Hostess With the Mostess

This week, I am hosting my mom and my nephew Ted on the farmlette.  For a near-to-six-year-old, Ted is pretty hilarious about many things going on around here.  From the visits with the cats on the porch ("They like me!  They really like me!" ala Sally Fields) to helping with the chickens in the tractors ("ROOOOOAAAAAAAR!  I'm playing with them, Auntie") to assisting in the garden ("the tree just fell apart on me, Auntie"), it is just one exciting moment after another.  This afternoon, we went to a local water park where we cavorted about in the pool during the intermittent rain showers.  Yes, I wore a swim suit, in public.  Yes, I squeezed myself through pint-sized portals into the tree-esque slide structure.  Yes, I went down that slide with a squeal and a giant splash.

Yes, the top of my skirtini came off in the process.

Thank goodness there weren't many spectators, although I think the teenage lifeguard maybe caught an eyeful, and is now scarred for life.  Poor kid.

Anyhooo....in other news, the last of the meat chickens were moved out of the car hut and into the field this evening.  They are smelly and dirty, but a few days out in the sunshine and rain and fresh grass, and they should look clean and white once more.  They always hate the process of moving, but once they get out there in the grass, they are pretty cheerful.  The rest of the herd is doing well, although the past couple of days I've had one keel over unexpectedly.  This is a challenging time period for the rapidly growing chickens, and sometimes they succumb to heart attacks or something like that.  They also get partially consumed by their brethren after they have shuffled off this mortal coil.  Now that makes for a lovely discovery during a routine wellness check, I tell you what.  Eeesh.

Chickens.  Don't turn your backs on them, because they will eat you.