No, really, it's too small for you.

This is what I saw when I came down the steps this afternoon, ready to head out the door! This bull, which is not actually supposed to be within half a mile of our place, had wandered over several times before to visit the heifers that pasture not far from our house. But this time, he stopped right in front of our picture windows ... and took a liking to Erik's tricycle for some reason! The only thing I can think of is that there is probably just a little bit of sweat on those handlebars from Erik's hands. He wouldn't leave it alone! I shooed him away from it once -- by opening the door and saying "No!" in my sternest Mommy voice -- but he came right back to it when I shut the door.

It reminds me of a book we've read to Sofi: "Big bull blowing bubbles biking backwards ..."

He could see me through the window -- and didn't particularly like that.

This was after I shooed him away. You'll notice Blue has the situation completely under control ... she did a fair amount of barking, but I don't think she wanted to get too close to that bull either!

... And then I noticed that it was a party! Not one ... not two ...

... but three, four and five head of cattle paying us a visit in the yard!

I called our neighbor, whose cattle they are, and he came over with the four-wheeler to try to round them up. Those cows were clever, though -- they took off into the trees, where they knew he couldn't chase them! I finally did get out the door and down the road, though, so I'm not sure exactly how this turned out. Our neighbor was going to call in backup from his sons -- all bovines were gone by the time I got back, so something must have worked!

We have chicks!

Twelve cute little downy chicks are getting themselves settled in the old chicken coop tonight, the first chickens to have made their home here in about 30 years.

We've been working on the old chicken coop little by little -- basically when Dave finds time to spare. First there was a lot of cleaning to do -- we'd been using one corner for storage, so all that needed to find new homes (luckily -- sort of -- many of the books were water damaged, so it was easy to decide throw them out), and then a layer of accumulated dirt and debris needed to be cleaned out. Making sure the electricity worked was important; the little chicks need a heat lamp for the first few weeks. That didn't take too much trouble, thankfully -- just the replacing of a few fuses. Then we had to make sure the building was tight enough to keep predators out. That took a little more doing -- a number of windows needed covering (we might repair them later) and some cracking/crumbling foundation issues needed filling with Quickrete. An little Shopvac-ing and the place was ready for new life!

Dave and Sofi went to get the chicks and all the necessary equipment this afternoon. Sofi is very excited about all this -- she had to tell me all about the equipment, and she held one of the chicks, though she's still working on getting up the nerve to pick one up by herself.

We have three breeds: Buff Orpington, "a good beginner bird and popular throughout the world" (quotes are from Dave's birthday present book "Keeping Chickens" by Jeremy Hobson and Celia Lewis); Australorp, "easy to keep and become very tame, so they make good pets for children"; and Silver Laced Wyandotte, described as "docile, hardy, friendly, and attractive" and "the ideal beginner's breed." Not the frequent use of "beginner" and "easy"! The Buff Orpingtons will be a lovely light brown, the Australorps will be black with a green iridescent sheen, and the Wyandottes will have white feathers with black edges -- very pretty, all of them! And this is a laying flock -- with no rooster -- and they all lay brown eggs.

Dave and Sofi brought them home in a cardboard box with little windows cut into it for air holes.

They were not very happy when we first moved them into their new digs -- it was too cold, and they just climbed all over one another trying to stay warm.

The heat lamp took a while to get warmed up -- in the meantime they huddled in a corner. Poor little things!

But pretty soon then settled in. And started drinking and eating. I had not realized how much those little things will eat -- in the next 10 weeks, each of them is going to eat 10 pounds of chicken feed!

Sofi and Erik got as close as they could to get a good look. (Erik might have hopped in if we'd let him.)

We'll keep you updated on how all this turns out! I was thinking today, now why doesn't everybody have chickens? They provide eggs, meat and great compost, and they'll keep the bugs down in the berry patch and work up new garden beds! The downside, of course, is that everything loves to eat chickens -- we are now at war with not only all wild predators but our dogs and cats as well.

Next step in the plan: Building a chicken tractor!

Here's a little video of the chicks ... they are very calming to watch, I think.

Random notes

Dave's parents were here for the weekend and left some lovely photos of the kids! (Don took all of these great shots.)

Sofi and Erik like to play on the old loading chute by the barn, but one board was loose; they both helped Dave fix it.

Watch your thumb, little Erik!



Peeking through the boards on the side of the chute is lots of fun, apparently!

And whose little eyes are those?

"Mommy funny," Erik says.

Sofia was a little sleepy by the end of the day.

Video from Frederick's Day of Champions Cleanup Day

Every year, Frederick takes part in the annual Day of Champions, when athletes from Northern State fan out over the region to do service projects. All sorts of things were accomplished in Frederick this year! Some people in our Frederick Forward group say it's their favorite day of the year -- we talk about doing things at our meetings during the rest of the year, and some things are accomplished, albeit slowly, but the Day of Champions is one big day of action!

Here's a little slide show I put together of the day:

Kite flying and pasque flowers: Spring is here!

