December 31st

2017,

whether good or bad,

is on its way out.

 

The beginning of  a new year brings

change

and

hope

for all the things that didn't happen in the past year.

 

It also brings resolutions.

To be resolute about something

implies that it shall be,

regardless

of the human tendency to slack off.

Just look at all those shiny new gym memberships,

equipment,

workout clothes

and

orders for diet foods.

 

I typically don't indulge in resolutions.

I am not resolute when it comes to exercise

or

dieting.

I have no willpower.

 

That's not a really good affirmation on my part.

That,

I guess,

says something of my wimpy character.

Although,

I am resolute about some things.

I won't bore anyone with my few  

attributes as they don't comprise

much typed space......

Oh, well..

New chances

New beginnings

 

Now,

 we have 365 brand new days

and

365 brand new chances

to become resolute.

 

We shall see......

 

The chickens are laying eggs daily.

They aren't at peak production,

but

Hopefully soon.

And.

Good news!

Hazel has decided to begin laying again.

Hallelujah!

I missed those cute small blue egg beauties.

We thought that she might have had an egg stuck up there.

No, we didn't shake her to get it moving,

(although, I was sincerely thinking of its merits)

She is happily giving us an egg a day.

Good girl.

 

And,

As the saying goes.....

Sometimes,

Ya just gotta say

"Cluck it!"

and move on.

 

Happy New Year from us 

to all of you.

I sincerely hope the best for this world and everyone in it.

Our children depend on it.

 

So,

Raise a glass of champagne.....

Here's a toast to

2018.

"And so our adventure begins"

 

 

 

 

 

December 25th

 

Merry Christmas!

From all of us and the menagerie.

Wishing all a wonderful holiday!

 

Keeping with the lightness of the holiday,

I'm posting a few irreverent pictures.....

Enjoy.

 

tee hee.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I have always loved Gary Larson's Far Side)

 

 

 

L.O.L.!

 

 

Clear case of misunderstanding......

And

Speaking of misunderstanding,

 

 

 

 

 

 

and,

the chickens put on their Sunday finest

to wish

everyone a very

Merry Christmas!

 

This is Pepper - she knows she looks good!

This is Sandy.

She's kinda tired from all the holiday hustle and bustle.

 

Again have yourselves a

Merry little

Christmas!

 

 

December 20th

Today is Snow Fortress Building Day, not happening in southeast Louisiana.
It's also Polar Bear Bathing Day.
Ok, neither of these work for me.

So, I checked my trusty internet and these are actual Holidays for today:
Cathode Ray Tube Day
Dot Your "I's" Day
Games Day
Go Caroling Day
National Sangria Day
Sacagawea Day

I have no idea where people come up with the need for a yearly observance of these but, I can get behind the National Sangria Day!
Unfortunately, not a bottle of it in the house.
So, I guess I'll have to wait till next to celebrate.

Crazy weather here. One week its at the freezing mark and the next its in the '70's and the AC is on.
The plants didn't like it.

taken 12/14

The mirlitons are doing ok,

but some of the leaves are dying from the cold last week.

 

 

taken 12/14 

These are the pineapples.

The actual plant looks fine, but the leaves didn't fare too well.

 

taken 12/8. 

This is what the ground looked like.

It melted and then re-froze.

 

 

taken 12/20

The kumquat tree is doing just fine.

 

 

On the family front.......

Our oldest Granddaughter graduated from college. We are so very proud of her!

Yay! Love her so much!

Seems like yesterday that she was just a tiny thing.........

Time flies.

 

In five days it'll be Christmas. I can't believe how fast this year has flown.

Then, 2018 will be upon us .

2018.

Never thought I'd make it this far......

Feeling old.

 

 

The chickens don't care.

About the new year,

About us getting older,

As long as they can eat, drink and poop....... they are happy

 

this is Ethel, Sandy, Henny, Hazel, Pepper and Nugget

 

this is Lucy and Pepper

 

 

All the girls, except one, is laying eggs.

Hazel is the culprit.

She lays our pretty blue eggs.

None from her in weeks.

Hens are creatures of habit and anything that disrupts their little world can be cause for egg reduction.

Hazel is our high strung, flighty girl.

She doesn't like to be petted, never did.

