"Aprons" & "Chicks"???

Written by Sue, Thursday September 22, 2011                    Cloudy, rainy, temps. 80's, perfect fall day!


While waiting for the rain to subside, (I  truly love fall days like this), I decided it would be a good time to post. We have been so busy finishing summer bounties, and starting  fall duties. If anyone lives or has ever lived on a farm, you well know that there is always something to do.~grinning~


My Dad's mother,who was a widow, lived and worked on a farm, her brother, (who was a bachelor), lived with her. He was the grandfather that I never knew, he spoiled me rotten, I have so many wonderful memories of time with both of them.


When my grandmother  dressed in the mornings, she would tie a bib apron around her very round tummy, she wore that apron all day. The first thing she did was to put on a big pot of coffee, that stayed on the stove all day, and was warmed over for supper.She prepared a big country breakfast, eggs, sausage, or ham, with grits, and homemade biscuits. theses biscuits were so big, and yummy. After breakfast she fed her chickens, and other animals. then it was on to milk the cow, I also remember listening to her praying in the barn, she prayed long and loud...... 
Proverbs 31:26,27~She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness;


That apron held eggs she had gathered, extra veggies, I have seen her wipe her brow with it when she was hoeing in the garden, she would fan it while she ran the chickens out of her garden, but one of my fondest memories was going to Sunday dinner after I was married. She would put her beautiful "Sunday Best" apron on, and serve us dinner........


While picking beans this week, I filed my bucket and had just a few more plants to pick and didn't want to go back to the house to  get another one, so I used my apron to hold the few I had left, just like she did...... note;  my camera is with me at all times. lol

I had just finished canning the beans,when... 

~thirteen pints~

the phone rings, it is Mr P. calling, asking me to hurry and  please come help him, "bring your camera", I knew right away it had something to do with an animal. ~lol~
I grab the camera and go running,....there they were, I began gathering them and putting them in my apron, all the while Mr. P. laughing and saying  "wait I will get a bucket."

Aren't they the cutest, I want to hug them , ... and I did!

 Do you see the little yellow peep, that is not a guinea, it belongs to one of our hens, it seems she found the guinea hen's nest and decided to lay an egg, the guinea hen hatched it out. Here is the funny part, chickens take 21 days to hatch, guineas take 28 days. That little peep had to sit in the nest with the guinea for a week, we were pleasantly surprised that the g-hen stayed. Usually when a hen hatches she will only stay for a few days, I guess she must have felt them moving in the eggs, to me this "girl" gets a blue ribbon, a true sign of a good mother.

Wonder what this peep thinks about the brothers and sisters, who made he or she wait a week? ~big grin~ 

 Back to the story...
Are you kidding I had all those peeps in my apron before you could turn around. BTW, it happened so fast that he didn't have time to get the camera off of the hood of the truck. "Lucky me", This is the scene I believe he wanted to photograph......


A woman(me) with a red apron on her knees grabbing peeps as fast as she could while the mother guinea was trying to flog her, I wasn't going to stop, I knew I had a fight on my hands and had to move quickly,...  I was going to save those guineas. Whew!  mission accomplished.


Just in case you are wondering about  the apron, it  went in the laundry basket when I went back to the house.`lol`


I went  back to the house wondering "why I was called", was it to help, or was it that a "certain farmer" wanted to be amused? hmmm! you be the judge. ~grinning~


Why take them away from the mother? Guineas by nature walk a lot, guinea hens will walk the newborns and because of being weak they die. We weren't going to take a chance with these. We either take them away and put them in a pen, or try and catch the hen with them, (I prefer this). After a few weeks when they are stronger and if they are with their mothers we will let them out. 
Guess what happened?

We put them in a pen with some other baby guineas, that were taken away last week. the g-hen has taken them all under her wings. Don't you just love a "happy"ending?


The rain has stopped and I must go pick grapes,.... hope to finish today. 


Thank you for your visits, and for all of your sweet notes, I so appreciate you all so much.

Until next time,

Sue

The 91st Psalm is one of my favorite Psalms, it offers so much comfort of abiding in His presence! 

Psalms 91:4~He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 

Just as the guinea hen gathers her young under her wings to love and protect them, so does our Heavenly Father gathers us under His Wings for the same. How comforting this is to me....