Two Weeks and Growing

Ooops!!  Someone forgot to hit the post button last week.  The Golden Girls are developing into haggard looking pullets.  This must be their awkward stage.  No, me thinks "awwk" is for parrots.

From last week...

It's nice we only have an occasional snow in the Big City North.  The Golden Girls spent happy hour outdoors these last few days.  

How quickly The Girls are growing!  Everyday they change; I sit and go through their names, making sure I can identify them.  Yes, they are changing that much.  Two weeks ago, all six fit in the feeder; today the feeder holds only two.  New feathers sprout by the hour, and fuzzy feathers are everywhere, or maybe it's the pollen from the trees.

The brooding house is 3 times as large as the day we brought them home.  The outdoor pen is twice the size of the new brooder.  They run every inch of the new space.

This my first experience with chickens.  They are fascinating to watch.  Here they are the day they came home.

The GG first day with us.  They were about 2 weeks old, I was told.

After one week, not much changed.  Still cute and fuzzy, but they were bigger and food consumption had not increased.

Two weeks and the girls are unrecognizable.  Not only are they sprouting feathers, their colors are pronounced and richer.  It is easier to tell them apart.  Annabelle is still the leader.  She flits and sits atop the cardboard box they call home-in-a-home.  She dares another to share her space.  Edie is the friendliest and most vocal.  She takes after her name sake.

Holy Cow.  Look at all those feathers!

The Girls love the outdoor pen.  Back to the brooder late afternoon, they sleep most of the night.  Tomorrow we're expecting rain, I'm expecting unhappy girls by evening.

The GG love the outdoor life.  

 Oh, and the appetites have increased, by 3 fold.  It's time for a bigger dish!

I learned a valuable lesson.  Keeping water clean is a challenge.  They've grown into Mr. Whiskers', the magic rabbit, water bowl.  We change it several times a day - and night.  Granddaughter and I love to sit and watch the girls and we noticed they love to jump on things, then sit.  So this was the test.  Elevate the water bowl on some bricks, and put additional bricks all around the water bowl.  The water was untainted for 36 hours.  

Awards and "It Must be a Sign"

What a weekend...

     In case I failed to mention this tidbit, Magic Man and I moved from the Big City to the Big City North last summer. My job keeps me racing back 300 miles to the Big City every couple of weeks, but that's another story.
     This past weekend, my dear friend M and I headed south.  He did not know he was the recipient of the prestigious "Volunteer of the Year" award at the FRC Regional event.  Surprise!!  Neither of us could participate this year due to conflicts, but I had to get him there for this one day AND keep the award a secret.  It was good to show up, even for a few hours.  We missed the kids, the volunteers, the coaches - and they missed us (hurray!).  Good, good times.

M sharing the joy with another recipient

      Did I mention how much we enjoy the kids?  These students are great!  They are innovative, creative, and a lot of fun.  They ARE our hope for the future.  STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) events are an inspiration to learn and apply learning.  They are, contrary to popular belief, not always the "smart kids."  They simply have a hands-on activity that gives them the desire to learn and to express themselves.

Teams create and design their uniforms and work clothing...

All-girl team sporting their work aprons

Team Shirt

... and are responsible to keep their machines running.

Quick maintenance between matches

     This year, each team made a shirt for the EmCee to sport during introductions.  This one is my favorite.  Can you find the shark?  Poor guy, he had over 50 shirts to wear over 2 days.

EmCee and the Shark Shirt

It was a fun day.  Lots of wonderful memories.

     On the way home, we detoured by Mom's out in the "Middle of Nowhere."  I love it there, so does M and his wife L.   A quick night's sleep, breakfast, and we were on the road again toward home (after raiding Mom's garden - shhhhh!).  But first, we stopped at the Tomato Stand, a little self serve place just off the FM road.  You don't see these places much anymore in these parts, so I frequent them as often as I can.

Tomatoes

And more

     20 miles further up the road is the Egg Farm, another self serve spot off the road.   It's an understanding with the customers; no sign needed - and Mrs. B only sells eggs.
     Finally, there was a quick stop for lunch.  This sign made me laugh as is evident by the poor quality of the photo.  I couldn't take a better picture.

Take a Number Please

    It was good to get back home.  I missed Magic Man and the Golden Girls and Granddaughter..., oh and her parents.

The Golden Girls

Our visitors arrived yesterday.  Six young ladies with all their belongings have moved in and found themselves very much at home.  The light freeze last night prompted me to keep these young girls in the living room for warmth and to see how well they adjust to their new environment.

Oh, did I mention the Golden Girls (GG) are our new chicks?  Little Gold Sex Links.  Annabelle, Blanche, Constance, Daphne, Edie, and Fiona.

GG6 - Just Arrived

Annabelle

Granddaughter, now 13 months, is excited about her new playmates.  She hovers near their brooding house imitating their cheeps and peeps, bobbing her head in unison with them, dragging her parents to come see her friends.

The GG seem contented, adjusted to the location of food and water, accepting the heat emitted from the heat lamp without question.  18 more weeks until the first egg, according to the books.  My patience will be tested.

On the less happy note, Mr. Whiskers, the famous magic rabbit is none to happy with the attention competition.  He bounces in his cage demanding to be noticed.  It won't be long, normalcy will fill the household again.  I'm sure of that fact.