white cocks and black pussies

we've learned a lot in the past week. i for one, have learned that chickens are like pets. they have personality, and it's surprising to say some intelligence as well.... we have decided that we have 4 males and 5 females. in order of size from largest to smallest we have given the cocks the following names: Jerky, Roast, Pot Pie, and Stew(ie). We have named a few of the girls, from smallest to largest they are: Henrietta, Estelle, and Phyllis. there are two nameless girls, which i humbly request from my readers to help me name. Weezy, i know you got some good ones. so, yesterday morning while we were naming our poultry, we got footage of the chickens and cats co-existing somewhat peacefully.

everything was going swimmingly until i tried to go back into the fenced-in backyard to get some more chicken feed. syrus made a run for it and slipped past my legs and went straight for the nearest chicken, which was one of the girls - estelle maybe - and pinned her down by my garden. once that happened, bibi and louie were out of the gate in a flash and i whirled around in slow motion to see louie run straight into the coop and bibi tackle a big male under the tree. i thought massive bloodshed was surely going to happen but my screaming actually made the dogs stop attacking and i got them back inside the fence. syrus was guilty, and he knew it - but deep inside he was thrilled with himself. the chickens were fine. i gave them some food and they soon forgot all about it. they don't care for the table scraps as much, but i covered some watermelon rind in chicken feed and now they are eating it.

i also did something unexpected this weekend. i chopped off all my hair. it used to be halfway down my back and now it is just a touch longer than chin length. it's a dramatic difference. i've never had hair this short before in my life. well, my first year of college it was almost this short but not quite. i'm not 100% sure it suits me, but everyone seems to like it. plus, i don't have those ratty dead ends and my hair catching on everything. i don't have to worry about dragging my hair across my food at the table or getting it rolled up in the car window. i worry that i look like edna from the incredibles....

and we have decided to enter in some videos to america's funniest videos of louie trying to swim. he actually got it figured out today when we took the spoiled brats to the lake again. he's even beat bibi to the ball a couple of times. but we've got some good footage and i plan to take more videos of the dogs howling with my harmonica and louie wrestling with bibi from under a blanket. watch the videos below to see what i have to pick from to send in. tell me what you think by casting your vote in the poll to the right of the page. thanks!

louie swimming take 1:



here's take 2:



here's the original video i posted a while back, maybe this one will work?




oh, i almost forgot - here's a video of choco and moto, pretending not to notice the chickens, or pretending not to care... in truth, they're a little scared of them.....

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.

blog tagging

ok, so i admit i'm a little behind. i had no clue what blog tagging was until a few months ago when bloggers that i liked to read got tagged and shared whatever information was requested and then tagged other bloggers. it's kind of like the popular kid's game, internet version. i never got tagged, didn't know the "rules" of tagging, didn't know anything, basically. but then i saw more and more of it and thought to myself, man this is kind of dumb. i get the concept - you know, share random bits of info about yourself to total strangers so you feel like you're "getting to know each other". but what i wonder is, why can't there be sharing useful information tagging going on? well, maybe there is, i just don't know about it. see, in reality, i'm just a dork trying to play with the big kids. so instead of waiting for someone to have pity on me and tag me i am going to make up my own tag and invite my own friends to play so :P!

in case you're like me and haven't the foggiest idea of how to play, here are (my) rules: if i mention your name and link to your blog in this post, you have to answer the question and tag another 5 people by naming them in your post. don't forget to alert them by commenting on their blog and let them know you tagged them. my tag is going to have a farm-y theme (naturally) and it goes something like this:

1. Name one of your favorite flowering plants and any info you may have off the top of your head about it.

2. Name one of your favorite farm animals or pets and explain why.

3. Name one of your favorite vegetable/fruit/nut plant/tree to grow and show picture(s) of it.

4. Name a plant or animal that you want to grow/raise in the near future.

5. Name a home remedy that you use for whatever ailment and share the recipe/technique.



that's it! wouldn't it be interesting to see what other people have to say about that? i think so! so, the people i am going to tag are:



1. my bff Vanessa, who just started her own blog and will hopefully grace us with a link to it in the comments.

