getting used to the young ones

It's five in the morning. Dark and quiet.
I'm going to go check on the cheepers. He means the little girls, now waking up to their second day at the farmhouse.
I was just thinking of doing that, but I'm afraid they're not alright!
They're fine -- he shouts up from the sun room.

Ten minutes later I shout down: what are you doing?
Sitting and watching them.

And so we have two chairs pulled close to the little blue box where they now reside. We're too old to plop down willingly on the floor, but we think it's perfectly fine to sit in chairs for a long long while staring at baby chickens.




I suppose it's that early brush with new life. You tend to stare at babies too when they first pop out. Count fingers, admire the crease in the little fist... Though in this case, we're more likely to laugh at a funny stretch of a chicken leg or comment on who is getting bigger faster (it appears to be the aptly named Cupcake who eats like there's no tomorrow).






Breakfast, set in the sunny sun room.






And then Ed rushes off to the Social Security Office. It is the month of Social Security drama for us. Yesterday he learned that someone had used hacked information (think Equifax breach) to try to apply for retirement and disability benefits as Ed. All straightened out now, but uff, what a pain!

In the afternoon, I interrupt my spotty writing and my constant chicken watching... (not you, girls! your little sisters!)






... to pick up Snowdrop...






... who then does her own happy baby chicken watching.






I do lure her away for our time with Brambly Hedge on the orange couch...






... and of course, necessarily, an animated story follows.












Snowdrop, it's time for us to go to your house.
Can I take my babies?
Sure...






(Ed hovers, showing off his newly purchased jacket from Farm and Fleet. Yes, it is exactly the same as his previous one, minus the tears.)






Snowdrop's mommy has a little free time and so we schedule a brisk walk -- if only to take in these early moments of spring.






We go to a lovely playground in their neighborhood. After many many minutes on the swing, Snowdrop heads for the sand play area. She tries to make the diggers work, but of course, the sand is still frozen.






The fire engine, on the other hand, bounces along in any season.






We walk along the nearby pond...






... watching the ducks, the geese, noting the incredible blue of water and sky...






At her house now, she settles in for a volume of Brambly Hedge. I admire the new sitting position: works well when mommy's growing tummy covers the lap area!






And then I drive back to the farmette. Not dark yet, but surely beautiful now in the evening light. Almost there now... Here's the silo, a sandhill crane,  here's home.






... with the three new babies. So very adorable, even when asleep.