Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Frou-Frou's rose is already putting out a small bud. Yellow, with a slight hint of pink at its center, as promised. I may or may not have teared up at the sight of it. Thank you, Frou-Frou, for giving me a little more beauty before the summer truly ends.

It hasn't opened all the way, but I will definitely get a picture of it when it does. Maybe sooner. We'll see. Mom and I looked at flowers at the hardware store a couple days ago and I'm mulling over the options for her memorial garden. I'm thinking blue hydrangeas, white daffodils or tulips, and maybe some small, purple crocuses in front so that her footprint stone isn't totally hidden in foliage. Blue annual flowers seem hard to find, so it'll probably be a lot of white with some purple. Most of them won't be in bloom until next spring, anyway, but hopefully it'll look nice enough when it does come to life.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Got to go get the birds in for the night!

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Frou-Frou's rose is already putting out a small bud. Yellow, with a slight hint of pink at its center, as promised. I may or may not have teared up at the sight of it. Thank you, Frou-Frou, for giving me a little more beauty before the summer truly ends.

It hasn't opened all the way, but I will definitely get a picture of it when it does.

Maybe sooner. We'll see. Mom and I looked at flowers at the hardware store a couple days ago and I'm mulling over the options for her memorial garden. I'm thinking blue hydrangeas, white daffodils or tulips, and maybe some small, purple crocuses in front so that her footprint stone isn't totally hidden in foliage. Blue annual flowers seem hard to find, so it'll probably be a lot of white with some purple. Most of them won't be in bloom until next spring, anyway, but hopefully it'll look nice enough when it does come to life.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Got to go get the birds in for the night!

Lovely selection of plants. The rose sounds absolutely beautiful. Can't wait to see the garden in full bloom.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, it opened a bit today! I'm not sure why, but it's really hard to see the pink in the center in these pictures. It's just a slight hint. I'm sure it'll be more obvious as it opens.

Sigh...

I tossed some corn cob ends to the hens this morning, and as the girls were going along, I would swear I heard the honk Frou-Frou always did while she tried to get at treats past higher ranking hens. I don't know who it was or why she was making such a noise, but it really hit me hard. Whenever there were kitchen scraps to be thrown into the chicken yard, I would always make sure that Frou-Frou got a peck or two before the big girls muscled in on it. It got me all teary again. I'm working through my grief, slowly but surely, but... I still just really miss her...



Anyway, while I was at it, I took a couple pictures of the girls, though not very many now that I have them uploaded. But here is my little silver Sebright, Scooter. She's begun her molt. (Sorry about the fence, she moved before I could get a picture through it. :/ )

And Ani Wyandotte giving me her disgruntled look.

I grabbed a couple of Crash duck as well, since y'all haven't seen her posing nicely in a long while!

And an Easter chick comparison picture:

Still working on her to get her outside. It's a constant struggle. I get that I'm her flock, but she really needs to be outside full time before the temps drop so that she can acclimate properly. :/ I guess we'll see what happens... Stubborn little butt!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

More pictures! I got my camera out to take another picture of Frou-Frou's rose today, when I found my golden Sebright, Rosie, outside the designated free range area. While I was getting some pictures of her, one thing led to another, and I got a few more pictures. This is likely a result of the amount of homework I have due tomorrow. Oh, I should probably do that...

...But first, pictures!

I have never been much for roses, but somehow, I find this one to be so beautiful.

Just...

And then there's the other Rose.

I think Rosie is in a perpetual state of disgruntlement.

...Unfortunately for her, she's just so stinkin' adorable!

"How DARE you?!" Okay, Rosie, it won't happen again.

My flock is in various stages of molt. A few samples of molting chickens:

Cressida the Easter-egger:

Fancy the Partridge Plymouth Rock. She denies all claims of molting at this time.

Poor Kate the Barred Rock, looking ragged. I thought one of my barreds had been grabbed by a predator or something based on the pile of barred feathers under the lilac bush the other night!

Mabel the Welsummer. She is insulted by the implications that she may be less than 100% in shape!

Moving on, here's Scooter and Frannie the silver Sebrights. They're on top of the pen Reuben is in, because he doesn't have enough frustrations, I guess.

Some quiet time under the lilac bush. Huka the Silver Lakenvelder, Rangi the Ancona, and Poppy the Cream Legbar.

Elda apparently has some ground work to do. This is the wagon I clean the coop out with.

"What?" I love these Dorkings.

And, meet the neighbors in the driveway puddle. Green frogs (Rana clamitans, I believe). They're just two of several frogs in there, but the only two willing to pose for pictures. Thanks, girls!

And that's it. Guess I'd better go get the girls in and finish some homework.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

More pictures! I got my camera out to take another picture of Frou-Frou's rose today, when I found my golden Sebright, Rosie, outside the designated free range area. While I was getting some pictures of her, one thing led to another, and I got a few more pictures. This is likely a result of the amount of homework I have due tomorrow.