2. Ellen, my first internet buddy :) http://everydaycraftygoodness.wordpress.com/

3. Amy @ http://www.magicalmuse.typepad.com/

4. sister bluebird, a new aquaintance @ http://sisterbluebirdgardener.blogspot.com/

5. Tammie @ http://unusuallyunusualfarmchick.blogspot.com/

i think it would be interesting and valuable information from these folks, and i am excited to see what they have to say. i'll answer the questions, too :)

1. one of my favorite flowering plants is the TEA OLIVE tree. i just love the way the flowers smell when it's in bloom. it smells kind of like a cross between honeysuckle and tuberose.

2. my favorite animal (besides dogs, of course) is goats. i've never had one, but i have been around goats, watched videos, and read a lot of stuff about them. i think they are absolutely adorable as babies and it's so cute how they like to bounce around, head-butting. i think it's endearing that they'll eat anything and they all have personality. i love goats!

3. my favorite crop to grow is peas. because they grow so fast and without fail, and they are fun to watch with the tendrils grabbing whatever they can. plus, they build up the soil with nitrogen and who doesn't love to eat peas? i don't have a picture of mine right now, but i'll come back and post it later :)

4. something i would like to grow in the future - well, there are actually many things. i'd like to grow leafy vegetables. for some reason, spinach and lettuce and rhubarb and all things leafy intimidate me as a gardener. i'm admittedly inexperienced but i've tried to grow leafy things and it never works! they just sprout and then die.

5. haha - i almost forgot this one myself! a favorite home remedy of mine is cranberry juice. frequent bladder infections (and UTI's) plague the women in my family and if you've never had one, consider yourself lucky. unfortunately, i hate all things cranberry. especially the juice. but, miraculously cranberry juice has worked every single time. i will happily chug a gallon of the stuff to make a bladder infection go away. i did find a cheat, though - cranberry pills! yes, you can get then in a little tablet, and i take a few of those if i feel a UTI coming on. but for a full on bladder infection, chug a gallon of cranberry juice!

chickens are stupid?

sorry no pictures as of right now but i wanted to say more about the chickens, who are nameless still. i daresay chickens are stupid. last night was the second night i had to manually place each chicken into their henhouse. they figured out how to get out of it in the morning but don't remember how to get back in at night. so i had to pick up each one and place them together in their house. which is kind of fun, but a pain in the ass, too. i hope they figure out how to get inside at night soon.

but they have figured out that i am the source of food and fresh hay. when i go up to their pen clucking like a dumbass, they all poke their heads up and watch me coming, instead of running away. and when i open the door they come up to me! this morning they were even trying to eat the feed out of my cup before i could put it down. it's kinda cute. they all crowd around me, peeping.

yesterday i let them out of their pen for a few minutes to see what they would do. they all came out and started scratching and pecking. i had a bamboo stick to herd them if they started flying all over the place but they didn't go far from the pen. i got them back inside with no problems. a couple of my neighbors were walking past my house when i was herding the chickens back into the pen with my bamboo stick. i'm sure they think i am nuts.

did i mention that B bought me a harmonica the other day? it's a cheap plastic translucent pink one, but i love it and wanted one for a while. now, i come home and practice my harmonica on the front porch. i watch my chickens and garden grow. all i need now is a straw hat and some overalls. i wanted to start a bluegrass band that covers 80's pop but i'm having a hard time recruiting a banjo player and fiddler...

observations on poultry

well, i've spent some quality time with my birds and so far i have noticed these things:

1. we have way too many chickens.


2. they all pretty much look alike.


3. the only differences is size, and we have 3 big ones, 1 medium, and 4 small.


4. they really prefer their chicken feed over strawberries and apples.


5. they don't trust me.


6. they stink, and they poop anywhere and everywhere.


7. i think we have roosters in the mix.


8. they are pretty stupid. we had to put them in their henhouse at night.


9. they are warm, slightly squishy and soft.


10. they like to boss each other around.


11. they fluff up when they sit down to sleep.


