Survived the storm

Other than some broken branches, a soggy garden, and sopping wet backyard, neither I nor my family came to any harm from Hurricane Arthur. I'm hoping that the garden will dry up somewhat, now that my mother and I dug a series of trenches to drain out the bulk of the water. 

Oddly enough, the chickens (both large and small) are eating to their heart's content, between the bulk of chokecherries that are hanging ripe on the branches, the scores of grasshoppers, katydids, crickets, beetles, and cockroaches scurrying about, and the large patches of grass near their pens that we allow to grow taller than the rest of the front and back yards, for the simple fact that it's free food, and wholesome, too. The 'Littles', or the youngest group of chickens, are growing more beautiful by the day, not to mention big, too. Thankfully, they've learned about what to eat, what not to eat, and where they're safest at during the daytime, on account of watching the older hens.