Chickens, Toddlers & Rosie The Riveter

Yesterday was lovely, mes amis. It was the first day in a week that I go to spend my whole day with my baby girl. The last while has been nutty -- between daycare, work, G spending time with her father and both grammas, I've been tot-less most days and I've missed her so much.

Our Thursday consisted of a visit to Chapters, cooking together, cozy naps, chickens, Halloween decorations, rearranging the house, pumpkin carving with friends and lots of snuggles.

After her nap, we spent some time in the yard with the ladies. If, perhaps, you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, then you might know we lost one of the girls just a few days ago. She'd been ill the week before, and on one very sad morning, I opened the coop to find she had passed. My heart still feel so heavy at the loss. She was one of our two Barred Rock hens, which makes me feel sadder for the single remaining gal. The other five hens are Red Stars. I wonder if she feels left out?

So far, Gretchen hasn't come to notice that one's gone missing, and actually, I'm not going to point it out unless she asks. If she notices, however, I will explain things as best I can. My guess is that she won't quite notice that we've gone from seven to six. Life goes on.

I took this snapshot the night we brought our ailing girl inside. I did my best to fix her up, and had thought she was on the mend, before I found her oh so still in the coop that awful morning. We'll miss you, lovely hen! Thank you for the eggs, sweet girl.

Thankfully, the rest of my hens seem just fine, and haven't exhibited any of the symptoms that our lost layer had. So, it looks as though this was an isolated event. Send happy chicken wishes our way.

Tough stuff to lose a pet, livestock or not. Makes me want to hug the remaining six. All. Day. Long.

Best wishes for your day, dear hearts.  

Be well, be wonderful.

PS. How rad is my friend's pumpkin design? Can't wait to see her all aglow.