wet chicken

sorry to leave you hangin' but i will talk about this post title later. first, i have to post some pics i've taken in the last couple weeks. i'm behind only because spring is beautiful and there's been so much going on and that means an endless and vicious cycle of snapping photos. i have to backtrack a bit and show off this gorgeous azalea i have growing next to my carport. i didn't even know this was there!! and below we have a baby tomato on my cherry tomato bush on the patio. it's so cute! but, unfortunately some bug or something decided he was allowed to eat a little hole into my tomato!


also on the patio, hanging in baskets, are two strawberry plants that had sprouted some cute little white flowers and now these baby berries have appeared! it's raining today, can you tell?


this is the big magnolia tree right in front of my porch and it is covered with buds! we are going to have a gorgeous magnolia here shortly. i love magnolias so much, it just reminds me of georgia. kind of like palms remind me of savannah and ginkgos remind me of korea. oh, i just can't wait until this baby blooms! i'm going to be the next virtual asian georgia o'keefe! by the way, people; don't ever plant english ivy. anywhere. ever.

and this is my soon to be new pond! johnny put in an outdoor outlet on the porch just so i could have a pump and keep some koi fish in a big barrel. what a handy man. he even made me a little shelf to support my mermaid fountain. no, that is not a bag of weed, it's catnip. the weed's are in the backyard! hee-hee... anywhoo, i'll have pictures galore of this setup once it's up and running. see my pink harmonica? that's betsy. the dogs love her and i think my neighbors hate me. i like to play betsy on the porch after work and watch the chickens.

ok, now here's the fun part of this post where you, the reader, gets to participate in! let's play one of these things is not like the other, like sesame street. or was that electric company...? anyways the pic below is my little veggie garden and a mysterious plant just appeared next to my newly sprouting cucumbers. just to the right...between the cucumber and watermelon. i did not plant that there. it doesn't look like a weed. it's a very vigorous and strong stalk. here's my theory: it's either a papaya, mango, avocado, asparagus, potato, leek, garlic, ginger, cauliflower, broccoli, or cabbage. all the food we eat on a regular basis. that's because i may have dumped my old compost pile there a bit prematurely...

here's the first tomato-ling from my hybrid roma tomato bush. next year i would prefer some heirlooms (but seeds are expensive and damn, i can't use them all!). but for now, i'll eat whatever i can grow and be thankful. he's a cute little bugger, aint he?

i know you probably thought i forgot all about the bamboo shoots since the chickens arrived, but trust me, i haven't! i've been taking photos but they keep outgrowing me. these bamboo are what, almost 2 weeks old now? they are sprouting branches and the husks are falling off in piles around each shoot.

look at little miss bibi. she is doing great. the doctor is pleased with her healing and she seems to be in a lot less pain. she's looking healthier and playing more. she's also got a severe princess complex. can you just hear what she's saying in this picture?

and now we come to the wet chickens. here they are, in all their wet poopy glory. they were brilliantly white with just a little poo staining underneath but now each feather is variegated with poo. they stink! and they want FOOD. food. food. food. food. food. look at this cocky bastard!

i think i'll name her henrietta. she just looks like a henrietta. if she's a he, it'll be henry. today johnny and i were having pho at a favorite vietnamese restaurant when i realized (to my complete horror) that i left the chickens out of their pen. my hands flew to my mouth and all i could do was gasp! and just as i was saying, "i think i left the chickens out of the coop", some woman walked by and heard me and started laughing out loud. well, it turns out i didn't forget to put the chickens back in their pen. but it's still a recurring nightmare.