 

Chicken 101

Some causes for decreased egg production:

1) Temperature - as I've said, the weather has been crazy with up and down temps.

2) Molting - all of the girls have been molting in one stage or another for a few months now.

3) Less Daylight - as the sun goes down earlier so does egg production.

4) Predators - there has been no issues with this.

5) Lack of food/water - nope, not an issue either.

I'm gonna chalk it up to the fact that Hazel is a diva.

She will lay when she's good and ready to, and not a minute more.

Santa doesn't like moody hens.

Maybe we'll put coal in her stocking.

That'll teach her!

 

December 7th

Still no phone.

I'm in a Simon and Garfunkel song......
Sounds of Silence.

Or,

a Christmas hymn.....
Silent Night,

Or,

And old submarine movie......
Run Silent, Run Deep

Get it?

I'm SILENT.  :(

I do borrow a phone from my granddaughter for emergency purposes but its still frustrating.
Hopefully, I'll have one today.

Speaking of today......

its Pearl Harbor Day.
December 7th
The day that "shall live in infamy!"
Having visited the Arizona memorial on Oahu, I can truly say that it was extremely moving.
I didn't think it would bring me to tears but,
during the film,
as the names were being called out by the narrator,
I became so choked up.
All those lives.....
Forever entombed.
And the sight of the oil slick meandering away from the hull.....
So very sad.

18 days till Christmas.
The tree is up.
The wreath is on the door.
The stockings are hung (no chimney, but certainly with care)
The chickens don't have stockings yet, but the dog does.
The dog gets the same thing every year.
Bones and Scooby Snacks. She loves 'em!
I've gotta get 7 little stockings, but I don't know what to put in them.

Our menagerie hasn't even written to Santa yet.
So who knows what they all want.
As for the hens,
I'm thinking grubs.
Yeah,
Grubs and seeds!
That's the ticket!

November 28th

With everything that can happen within a Murphy's Law kinda world, the lack of a smart phone is pretty high up there. It beats the buttered side of the toast landing buttered side down, every time.
My cell died.
I'm hoping it isn't R.I.P.
It had been "ill" for a while but I never guessed that immediately after I downloaded an update, it wouldn't even charge.
Now I realize, a lack of a cell phone is really a "first world" problem, but when all of your numbers and personal info are on it, its a real inconvenience.
The next move is to bring it to someone to diagnose the sickness. Hopefully its only a battery change and we can call it a day.

To get my mind off the PHONE issue........

                                                              Random musings.
                                                 When my phone worked, I saw this.........

 

why in hell would someone live with this Cyclops zit announcing itself like a headlight? The article said he hung onto it for 6 years. 

Six.

Years.  

Oh well, I guess he got "attached" to it.

(bad pun?)

 

 

 

Notice all the fall foliage?

No?

Well, its Louisiana........

It'll go from green leaves to no leaves.

No in between.

 

 

My husband got take out.

The fork apparently feels the need to tell the world to live long and prosper.

Who knew Chinese takeout was a Trekkie.

 

 

 

Now this is awesome,

but I can't imagine the crap redheads had to put up with back then.

 

Possessing green eyes,

I didn't think I was in such a low number.

Hmmmmm.

 

 

On the Chicken front....

Hazel took another laying vacation.

She's gone two weeks and no eggs.

Hers are the cute blue ones.

I consulted my go to web sites and all say that its not a problem.

She'll start back up soon.

I'm thinking I might just turn her upside down and shake.

That tactic usually works on the cereal boxes,

tic tac containers

and

powdered sugar shakers.

 

What?

 

No?

 

 

November 15th

Its been a while since the last post. I took a self imposed hiatus.
Big words, not altogether true.
Actually, there was nothing much to say. Its been a mundane few weeks.

Today is ironically, "I Love To Write Day", so, in honor of that, I'll comply and write this entry......
(its also "Clean Your Refrigerator Day" - nope, that's not happening!)

I did read several murder mystery books on my old Nook. I currently have 140 books on it and about 10 ready to read.
Most were free.
If I don't like them, there's no problem deleting them.
A few really were good, but sadly most were not very memorable. Hence the problem with a free book.

I'm going to have to get back to the library. The problem with that is, I instantly get ADD!
I'm sidetracked by ALL the books.
I start looking in one area and get distracted by another.
I can't say that I'm a purist and only prefer print, but the smell of an old book is intoxicating to me!

