looking good

we got a couple days to work on the coop and it is getting closer to being done. The exterior is just about done we need to work on the back wall. The interior still needs a lot of work but I wanted to get the wood painted and protected from rain that is due in a day or so. I got my barn red color!!! Greg wasn't too keen on the color he wanted a nice neutral tan but chickens  love the color red so I want them to be the happiest chicks in town. I think just a few more full days and the coop should be done.

going out on a limb

I am just driving myself crazy trying to speculate what are going to be hens or roosters. The average is a 50-50 chance so if that is the case 6 out of 12 will be hens. I will just laugh it only 2 turn out to be hens. Oh well I'll just have to sell the roos and buy more chicks....I have a pretty good idea that the 2 bigger black silkies are roos. They always coming running at my hand when I stick it in the brooder and they are big bullies always pecking at everyone. They are also much bigger than the other 2 silkies that were hatched the same time. They just have the 'tude that roosters are known for. It will be interesting to find out in a couple months. So on that bit of info I have went out on a limb and have named one of the 12 chicks. I am pretty sure she is going to turn out a hen...just a little" Sheila" intuition and I am usually pretty good but not all the time. So the chick I named and hopefully is a hen is Pearl the only white chick and she is a silkie. She is tiny and just so sweet and mellow. She loves falling asleep in my hand and just passes out on her back all cozy in my palm with her lil' chicken legs hanging. Everyone is doing well and I hope we make it thru without any casualties. They are probably sick of me holding them but that is one way to make them use to being handled. 

they made it thru the night

one of the brahmas

the cochin?

white silkie

one mille fluer

the one polish

the other cochin

group hug

I picked up my 12 lil fuzz butts yesterday afternoon and drove as fast as I could home to get them in their warm brooder. I had the heat in the car blaring and at one point I looked back at Presley in her seat and her face was bright red and she said momma hot. I said the chicks need to be warm. They are so very cute. I sat as much as I could last night just watching them do their "chicken thing" poopin', peepin', peckin', posin'. I have 12 of them and 4 are silkies ....3 black one white. I am pretty sure 2 black are roos. They are fairly bigger than the other 2 and are such bullies! They have no fear and when I put my hand in there they come running to check it out. The one black little one sleeps a lot and isn't as active so not sure it she will make it? I will be so sad to find a dead one but I know it is very common to lose a couple when they are so young. One good thing is they didn't have the stress of being mailed. I have 2 mille fleur and they are so tiny and I can't wait to see them feather out their coloring is just beautiful. I hope they are both pullets. I also have 2 brahmas I think one might be a light and one a buff. then 2 cochins I think but not sure if they are silver laced or Well not? They are so pretty with their coloring right now.  And last but not least are 2 golden laced polish which are my fave looking ones. I am so excited to see their feathers and praying they are both female but they are both more aggressive but it could be their breed? Now that they are here Greg stayed up till after 11 working on the coop. I think the pressure is on knowing in about 3-4 weeks they will be big enough to be in their coop. Well we all know what I will be doing today....sitting in front of the brooder watching the babies. Presley likes them a lot too but is a little scared of their feet.

not much coop progress

Well yet again mother nature strikes (last night)and therefore we didn't get much time to work on the coop this weekend! Greg did get the nesting boxes built in the garage and mounted them last night. I am not sure if we will get time to work on more today? The sun is coming out so this snow should melt real quick and maybe we can do some more work? I am so anxious to see if I'll be getting my chicks tomorrow? I have a feeling the breeder is going to not have any for me. I know tractor supply is getting some in this week either monday or tuesday so I have been calling just about everyday. They are only getting in 50 assorted bantams and I am nervous they will sell quickly so I want to get there right away for good pickins if my breeder man can't deliver. Greg and Presley left early this morning to my mom's house to get her a new TV and set it up so I got to sleep till 9:45am rolled out of bed to a quiet peaceful house made some coffee and just chillin' on the 4 season porch surfing the web. AWWWW so nice! I couldn't ask for a better way to end my hectic week. All I need to do today is clean a little more a couple loads of laundry and grocery shoppin'. I did all my homework last night so that is out of the way. I had 2 big writing assignments and they took forever!!! I hate writing I have the worst grammar. Oh well my instructor doesn't really care he is quite laid back. Greg worked on the pond Friday night he power washed it and filled it up and now we have the sweet sounds of the waterfalls. We have to wait a week or 2 before the koi can go back into it. It takes awhile for all the chlorine to neutralize out of the water. We could treat it and put them in sooner but i am not a fan of chemicals and avoid them at all cost. All the koi except one made it thru the winter in the holding tank. Of course the biggest one is the one that died. She was about 4-5 years old and our neighbor gave us her in the fall because she was too big for her pond. It was so sad!!! I thin we have about a dozen koi but I think we are housing some for the neighbor? I think 7 or so big koi is about all we need. We hope they will breed but i think they need to be about 4 years or age before they are ready and we always seem to kill them off before then. Hope to have better luck this year.

