I'm In Love with a Chick

Here's Cole with his choice - a Speckled Sussex.

We're having way too much fun with our new baby chicks.

Emerson went with a Sussex, too. 

Mommy and Soli lovin' on a little Dominique. 

Evie chose a white Silkie. 

Soli and her black Silkie. 

Silkies grow up to be super fluffy with feathers on their feet.  And they're a bantam breed which means they'll be smaller. 

I let the kids choose from breeds that are known for being good pets and are known for being quiet.  This is a Speckled Sussex and she'll grow to be a normal size hen. This breed is also known for being good "layers". 

We ended up with 2 Speckled Sussexes, 2 black Silkies (like this one) and 1 white Silkie.  Because the Silkies are a Bantam breed they can't be sexed. So we may end up with a rooster (or two or three) which we'll have to find a new home for. Against HOA's. It is an URBAN Farm after all. 

Here are the girls making use of their doll slings from Guatemala. I'll give you one guess as to what they're carrying around. 

On my Urban Farm all pets are required to get along. Here's Zona meeting the Sussex twins.  Do you see the other one nestled under her chest? So stinkin' cute. And she didn't even try to eat them. 

Jett, on the other hand, was licking his chops immediately. See his tongue and how Dave is keeping his hand between it and the chickie?  He'll be so busted if he eats one of my chickies. Forget that whole "Circle of Life" thing. 

Soli and I enjoying our sunny farm. You can't really see them, but my little brood is cozied in behind my back. 

We've been taking our babes out to the garden to let them scratch amongst the veggies.  They're completely contained in the raised bed and they are so stinkin' cute pecking around for....I don't really know what they're pecking for. We have to keep them in a box with a heat lamp in the kitchen until they are a couple months old. So it's fun to get them out of their box and into the sunshine. Hopefully the dogs will be used to them by the time they are ready for the coop and to be "backyard chickens". 

And here's our newest addition to the family. We should have named him Rowdy.  Or Naughty.  

And it's a good thing he's so cute because he is Trouble with a capital T. 

Here he is "herding" Soli. It's hard to tell from the picture, but he's actually moving her with his body. He is a cattle dog after all. 

Urban Farm

Dave thinks I could be going through a mid-life crisis. He said to me the other day as I was unloading the third fruit tree from the back of my car, "Maybe you should think about what void you're trying to fill with all of this." He may be on to something. Or it could have something to do with my oldest starting high school and my youngest starting kindergarten this year. (I'm not sure exactly what about that makes me lay awake at night -- the fact that they're growing up so fast or the fact that I'm raising an adult and a baby in the same household.) Or it could simply be that I want an urban farm in my tiny backyard complete with a cattle dog and chickens and blueberries and beets growing in the garden and maybe a goat. Or maybe it's a combination of all of those things. And because my husband loves me so much and because a farm is a much better choice than a Lamborgini or a new baby (I really don't want a new baby -- just to be clear. A Lamborgini could be fun...) he's given me a tentative yellow light. So naturally I'm pedal to the metal, full steam ahead on my urban farm.

Here's the progress:

*We picked up the cattle dog at the shelter a few months ago. His name's Jett. We don't have cows so he herds the kids...and Zona. Maybe he'll learn to herd chickens...if he doesn't eat them. But, hey, that's farm life, right?

*The girls and I put the vegetable garden in this past week. We planted zucchini, basil, beans, peas, two heirloom tomatoes, a serrano pepper (I had one in Mexico last year), carrots, beets, strawberries, green onions, and something else that I forget.

*I planted a fig tree and the apple tree is ready to be planted (the exact location is still under advisement). The blueberries are fruiting, the olallieberries are blooming, and the avocado tree is burried in beautiful shiny green fruit.

*And we're planning to go today to pick out our baby chicks.

Stay tuned...

Sayulita

I know it's been about a hundred years since I updated my blog. To my utmost surprise, people are kind of upset about it! I'm receiving hate mail! Just kidding. It's more like stink mail..."When are you gonna update your blog?? It's been like 3 months!" I'm always surprised to hear that anyone reads my blog aside from Dave (And me. I have to admit I love to read my own blog. It can be a problem.) Anyway, here's an update:

Dave and I recently got back from a week in Sayulita...sans kids!! It was a first for us. We've left them over night; even two (maybe 3) nights. But never for a week. It was heaven. I only missed them a little (and really that's being generous). Does that mean I'm out of the running for "Mom of the Year"? Well, maybe it'll improve my standing in "Wife of the Year". Either way, it was lovely. 

Since we didn't have our kids with us, I was forced to take pictures of trees...

...and beers... 

...and cars...

...and fishermen...

...and flowers...

...and this little plane flying over the Sayulita surf...

...and other people's sun kissed babes...

...and other people's kids gettin' tubular at the Left.  You rocked that wave, Rory!!

This is a bad picture of us, but it's the only one I got of the two of us!

Of course, I still got lots of pics of Dave surfing the Left. 

We had an awesome time and were amazingly efficient with our week. Dave installed a sweet solar system at the Barefoot House (the meters are turning backwards!) and we were able to get his FM3 renewed in record time - phew! It was a great trip. And thanks to Aunt Hannie and the Miami Grandparents the kids had a great time, too!