Sweet Pea Boasts Her Age

 It appears I'll be limping along tonight with this installment of the blog; my computer is being a tad persnickety.  But let's see how far we can go.

As I mentioned last week, Sweet Pea is turning eight.  Although I can see changes as she's aged, she appears to be in good health.  

2020

In the past couple of years she has become more sensitive to the cold, often just peeking out of the coop while her colleagues feast on treats.  And she used to be johnny-on-the-spot to tear apart a flake of straw.  Her gusto for that task has diminished.

 

see the little head just barely peeking out

2022

I will tell you after spending the past month and a half doctoring (picking up and holding) Marigold, Sweet Pea feels like a tonner.  She must weigh 2-3x what little Marigold weighs.

Speaking of Marigold.  One foot continues to improve and is looking pretty darn free of scaly mites, while the other (which started as the better foot) just won't shake loose.

This is the awfulness of the situation when we started in January.  

Clearly we learned the lesson of stopping treatment too soon last fall, so we continue to plug on.  If we could just get that left side to drop the last three small scaly nodules.

Let me leave you with the story of Stella.

If you were with me last summer you heard the saga of babying Stella the hibiscus.

 .at her full glory

Over the winter she lost all of her leaves but two.  Two.
I have made sure she's getting all the sun the house provides (southern exposure) and have continued to water what has looked like a dead plant.  Would you believe she started leafing teeny foliage about a week ago.  Who knows what will transpire in the next months until i can get her outside, but I'm proposing the moral of the story is never give up!