How Many Eggs in June?

The grand total of eggs collected from the Royal Hens of Poultry Palace in June was 78.

Egg collecting is a favorite pastime of the toddler set. Just ask Myles.

That's six less than in May and is to be expected during the hot summer months.

I'm not sure how, but not a single egg was broken in the process. 

Queenie gave us 24 eggs. Princess and Duchess are tied at 27 each.

The quicker we get there the more fun it will be. Rose was a joyful helper.

It all comes down to the largest egg laid to break the tie.

Queenie is out of the running, but for the record her largest egg in June weighed 1.73 ounces.
Princess Lay-a's largest egg was 1.80 ounces. And, Duchess beat them both with an egg weighing 1.94 ounces.

Congratulations, Duchess of Yolk, you win the Hen of the Month award for June! Extra mealworms coming your way.

Rose and the Chickens

Rose wakes up first thing each morning ready to check on the chickens.

 If there are eggs she collects them, but usually it's too early for eggs.

She's big into offering them treats. It doesn't matter what kind, even a flower will do.

She would be happy to pet them all day long...if only she could catch them!

Mornings are so much more fun when Rose is here to check on the chickens.

********

I'll be absent from the blog for the rest of the week while our granddaughter and daughter are visiting. Have a great week!

Monarch Memory

Earlier this year John made an insect hotel and hung it on the garden fence.

We've been waiting for our bee guests to arrive, but not a single room has been rented out yet.

However, a Monarch caterpillar thought the underside looked like the perfect place to form a chrysalis. 

One morning last week John noticed the butterfly was close to emerging, so he moved the hotel to the back porch and took this photo while I was waiting for my camera lens to defog.

Even with the chrysalis right where we could check it frequently, we still missed its emergence. This photo was taken very soon after. 

The butterfly's wings are still in the process of unfolding.

It took about an hour for it to reach the point where it was ready to fly.

During that time I was able to snap a shot

from every angle

imaginable.

When the time was right we brought Myles out to hold his very first Monarch butterfly.

He probably won't remember this.

But, we'll never forget it. 

Patriotic Pinwheels

Give a boy two pinwheels

one for each hand

and get ready to have some fun!

Raise them high, Myles.

Show us your pride.

And help me wish everyone a happy Fourth of July!

They Are the Grandest

I wouldn't be doing my job as a grandmother if I didn't share a few photos of our visit with our grandchildren when we were together in Oklahoma on Memorial Day weekend.

We were there to celebrate Matt's 28th birthday. Time flies by, doesn't it? I remember well when he was just a little boy like Myles (20 months).

John and I were there a couple of days earlier than Robyn, James, and Rose. Matt and Carly had the good idea of taking us for a hike in a nature park. They know what we like!

Myles rode in the stroller most of the way, but got out to stretch his legs in a pretty spot along the trail.

In this photo, Geep (pronounced Jeep) is showing Myles something in the field, though I don't remember what it was. It was in this spot near the long grass where I think we must have encountered the ticks we found crawling on us later. Yikes!

The next day, Rose (9 months older than Myles) arrived (with her parents, of course) and our joy was doubled. As you can see, John is the happiest when he has his arms around both grandchildren at the same time.

He knows how to keep their attention. They would rather play with Geep than any toy you can think of.

On our last day I tried to capture a few good memories with the camera before we had to leave...

Rose loves dogs.

Myles is learning how to build things.

Listening to Aunt Carly sing a pretty song.

Watching a Cottontail rabbit out the window.

And then time was up. We needed to get on the road, but I still didn't have the picture I really wanted, so I gave John the camera...

Okay...now we can go.

Grandchildren are the grandest!

Our Busy Chicks

The title of this post does not refer to the feathered variety in our backyard, but to our sweet, adorable grandchildren.

My grandmother name is Birdie, so it's only natural for me to think of them as my chicks.

Look at this, Rose!

Rose is our daughter's girl and Myles is our son's boy. Rose turned two in December and is nine months older than Myles. 

Our busy chicks spent a week together at Rose's house. We were there for the last couple of days of the visit. Even when we arrived, I could tell Myles was still not completely at ease in his new environment.

Arghh! 

But he really came out of his shell on the last day.

May I, please?

This is more typical of his personality—quietly reaching for a book and asking permission with his eyes.

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Rose, on the other hand, is constantly in motion...

Thanks for the chicken book, Birdie and Geep. I really like it.

until you give her a book. She loves to read...

Safe in Geep's arms.

and swim in the hotel pool with her Geep.

I can do it all by myself.

You could say she has a bit of an independent streak.

It's not too heavy.

And I believe you could even say it runs in the family.

Thank you, God, for our little chicks.

Rose

Myles

They're busy little people, but we wouldn't have it any other way.