And so it begins...!

I apologize to all for dropping off the face of the earth (or at least my blog) for a week.  I did manage to keep up with comments on all the blogs I follow, but have been shamefully reticent in getting posts on my own blog.  It seems life picked up the pace for a little bit and I was consumed keeping up with it all.

That being said, this morning we had a big first.  Or perhaps a smallish first, but a first nonetheless. 
We collected our first little egg from our flock of 13 pullets and one cockerel!   It was in one of the laying boxes right where it belonged.  We're not sure who presented us with this little gift but we're guessing one the Red Stars, and De is further guessing it was the one named Gemma.  All the Red Stars are named for real stars.  Gemma the star is a white main sequence star in Corona Borealis some 75 light years away.  (I know, yaaaawn!)  Gemma the chicken is one of four Red Stars in our 18 week old flock.  Her Red Star sisters are Aurora, Bellatrix, and Electra.  In any case, we knew it would be soon and sure enough, today was the day.

Then there is Esther.  Esther is one of our three Easter Eggers (her sisters are Dovey and Houdini) and the only white bird in the flock.  Esther came out the coop this morning and effective said "Please trim my flight feathers!"    She didn't use those words exactly but I'm pretty sure that was the message.  And how did our avian wordless wonder communicate such a thing?  Immediately upon upon exiting the coop, she flew straightaway six feet up to the top of the 'people gate' going into the run.  She did seem a bit disturbed to be there and only a small amount of castigation was required to get her back where she belonged,  but I still got the message.  I didn't get to it today, but tomorrow I'm going to get smart on trimming flight feathers and cut Esther's aspirations of soaring into the blue off at the wingtips.  Sorry Esther, but no chicken altitude records for you!

A quick garden update  (I'll get pics in tomorrow):  The green beans are going gang-busters,  the tomatoes are growing and slowing going from green to red, the zucchini and yellow summer squash are coming in, and the bell and banana peppers are starting to pile up.  Then there's the corn; 3-5' tall, and tasseling out.  There are few tiny, tiny ears with lots of silks but mostly nothin'.  Time for us to get to the Farmer's market, I suppose.

All in all though, far more good news than not-so-good so we're thrilled with the whole thing.  Take care all, I'll get those garden pics in tomorrow.

Col. 1:9-12,

Mark