Remember this?   Things have certainly changed.

Fast forward 9 weeks, and this is what we have.  A Mama hen who refuses to give up on parenting duties.  I know- we are a encouraging a hopelessly codependent situation.  But it's just so cute.   The books say these pullets and cockerels (we know at least 3 are boys) are way past the age of being cared for by Mom, but  somewhere along the way, she forgot to cut the apron strings.  She still tries to sit on them all at night.  Pretty hilarious.  And some of them let her. 

But she shows no desire to give up.  So we have christened her "Mom of the Year,"  and we continue to let her play out the little drama.  We know we'll have to get rid of the boys very soon, because they are already play fighting with each other, and attempting to mate the other chickens (boys!).  But it's still cute, at least for a few more weeks. 

We stopped spraying for bugs this year, due to the chickens and goats eating close to the house, so we once again have lizards and frogs.  I never really thought about the connection, but it's true.  Stop spraying, and they will come.  This guy has taken up residence in the greenhouse.  He loves the grow light and the moist soil in the cups. 

The boys found this guy resting on a fence pole.  I think it's a Luna Moth.

The two goats are doing well.  One of them is obviously pregnant, while the other doesn't seem to be.  We think we have 3-4 weeks before the baby (or babies) make their appearance, but you can see it moving around.  The more I read and research, the more freaked out I am by the whole thing.  My husband says I just need to stop reading.  Animals have been giving birth for years on their own.  But everything around here turns into a dramatic situation, so I am quite confident I'll be forced to play goat midwife at some point. 

A friend of my grandmother's gave us 7 hens that needed a new home, and they haven't adjusted very well.  They are fiercely independent.  I don't think they were handled very much (as opposed to ours, which get carted around like play toys).  There is a pitiful looking yellow one that Joseph has named Pollen (because it's the color of pollen).  They refuse to stay in the coop at night, instead preferring to roost in trees in the woods.  And they sometimes lay their eggs in the woods.  The boys enjoy it, because it's like Easter every day, but we can't sell those, because I don't know how old they are. 

And why in the world didn't anyone tell me how much work this was gonna be?