Spring is for babies… or maybe the birds

On my dining room table:

Spring nature display… note the bird’s nest.

I found this outside my living room window, in a hanging basket on the porch:

Beautiful bird’s nest

Currently in my basement:

New baby chicks, 1 day old

Three week old Buff Orpington chicks

Three week old Aracauna chicks

And today in my backyard:

Cardinal

Maybe my parents named me Robin for a reason?

Have a beautiful, sunny spring weekend!

 

Babies are here!

Spring Chickens

We welcomed a new group of chickens just as spring arrived on March 19th and 20th.  Three Buff Orpingtons and three true Aracauanas.  I’ve been faitfully incubating the shipped fertile eggs for 21 days and, somewhat like magic, the eggs started pipping and hatching exactly on their due date.  It’s always an amazing process to me and never gets boring.  It’s just so amazing to watch a new baby chick hatch out of its egg.

Hatching out

My three kids are all so excited to have baby chicks again.  I even let them go to school a bit late on Thursday as our first chick was hatching… we just couldn’t pull ourselves away from the wonder in front of us.  We did incubate eggs once before, but that was four years ago and feels like forever.  Since then we purchased day-old chicks to build up our flock.  This time we decided to try hatching again.  Right now, I have six more eggs in the incubator and will be starting another batch soon!  I won’t be keeping all the babies though, as I’m selling some to others wanting backyard flocks.  Which is a great thing, since this hatching stuff gets a little addicting!  Like I said, it’s never boring and always a magical experience for me.

Hello world!

 

Spring is here

The arrival of spring always brings a sense of new beginnings for me.  I feel a new energy and desire to get busy.  And with that, a new blog.  Previously I had been blogging at The Parenting Project for the last two years.  This new blog I intend to be a compiliation of daily life here in my urban home, one that longs to live a country life in the city of Springfield.  In our backyard we raise a flock of chickens, maintain a modest garden, hang laundry and talk with neighbors.  We try to be active members of our local community and are usually eager to try new things.  Come along and follow the blog to see how it all unfolds.