Ouch.

Things around here have come to a screeching halt.  Tom is in the hospital.  On Wednesday he started having a lot of pain and thought he had a hemorrhoid.  He toughed it out until Saturday when the pain was so bad that he couldn't sit and could barely sleep the night before.  We decided that perhaps it wasn't a hemorrhoid and that it could be something that needed some medical attention.  So we went to the ER.  They determined that it was a perirectal abscess and they admitted him.  He had surgery to drain it on Sunday afternoon and because it might possibly be a staph infection, they have kept him there.  If all goes well, they plan to discharge him tomorrow.

Despite the pain and with Tom working in slow motion, on Saturday we managed to put the greenhouse frame up.

It backs up to the garden shed so access to the shed will be through the greenhouse.  We used the old dining room doors for the greenhouse doors and have two panels left (one is leaning up against the wall of the shed in the picture) that we're trying to think of a way to incorporate into the structure.  I might just end up using them as potting tables.  We didn't put the plastic over it because it was too windy that day.

A friend gave us 15 hens that will probably start laying eggs in March.  It only took them a couple of days to figure out that I'm the food lady.  They're running after me in this picture as they do every time I walk out there.  When our friend offered them to us, I thought he was offering little chicks.  When he brought them over and I realized they were practically adults, I was concerned about integrating them into our small flock.

I had read that you shouldn't try to put two flocks together because it messes up the pecking order, but it's been a little over a week and they seem to be doing fine.  We used the dog kennel to make an extra yard for them while for three days I conditioned them to come when I call, "chick, chick".  Then we took the plunge and let them free range.  They are definitely kept low in the pecking order by our older hens.  They get lots of pecks and an occasional feather pulled out and they are not allowed on the roost at night, but I expect all of that to be sorted out with time.

Today was the first time I got the opportunity to take a picture of one of the bluebirds with  my new camera.  These birds are so elusive and skittish that it has been very difficult.  They fly away if I'm anywhere near with the camera.  But this little guy keeps trying to get in the house.  Each  morning he (or one that looks just like him) sits on the bathroom window sill cheeping and fluttering and banging into the window over and over again.  And this afternoon while I was sitting at the computer, he was doing the same to the kitchen window, so I grabbed my camera and very quietly went outside just in time to snap this pic while he was sitting on a nearby tree.  Unfortunately, it is kind of blurry.  I've found that when I zoom in real tight, it is very difficult to hold the camera still enough for a clear shot, especially when I'm in a hurry like I was today because I knew he would flit away at any moment.