Homecoming

In early March of 2008, I visited Growing Gardens in North Portland and came home with three chicks--all impossibly tiny, with blue eyes, tiny waxen combs, and shimmering jewel-toned feathers.

My husband had set up a brooder and heat-lamp in our bathroom in preparation for their home-coming.

I immediately fell in love.

They were all so alive, and so different in their personalities! I named them Rosemary, Valentina and Penelope and it was clear from the start Rosemary was the alpha-hen!

In this image (clockwise): Rosemary (Silver-Laced Wyandotte), Valentina (Australorp), and Penelope (Barred Plymouth-Rock).