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Friday, January 28, 2011

The Missing Link(s)

A few of these posts have links in them. I tried to make that more apparent today with the color changes. If you didn't notice a link before and maybe something just didn't make sense to you... have another try. Hopefully they are out of hiding now... And if you missed this, sit back and enjoy.

They Grow Up so Fast

Yesterday when I was editing messing around with this picture of Eleanore, I realized she hardly had any comb*. She was just a wee little bird.
 
*comb -  fleshy growth atop the head of a chicken








How do you know it's really Eleanore? For a while Eleanore didn't have tail feathers due to that little thing called pecking order. Kathy has always had nice full plumage. (This is where naming your animals after people you know gets complicated.)  


So you're saying that Kathy's name used to be... Well, yes. But since the loss of Midnight Snack (I know that sounds cruel, but this is how I am coping.) Kathy and Eleanore have really bonded. 

Look at them now. Full combs, beautiful feathers. My little hens are growing up.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Animal Love

On my walk up to the coop this morning I noticed Kathy and Eleanore were hanging out on a perch in their yard. They started talking a little bit as I got closer and when I opened the access door they were on their way in to the coop to see me and wish me a good morning. That is what I like to think anyway. Maybe they are smart enough to figure out that I bring them food and water or maybe they just enjoy my company.


This scenario is probably along the same lines of how loved and adored I feel by my dog when he sets his drooling face in my lap at the same time I am eating something that entices him.

If I knew that I could buy a car and get a hug from a grateful polar bear as seen here... I'd be cruising around town in my new Nissan LEAF.



Monday, January 24, 2011

Coupins!

When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was help my mom clip coupons. She told me that I would sit and cut with one hand until it got tired, switch the scissors to the other hand (non-dominance!) and keep on going. All the while my tongue sticking out part way to aid my concentration.

When my sister was in town last weekend we went to a presentation about how to Coupon. Yep, another noun has made itself a verb.  (How is it really pronounced anyway? Is it Q-pon or Coo-pon? I say Coo, but I used to say Q.)

Melissa is really into this. She is very good at it. I didn't think I would be too interested, but I would see what it was about. Jenny from Southern Savers was the spokeswoman. She was full of money saving facts and anecdotes. It was almost as if I went to see a comedian and learned how to use coupons as a bonus.

Jenny was very convincing, although she didn't have to be. First of all, anything to make grocery shopping more bearable, like a challenge - I'm in. Secondly, I am easily persuaded. (Not always a good thing, but I am on week 2 of my 6 week trial and I think I am doing pretty well.)

Achoo

Have you ever heard a chicken sneeze?

Eleanore was so thirsty the other night that she got her head right in the stream of water as I was refilling... thus up the sinuses causing her to sneeze. I never thought about birds sneezing before that happened. It's pretty easy to recognize though.

Kathy usually perches on the edge of the basin and just waits. Sometimes I have to nudge her off so I can rinse out the "chicken soup".




Here is some sideways footage to enjoy. Just the ladies in their almost natural habitat. If anyone can tell me how to rotate a video - please do. (Sorry about flipping directions on you... something about not having a dominant hand... I'll save that for another day.)

*** I was going to add another video but this one took so long to download last night and I just realized this post hasn't posted yet so there is only one sideways video for now. The other one is rotated clockwise 180 degrees though, so maybe its better this way.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Frozen Egg


 
 


Compliments of Aaron and his fancy, new phone.
A close-up of the grime.
This looks cleaner than I felt.

Makin' Bacon

Did I mention that we have a pig?

Not this pig:



Aaron loves this commercial. I cannot figure out why.

I came across our pig doing some Christmas shopping. Brought it home and told Aaron how cute it was but I would probably return it since we didn't really need it. But he said, "If it makes you happy, keep it."
So I did.



Are you ready to meet her?







Whoever said "Money can't buy happiness", never laid their eyes on this pig.

Monday, January 17, 2011

A Girl can Dream

Friday night I had a dream that someone was trying to give me a jersey cow.
Jersey cows are my absolute favorite.
Amazing picture from Macboozle's Flikr
 For some reason I kept turning it down.
Even as her heavy bovine head was in my lap while traveling down the road in my Mazda 3, I said "No".
(It's a pretty small car - I don't know how she got in there. Don't worry, I wasn't driving.)

I blame Billy Crystal for my love of Jersey Cows. 
"Norman... Hello..."


