Well, it's time for another rambling update.
At five weeks old, the two chicks are growing and feathering out. Mrs. Rumphius is back with them (after the sad episode of the trampled chick). On warm days, we put the chicks and mama in the tractor outside and bring them in at night. The little ones can't climb into the roost, and Mrs. Rumphius will leave them on the ground crying while she goes up to safety. So at dusk, we troop outside, load ourselves up with chickens, and return them to their cage in the garage. Precious usually likes to carry Wuffy, Bubby gets Fluffy, and Cutie prefers to transport Mrs. Rumphius.
Actually, Cutie enjoys holding just about any chicken she can find. But the Silkies are by far the easiest to catch.
Our oldest Buff Orpington, Ribbon, has started laying what seems to be an egg a day. And there must be an ambitious pullet, because on a normal day, we'll find two eggs in the Buffs' tractor. Many times, I find three, with one nestling inside the feed container. We still don't have nesting boxes set up for them, but as long as they're staying in the tractor, it's not too hard for us to figure out where to find the eggs. The Buffs are getting a lot more used to me, my voice, and letting me pet them. What a friendly breed.
It has also become apparent the three of the eight Buff Orp. "females" that we got in May are actually roosters. Thankfully, we haven't heard any crowing yet, but I'm ready to cull them just because they eat so much feed. At six months old, they are already a good roaster size. Is there a free weekend coming up? Six hens (including Ribbon) is a perfectly sized laying flock for our family, so I am pleased.
Precious is coming along with her reading. Her imagination is still a bit ahead of her deciphering skills, and she usually invents a few words that aren't exactly on the page. But, she's getting the hang of it. She knows all of her information from our eleven weeks of Classical Conversations. Except for the geography and timeline, which I don't review with her as much as I should. When I told her she could go for Memory Master and get a t-shirt, she was immediately hooked. We'll see if we can strengthen these areas as the year goes on.
Precious is also progressing well with piano. Her teacher is wonderful. Right now, she's learning intervals- 2nds, using the Helen Marlais method from FJH. I have to say, I love it. Things, like gestures, that I never grasped until college, are presented in the the primer level. Maybe I was too busy inventing things in my own world, and I didn't catch the information because it was my own fault. At any rate, this one's a keeper.
Bubby is really into more.starfall.com. He's learning basic kindergarten curriculum from it, even though he just turned four. He is becoming quite a builder and designer of sets to develop plots. There's always something going on inside his head. We get glimpses of it when we listen in to his dramas. Now that Precious is in school, Bubby is playing more with Cutie and ushering her around the house. This morning, I got a laugh when he said, "Cutie, let's play husband and wife!" and she replied a screechy,
"Angh!"
Cutie is saying lots of things now. She just started "I love you," which sounds like I bub boo. When she goes to the potty, she always asks me, just as if I were her own child, "Mommy, a-doo-doo a-potty?" We're slowly weaning, down to nursing every other morning or so. I'm pretty much ready to let it go, and I think she's slowly becoming convinced, too.
I've been videoing lots of things for the past month, since our digital SLR has been on the blink. We contemplated buying something a little newer, but since the price to have it repaired is so much cheaper than a new camera, we'll stick with it. I haven't posted any videos, because I usually blog in the kitchen, and I have the video software set up on my desktop pc. Ah, well. At least the kids enjoy watching themselves on the tiny screen. It's actually a little difficult to video them, for them asking if they can see it!
So... that's what we've been up to lately.
At five weeks old, the two chicks are growing and feathering out. Mrs. Rumphius is back with them (after the sad episode of the trampled chick). On warm days, we put the chicks and mama in the tractor outside and bring them in at night. The little ones can't climb into the roost, and Mrs. Rumphius will leave them on the ground crying while she goes up to safety. So at dusk, we troop outside, load ourselves up with chickens, and return them to their cage in the garage. Precious usually likes to carry Wuffy, Bubby gets Fluffy, and Cutie prefers to transport Mrs. Rumphius.
Actually, Cutie enjoys holding just about any chicken she can find. But the Silkies are by far the easiest to catch.
Our oldest Buff Orpington, Ribbon, has started laying what seems to be an egg a day. And there must be an ambitious pullet, because on a normal day, we'll find two eggs in the Buffs' tractor. Many times, I find three, with one nestling inside the feed container. We still don't have nesting boxes set up for them, but as long as they're staying in the tractor, it's not too hard for us to figure out where to find the eggs. The Buffs are getting a lot more used to me, my voice, and letting me pet them. What a friendly breed.
It has also become apparent the three of the eight Buff Orp. "females" that we got in May are actually roosters. Thankfully, we haven't heard any crowing yet, but I'm ready to cull them just because they eat so much feed. At six months old, they are already a good roaster size. Is there a free weekend coming up? Six hens (including Ribbon) is a perfectly sized laying flock for our family, so I am pleased.
Precious is coming along with her reading. Her imagination is still a bit ahead of her deciphering skills, and she usually invents a few words that aren't exactly on the page. But, she's getting the hang of it. She knows all of her information from our eleven weeks of Classical Conversations. Except for the geography and timeline, which I don't review with her as much as I should. When I told her she could go for Memory Master and get a t-shirt, she was immediately hooked. We'll see if we can strengthen these areas as the year goes on.
Precious is also progressing well with piano. Her teacher is wonderful. Right now, she's learning intervals- 2nds, using the Helen Marlais method from FJH. I have to say, I love it. Things, like gestures, that I never grasped until college, are presented in the the primer level. Maybe I was too busy inventing things in my own world, and I didn't catch the information because it was my own fault. At any rate, this one's a keeper.
Bubby is really into more.starfall.com. He's learning basic kindergarten curriculum from it, even though he just turned four. He is becoming quite a builder and designer of sets to develop plots. There's always something going on inside his head. We get glimpses of it when we listen in to his dramas. Now that Precious is in school, Bubby is playing more with Cutie and ushering her around the house. This morning, I got a laugh when he said, "Cutie, let's play husband and wife!" and she replied a screechy,
"Angh!"
Cutie is saying lots of things now. She just started "I love you," which sounds like I bub boo. When she goes to the potty, she always asks me, just as if I were her own child, "Mommy, a-doo-doo a-potty?" We're slowly weaning, down to nursing every other morning or so. I'm pretty much ready to let it go, and I think she's slowly becoming convinced, too.
I've been videoing lots of things for the past month, since our digital SLR has been on the blink. We contemplated buying something a little newer, but since the price to have it repaired is so much cheaper than a new camera, we'll stick with it. I haven't posted any videos, because I usually blog in the kitchen, and I have the video software set up on my desktop pc. Ah, well. At least the kids enjoy watching themselves on the tiny screen. It's actually a little difficult to video them, for them asking if they can see it!
So... that's what we've been up to lately.
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