Convalescing and Killdeer Chicks

I have been battling a bad cold for about a week now. I tried working through it but finally yelled, " I surrender!" and called in sick to work. I think it's helping. As I went to get the mail today I remembered that my husband mentioned that he saw some Killdeer chicks earlier in the week. I went to the nest site and if I hadn't known where it's exact location was I never would've found it. Apparently they are very good at hiding the location before and after the chicks hatch. I could hear the parents calling around the house so I called on what little energy I have and went on a search. It didn't take long. One parent tried luring me off in one direction and being a "Killdeer Pro" I headed the opposite way. It didn't take long to spot them once I found the other parent. He/She was squatted on the ground and as I got a little closer it hopped up and four chicks started moving around. They were hiding under the parent's wings. These little guys move awfully fast and tend to split up but I was able to get a couple pictures I hope you'll enjoy.

Adult (foreground) Chick (background)

Chick

As I mentioned, I've been sick. Wouldn't you know we'd have the hottest weather so far this year during this time, and I worked during it. Ugh!
Our strawberry plants, all 4000 of them, arrived yesterday and we plan to plant this weekend.....in the rain. It's not an easy task to plant in the rain. We found that out last year. We needed to arrange the ship date according to our schedules, not the weather so this is what we're looking at. A couple of our kids plan to come out and help which will make it go a lot faster. My official title during this planting time is Plant Dropper. Oh yeah! Walking up and down rows dropping plants at their prospective spots is the way to go. I'll probably plant more than usual though since our daughter-in-law will be 7 months pregnant and is planning to help out. Oh to be young again. I'm sure she'd out-work me even if I wasn't sick. I still have two more days to recover so here's hoping for lots of energy and stamina! Have I mentioned the symptoms of senility?

Intro Part 2

We had a brief moment of sanity this past weekend. The weather was dry enough for my husband to work and prepare the field for our new strawberry plants. The last order of business before the plants arrive is to cover the hills with weed paper, all 13 rows that are 150 ft. long. Last year we did this ourselves, just the two of us. By the time we got done I thought only one of us was going to be left. My whole body ached. The only parts that didn't ache were my nose, mouth, eyes and ears. No joke! I could barely move the next several days. I had muscles screaming that had been silent for so long I forgot they existed. Okay, okay! I hear you!
     My husband decided to hire a couple guys to do the job this year. Whew! Hello sanity! That left me free to plant a couple of plants and weed in one of my flower beds. With our oldest daughter's help the bed got to looking very nice. While checking out some plantings from last year to see if they survived the winter (they must have thought they were being put to rest) our daughter started playing fetch with our trusty dog, Bear. I heard a Killdeer call while they were at it and thought it was very close sounding. I turned around and not 3 feet away was a nest with a very brave parent standing guard over 4 eggs. If you're not familiar with Killdeer they are quite interesting. Their nest location choices are very haphazard. We've found them in the field in a cow footprint and in the driveway amongst the gravel. I thought there couldn't be any stranger choice..... until now. 

Killdeer Nest

Of course Mom, or is it Dad?, isn't far off trying to convince me it has one or two broken wings.

Mom or Dad Killdeer

Intro

Why is it that as we get older we end up adding more to our already busy lives? That's the situation I find myself in. My husband and I have raised 4 kids who are all out of the house and he goes back to school, out of necessity I might add; I go to work, which I haven't done the whole 25+ years we've been married; and we decide to grow berries for u-picks on our farm. Maybe senility has set in early?
     Our u-pick endeavor has been a successful one but there is a lot of work that needs done. We have been waiting for the rain to stop, we live in the Pacific Northwest, so we can work the ground and get it prepared for the new plants that are coming...next month. All 4000 strawberry plants as well as a thousand or so raspberries. Every year I ask myself, "Are we nuts?" My husband on the other hand never asks this question. I'm sure it's because he doesn't want to admit that we are. As if we didn't already have a lot on our plate.
     I work at a major retail store as a cashier/salesperson/all-around gopher in their garden department. I have to say there's no department I would rather work in. I love the beauty and fragrance of the flowers and we have a resident female hummingbird that visits to taste what we have to offer. Apparently she likes what she's found because she's there daily. It can make a trying day more enjoyable.
     My husband is going to school to work in a pharmacy. This decision came after 20+ years working in lumber mills and having the 2 he worked at close down. He decided it was time to look for a different type of job. He never thought he'd get through the classes where he had to learn a zillion drug names, what they do and their generic and brand names, let alone how to spell them. He's an intelligent guy but lets just say spelling is not his forte'.
     As a lot of others think also, we feel at times that we've bit off more than we can chew, but we just keep plugging away and trust it will all turn out in the end.