Ever been to Powell's City of Books in Portland Oregon? Its acres and acres (exaggeration) of anything and everything you'd ever care to read. Its an entire city block!
Then, there's City Lights in San Francisco. Another awesome bookstore. This one is an ode to the Beat Generation. After all, it was founded by Ferlinghetti and Jack Kerouac's name is engraved in front on the sidewalk. Doesn't get any more authentic than that.

 

 

In New Orleans, its the Maple Street Bookshop. I used to shop for the sale books there back in the '70's. I bought an illustrated copy of Beatles lyrics in 1971 and an old copy of The Maltese Falcon. I haven't been in there in several years, but the memory of just crossing the threshold of the entrance makes me smile.

 

 

Speaking of cleaning the 'fridge,
          (yeah, I know its a bad segue),
I thought I had everything under control in there. I was searching for something to eat the other day.
You know how you stand there, wishing for something to appear, and you then realize how sad it really is that you are at the fridge door and there isn't anything appetizing to you?
Well, I noticed a container that I didn't remember being there. Yay!
Lemme check this out!
Well, I opened it. That was my first mistake!
It smelled like the seventh circle of hell!
What in the name of all that's holy, is it?
I couldn't identify it, but it was on the fast track to become an antibiotic.
So, I closed the noxious thing up and threw it in the garbage - mistake number two.
Now, the whole house was a major stink fest!
So, I dragged it out to the can and put it on the curb.
Now, its no longer my stink, it belongs to the community, but I think we may have needed a CDC intervention!
I don't even think the dog would have rolled in it! And that's saying something!

The hens are clucking at something in the yard. Probably an unsuspecting squirrel.
As I've said before, they hate squirrels.
I went out to investigate, and they begin to follow me. Everywhere that Sara went, the hens were sure to go.
Couldn't locate the reason for all the incessant clucking, but at least they shut up.
I refilled the water and grain bowls and they all marched toward them single file, like ants to a picnic.
They pecked at that for a while then started prancing around like a cross between a neurological disease or competition at the Paralympics.
Ahhhh,
Poultry in motion!

November 2nd

Halloween was not the crazy night it usually is.

We didn't have many kids come to the house.

The down side is we now have all this candy!

Crap.

Just when I was gonna start a diet.

 

 

Dinner was really fun though.

This is cocktail meatballs otherwise known as zombie eyeballs.

We decided to make it "interesting"........

 

 then there's this....

Scabs (teriyaki beef jerky)

 

 I knew the kids wouldn't sit down to a normal meal, so this worked like a charm.

I even got them to eat some veggies and fruit.....

 

 

Tonight's moon

It's a Waxing Gibbous moon.

The word gibbous means convex or protuberant.

When applied to the moon, it just means that it looks full, but is only at 98%.

The actual Full Moon will be on November 4th. I love looking at the moon. Such a beautiful sight.

I can appreciate how ancient people held it in awe......

 

On this day in 1734, Daniel Boone was born.

In 1755 Marie Antoinette was executed during the French Revolution.

There were a few assorted presidents elected to office,

but on this day,

I walked around the Crescent Park and the French Quarter.

 

It is a beautiful bike/pedestrian park along the Mississippi River.

I hadn't even known it existed!

It is quiet and beautiful.

There's lovely landscaping as well.

 

This is the view from part of our walk.

Pretty neat, huh?

 It's at the Crescent in the river.

The weather was really nice, a tad too hot for me, but nice nonetheless.

We also noted the "changing of the LEAF"

Fall didn't get the message in New Orleans.

This was the only tree that we saw that had fall foliage.

 

Next we roamed around the outskirts of the Quarter.......

 

 

Then we decided to grab a bite from Killer Poboys at 811 Conti.

The shrimp sandwich comes with sriracha aioli, herbs, radish, carrot and cucumber.

Delish!

Good with a side of smothered greens.

 

Then back down Royal.

We peeped into a few courtyards.

In the hustle bustle of the French Quarter, the courtyards are an oasis.

 

 

 

and here's a couple wrought iron balconies on Dauphine Street.

 

 

 

Then back to Kenner.............

And the girls.......

