Chicken recess

The chickens are running loose for a while, a treat we give them for about 30 minutes before sundown.  They search the ground for bugs, worms and green leaves, all the while murmuring and cooing to themselves, sounds of five happy girls.  Then the sun suddenly plunges behind the mountain and they hustle themselves back into the pen, up the ramp to the coop and jump up on the roosting bar.  Perfect!

An up-the-street neighbor brought me daisies she had thinned from her own garden. They are now surrounding the mail box and are likely to spread and take over the front yard.  This is a good thing.  Flowers are good and daisies are especially good.  They ask for very little, water perhaps, but no mowing and little grooming.  I'm going to enjoy watching them settle into their new home.