Sunny days, chicks, cats and dogs

Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day!! In fact, one of the principals in our state, Washington, gave all the kids a day off as a Sun Day. They have had no snow days this year, so he thought it was only fair that the kids and staff get a day to celebrate a day without rain and with a lot of sunshine. With the announcement he included a picture of himself on a motorcycle with sun glasses and thumbs up. I love that story!

Yesterday I was unlucky in having to be at work, but lucky in that I was out doing site visits so I got to enjoy the day at least a little. When I got home I gather up my little chicken (which are getting bigger every day!) and took them out to the temporary run while I cleaned out their cage. By the end of the process, I was sunburned and my little girls were in chicky heaven pecking and scratching away outside.

There is something elementally calming about watching chickens with their tails in the air scratching the grounds and pecking our nummy morsels. Not to mention the Keystone Cops comedy of antics when one of them finds an especially juicy worm and the others give chase. Inevitably the worm will be dropped and they will all scramble for it, ending in another chase.

They are getting pretty big now, and have just about lost all their baby chick fuzz. They look like small, skinny versions of adult hens at the moment. This is their awkward stage, also known as the ugly stage, or adolescence. They are getting braver and starting to stretch their wings. In fact, they are trying to fly. They all excited and will actually get off the ground, but I think when their feet leave the ground they get a little freaked, because they will suddenly freeze, drop and then look around like they’re asking, “What hell was that?”

My cat is both fascinated and confounded by them. Bird watching has been a longtime preoccupation of hers. She loves to site and watch them through the window, and will track them if she is outside. Up until now she has never really gotten close to any. She loves laying on top of their cage and just watching them. She can do it for hours. She seems totally confused by them.

Yesterday while the girls were in their temporary coop outside, she found a loose place in the fencing and stuck her head in, then freaked out when the girls ran over to check her out. Poor Hinata, she doesn’t have a brave bone anywhere in her little body. I’m afraid she’s going to have to give up her cat card any day now.

Last weekend when I had the girls out in there temporary coop, my sister’s big ole red dog, Rusty, managed to find a way in. So, here is this huge dog in a small coop, with six small chickens and anywhere else this would there would be some serious feathers flying, and really fresh doggy treat. Not for our Rusty! He was too busy trying to convince the girls that he is their new best friend, as they whines to them and licks them. The girls were unimpressed and unafraid. They just kept on with the important work of being a chicken, scratching and pecking.

It’s always something!

Great reading

I’m so excited!! I got one of my favorite things this weekend, a Harriet Carter sales catalogue. I love these things!! This is one of the great publications of our civilization. It has everything, items you might need, and items you didn’t know existed, but are so happy someone thought of.

My favorite activity related to the catalogue, is going through and finding the funny stuff. The stuff that makes you laugh out loud. Here are some of my favorites from the most recent issue:

Page 6 – PERFECT VISION TRAINING GLASSES, perforated glasses to “exercise your eyes.” Black lenses with rows of tiny perforations that “…help you to enhance vision by naturally forcing your eyes to focus more with less strain…” Really? I’m thinking that trying to do anything while wearing these things is only going to aggravate the hell out of me and raise my stress levels, putting a strain on everyone around me.

Page 10 – PERSONALIZED PET MONUMENT, “a lasting tribute to one who gave you so much love and devotion.” The instruction are to “…mark pet’s favorite spot in the yard or garden.” Didn’t they already do that when they were alive, and isn’t that why the grass won’t grow there anymore? I love that this in one of three different markers available in the catalogue. You could have a regular little cemetery. Just what a person wants to look out on while they’re relaxing on the patio.

Page 14 – REEL ROASTER, roast the perfect marshmallow at your next BBQ. “,,fishing-inspired tool to land a yummy treat.” You turn a crank which rotates the marshmallow. You know, because it’s so much easier to use two hands to do what it use to take only one to do.

Page 17 – URINE GONE, removes new or old stains and odors. “.. from carpets, mattresses, furniture.” It comes with a black light stain detector. Yuck!!!

Page 19 – GARDEN ANGEL LIGHT, cute angel sleeping with a solar panel on her shoulder and an LED light on her ass. Yeah, this really reeks of class!

Page 28 – WOMEN’S EXERCISE SLIPPERS, “strengthen and tone with every step.” I love that a pair of slippers you wear on your feet can strengthen and tone your legs, buttocks, back and stomach, but it apparently only works on women. Sorry guys.

Page 35 – SOLAR-POWERED ROCKS, “…rocks look like real stones. When night comes, they glow…” Yeah all my real stones glow at night. They wouldn’t seem real without that feature.

Page 41 – DOUBLE-HANDLED MUG, “Never spill another beverage again!” I have no idea how two handles will keep you from ever spilling. I love that they specifically call out those suffering with Parkinson’s, like somehow holding a cup with two trembling hands will help counter act one another. How about a cup with a lid??

Page 42 – SLEEPING PET, “,,,lifelike plush pet actually breathes and gently snores…” Because you can’t get enough of snoring, you want to buy some more.

Page 43 – FANNY BANK, “…makes saving money a real gas.” This is a coin bank molded like a butt. You insert coins into the crack and you get “…the loudest rip you’ve ever heard.” Can we say white trash?

So run, don’t walk, to your mailbox to get your copy of this riveting reading material. Have fun!!