new charges

This are the chicks were received more than a week ago now. They were day-old when we got them; tiny, huddled together and relatively quiet.

Now they are more aggressive with each other (no pecking, just chasing the runts around the cage and squawking loudly), bigger, and a bit uglier.
The current pets are "over" them already. While the cat spent a few days staring them down, the dog is the cutest.



This weekend was hot hot summer heat. I got a sunburn on my forehead, nose and upper ribcage from staying out all day on Saturday. Hubby and I were attending a fantastic "new beekeeper" workshop. We purchased our hive the day after the chicks arrived, I painted it and shipped it back to the bee provider so he could set a queen and "nucleus" of worker bees in the hive to get settled. Sometime in the next few days we need to go back and pick up our happy hive. The workshop was super informative, tons of fun, and really hands on. I was wearing a very light wool wrap to keep my arms and shoulders protected from the sun but no other bee-wear. I would say most of the new beekeepers were the same; jeans and tee-shirts were fine.

There are always a few in any group, though, that end up looking like this:

And even though one hive swarmed mid-day, with all of us standing around in amazement as tens of thousands of bees tried to find a new home, the bees deftly avoided hitting us or stinging us. The people kitted out in giant suits were the source of some ridicule and amusement because of their over-preparedness. But then again bugs don't bother me, and I'm just snarky like that.

I also got some seeds in the ground (finally!). Based on my plot plan from months ago (following some light reading on companion plotting & "wide row" gardening) this is what I came up with:


Hopefully, with a few more days of sunshine, we'll see some signs of life.