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

Front Yard: Before and After

Our front yard in the neighborhood was not the greatest sight and I am sure it wouldn't be selected for any gardening magazine. For the past few months I spend  most of my weekends planning and visiting nurseries for ideas on landscaping our front yard. I've always wanted a garden filled with an array of annuals perennials, shrubs, to attract birds, bees, and butterflies. We look at several landscaping magazines for ideas on different types of designs and plans. We've decided to that our front yard will have a row of jasmine that  will give us some privacy; a layer of brick pavers along the border and a path of flagstones with buffalo grass.

The ground was solid hard and was covered with ghastly weeds and almost dead-looking grass. It looks pretty sad and neglected. John spent two weekends spraying roundup on the entire lawn. The ground was then rototilled and amended with fresh dirt and compost. The best part of it was getting down on my knees and hands to dig and plant all the freshly purchased plants and shrubs and grass seedlings. I have three different varieties of hydrangeas, tree peonies, lavender, rubeckia, wigelia, penstemon, salvia, chrysanthemum, coneflowers, daisies and a border of alternating rows of hostas with variegated leaves,white bacopa and purple nierembergias. I can't wait for the grass seedlings to germinate and all my darlings to grow and be blooming happy in their surroundings.

Doves on Mother's Day!

Last Sunday, I found a pair of Mourning Doves gathering twigs to build their nest. It was perched up on top of the trellis by the side of our house among the Lady bank roses and Wisterias. The father bird was perched on top of our neighbor's roof guarding his mate. Doves take turns to sitting on their eggs and their nest is never abandoned. So it seems, that the female will take the afternoon and night shift, while the male in the morning. If you are lucky enough, you might just catch them changing shifts. They also have a tendency to keep really still when you are looking at them. I was touched and was thrilled that they find my garden a welcoming place to stay. The following day, I told my friend about the birds, and she told me it was a sign from a loved one is telling you that they are okay. I was choked and was in tears as the night before Mother's Day, I dreamt about my mother who had passed away last August in Malaysia.

Chickens Behaving Badly

I have three chickens and their names are Henny, Ruby and Maude. They get to have the free run of the backyard and some of my flower boxes. Here is a movie on Maude and Ruby digging into my bulbs box. Maude died last summer-sigh! P/S: Ruby is Henny to John.

Poem: Trees

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair

Upon whose bosom snow has lain

Who intimately lives with rain

Poems are made by fools like me

But only God can make a tree.

-Sergeant Joyce Kilmer, 1914