Summer canning, cheeky chicks

I've canned 32 pints of applesauce so far! The first batch is straight applesauce- 19 pints. Then I decided to get creative, and used some elderberries in the next batch. Elderberry juice is quite tangy, I thought it would be interesting. It needed more sugar, but overall it's an interesting blend. I'm canning in the morning, and David set up an outdoor stove so it doesn't heat up the house as bad.
Mom brought up about a bushel of yellow summer apples, and they are great for canning. She helped me with the first batch, then left early on the 4th of july. Frankly, it's exhausting, so I can one batch at a time, pass out on the couch for a couple hours, and start over the next day.

The chicks are doing well, Betty and Lucky are healing and growing. The twins outside are really blooming, they have most of their feathers, and are starting to roost on a truss in the pen. I want to let them out in the yard, but they're still a little small. They'd make a nice snack for a hawk, and I don't have a set-up that I can cover with a net, so that will have to wait.

The heat is suffocating for some reason, it's not over 110 yet, but the humidity or air pressure is making it miserable. Everybody is cranky- I'm sure it's the bouncing barometer.

Rain, Glorious Rain!

For those in the midwest, rain is not the joyous occasion that is in here in the desert. It's only sprinkled a couple times since the end of May, just enough to stir up the dust on the cars so they look terrible, but not enough to clean them off. This weekend, just in time for the 4th of July, we had a storm come through that has brought a little rain every day. For three days, it's a marvelous thing. Probably not even 1/2 inch yet, but every little bit helps.

Mom took 4 of the chicks with her to St. Johns, AZ. I have 4 left, but 2 of them are injured and require more care. They were both injured by some critter, but at least they weren't killed. I don't name chickens usually, so I haven't named these.... Let's call one Betty and the other Lucky. Lucky can't use one leg, so she's been in a box in the house for a week. Betty got her right wing feathers chewed off, but there was no blood, and she was still strong, so I left her in the main pen. After Mom took 4 chicks though, the pecking order had to be reestablished, and when I went out to check on her yesterday the other chicks had picked that wing until it was bleeding badly. So, now I have the two of them in a rehab box. They are both eating and drinking water, so I think they'll survive. Oh the joys of chicken farming, all four of them.....

Nic was up today, and Dakota came to visit. We decorated fairy wings for her, and she played outside in the water. Nic brought the healthy chicks out for her to see and pet, but she would only look at them. She likes them, but doesn't want to touch them at all! I found 2 sets of the large block Leggos at a yard sale, and they were a big hit. She and Nic spent hours building a train, train station and lots of buildings. It rained a little more, and is nice and cool this afternoon too.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! I love to celebrate the birth of our country, and I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to the brave men and women that serve in the military all over the world. Right now Iraq and Afghanistan are the scariest places to serve, but there are many places our service men and women are put in danger every day. Each and every one of our military service people deserve our prayers and gratitude.