...at last...

so i think i'm in love.
and its the best kind of love.
i'm in love with a farm.
and the farmer and her husband and her dog and property and outlook and personality and lifestyle and warmth and friendliness and skills and friends and children.

its really awesome to take off work early at 3, drive across down and play around in the dirt while drinking a beer from someone's personal keg-erator. to be instantly welcomed, instantly privy to the in's and out's, instantly at ease. to be encouraged to explore and plant some roots (literally and metaphorically).

it was an absolutely great afternoon.

in other news: chicken report.
i've been unable to find all the breeds that i want to buy and am incredibly sad about it. the hatcheries in town can get one of the breeds. a couple of the hatcheries online have two or three of the breeds available but one, require a minimum purchase of 25 chicks and two, only sell them straight run. straight run is no fun.

at lunch i thought i'd found my saviour, Meyer Hatchery. they have nearly all of the breeds i was interested in, all of which were available sexed and for an extra cost would ship small orders (as small as three chicks.) sounds perfect right? at second glance, all the breeds i was interested in were sold out. *&@^$@*!

so i am not sure if i'll be getting new chicks this year.
some ameracaunas from phinney for sure. and red sex links have big eggs, but they can be violent and i am trying to get away from aggressive birds.

so i've been a little disappointed about that.

this weekend i am going to work at taking the coop apart and moving it farther back. if i get really into it, i might rent a rototiller and dig up the berry patch and raise bed area. and i'll probably start some things indoors, brassicas and peppers and maybe herbs as well.