What makes me smile...???

...hmmmmmm......let's see......


(a beautiful sunrise)


(a little broody hen)


(a grumpy morning rabbit - I interrupted his bath)


(another handsome boy - Leopold)


(a good morning beauty routine)


(taking naps - Are you beginning to see a pattern here regarding HB???)


(and tripods.....meet Snitster)


(and my gosh, who wouldn't smile at this face....)

These are some of the things in my life that made me smile this week.

Here's hoping your weekend holds lots of smiles and happy times.

Sandy

Name that chicken (part 2)...???

These girls look very similar......

...except for the combs.

Check out this girls....





....and now this ones.





So what do you think???

BTW - The girls are doing better and better and we are up to about 8-9 eggs a day from this group.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Name that chicken...???

I was looking for 6-8 Ameraucana's........I ended up getting 21 hens!

I think they are older (than I was told), some are debeaked (all of the GLWs & 1 of the Black unknown's) and some were very underweight. I started out getting 2 eggs a day and now I am averaging about 5 eggs per day from the group. They are filling out and their combs continue to get more color in them each day. I think with a few more weeks of good, consistent feed and more daylight, I will give me some idea of what I ended up with. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting them back up to snuff? I would love any advice or input.

For the next couple of days I'm going to play "Name that Chicken" with you to see if we can figure out what my "unknowns" might be.

Here's the breakdown as I know it:

11 Ameraucanas
3 Gold laced Wyandottes
2 Silver laced Wyandottes

2 Solid Black Unknowns
2 Other Assorted Unknowns

....and this little red hen. She is tiny but her eggs are huge!

Does anyone have a guess as to what she is???





(My guess would be a Red Sexlink.)

I did get some of the prettiest Ameraucana's though.

Check out my pretties...

What makes me smile...???

...a "helper" to feed the animals.


"Fashionista"!










...a farm gargoyle.




...my new "lovely ladies".










...a handsome boy!




...and a spoiled rotten puppy (and proof that someone else does the spoiling).



Plus, I'm feeling much better! Thank you so much for all the encouraging words and well wishes.

I have decided to do a "What makes me smile..." post each week because I think it's important to remember and emphasize the things in life that make me happy!

What makes you smile...???

Sandy

Is there a song about the 12 days of January...???

...if not, there should be!

• January 1st - HB locks his keys in the car after a gig on New Year's Eve = $95.00. Car won't start - needs new battery = $80.00

• January 2nd - Sweet Pea's 2nd birthday. Stop by to pick up something for the party, park in front of store, leave car running with HB in the passenger seat.....Get ticket for parking in a fire lane and find HB asleep in passenger seat = $100.00

• January 4th - Farm vet visit. Shots and worming, 14 dogs, 3 cats & 4 goats = $900.00 Purchased 21 hens & a 12 hole nest box = $200.00 (Yes, I am an emotional buyer. I was looking for 6-8 Ameraucana's ended up buying the whole flock of several breeds. I think most of them are older hens and some of them were debeaked -which I had never seen before - not pretty. Going to feed them really well, pamper them a little and see what the spring holds. Right now I'm only averaging 2 eggs per day out of the whole lot but I've noticed in the week + that I've had them they are looking fuller and their combs are getting redder by the day.)
  

• January 7th - Lost Arwen - to what I think was a bad decision on my part. ;(

• January 8, 9 & 10 - Sick with a bad cold and pretty much stayed in bed.

Hoping that the next twelve days of 2010 bring better luck and are quite a bit less expensive!

When we didn't have an empty nest...???

...this is who shared our home.

The "kiddos".....

(HB - We done good!)

RIP "lil" Arwen

We will miss you!