Chickens, Cows and The Little Guy

It looks like May is ready to come to an end now! How did that happen? In a quick flash of light the days have gotten so much longer, the sun is hotter, and tonight the frogs are so noisy it sounds like a choir competition. We are getting thunderstorms and drenching rains instead of snowstorms, and all of the windows are opened to let in the cooler night air. Which is good, because we don't have air conditioning in our house! Normally is isn't much of a problem unless we get a string of 90 degree days, which doesn't happen often. Otherwise we get a nice breeze thru the house at night and it is pretty comfortable for sleeping. Tourists are wandering Church Street, and it makes for great conversation in the store. Memorial Day was two days ago, and it looks like summer is well on its way. 

We have had 4 new arrivals at the house this month:

Meet the Peanuts Gang-Lucy, Sally, Peppermint Patty and Woodstock! They were about 3 days old in this picture, but they have grown tremendously in the past few weeks! 4 little hens who are living in the basement until they can tolerate the nights outside in their chicken coop, probably in mid-July, and who will start laying eggs for us in October. They are a lot of fun to greet each morning and watch as they run around. They seem to be doing well and we are excited to have them around.

Shortly after the chicks arrived, we also had these gals come to the meadow:

These are two of the three baby calves that came with 4 momma cows. I think we have one more mom and baby set that should be coming to spend the summer grazing in our grass. It is always nice to see them out there when they come back. They should be here until mid-September, when the grass growing slows down and they go back to the barn to live off of hay for the winter.

And then the best arrival this month was my daughter and grandson who spent last week here! He is the cutest thing, and we had a grand time doing all kinds of things that occupy a 2 and a half year old! We played tractors, cars, barns, ball, took walks in the woods and to the neighbors. We went to the playground and Wildlife Refuge and book store and my sister's house. Ate lunch out and breakfast out and went to Church Street and even got to eat outside while fire trucks whizzed by. We made bread and English Muffins and cheesecake. And we read books about Kittens and Mittens, and sheep and trucks, and took baths every night. It was a great week, and he is such a good little boy. 

    

And here's my absolute favorite, taken shortly before we left for the airport:

It was a wonderful week!

And before we know it, June will be coming to an end, and the year will be half over. We always laugh that in about a month the days will already start getting shorter! But for now, I am enjoying all that the warmer months have to offer. We have a neighbor's wedding to attend this Saturday, and next Friday will be a 40th Anniversary Party in Middlebury for Danforth Pewter. It should be fun. And how time flies...