Where are my babies?

Nothing on the radar yet but it could be a stormy afternoon for us.  Such awful weather the country has been having especially in Oklahoma and Kansas- tornadoes everywhere.  I worked outside this morning while it was still overcast doing some gardening.   Mosquito spray kept away the mosquitoes but the ants were biting me all over.  I used to have a border of log pieces around the big flower bed but they have rotted away pretty much.  But it’s in those rotted pieces that the ants live and they really dislike being disturbed.  They were crawling up my arms and biting me in the armpit, on my neck, back, torture.  The sun started coming out and I gave up.

We are doing our best to keep up with the gardening and mowing right now.  I did too much walking with the push mower last week and really got my arthritis acting up.   The corn is coming up in our garden and in the fields a sure sign summer is near.  Farmers are getting ready to do first cutting of hay if the rains let up.

We have more kittens.  The first cat had kittens in a chicken nest; this one had them in the feed bag.  There was still feed in it, I had to go to town and get some more for the chickens.  I had put several boxes with straw in them around the barn but no, had to have them in a bag.  I picked up the whole bag and put it in a box to better protect it.  I didn’t want Steve running over it in his wheel chair.   Yesterday I cut the bag down the side because it was so hot and I wanted to get a look at the babies.  Four fat healthy looking kittens. 

The cat that had the kitten in the chicken nest moved it, I saw her trying to get through the gate with it  in her mouth.  She managed to fit through then climbed over a fence with it and went to where we had fenced in some junk and disappeared in there.  I haven’t heard it since, don’t know if it’s alive or not.

Still no ducks hatched.  I threw out two nests of eggs.  The duck hen that was sitting in my garden wagon with hers pecked at my feet for two days after I pulled that out of there.  It was nasty and the eggs smelled to high heaven.  There was one under it too so both nests went.  I still have one sitting in the back of the barn that is probably a lost cause and one under the chicken nest boxes that will probably hatch hers.

No turkeys hatched either.  I thought the dark hen was going to sit but that only lasted one night.  I think there are still eggs in the doghouse she chose.  One red turkey hen is still sitting on a pile of mostly chicken eggs.  I am about to toss them too.  I wish one of them would get it together and hatch me some babies.  Everyone wants to buy turkeys.  I like to watch them with their babies. 

I have a black hen sitting in the chicken coop.  She’s an old hen who has hatched eggs before.  I let her have some eggs but the others are still laying in there so I need to mark eggs and then keep the others picked up.  I am about ready to throw out more frizzle eggs too, they just lay too many to sit on.

Inside, also no luck with birds.  I moved the canary hens again, giving the young male another hen who he is mostly just picking on.    The parakeets have been doing some kissing but haven’t been in the nest  box yet that I can tell and the hen looks a little listless to me.  I hope she isn’t sick.   I know they are old, maybe real old, who knows.  But it’s certainly not a good year bird wise for me.

Flowers are looking great and I am winding down my planting.  Still have to move some things around and edge a bed but I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.   I’ll move the house plants out next week, after our next cold front pushes through early in the week.