12. i think they can fly.

they're here! calling all chicken advice-givers!

we have fowl! my mom came by with 20 chickens! i told her several times we only need 4!! she just came over and kept throwing in one chicken after another in the pen and now we have 9 chickens. they are the typical chicken farm chicken and about 6-8 weeks old (we're guessing). we don't know if they are all females or not. they have sparse feathering and kinda stink. but they still make those cute chickie peeping noises.

they're pretty scared, too. they are warming up to being in there, and to me a little bit too. they have not gone inside the nesting box, partly because we haven't put in an adequate ramp yet (working on that now). i put some mixed grain and fresh water in there, and some hay and sand. they seem to be happy, pecking away at bugs. they poop. it's gross. our eggs are coming out of that same hole. ew. but, it will be a while before we get any eggs. i'm thinking we are going to fatten them up and start eating the big ones and let the smaller ones grow and lay eggs.

the dogs were excited. choco is a bit intimidated but curious. i don't think moto is aware of the new roommates he's got. and i'm a little paranoid about our neighbors protesting...

we let the dogs come out and sniff around the pen. louie knows chicken tastes good. they are hiding under the nesting box right now. i was wondering if we can give the chickens baths? they are white and covered in poo. if you know anything about chickens, leave me some pointers, i could use it!

the lazy bums

this morning i was awake at 7:30 a.m. and excited. in a couple hours, i'll have my chickens. i tried to wake the household up, but nobody even budged. i laid in bed and snapped pictures of my sleeping beauty (bibi, not johnny...). i realize she is just a dog, but i love her to death. she is such an awesome dog, so laid back.

i love this picture - it pretty much shows how much she gets loved on. she's used to it, too. when i kiss her, i sneak in a little nibble and when i come home from work, she pins me down and licks my face and sneaks in her own little nibbles.

bees

my mother and i want to start raising bees in our backyards. i think we will start off with one hive. i'm in charge of research and she'll probably be the funds manager. johnny isn't enthusiastic about keeping bees but i am! there's a lot of news lately about bees disappearing and it's quite alarming, considering how much we rely on them to pollinate our food! did you know every thrid bite of food was brought to us by bees? burt's bees was giving away seeds but they have run out. you can still plant bee-attracting plants in your yard, though. check out these resources:

http://pollinator.org/

http://organicgardening.com/

http://www.burtsbees.com

yay! it's beach time!

i almost totally forgot about going to the lakes and rivers around here during this time. it seems like i've been absorbed in gardening and home improvement this year. but yesterday afternoon we (i) decided to take the dogs to lake erin, right around the corner from our neighborhood. the dogs freakin' love that place. bibi starts whining as soon as we pull into the park and once we are out, she takes off into the water. as you may remember, last year louie tried to swim. he didn't get much opportunity to practice but he seemed a little more confident this year. it was still hilarious.

garden photos

pictured above: cherry tomato bush in big red pot, peppermint in small wooden planter, lavender in white ceramic pot, pineapple sage in tall white ceramic pot behind post. on the steps are two stoneware pots with bulb flowers that i do not remember the name of. in the big pot with the hay, cuttings from the remains of a dying fig tree than i am hoping will take root (using rooting hormone) but i am not very hopeful that it will work....

in the background, under the hay is a row of various asiatic lilies and caladuims, just sprouting. on the deck is a lemon thyme plant, citronella candle, cinnamon basil, sweet basil, leeks, some kind of ground cover plants, and a lemon balm plant in the terracotta. also, a waiting to be planted jasmine bush - smells awesome! oh, and a pair of dirty socks.

i realize i may be the only person in the world fascinated with watching bamboo growing, but damn, look at those shoots! those are 4 days old! louie has been a good boy and not knocked any more of them over.

johnny and i made these steps leading up to my parent's house (next door) with leftover cement from our stepping stone experiment (which failed). it feels a lot safer walking up and down that little hill now.

and of course, my garden! the peas have come up, as well as the cucumbers and even the carrots have teeny little sprouts coming up! i just love love love my little garden.

and even though i said i wouldn't post any progress pics until it was finished, i had to show off my first chicken! moto is ready to meet his new little friends....