Laying the good life..............

I don't know if I have ever told you how much I love having my girls around me.

On Sept. 11, 2001 ..... as Honey and I sat on the porch swing and watched Air Force One fly over our Midwest sky ..... I told him I wanted to "hunker down in Donahue with my flowers and my chickens."

Now .... there was one problem about "hunkering down in Donahue with my chickens". I didn't have any. And until then, Honey wasn't too keen on the idea. Ok -- the answer was always "no." Chickens just didn't fit his plans. And he wasn't too sure about them fitting my plans!

So Honey gave in and gave me "chickens" for Christmas. We were going to have 10 hens. Ten. He built a little coop and run. And didn't tell me that he thought the chicken-idea would quickly run its course.

Nope.

Eight years later..... there are still chickens. Black chickens, white chickens. brown chickens, yellow chickens. There are chickens with top-knots on their heads and chickens with fuzzy feet that look like they are wearing pajamas. Lots of chickens. Almost 80 some chickens.

There are light brown eggs and dark brown eggs. There are sage green eggs and pale blue eggs. There big eggs and little eggs. And occasionally, a white egg!

The girls are not relegated to the soup pot as they age. They lay when they can. And they hangout and gently cluck throughout the runs.

This weekend, the potting shed will be moved to a new slab of concrete to become (as we call it)... the up-scale poultry complex. Two coops .... larger runs... more space ... more grass. Unfortunately, because I insist on having flowers to sell, they can't just roam the gardens during the spring and summer. And because our local fox population seems to be increasing ... larger enclosed spaces seem to be the right option to prevent an all-you-can-eat chicken buffet for those critters!

So to celebrate the new facilities and my continuing love-affair with feathered friends..... guess what I got? Cute, aren't they??? Araucanas.

Hey! It wasn't my fault. I met an enabler. Ok -- I have met a couple of them and I quickly fall under their spell.

Friends don't let friends buy chickens alone.