Too. Much. Cute!!!!

The babies are getting so big! Amazing how time flies when you're hanging out with chickens!

They started out as adorable little fluffballs, but now they're turning into daring escape artists.

Their wings are starting to get bigger, so they've mastered the art of jumping on top of their feeder and peeking out over the top of the brooder, which is super cute. Until you realize that they can get out and run around and leave little presents all over the carpet.

So we've had to modify the brooder a little bit to make sure they aren't running amok while we're off at work!

Sorry, girls. It's for your own good!

The coop is coming along nicely; we're aiming for stylish and aesthetically pleasing (that's P's role), and super cheap (that would be my role).

And every once in a while I get the ambition to scrape off a little more 90-year-old original linoleum--the real kind, with jute backing and really impressive glue.

That's so much prettier than the checkerboard! Why would you do that to such a lovely floor?

Excavation!

The chickies continue to be absolutely adorable; P fell asleep on the sofa the other night with a chick resting on his shoulder. I got one to fall asleep in my hands; the goal is to have the tamest, most people-friendly chickens on the Northside.

We had a couple visitors to the farm too! These sweet girls had a lot of suggestions for names for the chicks. We're naming the Ameraucana Julia, but I already forgot which one was supposed to be Ruby. And Pearl. And Golden Feathers. But these chickens are going to be so well socialized!

And because the chicks aren't enough excitement, I decided to start some floor excavation in the kitchen! During my little kitchen reno three years ago, I discovered this tiny patch of maple flooring under the sink (under several layers of vinyl).

And it gave me hope that the floors might be lovely. 

I already got rid of the horrible falling-down plastic tiles. And that dreadful paint color. Now it's time to take on the floors. I suppose checkerboard peel-and-stick tile has its place. Maybe in a 1950s themed rec room. But this lovely kitchen deserves better!

 

Seriously, these cabinets need a floor that matches.

And it's my job to make that happen!

Livestock!

Time to expand the homestead!

The fish are fun enough, I guess, but they're lacking in charisma and charm. So, we've decided to add some new livestock to the tiny farm.

Baby chicks! We decided to stop being those people who always talk about how much they want to keep laying hens, and to start being those people who actually keep them!

We got them from Egg Plant in St. Paul, the only place I could find to buy a half dozen baby chicks. We got one each of 6 different breeds (Ameraucana, Barred Rock, Black Austrolorp, Buff Orpington, California White, and Gold Star, if you pay attention to those things), and I'm crossing my fingers that none of them will turn out to be a rooster because then we'll have some hard choices to make.

Right now, they're living in a bin in the living room (so it's easy to look at them)!

Besties!!

Next step: chicken coop! They'll live inside for a month or so, then they'll need to move outside to a coop. Which we haven't started yet. Except in our minds--we've definitely started thinking and dreaming about how cute it will be!

If anyone has some coop building materials lying around, I wouldn't say no! ;)