At The Top Of The Pecking Order

You are tenacious.

You never stop

until you get

Exactly what you want.

— Heebeejeebees, who never lets anything stand in the way of her getting picked up for a ride around the farm.

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Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm

Unfortunately, it’s bird flu season again. That means that I’m trying to handle the girls less. However, having an overly friendly bunch of chickens, this can lead to a lot of hurt feelings. Heebeejeebees, in particular, refuses to take no for an answer when it comes to no longer getting rides around the farm. I do not know why she loves being picked up and carried around so much, but she will repeatedly peck your leg until you relent. I’ve tried to stay strong in the face of her attacks, but sometimes, I give in and scoop her up.

The garden is coming along, mostly thanks to my dad, who has put in quite a bit of work getting beds ready and sowing seeds.

In years like this, when my garden mojo is low, I’m particularly grateful for perennials, like asparagus, which come up year after year with no real work on my end required. (Except yikes, this bed needs weeding!)

And, we have officially entered the season of sunbathing chickens! I love how they find themselves a sunbeam and then spread their wings and feet out, so every inch of them gets perfectly toasted.

Oh, also, I am sorry to report that the farm animals did exactly nothing weird during the eclipse. We had a little over 90 percent totality here. The light dimmed and the shadows got weird. Meanwhile, every critter continued about their business, except, well, Julia, who is always weird.

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Here’s What I Loved This Week

Yeah, the Grand Canyon is nice. Sure, the Great Barrier Reef is cool. But have you seen apple blossoms in the spring??? What could be more beautiful? When our apple trees bloom each year, I have no choice but to stop whatever I am working on and stand under them, gazing up at their perfect pink hues against the bluebird-colored sky. The world is full of tiny wonders, and I find spring is an especially good season for noticing all of them.