Chick-a-Boom Boom

The first batch of ordered day old chicks (brown egg layers) arrived on Saturday, a full two days before we expected. We drove to Des Moines to pick them up from the "big" post office. The are the size of eggs. So incredibly cute and little and fuzzy. 

We set them up in a stock tank on the back porch. So far so good. Our first 10 blue egg layers are outside in the palace already, but still in a stock tank too, though not heated. 

The next batch will arrive in a few weeks, a mix of meat and egg layers. When its all said and done we'll have 70 chickens and 4 ducks PLUS 30 Guinea fowl arriving in August. Those last birds eat ticks. Yay for eating ticks! 

Anyway, that's the farm update!

The Snake

So Lil'Bug and I decided to tromp down to the frog pond. We squeak around in the mud for a while, poke sticks in the water and generally explore the shore. I spot a pretty snail shell and ask Lil'Bug to reach down the hole and get it for me, then I spot this little critter.

Um. We back away and go get Daddy. I could not believe I had just asked my four year old to stick her hand down there. Then her face. What was I thinking?! Our county has something like 4 of the 5 poisonous snakes in Iowa and our property has all of the habitats. 

We hike back to the house quickly. 

Of course Dearest gets excited. I panicked a bit and might have blurted out that it could be a hibernaculum. Fine. I use big words when I get freaked out. I grab the camera, because this was an event I was going to blog, Dearest sticking his hand into a pit of snakes. Even just the one was scary enough.

And then......well, the peels of laughter rang far and wide. My snake.....

.....has legs. Meet the big, scary snake. A leopard frrrrrroooooogggggg. I am never going to live this down. 

Never.

Nope. Never.

Of course she had to kiss him to make sure he wasn't a prince.

He wasn't. But he has a cute belly.

Then she found a leech. Yuck. She had to hold that too. Fascinating creature. Lil'Bug that is.

Make Way for Ducklings

The Bees

The bees are still alive! They didn't move this week because of wet weather. Perhaps the weather will be better soon. Anyway, these are just portraits of the girls hard at work.