My goodness but it has been an eventful week on the farm. On Monday I got called out to a bee keeping
event, inspecting an apiary of 24 hives and discovering many dead ones, a few
weak ones and only a couple of healthy hives.
I looked at eggs, capped brood, capped honey, honey in the comb as well
as identifying the queen in various hives.
One of the most exciting things was observing pollen on the legs of some
of the workers who got disturbed enough in the hive to decide to take a little
recognizant trip into the trees and came back loaded with the pollen. How cute was that? So cute!
Tuesday my 75 day old chicks arrived intact but sadly I had one loss
in my batch of 26 and brother John also had a loss the next day in his 50. Thank goodness for the spares but I am very
impressed with Miller Hatcheries quality.
The chicks are thriving and on this, day 4, they have already started to
sprout feathers on their wings. Listening
as I enter the coop I can first hear them chirping and then I hear there itsy
bitsy little feet speed across the floor because they sense I am coming. They scurry to the wall, away from the heat
lamp and wait for the door to open. Can
I repeat myself? So cute! 
Thursday morning I went to make my breakfast but as always I first
checked on the little stray cat I have been harbouring due to the fact that (1)
she is adorable (2) excessively friendly and (3) terribly knocked up (yes as in
kittens on the way). Last night they
arrived and poor little Kitsy peeked out from her hidey hole (which she had
never used before) and I knew before I heard the mewling that the babies had arrived. Poor Kitsy was being a good mother but at her
own expense; she was a mess. She hasn’t
figured out how to multitask so she was not cleaned up and let me tell you
something – do not, I repeat, do not attempt to clean up a mother cat by
spraying them with the kitchen sink spray hose.
I had to explain my lacerated body to the doctor this morning when I went
for my physical as I looked like something out of The Walking Dead. Drawing out the kittens later I thought they
were, wait for it, so cute!
What will tomorrow bring?
Peace of mind I do hope as this has been too much for this retiree’s old
heart!
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