 

I caught Nugget in the bag of shavings checking it out.

I shooed her out, but she started shrieking like the Bride of Frankenstein and kept going back in.

So, I picked her up and parked her in the coop to lay her egg.

We did this dance several times......

I thought she finally wasn't interested in the bag anymore.

I was wrong.

Now,

she's obsessed with the bag.

 

After I took this picture, I found an egg in it!

This is Nugget with her head in the bag.

I think she thinks she's hiding.

She can't see me so, in her mind, I'm gone.

Goofy chicken........

 

And,

now for another

girl...

Our fur baby

Leia.

The best dog ever!

 

 

 

October 21st

Yesterday, October 20th, was our 21st Wedding anniversary.
Wow! Time flies. 
We've been together since 1991, so in actuality, its been 26 years.
That means its been......
312 months,
9490 weeks
227,760 hours &
13,665,600 minutes. If I did the math right.....
When you think of sharing your life with someone, I mean all the ups and downs, it really is an "all or nothing" commitment. Love changes over time, but the sharing, caring, laughing, compassion and devotion never do. That's not to say that there haven't been times that we couldn't stand the sight of each other, but he's always been my life saver in a sometimes turbulent sea. There's no more of the "I'll manage this life alone", thank God. We are on this big blue marble for such a short time, and the human animal is certainly of the pack mentality. We have made our pack. We are a package deal. I love you and I'll never take that proclamation lightly.

I don't know why, but lately I've been accident prone. Last week I slipped in the tub. The aforementioned husband decided to spray it with a bleach type cleanser and neglect to tell me. As I got in, I went skating along the tub trying to get a foot hold or hand grip of something, anything and went down like a Dow Jones Stock Market crash and landed on my knees.
As I knelt there, definitely not in prayer, unless it was for the bleach spraying culprit to succumb to the same fate as me, I assessed my situation. The shower curtain was on top of my head along with the rod. I felt the top of my head and, yep, I had a bump! I'm also pretty sure I managed to say several NSFW words too!
The right knee was throbbing, the left hip was bruised and my right shin was skinned. Even with the bump on the left side of my head, I managed to not sustain much "hull" damage. So, now to get up.
This part was the hardest.
I'm pretty sure its hysterical to watch an old lady get up, but as I realized shortly after I fell, I was alone in the house.
Yeah, yeah "I've fallen and I can't get up!"
Its true!
But I managed.
Then a day later......
I'm cleaning a can of soup out so I can put it in the box for recycle and I sliced open my first finger on my right hand.
Wonderful.
I finished cleaning the can (after all I'm consistent) and attempted to stop the bleeding.
Had to clean out the cut - (Campbell's veggie soup isn't consistent with healing).
Now, I don't wanna be a baby but, the damned cut hurt and I'm still sore from "The Fall".
Plain water wasn't doing the trick, there was residual soup in there. Peroxide was my go to cleaner.
Jesus!!!!
It felt like the old bubbly stuff was battery acid!
I toughed it out and located the miracle healing ointment, AKA Neosporin!
Band Aids are fast becoming a limited item in this house.......
So, is that all? Have you managed not to clutz out again???
Oh, no!
Oops, I did it again!
I'm eating lunch in the kitchen while reading a murder mystery on my Nook.
(That's probably my first mistake - not paying attention while eating).
I start to choke. I was eating a leftover chicken, Swiss and lettuce sandwich. It wasn't a small choke but a full bodied, all hands on deck, HACK!
I do a quick mental assessment. I'm still breathing, no need to throw myself over a chair to perform the Heimlich on myself and yes, I'm home alone again, so it seems ok.
But.......
The violent cough is just starting to amp up. My bladder won't stand for this shit and rebels!
My eyes want to get in on this rebellion too. They start to squirt and now I can't see. Then the nose starts to run! Holy Hell! It feels like I'm squirting from everywhere!
As I start to get my systems in check, I let out a burp.
Not really a burp......
It was an epic BELCH!
The kind of belch that erupts violently via the nostrils, burning nose hairs on the way out.
Annnnd, the eyes start their squirting again.
Everybody's gotta get into the act!
That was the last of my "problems". And as they say, things come in threes.
I hope to God, the curse finally is lifted!

