Embracing the bus

Okay, not really.

I got a new job. At first I wasn't thrilled since it is on the East Side and takes me an hour and a half to get there whether driving or riding the bus, but I've discovered that the job is actually fantastic.  The people are great, I'm constantly busy, the company seems fabulous, and it is right in downtown Bellevue, so there is a plethora of shopping and eating establishments within spitting distance.  The people watching pretty much sucks, since it is the East Side and everyone either works at a tech company or has just adopted the wardrobe (button up? check.).  If anyone knows of any great stuff to do or places to knit, let me know!

So the real news is a chicken update!  The girls are so big! And the coop is nearly done.  All we need to do is add hardware cloth to the windows, build the nestbox and roosts and paint!  I'm thinking it is all going to happen this weekend, which would be fabulous, because Merci has lost all her tailfeathers being cramped in the brooder.  

Sunshine and grapefruits

WooWEE!  This month has been full of excitement.  Since the job offer I received (which I did end up accepting), Zach and I went to visit my little sister in California, I started work, and the chicken coop is more than half done!

First, a few highlights from our trip to SoCal: 

It was wonderful, and I feel like my sister and I are finally really relating as adults.  She is a wonderful woman with lots of big hopes and dreams, and I'm really lucky to call her my friend as well as my sister.

We got back from California Monday night and I started my new job Tuesday morning.  It's crazy, and the commute is so bad I've already started looking at home listings online, but the job itself and the people I work with seem great.  It will be really busy all the time, and they offer a lot of training and opportunities.

Today, Zach and his buddy moved the pieces of the chicken coop from the garage out to the back yard and put them together.  The framing is all done and the back wall is attached.  Sad to say, I forgot to take any pictures, but Zach will be working on it again tomorrow (assuming the skies don't open), so I'll get some shots then.  The girls are going to be so happy to get out of their brooder.  They are all fully feathered and it's getting crowded in there!

Happy Easter!

Easter at our house has been quite pleasant.  Parents-in-law and I enjoyed Zach's cooking for breakfast, and then once they were off, Zach and I headed out to the yard to get spring started.  Or at least that was the intent.  Since it was so nice out, I got the idea to bring the chicks out to the garden for their first outing, so other than cutting back a few dead things, mostly I just sat and watched chickens.  They were so darned cute!

This is my favorite picture - Trixie peeking around the crate.  She is so adventurous!

The girls all had a good time, although the camera died, so I only got a few photos.

Cricket found a slug!

Chicken update

I took pictures of each of the chicks last night.  They are getting so big!  Merci is looking and acting more like a chicken everyday.  She's even clucking sometimes.

Trixie and Cricket are the rulers of the coop.  I'm not sure which one is top chicken, because they seem to team up to gang up on Merci and Scooter all the time.  Today's trick is to fly across the brooder and land on the other chicken's back.

 



And finally Scooter...  She's kind of the tagalong.  So far she seems the most easy going and friendliest.  She doesn't put up a fuss when I pick her up like the others do, and she is quick to settle in for a cuddle.  She mostly hangs out with Merci, which is funny since Merci is so much bigger than her.  Her feathers look like they are growing in mostly white, with some gray and tan in spots.  I can't wait to see what she looks like when she gets bigger.