Oh, I should probably do that...

...But first, pictures!

I have never been much for roses, but somehow, I find this one to be so beautiful.

Just...

And then there's the other Rose.

I think Rosie is in a perpetual state of disgruntlement.



...Unfortunately for her, she's just so stinkin' adorable!

"How DARE you?!" Okay, Rosie, it won't happen again.

My flock is in various stages of molt. A few samples of molting chickens:

Cressida the Easter-egger:



Fancy the Partridge Plymouth Rock. She denies all claims of molting at this time.



Poor Kate the Barred Rock, looking ragged. I thought one of my barreds had been grabbed by a predator or something based on the pile of barred feathers under the lilac bush the other night!



Mabel the Welsummer. She is insulted by the implications that she may be less than 100% in shape!




Moving on, here's Scooter and Frannie the silver Sebrights. They're on top of the pen Reuben is in, because he doesn't have enough frustrations, I guess.

Some quiet time under the lilac bush.

Huka the Silver Lakenvelder, Rangi the Ancona, and Poppy the Cream Legbar.



Elda apparently has some ground work to do.

This is the wagon I clean the coop out with.



"What?" I love these Dorkings.

And, meet the neighbors in the driveway puddle. Green frogs (Rana clamitans, I believe). They're just two of several frogs in there, but the only two willing to pose for pictures. Thanks, girls!

And that's it. Guess I'd better go get the girls in and finish some homework.

Lovely pictures! That rose is beautiful! And I love your Sebrights. I've always wanted some. My chickens are also molting right now. Must be that time of year. Your cream leggier has the floppiest comb! It makes me laugh whenever I see it. Ella's crinkly comb is pretty awesome too. Have fun with your homework!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Guys, guys, guys! Look at this rose!!

I really wish I had taken a picture of it yesterday, as it was all white and yellow like the last picture I posted, but open like this. Today, it's bursting with color!

And there are around 5 more buds coming on, too! This one is the next closest to blooming.

This makes me so happy!

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Guys, guys, guys! Look at this rose!!

I really wish I had taken a picture of it yesterday, as it was all white and yellow like the last picture I posted, but open like this. Today, it's bursting with color!

And there are around 5 more buds coming on, too! This one is the next closest to blooming.

This makes me so happy!

Wow! From your last picture it looked like it wasn't going to have much color. That is a beautiful rose!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I know, I thought the same thing! It's like it exploded with color overnight!

 

[TheChickenQueen]

It's beautiful <3 I'm sure Frou-Frou approves.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, this morning Reuben earned his keep.

I was cleaning the coop when I heard him and a few hens sound the alarm. I didn't think anything of it, because usually that just means a blue jay flew over or something, but then the hens started flooding into the coop and I knew something was up. I ran out to see a hawk fly past, and Reuben standing out watching it while the hens ran for the coop. He only ran for cover once he saw that I was out there!

Then, after I had made a fool of myself running after a hawk while yelling and waving my stall rake in the air, I stood watch for a while to make sure that the hawk had gone. While I was watching, I saw Reub come out of cover first and could tell he was keeping his eyes on things. Usually, he'll be right back to scratching or chirping and dancing for the girls, but this time, he was standing tall and looking around while the girls gradually came out of their hiding places. I'm so proud! What a good boy he's turned out to be after all!!

If anyone wondered, Reuben was only out in the flock today because Margie is broody right now. I will probably leave him in the flock from now on. He hasn't been harassing Marge as much anyway, and after today, I know he'll take good care of the girls. My manly ball of fluff.

Editing to add, all of the girls are safe, by the way!



Meanwhile, the second bud on Frou-Frou's rose bush is starting to open. It looks like something is chewing on its leaves, though.

My mom and I went flower shopping yesterday and got a few flowers to plant for Frou-Frou's memorial garden. We couldn't find the blue hydrangeas I had been considering, but we found a few others that are just lovely! The first one is called a Platycodon. It's just so pretty! It's also known as a balloon flower, and that's because the buds blow up like balloons before popping open into these beautiful flowers!

I just love the color of it, such a gorgeous blue! The label says it's 'sentimental blue', how fitting. (It really needs to be dead-headed, too, if I can only find the shears!)

As planned, I got white daffodils for her. They won't bloom until next year, but this is the picture on the package:

There were also these lovely daffodils called Pink Charms, which I couldn't resist. This is also the picture on their package:

And the last thing we got were called Puschkinia. I saw them and knew they were absolutely perfect! They are white with just a splash of blue, just like my Frou-Frou was... I got two packages of these, because I want to see lots of these little flowers next year! Once again, here is the picture on the package: