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After a couple of years Don has resurrected the chicken yard with 22 white Leghorns, 2 Barred Rocks (these photographed are a Leghorn and Barred Rock), 4 Aracaunas, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Isa Reds, a white turkey, a bronze turkey, and 12 quail. It is good to have their chirps again, and soon enough, eggs. The quail will lay by June, and the chickens by September.
The ornamental crabapple and many other fruit trees are bursting.
On Easter Sunday morning, I feel this blooming, and marvel, along with Rilke.
How to Bloom
The almond trees in bloom: all we can accomplish here is to ever know ourselves in our earthly appearance.
I endlessly marvel at you, blissful ones—at your demeanor, the way you bear your vanishing adornment with timeless purpose. Ah, to understand how to bloom: then would the heart be carried beyond all milder dangers, to be consoled in the great one.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke, from Uncollected Poems
Happy Easter
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34 comments:
oh how wonderful! i am jealous of fresh eggs!! how fun to watch your chicks grow too!! thanks for sharing, happy easter to your family, Ruth
Lovely post, Ruth. Wishing you the beauty of this Sunday.
Lovely, Ruth. May you have a blooming good Easter, the first for Baby James!
"consoled in the great" danger ... such an idea -- perhaps it is this danger itself that blossoms from us ...
i dream of a house with chickens :-) the calm way they talk with each other of a long afternoon ...
Lovely Ruth. We had chickens for years, but where we are now--too many dogs and cats(and snakes and hawks.) But they are something special to care for, always a learning experience. And echoing the wonderful Rilke words,I had to change my own page quote earlier to Neruda, 'I want to do to you/what spring does with the cherry trees.' Blooming is within, but it takes a springlike soul. Happy Easter, and happy anniversary.
Have fun with your chickens. Imagine all of this and spring unfolding for sweet baby James! It's a marvel as we come to understand how to bloom.
Just look at those lovely little baby chickies - so much potential.
You may yet convince me that raising chickens can be a good thing (my grandparents kept them, and my mom hates them--chores may have had something to do with that. Ironically the chicken house is one of the last original outbuildings still standing.) These little ones are adorable! James will have such fun chasing them ; )
Happy Easter, my friend.
Happy Easter, Ruth, to you and your youngest chick. Wonderful photos for today. Did you know that the redbud tree is sometimes called a Judas tree? I don't know why.
I don't know anyone who lives on a farm, so it's particularly interesting to read your 'poultry roster'... and learn their names. Lovely photos too and the blissful poem. Happy Easter to you and yours, Ruth!
I'm so glad he has made it come alive again with the chickens, etc. Will he be blogging about it? And if not I hope you post photos once in awhile. I love these that you posted.
And a happy easter to you Ruth!
To know how to bloom - that is Life's purpose I think. Those chicks just embarking on life are darn cute.
i sincerely believe that these chicks are enjoying your company and are able to enjoy the beauty around them as well. its ok if they don't know the name of the President of United States.
But you can always tell them Ruth.
Happy Easter, Ruth.
Oh, Ruth. I LOVE that Don is having chicks again. They seem to belong to your farm...just like the blossoms and Rilke. All of it together!
On a side note, Astrid wanted to comment yesterday but didn't see the option for the Name/URL which would allow her to put in her Shutterchance blog. She doesn't have a blogspot blog, as you know. Is is possible for you to add the Name/URL option or do you have a reason for not offering it?
How could Easter not be happy with blooms, young life, like this? Rilke's almond tree makes me think of the Bodhi tree the Buddha reached enlightenment under, with its heart-shaped leaves ... surely bliss is to "bear" "vanishing adornment with timeless purpose" -- but not just bloom, but bloom beyond all blooming, which is I think the same sentiment as in Rilke's sonnets where the enduring heart is beyond all parting. Fine post, Ruth, a nature-painted Faberge egg for my basket. - Brendan
I believe that these two chickens are very lucky to have been born in your little farm! They have a chance to live much happier than most of the chickens we consume, hardly surrounded by love, poetry … or even a piece of land!
I didn't realize you no longer had chickens. Well, the new ones are cute and the crabapple is lovely.
Love the chickens and I hope ther will be a 'Kuifje' again.
I will try to comment, just by using the google account.
Have a great day.
Hartelijke groeten, Astrid.
How fun to have all that life around you all the time! Thanks for sharing Rilke's poem too. Happy Little Easter!
Thanks so much for the Easter chicks! not to mention the Rilke. He is such a marvel.
Kathleen, *jean* and Maureen, I hope you had a beautiful Easter. Thank you for reading and for your lovely greetings and comments.
George, yes, James's first, and yet we weren't together, which I regretted afterward.
James, this is a bit of a difficult poem for me, but I keep at it. As for chickens, I wish them for you, if you truly want them. :-)
Hedge, ahh, the sensual pleasures of Neruda, that's a great quote. Go on blooming within and without, and writing your verses for us. Thank you for the anniversary wishes!
Thanks, Mary. I love seeing everything fresh through James's eyes.
Rubye Jack, I'm glad to see them back! Just having fresh eggs is a treat.
ds, I have visions of plopping James down in a wagon and sitting with him in the chicken yard. Won't that be fun? Try a few chickens, just five or six, like Susie. The fresh eggs are brilliant. :-)
Thank you, Patricia! No, I did not know about the Judas tree. I just read in one source that it is believed to be the tree Judas hung himself from. Really? In Israel?
Arti, I will keep you posted on the chickens so you can see how the varieties look all grown up.
Sandy! Hello, and yes it's so great that Don has begun with the fowl again. Please feel free to paint any of them that you wish, I still have your other painting-images and love them.
Thank you, Andrew! I hope yours was lovely.
Barb, yes, and thanks.
rauf! I am happy to see you back with the chickens. I do love going out there and forgetting about the President of the United States myself. I wonder if you ever named any of your mother's chickens?
The Broad, thanks! I hope yours was lovely.
Boots, don't we have fun watching Don and his ladies? I'm glad to see that Astrid was able to leave a comment as Picturit!
Brendan, thanks for your 'beyond-ful' insight into this difficult-for-me poem. I hope you had a beautiful Easter.
Peter, I do like our way of having chickens and eggs, and I think everyone could just raise their own, oui?
Ellen, yes, it's been at least two years since Don gave his birds away. We've missed them, but they are a lot of work too. Not that I have anything to do with that part.
Astrid! Sorry about the comment difficulties. I don't think there is a "Kuifje" this time! No ornamentals, but we will love them all the same. :-) xoxo
rosaria, thank you for your Easter greeting. I hope you had a beautiful one!
Lorna, I appreciate your Easter greeting. Have a good day!
Now I see why so many kids receive chicks for Easter. They are so darn cute!
Dear Ruth, I do love these little chicks! Almost enough to think I might want some myself:) I hold off because of all the predators and difficulty keeping those cuties allive. As a chicken owning friend of mine says "everything loves to eat chicken":) My husband saw a fox run through our yard this morning and I am thinking of all the chickens living in our neighborhood now!
Your crabapple is gorgeous! That deep pink is the color I wanted but didn't get when I bought my tree many years ago...
Hope your Easter weekend was delightful and full of grandson hugs:)
Such beautiful posts and poetry, as always. I love the earthiness of them. But the chicks... I remember holding babies in my hand when I was a little girl.. but cleaning the chicken coop is one of the most awful jobs I can think of. :)
I need to come back later and soak in more of your offerings here... my horse is taking a bit of daily care as he was kicked by my other horse (he is fine, just needs to be soaked)
I want to do some sketches of those chicks you posted. Maybe tonight. I don't think I ever sent you the "tractor" sketch I did.
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