Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Inertia

I miss winter's quiet, cozy, by-the-fire feeling, recently replaced with the constant need to be in motion. Around me, everything is singing the songs of spring - the garden! The chicks! The porch that needs refinishing! - and I'm still stuck in the Land of Wintertime Inertia.



Talking to a friend back in February, I referred to blogging as a winter luxury - come spring, I said, I'd be too busy to spend time writing long posts about education. While I don't think that will turn out to be true, I do think that more of the posts will be action-oriented, reflecting what's going on around here. (Until next winter, when I can go back to ranting about phonics, testing, and the lead law :-)



So, here are a few pics of what homeschooling looks like for us right now:



From Spring 09


The girls, in their brooder. They'll stay in here for three or four more weeks, where we can watch them grow and change.



From Spring 09


Here they are! Hermione, named after Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, is on the far left, soon to join her snuggling buddies and take a nap. Baby chicks, it turns out, do a lot of napping.



From Spring 09


Because of her curious, gotta-get-there-first-and-find-out-what's-going-on nature, Luke named this chick Pippi, after Pippi Longstocking. She was the first to eat out of our hands, the first to climb up onto our fingers, and frequently streaks around the brooder to find out what's going on over in that corner. She makes even me, who is chicken about chickens, smile.



From Spring 09


Here is the frame of their coop, which I've been calling the Chicken Palace. Ben will completely enclose this frame with 1/2-inch chicken wire, so no predators can get to our girls. Their actual coop - the small, wooden, locked-at-night part - will be on the upper left, giving them room to hang out under the coop and in the whole rest of the structure during the day, even when we can't let them out into the yard. In a word, it will be awesome.



From Spring 09


Our front garden. Remember when it looked like this? Here are a few more photos of the front:



From Spring 09


From Spring 09


I'm sure that the enthusiasm of all that is going on around me, from plants, humans, and chickens alike, will help me shake off the inertia, and boost me into spring. Looking at these pictures gives me hope that this will be true!

7 comments:

Rana said...

It's almos like having jetlag. Your mind and body have to get used to a new season. Just take each day as it comes and enjoy the warm weather. Winter will be here soon enough. Chicks are cute!

Dana said...

Yes- I know just what you mean. We are suddenly busier and have many more reasons to be out and about. It's all good but I feel I need a few more hours in the day.

Love the chicken palace!

Anonymous said...

I love it! I'm very envious, and I want chicks, too! : ) P.S. You can ride out the inertia.

Karen said...

Rana - jet lag explains it perfectly, especially that sense that I am not in the same time zone as the rest of the gang!

Dana - seriously, it is a total chicken palace. I'll post pics of the roof next week...

Susan - they are really cute, even as they grow and lose their downy baby feathers. We are praying for no boys - although one rooster's crow sure would snap me out of this inertia right quick :-)

Jena said...

So beautiful! And I love your chicken coop!! I've always wanted to do that. It will be fun watching this all grow. :) What an amazing learning opportunity for your family.

Karen said...

That's part of the reason that we did this, Jena, because we want the boys to have some of the care responsibilities - and, of course, the eggs are a nice bonus :-)
Now, if only I could stop being such a chicken about them!

Susan said...

I love that you got the chickens even though you are nervous about them. My kids wanted chickens and I was nervous about them and we didn't get them. Now they want quail. Your chicken palace looks fantastic. I'm going to send in the survey, by the way, it might just take me a while because the travelling has taken over!