Hatching!

This is baby 4 hatching out of 24 eggs. Baby 1 hatched last night, baby 2 hatched this morning around 9:30, baby 3 hatched about noon, and this one hatched at 12:37.  I'll try to get some more videos, I have tons of pics I will put up later.

Recipe: Tuna Casserole

       Serves 8,  and you might have leftovers.

14oz box of your favorite style pasta,  ( I like to use rotini )

 2,  12oz cans of tuna, ( or 5, 5oz cans )

 1, 8oz block of cheddar cheese

 8oz of cream cheese

 1/4c of milk

 2 sticks of butter  ( 1 needs to be room temperature )

 frozen or caned peas, which ever you prefer

 biscuit dough    2 small cans or 1 large

 Optional  sesame seeds or shredded cheese
Directions
Cook pasta in large pot as directed on the box, drain.  CHEESE SAUCE:  [Shred cheddar cheese. Melt 1 stick of butter in a small sauce pan on low, add cream cheese. When cream cheese softens add milk and blend until smooth, then add the shredded cheddar. Stir until a smooth. Remove from heat.]
 PREHEAT OVEN to 400. When your pasta is done and drained, add cheese sauce, tuna, and as much peas as you like. Fold in until well blended. Place in a large casserole dish.  Open biscuits. Take room temperature butter and put a small amount on each piece of biscuit dough and rub it in while stretching and flattening the dough slightly. The butter will keep the dough stretched. Place biscuit dough on top of casserole.  (optional: sprinkle dough with sesame seeds and/or shredded cheese)  Place casserole in oven till biscuits are browned  (10-20 min)

New Babies!

     About 3 weeks ago I ordered 5 indian runner ducks, and 7 black sumatra bantams, yesterday morning they arrived at the post office. Me and Dad were there as soon as they opened at 8:30.  I think the post office was as glad to see them go as we were to get them, they were noisy. The hatchery included 1 extra sumatra and 5 filler chicks, all of them were healthy and lively.



We put them in a box with a heat lamp when we got home.







The ducklings were trying to hold their heads up while they slept because the chicks who were not sleeping thought they had something on their beak and kept pecking at them.






Indian runner duckling, notice the upright position, because their legs are farther back than other breeds of ducks.
 Runner ducks don't waddle, they run, and these babies are fast.



Filler chick, Ideal Poltry includes some extra male chicks of a random breed to help keep your chicks warm if you don't order enough.            
 I'm guessing these are probably New Hampshire Reds. 

One of my bantam Black Sumatras. Sumatras come from the island of Sumatra.  The bantams were bred so they are perfect miniatures of the standard Sumatras. Sumatras have yellow skin, but they also have dark faces, they have black iredesant feathers and very long tails which they carry horizontal like pheasants instead of vertical like most chickens do. They are also known for multiple spurs on the males sometimes up to 7 on on leg, but the more spurs they have, smaller the spurs.

    I put the chicks under a hen last night, I tried to put the ducklings under her but they wouldn't stay. They kept running away, so I had to bring them back in.  The chicks are doing realy well with the hen, she sits on the nest, and they run out and eat and run back under her.  She is a white bearded silkie. One of my other silkie hens hatched and raised her last year. She is about 6 months old, and this is her first time going broody. I named her Monster when she was small because she reminds me of a cartoon snow monster.

She looks like a large snow ball when she fluffs all her feathers up.

See those neck feathers? She is telling me to go away!



Little red had to come out and see what I was doing.



Now he runs back to mama.

double daffodil

          Well here it is. I took the  pictures on the 5th but it's been busy around here as usual so it took me a while to post them.

Front view

side view

The Long Awaited

We have 2 varietys of the double daffodils. I had only seen this variety (above) all my life.  They are pretty enough in their on way, but many single varietys out do them by far.  My Memaw has many single varietys, but these were the only doubles she had, so these are the only ones I had ever seen. When we moved up here a few years ago we discovered we had 3 varietys of daffodils growing here, large yellow singles, small yellow singles, and the doubles above. The small singles bloom first, then the large ones, and last the doubles. Then a couple of years ago, a friend gave us some bulbs, among them were a few daffodil bulbs. We planted them separately so we would know where they came from.    Now after the doubles (above) are well into their blooming season this lovely double (below) sends up a bud, or if I'm lucky 2. Every year now I await its bud and watch as it opens, a little each day. 
                                        
It is not completely open yet but I am watching it and will catch it when it does.