This is not a Jersey cow. This cow hails from Switzerland.
When else would I get to use this photo though?
Trip to Switzerland made possible by Rahel <3

Friday, January 14, 2011

An apology

Did you get it?  Earth, Wind and Fire/ Earth, Wind and Tired. I wasn't sure. I just asked my sister. She got it. But I was really tired yesterday, wasn't really running on all cylinders or whatever that phrase is. So, my apologies.

Speaking of my sister... She is here. This weekend is my birthday present from her. A husband-less, child-less visit. Is that too selfish?

Melis helped me collect the egg tonight. Yep, that is right. Egg. Somebody is slacking. Though if you saw the state of the coop, all fingers and wings should point to me. This is where I list my excuses:
  • It is cold 
  • It is dark
  • Ummm. Ummm... 
I need to go work on more excuses. Sorry Kathy. Sorry Eleanore.
Everybody have a nice weekend.

P.S.  I put a cracked egg in the freezer. I might just put it outside. I want to peel it and see what I get. I'll keep ya posted!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Earth, Wind and Tired

EARTH
I ran in the dark Tuesday night on streets and sidewalks covered with patches of ice. I think I am going to do it again tonight. (Apparently this kind of activity is called "training".)


WIND
I got nothin'.


TIRED
Aaron was on Chicken duty for me last night. He reported the ladies made a nest in the water basin. They are crafty like that.

Last night I slept on an extendable sofa - not to be confused with a fold out couch.

Today I look like I slept on an extendable sofa last night.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Hotter Water

Kathy and Eleanore are handling the cold much better than I anticipated. They actually seem to enjoy pecking at ice that forms on the sides of the water basin. I can hear them before I even get to the coop.

Tap tap tap. Peck peck peck.

The other day they didn't stop pecking when I gave them some fresh, non-frozen, water.  Usually they look at the basin, look at me, back at the basin, back at me... until I am done refilling. Sometimes Kathy (I think) perches right on the side of the basin and waits (insists) for me to fill it up.

Since it has been so cold I have been taking hot water up to the coop to try and get a couple more mintues of drinkable liquid to the ladies.

It is kind of neat to watch chickens drink. There is no slurping. No sipping. No guzzling. It looks a lot like eating. But, I guess when you have a beak for a mouth there aren't a lot of options.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Baby, I's COLD outside.

...Cold enough that one of the eggs I collected this a.m. cracked when I brought into the house.
Unfortunately, this is not what I discovered inside. This is a resin mold that someone made as a prank.
Although, while looking for a picture of a frozen egg, I did find some neat eggs-periments to try...

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Y'know... Snow

Charlie actually loves the snow...
I don't know why he looks so dissapointed...
probably because I was taking a picture of him instead of playing. 

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Name Game

Sorry to leave you hanging...
de aqui



Why Kathy? Why Eleanore? Actually,  it is a package deal. One could not be named Kathy without the other being named Eleanore and vice versa.

Back in the summer, when I was not as busy being held down by blankets, I participated in a couple of sprint triathlons. Word got out that I  - used to be/ sometimes am/ am trying again to be - a runner. Kathy and Eleanore, two very nice ladies in the Fleet Feet Knoxville circle, asked me to join them for an Olympic Distance Tri relay and I agreed. Kathy swam. Eleanore cycled. I suffered ran.

Relay teams get to pick a team name so the race directors can call out one name instead of three when handing out awards. I just made that up, but it seems plausible. Regardless, Eleanore registered us as "Two Hens and a Chick."


So, there you have it. The mystery is over. And now for the name game:


But first a note from Wikipedia : Playing the game with names such as Alice, Dallas, Tucker, Chuck, Buck, Huck, Bart, Art, Marty, Mitch, Rich, Richie, Maggie, Ruby, or, in British English, Danny or Annie, results in profanity or rude language.

Chickens Chickens Bo Bickens
Banana Fana Fo Fickens
Me My Mo Mickens
Chickens!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

New Year, New Names

I thought somewhere I had written about names for the chickens... I can't find it. I did try to name them. I thought about naming them after queens; Elizabeth, Victoria, Latifah... On Columbus day I was a total nerd and tried to name them after the ships the Nina and the Santa Maria... Anyway, nothing really stuck. Ok, well, two names did stick - for a while at least.

In the beginning of this adventure when I had 3 chickens, there was one lady who was particularly dominant. Her name rhymed with Itch. And that fateful day I returned home to find an unexpected survivor in the driveway (as a friend pointed out it was as though she had returned from the dead) she earned a name that rhymed with Please Us. 

More often than not, they are referred to as "the ladies".

Not this year. This year they shall go by Kathy and Eleanore.