I'm, like, a million years behind in blogging, but all the other events of this past month will have to wait. Today we celebrate our baby chicks!
Can you believe that yesterday 8 baby chickens hatched out of eggs in Connecticut and were immediately put in a cardboard box and shipped across the universe to the Lilburn post office? Elsbeth and I were on high alert all morning. Even made a trip to the aforementioned post office early to make sure they had plenty of phone numbers to choose from when our box arrived, just in case my cell coverage was spotty. Then I went home and paced around the kitchen, absent-mindedly putting the occasional dish in the dishwasher, sprinkling handfuls of cereal around to keep Els's blood sugar up, and compulsively checking the phone I was carrying in my pocket. At 11 we got the call. "Mrs. Mobley? Yeah, I think we have some ... uh ... chickens or something here for you." I think I may have squealed in his ear.
The next couple minutes were like something from a Three Stooges program. I ran around trying to find Elsbeth's shoes and turning on the heat lamp over the brooder, then realized that I had never gotten the food and water ready for the babies. Of course not. How could I have fit that in with my morning packed with pacing? So I poured chick feed all over the dining room and spewed water on myself and the kitchen floor, then tried to drive to the post office like a rational human being. I confess I may have had a couple unkind thoughts towards an elderly gentleman taking quite the leisurely drive in his white pickup.
The guy at the counter seemed slightly, but genuinely bewildered by me. "Soooo, what are you going to do with them?" he asked. I filled him in on my plans for years of eggs and delightful feathered companionship while Elsbeth bounced in agreement on my hip. Pretty sure he thought I was a weirdo.
Anyway, as painful as it was, I was a big girl and waited 'til I was home to open my peeping box. I let out a huge sigh of relief to see them all alive and well. Understandably they were pleased to move to bigger box with food and water and were soon running about in the wood chips, drinking water and pecking at their feed and bedding (and occasionally each other's eyes ... yikes.)
And so, with no further adieu, I introduce you to the 8 newest members of the Mobley family!
Anyway, as painful as it was, I was a big girl and waited 'til I was home to open my peeping box. I let out a huge sigh of relief to see them all alive and well. Understandably they were pleased to move to bigger box with food and water and were soon running about in the wood chips, drinking water and pecking at their feed and bedding (and occasionally each other's eyes ... yikes.)
And so, with no further adieu, I introduce you to the 8 newest members of the Mobley family!
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| Beatrice (Rhode Island Red) |
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| Susannah (Rhode Island Red) |
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| Amelia (Australorp) |
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| Nadine (Australorp) |
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| Rosemary (Silver Laced Wyandotte) |
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| Iris (Silver Laced Wyandotte) |
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| Miss Pettigrew (Buff Orpington) |
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| Gretel (Buff Orpington) |
I hope I can sleep tonight, wondering if the temperature will fluctuate too much in their plastic storage tub in the garage. Needs to stay around 95F. I'm sure the chicks are praying I do. I think they're a little tired of the big head that keeps appearing out of nowhere, looming above them, staring at them as they flit and occasionally adjusting their lamp a bit (though they probably prefer that to the hands that just can't resist patting their fuzzy heads ... or worse, scooping them up for a photo shoot or wee hug!)
Night night, sweet babies!
