It was a very busy day for us, on this beautiful, sunny Sunday...

The girls are very happy to be back in grass again....

doesn't bother them that it's brown!

we moved the girls from the enclosed garden area to the new "pastured" (I use that term loosely considering the "pasture" is brown!) area.  We ordered extra fencing to make their area bigger, now that they're bigger also.   We also had to clip one wing on each girl so they couldn't try to fly over the fence!  It went much better than I thought...we had never done that before, this being our first batch of chickens and all.  We weren't sure if they had a quick or something that we could cut, but apparently not, because it went well.  Although in the middle of clipping their wings, we noticed bleeding from one of the girls and thought we HAD nipped her, but she apparently has done something to one of her toenails.  So we had to do first aid... on a chicken! (we're trying not to have a repeat of the "Helmut incident!")  We had to wash the wound to see what was going on, sprinkle cornstarch on the wound to stop the bleeding (read it in our chicken book.. who knew cornstarch had so many uses!), and put liquid bandage on it so she wouldn't get it infected with poop or dirt... so we'll see if she makes it, or if she'll be stew... i know you'll be on pins and needles waiting to hear the outcome, so we'll keep you posted... Meanwhile, here are the new digs...

Eric's hooking up our first solar panel device! To keep predators out... so cool!

Alright, I am embarrassed to show this, but apparently not ALL of our ladies are keeping up with their hygiene... I'll be having a little talk with this one later tonight!

In spite of SOME of the ladies'  hygiene deficiencies (ahem!),  all the eggs come out remarkably clean!

 And this pic pretty much sums up my life now, not that I'm complaining at ALL... I love it!  Dirt, poo,  and boots... and notice the stuck feather...

                                  

We had a first big snowfall of the season...

and it was beautiful!  The boys and I were in Virginia visiting with Aggie and Big Pop, and had a great time catching up.  We went to see the Christian Youth Theatre's (CYT) Mulan.  It was really good and the kids enjoyed it a lot.  The next day we went to see Ariyetty (sp?) at the movies (based on The Borrower's, if anyone remembers) and the boys were pretty bored with it.  Mom and I really enjoyed it because the images were reminiscent of illustrations that we remember from books of our youth.  Pixar it isn't, but it's a nice departure from the images today.  Don't get me wrong, I love Pixar, esp.  Nemo and Cars (and in case you didn't know, Nemo is coming in 3D soon, according to the previews in the theatre), but it was a neat alternative.

ANYway, while we were there, Eric had to stay behind to take care of the ladies (who are laying an average of 21 eggs a day now!) and deliver wood, etc. So while we got about 3-4 inches in Virginia, we got 8-9 inches at the farm.  Eric took a lot of pics, and they are so pretty. So here they are:

Here's what it looked like on Monday, the day after the snow when the boys and I got home:

And the ladies weren't quite sure what to make of it:

But they needed to go out... after a day of being cooped up (notice the pun!), their house stinks! Pee-u! The girls needed their house and themselves aired out... But aren't they pretty?!  One of them recently tried to "fly the coop" and landed on the top wire around the garden... she must have been up there for three whole minutes, swinging back and forth, frantically trying to keep her balance on this little wire, all the while flapping her wings, until I could get out to her, pick her up and show her the direction home!  It was quite amusing... she must have been pooped after that exercise!

And speaking of being pooped, it was another exciting day for Sam ("Poops"):

 I loved being able to spend time with my mom and get together with my 4 closest friends from Virginia... we had coffee together and tried to catch up, but the time together was too short.  Sheryl, Laura, Rach and Cath.. I love you guys, thanks for meeting with me!

But it's always good to get back home, and I missed Eric so much, I couldn't wait to get back to him.

Life (and love) is good!