On the lighter side........
I love a good pun.
Where'd that come from?
Just go with it...........

This one was too good not to include.

 

 

 

I hadda end with a chicken pun...

 

 

PSA: Weather permitting, go outside to see the Orionid Meteor Shower. It happens every October. Its caused by debris from Halley's comet as it skims our atmosphere.

 

 

(I have an Orion pun)

 

October 13th

Today is Friday the 13th!

What exactly does that mean?

There is a lot of superstition surrounding this date.

I won't go into the origins or the reasons people believe this, but it makes for a pretty scary movie.

 

My Grandmother was very superstitious.

As an Irish Catholic, I guess she came by it naturally.

She had a superstition for quite a bit of situations.

Never, ever open an umbrella in the house.

It will bring "hard times". 

If the hem of your skirt or dress was turned up, you corrected it and it meant that you'd get a new one.

Don't whistle in the house.

It brings bad luck.

If you dropped an eating utensil, it meant that company is coming.

She carried a four leaf clover in her missal.

 

Even with her belief in, what I thought was silly, superstitions, she was quite the pragmatist.

The world to her was black and white.

 

I, on the other hand, don't believe in superstitions or coincidence.

Like Occam's Razor.

If there's competing theories,

so the simplest

is the right answer.

Not the weirdest.

 

As kids, we went to a dentist in the Mason Blanche building.

His office was on the 12th floor.

Oddly, there wasn't a 13th floor.

But, hey, this is New Orleans, right........

but,

Its not a local superstition regarding the number 13.

It is everywhere...

 

 

 

Then there's this one......

Breaking a mirror.

What's the deal?

In my life, I've broken mirrors.

I would hope that my clumsy self didn't cause a 7 or more year imposition of bad luck.

I mean, its only a mirror!

Why?

 

 

 

 

Don't walk under a ladder.

Ok.

I get this one.

Makes sense.

I mean, you might get hit on the head by a can of paint!

 

 

 

 

What about spilled salt?

So, you spill some salt,

Now the table is messed up,

So, then you toss some over your shoulder?

And the floor is now messed up too?

Really?

Just more salt to clean up.

This one is just goofy.

 

 

 

A black cat crossing your path.

C'mon!

A cute little black kitty........

(OK, this one does kinda looks like Satan's spawn).

 

 

 

There won't be another Friday the 13th in October till 2023.

Wow!

Today is kind of a big thing.

 

Especially with the tie in to Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween......

These are in stores now.

Take my money!!!!

 

Full disclosure here......

I'm coming clean.

I have never seen "Friday the 13th"

Or the complete movie,

"Halloween".

 

I have my reasons.

I'm too scared!

Yes, I've said it,

I'm chicken....

 

(cool segue?)

 

These are today's output from the girls.

The blue egg is from Hazel.

The tan egg is Pepper's

And

The chocolate egg is Ethel's.

 

This is especially pertinent because today is

World Egg Day!

Go, girls!!!!

 

This is a typical output.

We get between 3 to 4 a day.

Some days they don't lay at all.

We haven't had a day yet where all of them lay an egg.

So,

In our house of 5 people, we break even.

But, the upside is, we haven bought eggs in quite a while.

 

Lucy is getting ready to lay. She is beginning that submissive behavior.

When we approach her, she squats.

and her comb is darkening.

All are "ready" signs.

She's starting to look too much like Ethel.

We are gonna have to put a zip tie bracelet loosely on her right leg.

She's in the nest checking it and me, out.

 

 

 

Nugget is molting.

There's soft reddish feathers all over the yard.

Looks like they had a pillow fight!

Mostly,chickens go through a molt yearly.

They sometimes suspend laying during this time too.

It gives their reproductive systems a break.

Doesn't last long,

About a week.

She's not happy that I put her on the nest.

She's clucking and giving me the stink eye.

 

 

 

 

Ethel, however, is brooding.

That means all she wants to do is sit on eggs.

If we let her, she'll sit for about 21 days, and leave only to eat, drink and poop.

That's the approximate time it takes to hatch chicks.

During this time the hen typically won't lay.

Poor thing.......

she doesn't know her eggs aren't fertile.

We keep moving her around to break that habit.

 

So tonight, I've got a dozen eggs,

we're having breakfast for dinner.

Thanks

Girls!