Growing words and chickens

Dad wasn’t kidding when he said we were going to get everything done this weekend. We gave it a helluva shot. But, as people who live on farms know, everything doesn’t yield to being done. It likes to be kissed first or something, I don’t know. But the chickens have an outdoor coop complete with two kinds of wire, two tarps, and stakes in the ground to keep out predators and we’re ready for the 100 chicks that should arrive in the next two days. The garden isn’t planted, but it’s fenced and we put 15 tomato plants in the ground. Only another 20 to go. And we hardened off the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, so they go in tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some seeds in the ground too. Won’t grow in the package. “Just get it in the ground!” as we say around here. We got the thorn apples fenced too, so the cows are sated for a day or two. We even got most of the fence working. See how long that lasts. Dad serviced the flat rack wagons to get ready for hay season and got the mower conditioner in a spot in the barn where he can tear it apart and work on it, maybe rebuilding it or something. I thought he fixed it last year, but he says no. So we’ll see how this goes. He wants to replace or at least service the cutter bar guides. Since they’re tooled, I’m not sure what he intends to do with them, but I’m just a dumb blonde after all.

Well, I didn’t mean to subject the readers to this laundry list of weekend work, but it’s all I got. I also have reports on how the chickens are crazy about the grass I macheted down for them and got in fights as they chased each other around after long strands of it. They really are pretty cool. I named the smallest hen Roxanne after the Sting song. I’m not really sure why. She’s red maybe, red like a red light. (I know, I’m special.) At least I’ve been writing again this week. Like with ideas. Good ones. It makes life better when I don’t have to chisel words out of stone. They grow slowly, like spring radishes, but they’re growing more words. That I can deal with.