First Bath Of 2014

Not me!  I take baths all year round.  Spring is here and the chickens get to take a dirt bath.

I let them out of the run while I was working on yard clean up and they made a beeline for the rose garden. They set right to, digging holes and using their wings to shoot the dirt up under all their feathers.  It's the chicken equivalent of a bubble bath.  Should I have brought them each a glass of wine and a good book?

Of course the bath has made them sleepy and they settle in for a nap in the sun. ~

Utah has found his napping spot on a pile of leaves right beside the wood pile.  Any mice that have overwintered there better take care because this old guy never misses his prey! ~

I do expect them to help me clean up all the fallen limbs this hard winter has left, so I roust them out and set them to work. ~

I guess I forgot these girls were in retirement.  Only one lays eggs.  At least they take care of any bug or grub problem in the grass.  Yum.

Kay did show an enormous amount of interest in my window cleaning.  I wonder if I could set her to doing housework.  She is named after an auntie that would have put Martha Stewart to shame with her housekeeping.  Hmmm.

It's been absolute heaven to be out in the yard and feel the sun on my face once again!  A bit of rummaging in the leaves and I find the first garden surprise.  Chives! ~

And, a little more rummaging and I find the sweetest and earliest of spring blooms.  This little clump of snowdrops never lets me down. ~

Yesterday, everything that resides here at Kellswater lived up to Margaret Atwood's admonition.

             "In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."

We did and you'll be happy to know we took our baths!