Rhys came and visited for a few days before Easter and we had quite an adventure ! She had wished for a chicken, which " doesn't get big ," of her very own and being a good and dutiful grandmother I scoped out a place which had Bantam chickens for sale. Bantams are miniature chickens which won't " get big" - perfect.
We drove off to Amish country and saw the most wonderful sights - Amish buggies of all sorts and sizes clip-clopping down the road, a man plowing a field with a handheld plow while his wife was leading the big workhorse which pulled the plow, we even saw a team of 8 horses plowing.
We stopped to watch and were amazed at the intricate maneuver performed by 8 horses as they turned the plow at the end of the row. The horse on the inside of the turn stepped in place while the outside horse walked around 180 degrees and the rest all adjusted themselves so that the turn was perfectly in line with the next row of plowing. It was really a dressage move and I was amazed to see that the farmer had only one set of reins which communicated with one of the lead horses, the rest all took their cues from that one horse. What must it be like to train a large team like that ?
Sadly, the Amish do not want their pictures taken and we respected that, of course, so if you want to see what I'm describing, you will have to take a trip and come see for yourself.
We found the Amish farm where the chickens were for sale and had a great hunt for chickens all over the farm. They had a huge number of driving horses and when I expressed my amazemnt , the young girl who was taking us around said " I have a lot of brothers. When an Amish boy turns 16, he gets his own driving horse and buggy." Then she added " The girls don't." When I said " Oh, that doesn't seem fair." She smiled and said " Yes, but I know how to drive." And then we looked at each other and had, what I fancied was a small Women's Lib moment. And here is Rhys with Chicken No.1 - Chickadee.
Chicken No.2 - Chitterchet.
And then Easter started in earnest - lots of guests arrived, much food was consumed, every bed was full and yes, the Easter Bunny did come.
And those chickens settled right in and laid 6 eggs in 3 days. I guess you have to watch them carefully to make them produce such a splendid number.
1 comment:
Too too too adorable! Welcome Chickadee and Chitterchet! And thank you for a really sweet Easter Oma! xoxo
Post a Comment