen 5) will sit in various places screaming and diving bombing Nolan. We think that Nolan has harassed or killed some of their some of their babies so they are constantly watching him.
The birds have been stealing many of our fruits, they were grabbing the blackberries before we could get them, now they are picking the grapes off of the vines. We are leaving the bunches that they have already gotten to on the vine, hoping that they stick with those and don't go after any of the others. We have also had them pick holes in our tomatoes. Rotten birds.
You have to look closely to see the bird sitting on the back of the chair. It is amazing how close they will get to Nolan.
This year we are having more luck in our garden. I have never grown gladiolas before and got pretty lucky. I will definitely grow them again. I really have enjoyed fresh flowers in the house...I will have to convince Tobie to bring me some home when these stop producing.
Our tomatoes are also doing well. We had something called flower end rot last year that pretty much wiped out our crop. We are also growing black berries, grapes, peppers and potatoes. So I hope to have more pictures of our bounty soon!
So summer has started. We have made it to week two and we have been busy so far.
In a week and two days we have had a doctors appointment, a car appointment, went to the library, had the Gallaghers and the Swansons visit, started gymnastics team, went to the beach, rainforest cafe AND the museum of nature history . Wow, I am tired.
Have a feeling this whole summer is going to be this busy.
Tonight was Izaac's last gymnastics class until he starts on team this summer.
He has been going one hour a week for the past year but on the 8th of June he starts going for an hour and a half two days a week to get him used to the new hours...then he moves to two hours, three times a week. He will start in level 4 boys team and hopefully we will get to see him in a meet in September.
The yearly Mother's Day breakfast was held recently at Ivy's school. We did have a good time but I could not resist taking the pictures while she was pouting.
Ivy was sad that she was not getting candy for breakfast. ..
Why? Because we thought it would be fun and we thought our kids just might learn a few life lessons.
Like where do eggs come from (yes they are egg layers not fryers ).
And the kids got to see a bit of the food chain last night when one of the chickens got a hold of a worm...Ivy was upset for awhile then came to realize it was OK for the chicken to eat it. Ivy is a fan of worms, so that was a bit hard for her. She rescued the worm at first...then gave him over for a snack.