SO MAD!!!!

Presley is so on my shit list right now!!! Little gadget girl stuck something in my sewing machine so the embroidery part won't work now!!! That girl has to touch every button to everything she sees. I can still use the machine I just can't do any embroidery work for now. I guess I'll have to call and see how much it is going to cost to fix it and hopefully it is in deed fixable. She has been fighting naps all week too. She usually falls asleep but it is a struggle. I think she is missing her nuk but she hasn't asked for it but I know she is having a harder time falling asleep without it. After finding my machine today I just couldn't even look at her I was so mad so I went to the club and put her in daycare and I sat and did some homework...I should have got my fat butt on a machine but I really need to finish my essays for class on monday. Greg is working today so it is just her and Me. I have been cleaning all morning getting ready for company for the week. I called my chicken man last night to see if he had any ducks available and he doesn't until closer to summer and he asked if I was able to wait until april 20th for my chicks? He has many people waiting and now I might not get my chicks on monday and that isn't helping my mood!!!! So if he doesn't have any for me I might have to see what Tractor supply company is getting this week and maybe just get some thru them. They probably won't be what I want but at this point I just don't care I am ready for whatever hatches and next year I can always get something different. It will be cheaper cuz I think TSC charges 2.50 for the bantams and his chicks are 6 bucks so I gotta look at the bright side right??? Also southern Mn has a blizzard warning for tonight and tomorrow and he lives an hour south from me so the roads might be bad too. UGGG Presley is in there whining and knocking on the door I so need a stiff drink right now....calgon take me away it has been a stressful day and it is barely 2pm. Ok enough complaining I better go do something to take my mind off being so crabby.

about time

Oh man it is finally friday!!! I don't know why but this was such a looooonggg week. Yesterday was great. We went to the children's museum with sam and the boys. The bad news was Presley fell asleep on the car ride home which she never does and I knew we would be in trouble when we got home. Once we pulled into the garage she woke up and of course wouldn't take a nap after that so I didn't get any time to clean up or rest. Then I had Sam for my only client and after that we went out shopping together and out to my fave mexican joint! I had a jumbo margarita and it was so yummy. Sam has a smart car so it was fun to ride around in it. I have thought about getting one for our second car. It is so funny how many people look at you when you're in there. She has the convertible and man it is a cute lil' car. Right now we have been fine with one car cuz Greg has a work van but there has been times when he takes Presley in the car and I am stuck at home without a car. I think we could make it work a couple more years and then when Presley is going to more activities we will need another car for the person not driving her around. The smart car would be perfect. There will be more of them at that point and real inexpensive for a used one. Greg informed me last night that he has a work guy from out of town that is going to stay with us for the week and I will be taking care of the 11 y.o. girl for the week!!! Yeah he sprung it on me last night. I guess it will be ok Presley will have someone to help entertain her but now I am going to spend the whole weekend cleaning for the company. I'll have to figure out food for the week for everyone too. It will be interesting??? I will have to figure out what a 11 y.o. girl likes to do?? Depends on the weather too which I think it is still going to be cool next week. We could probably hit the mall of america since they are from out of town and I am sure she hasn't been there. Maybe do the MN zoo one day too since we just got a membership there. Or the como zoo is free but they won't have many animals out yet but the gardens inside are wonderful and they have a few inside things to see. I also am hosting Easter so I need to figure out what to serve and get a bunch of plastic eggs and fill with candy for the big egg hunt. I pray it is nice outside!!!! 

Not an April fool's joke

This is what We woke up to today...yeah yeah it is pretty but not for the first day of April. I went out and tried to take some pics for class that need to be high key but not sure if this is going to cut it??? I think I need to see some more examples of high key. So I called my chicken breeder to check on monday and he said they usually call about 7am and tell me what hatches. The breeds I want aren't hatching well this year he said due to our nasty cold weather i guess so not sure if I will get exactly what I want. I gave him some backup breeds that I would take if he couldn't fill my order with what I want. Pickup time is from 2-10pm so I guess Presley will be taking her nap in the car ride down there, it is about an hour. I have class monday night so I have to go first thing. I so want to skip class but we are having another test so I better go! I'll have to make sure my assignments are done by sunday night. So on an american idol note I think the bottom 3 will be anoop, megan, matt, with anoop going home??? My fave last night was Chris I love "ain't no sunshine" it is one of my faves. I am a huge adam fan but didn't dig his performance last night. We should really get out of the house today Presley is driving me bonkers but now it is getting too close to naptime. I'm letting her trash the porch with playdoh I really don't care right now I'll deal with cleanup later I just need a break. Tomorrow night I get to go out and enjoy some grownup time with my GF Sam. I am in dire need of a furlough!!!! I can't remember the last time I got out by myself (other than school) to have a fun night???