A message from Chester

Chester asked me to tell you that he didn't think he got nearly enough attention in last Friday's big animal post.

He also wanted to show you his new cone:

He likes to pose with it (the color is stunning against his black fur):

Bite it:

Shake it:

Rub the side of his face against it...:

... "Hey you, girl with the hat who feeds me," interrupts Beau the gray donkey, marching confidently into the photographer's field of vision, "look at what I can do!":

"Aw, jeez!", sniffs Chester, trying to reclaim his limelight, "she's not going to be interested in that":

"But everyone should watch me do this...:"






"Phew! That was exhausting":

"Wow, Chet", says Beau, his eyes (and nostrils) growing quite wide:

"I don't know what to say other than...":

"That...

..was:

...really:

something!":

"I'm totally going to bite your face now, Beau..."

So, in summary, Chester just really wanted you to know he didn't get enough attention in that post last week:

Oh, and that he's got a new cone:

The sabbatical approacheth

It's almost that time.
The time, that is, when Dottie, my White-Crested Black Polish hen, ceases to lay her pretty white eggs for an extended period of time. We've come to refer to it around here as Dottie's sabbatical.

Of my 9 hens, she is the sole ornamental hen of my flock and the only one whose egg laying I can precisely track because she is the only one that lays white eggs.

Here are her statistics for anyone nerdy enough to appreciate this sort of thing (I *love* this kind of stuff):

Dottie laid her first egg on July 27, 2008 when she was 20 1/2 weeks old.
From July 2008 until the beginning of her first sabbatical on 9/25/08, she laid a total of 10 eggs.
In 2009, she laid a total of 122 eggs.
And, to date in 2010, she has laid a total of 119 eggs.
Not too shabby for a little "ornamental" breed...
She has never laid a double-yolker, a thin-shelled egg or a "rubber egg" - I have never gotten an odd-shaped, bumpy or ill-formed egg from her. Every single one has been a perfect little oval of chicken egg perfection.

In 2008, she stopped laying on 9/24/08 and resumed laying on 1/20/09 - a four month sabbatical.
In 2009, she stopped laying on 9/09/09 and resumed laying on 2/18/10 - five month 1 week sabbatical.
In 2010, well, that's still TBD, but you can be certain that I'll keep you posted.

Dottie has a number of unusual (but endearing) qualities that allow me to call her my "odd bird". Among her other idiosyncrasies, lately Dottie has taken to wandering. She goes on excursions far beyond the range of the other hens:

I've begun to find her in very unusual places - last week I saw her run by my bedroom door (pay no attention to the unmade bed inside) on our upper deck. It's no small feat to find one's way up here:

She makes me laugh -literally- every day. She may think I can't see her behind this plant, but she's forgotten to stop chattering. Her endless stream of staccato "hooting" allows me to pinpoint with uncanny accuracy exactly where she is almost every moment:

And if she hears my voice, she will come to find me:

Oh sure, she'll hang with the other chickens when she has to...but you can see her discomfort:

I don't really blame her. It can't be much fun to spend time with girls who like to peck the feathers off your head at night when you sleep.

Although she simply stops laying for the entirety of fall and part of the winter, when she does want to lay...

... everyone needs to stand back, because there is nothing that is going to stop her from laying in the precise location she has chosen:

Even if it means someone else is already there:

...and if that someone else won't move:

well, no problem:

She'll lay her pretty, white egg and move on, leaving the lollygagger still sitting there in stunned silence:

So, let's see... today is the 9th and this egg in my hand below was laid on the 6th...it's entirely possible this is the last Dottie egg of the season as I've not had any since:

Enjoy your time off, Dottie. You've earned it, you little sweet potato, you.


My girl's return to egg laying this year was heralded back in February here: Dottie returns to work

False alarm, I guess

Well, I didn't go to jury duty. They didn't need me, I guess.

Instead, I took Kai llama and the goat boys for a walk:

Kai still really likes how Pete and Reggie smell:

It was incredibly peaceful and there was absolutely NO drama (phew!):

In fact, it's interesting. When I take the goats for a walk with Roxy, my farm pup, there's an entirely different level of energy. The goats run fast, ahead of me and trailing Roxy, and dart back and forth across the road to eat whatever tasty treat catches their eyes.

With Kai, the boys are very subdued and frequently get under my feet. They stick like glue to Kai, never venturing more than half a foot away from her:

It's fascinating.

At last check, the trio was happily eating breakfast together in the middle pasture:

All of a sudden, I've got some free time that I didn't expect to have, so if you are interested in knowing how I'll spend it...
I think I'll bake a blackberry pie with those berries I picked on Sunday:

Here's what I'll be doing tomorrow

This will be the fourth time I have been called for jury duty. The last time I served was about four years ago, when I was picked to sit on the jury of a trial for a man who supposedly stole a claw foot bath tub and then refused to speak in his own defense.

For years, I've not been able to think of jury duty without thinking of the classic, 1957, black and white, Henry Fonda movie, "12 Angry Men":

and, since last October, I feel I know this story even better after seeing all five performances of this play when my son, Aidan, played Juror # 10:

I'm truly hoping my day tomorrow won't be nearly so dramatic. I've had my fill of drama this month already.

Making me laugh isn't hard these days

Today, I just wanted to share a few photos from Critter Farm that made me smile or laugh. I do love to laugh.

Look! It's a chicken path...they made this all on their own. I noticed it this evening for the first time and it tickled me beyond reason:

Beware the creature in the bushes! Mwah ha ha:

A really big rhubarb leaf:

Roxy says she promises not to eat any more chicken poop in the grass and can she please come outside again:

She also apologizes for throwing up on the bedroom carpet on Wednesday night. At 1:30 in the morning.

One should never try to pick blackberries when their donkey is near. He'll insist that you've picked them all for him:

Oh, and never try to remove anything from your llama's face. No matter how ill-placed. Your efforts will not be appreciated. You'll just have to trust me on this.

I did not plant this, but I'm so glad it's here!:

Are you enjoying your long weekend?

Has this ever happened to you?

I went to wash my kitchen windows a few weeks ago and as I cranked the one on the far right open, something wedged at the top of the window caught my eye:

That's right. Dehydrated frog.

Jeez.
Can't say that's ever happened before.