Chooks and the Big Wide World, and stuff

First day outside.  Only one brave chook standing on the grass.

Well, not all that bit, but out of the coop at any rate.   We put up a small, portable fence outside the coop door to let the young girls out sometimes.   Their first foray into the new space was so much fun to watch.  All but the bravest few spent the first few minutes just peeking out the door.  The brave ones stood on the little cement pad in front.   They'd step off the cement onto the grass, jump in surprise and hop back on the cement.   Soon they were a few feet into the grass, hopping up with every step.   So much constant movement that I couldn't get a clear photo of them.  Every photo was blurry as they were non-stop moving and if one was in focus, the others weren't. 

They've settled down now.  Each morning, they wait at the door for me to open it and let them out.  The silly girls follow me around, getting underfoot and in the way.  I've taken to tossing a little bit of scratch out in their  chicken yard, so I can do the inside coop chores without tripping on the silly creatures.   It's so much easier when they are occupied.  I gave them a wayward cob of corn yesterday and they devoured it like the little raptors they are.  Too funny to watch!

They have found a good spot in which to dust bathe and don't seem too fond of the midday sun, although a couple of them can be seen sunning themselves a little later in the afternoon.  Sometimes they are all huddled in the small, shady spot, waiting for the shade to cover their area, about 5 pm this time of year.

One of the girls is a flyer.  She wings her way over the fence and lands on the other side, trying desperately to figure out how to get back in with her cronies.   She walks back and forth along the fence until she sees me.  She then makes some sort of ruckus to catch my attention and waits for me to lift the portable fence, so she can get back inside.   Every single morning we go through the same thing. 

  A couple of weeks ago, two of my boys went on a hike with me.   It was at a local , well groomed trail.  It was a very short hike because the mosquitoes were huge and hungry!

On the way out of the trail, there was this small fern, growing out of a crack in some cut rock stairs.  It never ceases to amaze me how resilient Mother Nature is, despite human  needs to tame and make comfortable, some of our non-urban areas.



The Rudbekia are blooming.  There are a couple of small plants.. more I think the wild Black Eyed Susan than the gloriosa daisy varieties.  They are still pretty, though not as prolific as something like Rudbekia Goldsturm.

Off for holidays.  It was supposed to be one week, but my sweetie made a rather magnanimous suggestion that he spend his holiday weekend packing the truck, driving down and dropping me off, driving home and coming back next weekend when we were supposed to go.   I took him up on the offer, despite there being tons to do.  I've left instructions on how to freeze green beans, zucchini and tomatoes, how to harvest and freeze the Dyer's Coreopsis and the chook duties for my boys.   We shall see what happens.