New Chicks for Ruby

Last week our local feed store brought in a load of fresh chicks in time for Easter. I bought three little cuties of the different breeds: Barred Plymouth Rock; Orpington; and Rhode Island Red. Most of these birds lay light to medium brown eggs. Their names are Molly, Polly, and Penny. We will introduce them to Ruby probably in the summer when they get bigger. We put them in a cardboard box with a heating lamp to keep them warm indoors. They are fuzzy and warm and so damn cute!

Fresh Eggs

After a month long of the cold and wet season, Ruby our only hen is out and pecking around. Her feathers have started to come back and she seems eager to see me. I gave her a pat on her back when she ate from my hand. And to my surprise, I found 3 eggs inside her coop. She must have begun her egg laying cycle early this week. We'll have enough tomorrow to make an omelette

Crocus Flower

This morning, I saw a row of purplish-blue flowers in one of the flower bed. Its bloom is still covered with droplets of the morning dew. The way how the leaves dropped, it seems to be waking up from its long sleep beneath the ground. Its give me a sense of joy to see such a pretty sight and to appreciate the wonderful gift of life! In celebration of this simple pleasure, here's a selection of quotes and poems.

THE CROCUS

(by Harriet Beecher Stowe)

Beneath the sunny autumn sky,

With gold leaves dropping round,

We sought, my little friend and I,

The consecrated ground,

Where, calm beneath the holy cross,

O'ershadowed by sweet skies,

Sleeps tranquilly that youthful form,

Those blue unclouded eyes.

Around the soft, green swelling mound

We scooped the earth away,

And buried deep the crocus-bulbs

Against a coming day.

"These roots are dry, and brown, and sere;

Why plant them here?" he said,

"To leave them, all the winter long,

So desolate and dead."

"Dear child, within each sere dead form

There sleeps a living flower,

And angel-like it shall arise

In spring's returning hour."

Ah, deeper down cold, dark, and chill

We buried our heart's flower,

But angel-like shall he arise

In spring's immortal hour.

In blue and yellow from its grave

Springs up the crocus fair,

And God shall raise those bright blue eyes,

Those sunny waves of hair.

Not for a fading summer's morn,

Not for a fleeting hour,

But for an endless age of bliss,

Shall rise our heart's dear flower

"When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." ~Chinese Proverb

"Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed." ~Walt Whitman