Sir...

Sir LOIN!!! (He is the son of "Filet.") He was born the day I left for Intergroom. He is a friendly little guy, as you can see by the way he is checking out the camera. I spent a lot of time today leaning on the stall door watching him dance and gambol about. When I wasn't doing that I was sitting in my back yard looking at my baby chicks or brushing piles of shedding coat off my horse. A very nice way to spend a day, really.

Week old chick...

This is one of the Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks that hatched on Easter Sunday. I have three chicks marked like this, and two little yellow fluffers. For such tiny, delicate-looking creatures, these guys are thriving and growing and making me smile about 100 times a day.

Home Sweet Home...

I am home from New Jersey! It is fun to go away, but oh, so good to be home again.

I took this picture of pretty tree swallows this morning. They have just arrived from warmer climes and are scoping out nest box options. They swirl and twitter in the air over our house and bring warm weather with them.

Intergroom was great fun... it is so good to see friends and acquaintances, such a treat to watch the grooming competitions, and I have a blast working in the German Red Clipper booth. We had lots and lots of groomers stop by to take the clipper for a test drive, and so many took one home with them that we soon sold out!

Today I will spend "nesting." Cleaning up and putting away and enjoying the embrace of this place I call home.

Intergroom...

I am in Somerset, New Jersey at the annual Intergroom trade show. I will be working at the German Red Clipper booth all weekend. Over 3,000 groomers are expected to attend this amazing show, and I get to be a part of it. It is very exciting!

It is interesting to watch the show set up... imagine a cavernous building, a huge, echoing, empty space. Then imagine hundreds of people coming in with boxes and carts and STUFF. Soon, neat rows of booths appear, complete with a myriad of colors. There is hustle and cursing and laughter and shouted greetings. After a few hours, the work is complete, and a small city of shops is set up where there was nothing. Tomorrow people will pour in, there will be noise and excitement and energy. There will be glorious dogs and people giving their all as they compete. And at the end the process is reversed, and the building is soon an empty shell again. Until next time...

One more chick pic...

This is the "other" kind of chick I have. I have two of the fluffy yellows and three of these little striped guys. So far they all seem very perky and wow are they ever cute. They climb up mama's back and burrow under her neck feathers, or crawl up under her chest feathers, or under her wings. Then they peer out from their warm, safe place, observing their surroundings. It is hard for me to accomplish much, I just want to sit and watch "hen tv."

Happy Easter!

Here is fun Easter basket!! Wishing you joy today...

A miracle in my hand...

In the Christian faith, the hatching of a chick is seen as a metaphor for the resurrection of Jesus. How timely then, that today, the day before Easter, I held a common egg in my hand as a damp, chirping chick emerged into this world. It was a moment filled with wonder.

I tucked the new babe safely under its warm feathered mama. She crooned to it as it chirped softly. For 21 long days the dedicated hen has remained nearly motionless on the nest, keeping 4 eggs warm and safe. She only left the nest once or twice a day to feed one end and empty the other. The rest of the time she was in a trance, brooding the eggs in the clean straw nest. Her patience has been richly rewarded.

In this springtime season of rebirth after the long winter, I am embracing the miracles that surround us. From the humble hatching of a chick to the story of the resurrection, our lives are, indeed, full of wonder and marvels.