Here is my progress on the drawing so far. I might need to darken the values as the other fingers appear. It always takes me awhile to warm up to skin tones when I have been away from them for a time. The background will probably be indistinguishable and muted. I'm not totally sure yet how I want it to be.
I promised you a picture of Fred and his sisters. Not a very good picture is it? Well his new Daddy came to pick him up, it was late at night, and the pic was taken in a hurry. (Sorry :( ) They were way to big for us to keep, and as I said before, rain delayed his departure by a few weeks. This did not make my husband very happy. (Although I do not know why, he wasn't the one in charge of cage cleaning duty!) So being the ever vigil parent, I told my son that Fred needed to go. It was also made quite clear that this was to be the ABSOLUTE last batch of chicks that would grace my basement. I know it sounds harsh, but you give my kid an inch... he will take a mile. I meant business. If he is the one who loves farming, why am I the one hatching and raising chicks? That's it...NO more...All done...
...So two days later these little guys arrived....WHAT? I have never been accused of being timid or soft spoken. There is no way my son didn't get the message above loud and clear. Could he be deaf, I asked myself??? Oh no... Does he have a death wish? I sometimes wonder... Does he trust to much in the fact that I will fall in love with these little fuzzies, and there by absolve him from any wrong doing? You betcha!
He started by bringing them home in an ice cream bucket, assuring me that he was just as surprised as me. Right?? Okay, he admitted, he let the hen hatch a batch. They were going to be little Frizzle birds. Frizzles?? They have the tiniest little chicks. He appealed to my sense of sympathy. One of the little ones didn't make it, because its mother wouldn't take care of it. Thankfully, I was told, four had made it. Darn it why do they have to be so small and cute? WHY? (Just to gage size the skunk in there with them is a tiny beanie baby. I'd put the smallest at the size of a silver dollar.)
So I regrouped. I would agree to raise this batch as my FINAL farewell. For those that are faint of heart, I will edit out the part where I told my husband. Let me just say he was far from thrilled! But have no fear, my son made sure to be nowhere around during the time of disclosure. I carefully explained that these were the final four. Our son made us a promise...no more.
Take a careful count and check of body colors and tell me how good my son keeps his promises. Is something wrong here?? That's what I thought after my husband and I came back from doing a brush chipping job for our tree business the next day. Did he think I wouldn't notice an extra bird? I think color alone gave this little guy away. Ooops, my son assures me this is really the last one. I wanted so much to be mad, but this little guy is about the size of a half dollar... Probably the tiniest chick we have ever had or that I have ever raised. What's one more? AAAAAGH! If you could just hold this little guy (who weighs nothing) and have him fall asleep in your hand, you would understand. My husband gave my son a look of disgust and disappointment. (But between you and me, I talked him into being the hand model holding these little guys for a future drawing. Trust me he wasn't complaining!) So now, they are downstairs eating and growing. My son put a little porthole on the side of the box and covered it in plexi glass, so if we are ever in the basement, we always have an audience. Don't tell my son, but I will miss these little ones when they are gone... :) 
