Saturday, May 23, 2009

Our Animal Kingdom

Things are staying busy here at the Castlebury's! Gardening, hanging out laundry, and painting are a few of the items that are keeping us busy these days. We are loving every minute of busy-ness though; there is satisfaction in seeing all of our hard work pay off and we sit back and look at the fruits of our labors.
It has been a while since I've made mention, in picture format, of our quickly growing menagerie of animals. There is allot going on in this aspect....

New turkey home
About a month ago it became necessary for the turkeys to get moved to the great out doors. Daddy and Sayre had spent several evenings during the week preparing a pen for 'the turks' which is right off of Odie's' pen. Old gates, leftover lattice, and items that we had saved from projects were readily incorporated into the pen.

Five turks
Momma thoroughly enjoyed moving the birds to their new home...

Bird one and bird two
... and the birds are thoroughly enjoying their new home! The above photo was taken over a week ago and is no longer an accurate depiction of what the birds look like! Their necks are turning red, they are filling out, and making definite growth each and every day!
We are now down to two turks; we gave two to the Greene's and had another one pass away on us. We are pretty sure that these two are gobblers...

Yes? May I help you?
"Rex Ashley" is filling himself up on grass these days and getting fatter and fatter each and every day! He is quite rotund if you view him from his back side; he's got a pot belly!!! :o) He's still as friendly as ever; Sayre and I have been trying to talk Tristan into bringing B-Moo back over here. I would love to watch the two of them interact together!

The girls and B-moo
Out at Bull Run things are definitely interesting. Tristan had 'the girls' moved into the field that is out front Trevor and Thelma's house and it was always fun to go over and watch them. They loved this corner right at the road!

Bull-zilla
Tristan also has a bull out there... this is the one and only picture that I have of him. I am not about to go tromping through the pasture just so I can get a decent picture of him! Now, if he's up at the road I will readily take pictures! Using this picture, imagine a horrendous looking beast whose 'eyebrows' are nothing but bones and who is twice the size of one of those heifers. He's massive and would most definitely not win any prizes in a cow beauty contest!

Treasure in a helmet!
In the garage we found a birds nest in Trevor's dirt bike helmet! It was so neat to observe the little things for a bit, however, the babies went missing soon after this picture was taken.

In my garden...
I had been keeping a close eye on a mother bird sitting in the nest that she had made in the midst of my butterfly bush. What a real delight it was to go out there one morning, pull back the branches and find that two of the eggs had hatched!!! What joy!!! I was eagerly anticipating the opportunity to watch their growth, but, sadly, something destroyed the nest soon after this picture was taken. Sigh, I'm glad I have picture though.

Last but not least
I found this little bird watching me as I took my shoes off one morning and I had quite the photo shoot with it! I was able to take picture after picture with it calmly sitting there watching my every move! I love it when this happens!

Next week will bring new arrivals to our place. Forty-five chicks will be making their way here and should arrive sometime mid to late week! This is excitement!!! Momma and I have been counting down the days until their arrival.... oh we can't wait!!!

4 comments:

Ashley Sebo said...

What a fun Post, Ashley! Thank for sharing! How special!!! You found a birds nest with two eggs hatched!!! We had a similar experience, with a hummung bird's nest! She decided to build one on the neighbors Morning Glories, which grew on our fence! So, we had the joy and delight of watching them day by day till they hatched! It was such a joy!!!

Have a lovely day!!!

Alli said...

Funny! I have a bird's nest in my butterfly bush also. But I am afraid that my little brother scared the Momma bird away on accident. :( Daddy thinks it might've been a cardinal.

Blessings,
Miss Alli

Sarah said...

What a delightful past few days you have been having, Ashley! This is such a wonderful time of year, and it sounds like you all are enjoying it to the fullest!

I loved the update on your animal menagerie. :) The photos were all enjoyed (as usual!)

Those turkeys are growing like crazy! They seem like they enjoy their new home :), and you all certainly were resourceful when building it!

How fun it would be to see "Rex Ashley" and "B-Moo" interact with one another! Both of the calves are looking so nice . . . I am sure they are enjoying the fresh spring grass.

Thank you for including the "one and only photo" of the bull in the post! :) And I am afraid that I will need to respectfully disagree with your assessment of his appearance ;) . . . I like him! Well, at least from what we could see in the photo, he looks nice. :)

Isn't it exciting to discover bird's nests!? Especially being able to see the eggs and then to see the babies after they hatch. How amazing it is! The Lord's power and wisdom is seen even in this small aspect of His creation. Thank you for sharing the photos of the nests and babies, I enjoyed seeing them! I also enjoyed the photo of the little bird that was watching you . . . how fun that must have been to have it just sit there for a photo shoot. :)

And lastly (but definitely not least!) I am so excited for you that your little chicks will be arriving this week! I know that you are going to love them, and I can hardly wait to see photos of them!

Once again, my "keyboard runneth over" and I have written a book instead of a comment! Sorry about that!

Have a wonderful day!

Ashley said...

Ashley Sebo- I have often wished that I could find a hummingbirds nest! That would be so special to see and observe!!! I love watching 'the hummers' flit from branch to branch and to the feeder!
Thank you for sharing that!
~Ashley

Alli- That is interesting... both of us had birds nests' in our butterfly bushes! This particular bird built her nest close to the ground which made it easier for the 'nest destroyer' to get to the babies. Hopefully, I can find another nest that I can watch soon!
~Ashley

Sarah- Your "once again my keyboard runner over" comment was too funny and greatly enjoyed!
Well, seeing how the photo of the bull wasn't the greatest, I can understand your 'liking' his appearance! I'm working on getting an updated photo of him and the turkeys... might take a while though!!! :o) Can you see me traipsing through the field looking for the bull??? I think NOT!!!
I'm glad you enjoyed the post!
~Ashley