In A Bookish, Quilty Mood

I cannot be a channel of peace unless first I own it. Sometimes I forget I'm semi-retired. Books to write, quilts to make, chickens to feed.... Chickens, at my age? I'm in my sixtieth year for crying out loud. What were we thinking when deciding to get baby chicks? I'm tired, but not too weary to write a post. Just finished the dishes, not many, but our oatmeal bowls, my teapot, the stuff we need for the morning. Our kitchen is...old. Lol. No dishwasher, but a decent disposal. Big sinks. Lots of room to handwash all the dirty dishes we make. And thankfully we have an ancient concrete double sink in the equally aged laundry room to wash chick feeders and waterers. Hot water only, as the other two taps are hooked to the washer. For which I am also VERY GRATEFUL. Despite feeling exhausted, peace has been flowing through me in healing waves. Despite needy chickens, a despotic president, and other world traumas (like what's happening to women in Afghanistan for instance) , I...

Chicks we call The Clones as it's a little hard to tell them apart, lol. Slow quilt stitching, baby chicks, and a new book distributor.... Where has the first half of 2025 gone? I thought this year would slog along, stuck in a lousy government situation, but no. 2025 is speeding past as quickly, if not more so, than the last ten years have zoomed by. Like sand slipping through my fingers is each day, as though I wake, then suddenly it's four p.m., time to do my stretches! I won't ponder that element of my existence, but I can mull over the changes to my life that certainly has NOT remained as it was previously. Like chickens! LOL. The chicks have had outdoor time the last two days in what will eventually be their run. The first day they practically clung to one another for a good twenty minutes before finally stepping a few inches in their own directions. Today they seemed to recall the grass, the shade (oddly enough they weren't keen on going into the sun), and how muc...

  Chick party tonight! Chicks are pretty funny. One has earned a moniker for her behavior at the feeder; Camilla relentlessly roots out anyone near her slot, taking it back if someone manages to push her aside, and scratching while eating. My husband suggested the name when I mentioned that Camilla thought she was the new queen, but no one could take Queenie's place in my heart. Lol. We didn't plan to name any of them until personalities emerged, and Camilla takes the freaking CAKE for personality right now. The rest are figuring out their places in the pecking order, yet not a single one has managed to actually grasp the perch rungs, hah! They are starting to play under it, attempting to fly on top of it, a lot of wing-flapping this morning when I opened the brooder. A dear friend is visiting, who saw them last week, and she said they have grown! Which was good to hear because we think they're bigger, but we see them daily and other than a few tail feathers having sprouted...

So named for the dark gold tiara on her head, Queenie was a feisty and sweet chick, bless her! It was bound to happen; we lost another chick last night, my beloved Queenie. She was fine early in the day, but became shy, staying under the heat plate that we've nicknamed Mama. No obvious malady was apparent, and after dinner my husband checked on the chicks, finding Queenie just past Mama, lying on the shavings, already in chick heaven. Sigh.... Today's adventure was finding another chick suffering from suspicious poops. I diagnosed coccidiosis, then headed out for Corid so I could dose the entire flock. Was this what struck Queenie? Perhaps, but we'll never know as we didn't witness her eliminations. (Sorry if this is chick TMI.) For the next five days the chicks will drink water spiked with Corid, then have a two week break, with four more days of treatment to follow. The afflicted chick was out and about this evening, and I cleaned out under Mama, not wanting them to s...

The original ten chicks. They never used the tap-waterers, so those are now gone, as is one of the gold chicks, sad face. Been a busy few days, what with friends visiting, chickens arriving, and the reality that not all baby chicks survive into a third day. A gold star chick who I call Queenie due to the tiara-shaped dark gold on her head. She's a very docile, sweet gal! Aside from that last sobering truth, the rest of the weekend has been AWESOME! Chickens, dude, lol! They scurry from one edge of the brooder to another, to under the heat plate, then back out again. They napped for over two hours not long after we brought them home, so of course we fretted (needlessly) until they started peering out from the sides of the heat plate, then emerged into the brooder proper. Today they were active most of the day, scratching chick crumble out of the feeder, investigating the perimeter and finding interesting spots to peck. I held several (hopefully all of them, although five look very s...