Since I can’t run away to the woods, I’m trying to stay positive and spent the morning looking for the little things that always seem to cheer me up and give me a needed mental health boost.

Things like the sound of new life peeping and scuttling about in the incubator.

I counted seven baby quail and noticed a few others have pipped so we should get a good hatch again.

The buff Orpington flock has two roosters at the moment but we can only keep one, so it’s fun to watch them grow and see who will win the job of making babies with the girls. This guy is the lead contender at the moment.

And the little morning glory leaves winding their way up the bird house stake in the planter next to the chicken coop made me smile. It seems like it’s taking forever for the morning glories to finally do something but they are all coming along now, slowly but surely.

And the ducklings out with their moms and dad (we only have one adult male), gobbling up their breakfast without a care in the world made me smile. They aren’t overly friendly but they do let me get pretty close to them, especially when they know I have feed.

The young male pheasant who we hatched out of the incubator a few weeks ago is surprisingly friendly and always comes up near where I’m at to see what I’m up to, which always cheers me up.

I spent a long time this morning standing in between the corn and the giant sunflowers, talking to the pups through the fence and marveling at how tall everything has gotten.

I was also grateful that the smoke hasn’t returned to the valley and that I could be out without my mask on, breathing in the fresh air and feeling at one with nature for a bit.

Of course then the neighbors started up their burn barrel and that drove me back inside again. It’s the little things that make me happy but also drive me mad at the same time. 😏