Ok, let's try this again...



Brady & and me





I have been away from here for far too long and now I don't know how to start or where.

So first I will tell you a little Christmas story:

When I think back to my childhood and realize just how close my parents families were, and weekends were spent visiting relatives, I wonder what happened. Some of my best memories as a child are from those weekends and it is sad that my children never had an opportunity to know their cousins as I did mine. For my part it was because I worked 7 days a week usually for more than 70 hours. But my brother and sisters families never adopted the weekend visiting tradition of our parents either.  We do try to get together on the last sunday of the month, but since my Dad died we haven't done a very good job of it. What with illnesses and vacations and work schedules or other "more pressing" issues, it seems we just can't all make it. Now it is hard just to get all of mine, my brother and sisters' families together for Christmas. Yes, much can be blamed on the economy or the social changes brought about by the electronic age, or whatever. But I wonder how my parents could find the time for all of these visits and I can't? Even though I no longer work. Still I think it comes down to choice and habit.

At our annual Family Christmas Eve Celebration this year, I sat back and marveled at how well all of the grandchildren got along with one another. And how our children mingled and reforged family ties. I even spent a few minutes on the floor with a greatnephew throwing a ball back and forth. Not such a big deal, maybe...but it was the first time that he showed any interest in me and I wasn't about to let the opportunity pass. Three year old Brady was playing with a ball as I was walking by, he bounced it high and I made a quick save as it headed over the stairwell rail. I rolled it back to him and he quickly rolled it back to me...an open invitation to play...I couldn't resist even though I knew I was going to have a heck of a time getting off the floor. As I was getting myself down to his level, my son asked if it was such a good idea, as he didn't think he would be able to get me up (his back was bothering him, (another family tradition). I told him that I would crawl to the stairs if neccessary. Brady and I had a blast rolling the ball back and forth. His outbursts of giggling prompted me into making faces and other foolish things. Soon other children came to join the game and I left after a while. (I even managed to get myself up unassisted.) The glow in that childs eyes and his laughter made it all worth while.

Opportunity and Choice...what wonderful things.

   

  And now for the obligatory family photos....

Our family, minus our youngest daughter, who moved to Florida last summer. 





My brother's family.



 



 

The eldest of my sister's family with our step-mother.

  

My youngest sister and her husband.



Our 2 oldest grandchildren.



And our youngest.





The Hen Crippler

Just how big do chicken eggs get???

This egg topped the scales at 4 ounces !!!!

We were working in the yard and heard a BIG commotion in the chicken coop,  later when we went in to gather eggs we found out why !!!

If that poor hen never laid another egg I would understand why.  We also had a mini-egg layed the same day that was 5/8 of an ounce. So the following photos...

 

Yup it was a double yolker (one broke), the mini-egg at top of picture had no yolk and was runny so I flipped it, the dark coloring is from the sausage I cooked first. And yes it was delicious! 

Unwanted Houseguest

Well our new additions to the flock have become quite a stir to the henhouse.  A week ago monday saw a new birth .

Mother was very attentive to her chick, which again I had to help out of it's shell.

Sadly none of the other eggs hatched.  We had put 11 freshly laid eggs under the hen after her first attempt at hatching  resulted in complete failure.  Upon opening a couple eggs after 48 hours later, I found fully formed dead chicks.  I can only wonder at the cause.  Did they suffocate in the shells?  We had frequently checked them for sounds of peeping and tapping and heard none.  Our hens eggs are very hard shelled and the lining is pretty tough and rubbery (that is except for the Grey Leghorn eggs which are just the opposite and sometimes just picking them up from the nest, fractures thier delicate shells).  Why do I have such a high failure rate on setting hens?

  

The 21 day old chicks were doing well and being very well cared for by their mother.

Here is the one I had to help out of it's shell, I believe it is a Americana-Isa Brown cross.

This one seems to be pure Americana.

And the last one I am unsure of.

All of the other hens gape at them through the fence, but poor old Snaggle Beak seems to be the most frequent visitor,  she peeps at them and looks longingly at them and trys to get into their pen continuously.

Big Red also seems to be quite interested in the chicks.

We have also purchased more chicks, 7 Silver-Laced Wyendotts, 4 Barred Rocks and 4 Grey Leghorns.

(One of the Barred Rocks died recently).

Anyway after we let the hen and and out of their enclosed nestbox to roam with the others, we noticed that she became less and less attentive to her new chick.  As it would try to get under her she would step on it to get away from it, until it was forced to try to ingratiate itself with the other hen.  She sometimes accepted it as her own, but other times chased it away.  We tried putting the mother and chick back into the enclosed nestbox after the other hen pecked it hard on the back drawing blood.  But the mother hen almost stomped it to death trying to get out.  So we had to do something drastic.

We had to bring Little Peep into the house to care for it.