Hail

It is totally hailing like craaaaazy right now. I don't just mean little stuff, either, this is almost marble-sized hail!!! We maneged to cover the bigger bed before it did too much damage to the crops. We'll see how big this storm is and if it passes quickly.

I'll make updates tomorrow or whenever this stops...

Update: The hail seems to have stopped for now, we'll assess the damage (If any) in the morning

Update: Sorry, forgot to post this... The hail damage is minimum, I don't think we got much. It's sprinkling again, I hope we don't get hail again.

Chickens

Sybill and Minerva have been causing quite a commotion for the little chickens. Hawk didn't get enough sleep last night, so we have to put her in a box (She's so tired, she fell asleep on my mom's lap). Mini-Max is faring better, but is still getting bullied. We've tried the usual method, introducing them, letting them sleep in each other's houses, etc. (Here's a page about flock integration, we're only on day 1 of it so dunno how well it works).On Back Yard Chickens there's allot of ideas out there, some quite funny and far fetched , not just smuggling chicks under a broody hen, or sneaking pullets in and making a big fuss the next at at feeding time, but stuff like: Sneaking the little guys in at night, then spraying all the chickens with the same perfume (And your chickens smell nice all day, too!), and apparently quarantine is needed sometimes... Oh, and I like the Chicken Jail idea.... You can't run from the law forever, Sybill!

Edit:
Okay, so this has nothing to do with chickens, but I'm getting back into knitting (I got bored of it once spring came)and I wanna learn how to knit hats next. Hats seem like usefull things.... :)

Sybill

Sybill has been an increasing pain in the butt. A couple days ago, she attacked Sunny (Sunny was unhurt, luckily). And, of course she's been pecking poor Minerva's wing to un-death. And lately she's been campaigning against Mini-max and Hawk.
Here's the story:
We knew that Minerva and maybe Sybill would be the meanest to the newcomers, because they were last and 3rd in the pecking order, Sybill continually pecks Minerva to keep it that way. And we were right, at first we brought the hens up to see the chicks and yes, Minerva was rather mean to them. Sybill wasn't too mean to the chicks, maybe because she wasn't even sure if they were going to be in their flock. But apparently, either Sybill realized she'd have to contest with these fuzzballs in the pecking order, or she's gotten very mean.
We stayed late at a game party last night, the little girls were in the big girl's coop and when my dad and Harry got home, they didn't know that the little girls were in there, so they let the big girls out and they ran into the big coop. The next morning it was pretty loud, and we guessed there was allot of henpecking going on, as we knew about the lucky mistake (We think them going to bed together helped the little girls integrate in to the big girl's flock). And Sybill was probably giving them a hard time, but she even went to the extent of not letting Mini-Max lay in the coop.

I have no idea what we're going to do with Sybill, but one things for sure, if I had to eat one of our chicken's it would be her. *Sigh*

Maybe I should threaten here with debeaking and being eaten or something, not that chickens understand what I'm saying....

Dawn

Bats flutter in and out of the lightening sky as crickets sing their last good-bye's to the night.
The stars and the clouds together in a sea of pastel blue.
No sound but the bat's wings flapping almost silently and the cricket's chirping and the rustle of the wind in the trees.
A bird song in the distance, the sky is brightening yet more and suddenly the air explodes with song. Chirping and singing, birds fly trough the sky greeting a new and a wonderful day.
The crickets tire and burrow deeper into their homes, the stars hide themselves among the sky, the bats retire and fly home with stomachs full of insects.
The squirrels and the rabbits take this as their cue, and emerging from their dens and warrens, begin to forage in the early light.
And gradually, the sky brightens from a dark blue to pastel and then into lavender and pink and soon the sun appears, turning the clouds above it magenta with flecks of gold and orange.
The bird songs become louder, more animals wake up to eat and bask in the morning sun.
The robins and the starlings, the morning doves and the blue jays all come out to eat with the early birds.
Dewdrops form on the grass as chipmunks and squirrels skitter up and down trees stashing nuts and seeds here and there.
The flickers and robins gobble up worms and grubs as they emerge from the ground, drawn up by the dew.
A rumble of a distant car, a bark of a distant dog , a splash of a distant river-- and suddenly it is morning.
The air is damp and cool and the sun shines brightly down upon the earth, the air is heavy with the smell of dew and the songs of birds.
And then the world awakens, people getting up and going to work, people walking their dogs, people watering their lawns, people getting ready for school, people on their front porch sipping their coffee and their tea.