Dave and the kids have been out flying kites on several occasions already this spring. On the latest expedition, Sofi got her own kite up all by herself! I wasn't along on that trip, however -- these photos are from an earlier time. The wind wasn't working in our favor that day, so these photos pretty much captured every kite-aloft moment. (The rest of the time, Dave got his exercise running around the pasture with a frog kite bumping along behind him.)


But even Erik got to hang on to the handle for a few seconds!

... We went down to the river quarter on Saturday -- a beautiful spring evening. Dave needed to check on how much fence the river had washed away this year. He was lulled into a false sense of optimism on that count -- he looked at where the damage had been worst last year, and that wasn't nearly so bad, but our renter stopped by Sunday night and said it was far worse on the other side, where it had never been bad before!

We had an awful time getting to the river quarter. There are three ways of getting there: Two of them are gravel, but one of them is basically just two ruts through grass. Since the two gravel roads had water over them, the grass trail became the best route -- which isn't saying much. It was a bumpy ride for the whole mile, and there was one soft spot where we held our breath and hoped the pickup wouldn't slip into the muck on the side.

But once we got there, we enjoyed the view.

A muskrat was swimming across the river when we got there, and two pheasants thundered up out of the grass not 20 feet from us as we walked past.

The kids discovered an old rock pile (this land is now pasture, for the most part, but it was once cropped -- these rocks were piled here to get them out of the way of the plow) that made for an impressive obstacle course. Sofi did her own hopping, but Erik needed a little help.

Up, up and away, Erik!

... And then, just as we were about to give up and go home, we made a discovery:

Pasque flowers!

I think it's amazing that they are there, because that land was cropped for many years -- were they such stubborn weeds in the field that they resisted efforts at eradication? Or did they just lie in wait underground, as seeds or roots, for all those years? Perhaps their seeds were brought in later by birds or other animals ... who knows. But I do love to see them!

Erik was happy to point them out. He did OK at pronouncing them, too!


Sofi wanted to pick some -- we explained that it would be better for a wildflower like that if we don't pick it but just enjoy its beauty as we find it. And its message: Spring is truly here!

A walk with the birds

The prairie is a noisy place again, now that all the birds are back and settling in. Or passing through, as the case may be -- and I hope that's the case for some of them, as there are at the moment a ridiculous number of blackbirds here! Some can stay, but they are going to have to stake out territory on every fence post instead of every third if they all decide to stick around.

I had a lovely walk on Friday morning observing all sorts of feathered activity. (The children are in daycare two days a week, and I decided to engage in a little solitude on one of them last week!)

This pintail pair was not far from the farm. We saw a pintail pair on our walk tonight as well -- not sure if it's the same couple.


I do like taking pictures of the birds I see -- I can zoom in and ID on the computer screen later, even if I couldn't do so when I saw them in real life! Here is a slough full of lesser scaup, with a few redheads mixed in.

And here are some of the blackbirds! That fence is going to need a "no vacancy" sign.

This looks quite nice -- it's almost as if the trees are decorated for a holiday -- but it's not the most impressive blackbird tree I've seen this spring. On two other occasions I've seen a tree nearly black with birds. From one, the birds started to fly out in a coordinated exodus, just three or four at a time, like a lacy ribbon unspooling into the sky. It was absolutely beautiful.

That little walk had so much beauty in it that it was almost sad, if that makes any sense. I knew that (especially since I saw three abandoned farm sites on my way) there are far too few people who would see the beauty in a walk on the prairie in the early spring. Even, frankly, myself, as that was one of the first walks I've been on since the weather warmed.

We all need to get out more!

Happy Easter, everyone!

I don't think we could have asked for a nicer Easter!

The weather was lovely, the kids had a grand time hunting for eggs and eating chocolate, and we had a nice meal together -- our family, Mari's family, Mom, and Dad -- who was back to the farm for the day from the nursing home, where he is still trying to get strong enough to win the doctor's approval to come home to stay. He did pretty well at home for the afternoon, which was heartening for all of us.

Here's a little photo montage of our Easter doings, all courtesy of Mari, who was behind the camera, and is therefor only the family picture above, for which she used the timer!

Erik is on the hunt! One egg in the hand, one left to go.


Amara and her daddy ponder whether there might be another egg in the grass ...


I LOVE this photo! He could be modeling for Gap here. There's a cutest baby contest going on at the local daily paper ... this photo would be a serious contender! The dirty tummy (he'd already fallen in the yard) just adds to the charm.


Sofi's got her two! (The kids were each assigned a color to look for.)


That's our smiley girl! She was excited about her new dress today.


Once all the eggs were found, the kids had a grand time romping at the edge of the trees. Here comes Erik!


Erik and Amara used to be at odds -- now they are big buddies.


I'm not sure what was so serious here ... but whatever it is, it made these girls suddenly look a lot older than they are!


And here are the menfolk, taking in the sun. Did I mention the weather was glorious?!

It's for days such as these, when winter has lost its grip on the land and its people, when family gathers to enjoy each other and the world, when we marvel at the growth of the green grass and even more at the growth of the children ... this is when I realize just how great it is to be at home here on the prairie.