Green Eggs and Ham

Thank you Dr. Seuss and my ladies:

First green egg

After our very wet walk I found one very light pale green egg.  It is almost white in color, but definitely has a green tint and not pullet sized at all. 7 months old but with short days I guess I can't fault the girls.

The magic tweeting wand isn't fool-proof:  Buddy took a lonely hike this afternoon but was stopped by a lady on Ulrich Rd, only about 2 miles north of us.  Back to the training board.

Reading:  Mortal Sin (Jake Lassiter Series) Paul Levine *** Way over the top danger to the former Dolphin's fball player as he first defends then exposes a land baron who wants to build a casino on Indian land in the Everglades, and oh, by the way, cheat the Indians out of the real exploitation: drilling for oil.  Good guys always win but there's too much blood spilled in this one in very creative ways.  The best character is Jake's medical examiner friend who says sentences in Latin before translating.  Levine is a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus and highlights Thon on his webpage.

Late Rain***Lynn Kostoff; Desire, need, and ambition fuel Corrine Tedros, a Lady Macbeth wannabe who arranges the murder of her father-in-law, a soft-drink mogul. It's witnessed by a man in the late stages of Alzheimer's; he provides scattershot details but cannot accurately communicate what he saw. (Kindle summary)

Eggs

11 today (3 Barred Rock, 2 Golden Comets, 3 Marans, 5 Rhode Island Red) but still no blue (4 Ameraucaner).  Is that a record?

Reading  Through the Fire *** Shawn Grady Adrian “A-O” O’Neill comes from a long line of Reno firefighters. A day before the 10-year anniversary of his dad’s death in a fire, A-O defies orders and attempts to rescue a child thought to be trapped in a burning house. His actions get him suspended, prompting a trip to Mexico to visit his uncle, yet another ex-fireman. While there, A-O puts his own life in peril once again to save a drowning boy. Will this successful rescue save him from his guilt over all that has gone wrong at home? Apparently not. Never completely recovering from the loss of his father caused him to lose his fiancée and possibly his nerve, for now the idea of entering a blaze terrifies him. Enter Julianne Caldwell, a fire-prevention analyst, who helps A-O find the faith to work through his demons, even as an arsonist terrorizes the town. PS: he finds the arsonist and a new love.--Mary Frances Wilkens (BookList)

One coop now

An Eastern rat snake, maybe 5', was curled behind the chicken feed just inside the coop today at 5:00.  I encouraged it to remove itself with a gentle nudge from a rake. Then I sprinkled diatomaceous earth in that corner to discourage further visits. 
I found the littlest peeps (who are bigger than footballs now at 8 wks) huddled behind the open coop door when I went out to put everyone to bed.  I picked up one and the rest followed me into the coop.  Yeah! No more chicken tractor.  I hope it's permanent and they don't need the tractor any more.
Gambol got stung on the eyebrow on his late afternoon walk.  His whole brow was swollen like a (human) boxer's. By our after-dinner walk, he looked much better.  Facebook Brittany page  members say children's Benedryl helps, although he didn't seem to be too distressed after the initial yelp.  Maybe he wants a story written about him like Ferdinand?

Holly and more

 After a trip to Wheatfield Nursery in Centre Hall, we planted 6 pots of switch grass: 4 with red/green leaves (Panicum virgatum 'Ruby Ribbons' #2 pot); 2 with green/blue leaves (Panicum virgatum 'Haense Hermes' in a #3 pot and 'Northwind' in #2 pot).  It took us 90 minutes to dig the holes in the ground--mostly driveway rocks and hard, compacted clay from construction.  We used pick axes and chipped out a layer of rock at a time. We mixed some sifted, rock free top soil with compost and used that mixture to plant the grass clumps.  It was a hard day's work, but the result along the patio rock wall is what we were hoping--an accent of the wall's curve.

The other plantings from yesterday, the 3 winterberry  (Ilex verticullata 'Raritan Chief' and 2 'Winter Red' all in #5 pots) and 2 clematis ('Multi Blue' and 'Henryi'--white) around the main entry are looking like they survived the transplant process.
Jennifer told us we didn't have nearly enough basil so we also planted a bunch of basil plants in the herb rock garden alongside the main entry. Next step if we can keep the chickens out of the basil beds: basil and garlic scape pesto for the freezer.
We have enjoyed to cool summer weather; we've been sleeping with the windows open and a blanket.  The blueberries aren't as happy.  So far we've had a handful.  Last June 28 blog entry showed a colander full.
Our Ameracaners are about 5 weeks old. They can now fly up to the roost bars but don't very often. I open the door to their tractor but they seem to prefer the security of home except after dinner when they venture across the trail in a mob.  The old girls dance right in and chow down on the starter crumbles, while the littlest girls cower in the far corner.  No one seems to miss the rooster. The black maran's back isn't as red as it was but she still doesn't have any feathers.
We found Colorado Potato beetle larvae on the plants today.  Bt works but so does popping them between thumb and finger; they spray red though, so point your hand carefully.
The 2 chestnuts that we planted in 2007 are growing well.  One is 15' tall and 2" dbi; the other about 2/3 that.  We cleared out competing red maples and some aspen to help the taller one along;  the other is north of the coop and is shaded by big oaks.  It isn't crowded so there not much we can do to prod its growth.

Reading Hybrid ** Brian O'Grady. Story had potential if it had been written by Stephen King.  Terrorists engineer a virus and attempt to release it in the US.   Victims become violent but some people survive and are able to reach into people's minds and control them.  The book needs some editing work to be more than moderately readable.  I think that's a problem with many of the kindle freebies.

Outside finally

We switched the RIRs to the coop, and the Ameracaners are now big enough for the tractor.  They out grew the Rubbermaid tub in the basement a week ago.  It's going down to the mid 40s tonight so we put a tarp over the whole tractor and plenty of straw for their bed.
We kept the tractor closed all day yesterday and today to encourage the RIRs to move willingly to the coop.  Didn't work, so I let them in and when they were settled, grabbed them by their legs and carried them to the coop.  One had decided she needed to go to bed when the door was still closed so she wiggled her way to the top between the chicken wire and the tarp. I could hear her but couldn't see her for the longest time.

Reading The Dead Saint Marilyn Brown Oden *** New Orleans football great killed protecting a secret society.  Woman bishop becomes undercover courier for woman president on a search for the killers.  Family ties and destructiveness of hatred and revenge as well as not so subtle faith in God run as themes through this fair book.

Ameracanas

Four day olds to add to the flock. They have different markings and the beginnings of ear muffs.