Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Pipes Didn't Freeze And The Chickens Are Alive

It occurs to me that I have posted pictures of every damn thing in this house and yard. I mean really. Are y'all bored with it all yet? I'm not but I live here because I love it and I'm old and it's all new to me every day. And each of my chickens is unique and pretty to me whereas I'm fairly sure that a chicken is a chicken to most of you.

Well, it's not like I'm going to be cruising to Greece and sending back fabulous shots of hillsides of white buildings against a backdrop of the Mediterranean anytime soon so this is what you get.

Lloyd. Where it froze last night. Seriously! Stop laughing all you people up north. It's a big deal when it freezes here. We are not prepared! I didn't remember until eleven o'clock last night that I needed to go out and turn on all the faucets so they wouldn't freeze and burst. And of course Mr. Moon was out of town. So I put on my coat and got my little blue flashlight and went out and set ten faucets and garden sprinklers to drip and boy, was I glad to get back in the house and get in bed with my toasty little doggie! Yes! I was!
Here's where the water froze (it froze!) on the garden fence, making what we would call ice sickles.

Stop laughing!

I had to break up the chicken's water this morning. But they didn't seem too bothered by the cold. I suppose that's because they are all wearing down coats. Fluffy down coats. I spread some corn scratch over by the GarageMahal for Carol the Feral Chicken. She came running over and began to eat quite industriously. I took her picture:

Now see. I am sure to you see looks just like any of my red chickens but no, she doesn't. She looks completely different to me and I have to tell you that I have a great respect for this bird. She gives me a giant brown egg every other day. Biggest eggs I get. Huge. So I figured she deserved some corn. Next thing you know, I'll be cutting up grapes for her too.
I'm a fool for chickens.
Ms. Pam liked my chickens yesterday and I offered to help her set up some of her own but she said she lives in a neighborhood with a homeowners' association. I sighed and felt great sorrow for her but actually, I doubt she really wants chickens. She doesn't even really eat eggs. Eggs are just about beside the point with me and my chickens. But isn't it odd that we live in a world where it's okay for there to be giant evil chicken farms to supply us with our eggs but that it's against neighborhood regulations to have a few sweet hens in our back yards?
Man. We have some strange priorities in this world of ours.

So anyway, I took a few more pictures.
Here's the loquat blossoms:

They smell like baby powder. Really.

And an aloe vera blossom, standing up bravely in the morning sunshine:


And some narcissus lilies which are darling but I do not pick to bring inside because they smell like cat pee. I have enough pee odor problems in my house already. I do not need to add to it.

And so there you go. Pictures from Lloyd on a cold morning at the end of December, 2009.

And here I'll give you a little lagniappe, as they say in New Orleans.

It's the Caribbean at sunset. Remember when I went to Mexico last summer? Do you? I hardly do. It's all a dream to me now. But a sweet one.

Ah yah. Let's get on with it.

Stay warm and quit laughing at us Florida people and our clearly inferior ice sickles. We're proud of our frozen water, our chickens, our flowers that smell like cat pee.
We are aware that we do not have the fortitude to live where snow falls in great piles and drifts and mountains. We like our frozen water in cubes in our iced tea.
And at least none of us are going to be killed trying to get out of our driveway to get to the store to buy gruel and eggs or from having a giant, clearly superior ice sickle fall on us and pierce our skulls.

Uh-huh. Not us.

For which we are eternally grateful.

17 comments:

  1. I woke up cold at 3 am,, so I got up and took a hot shower. Baggy and I stayed toastie after that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my goodness, I wish I was out there this morning with all those ice-sickles! How fun.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Icicles and lagniappe and mini-rant against HOAs (HATE THEM - in Cali many make it impossible to even hang out laundry outside! Forget chickens!) and factory farms. Made me smile. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love reading about your yard. Being in MN right now with an abundance of icicles allows for a special appreciation of your beautiful yard.

    And, I for one like hearing about your chickens. I've been so worried that Sam will hurt Miss Betty. And now I'm interested in Carol. I think you definately should give her some grapes too :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. DTG- You MUST have been cold to get up at three to take a shower. I recommend putting Baggy in the microwave for a few moments before bedtime. You'll both be all warm and cozy!

    HoneyLuna- Hopefully, for your sake, it will freeze again tonight.

    Nola- They ban outdoor laundry hanging here too. What crap! What a buttload of real crap.

    Jill- Betty's fine. And you damn well I'll be cutting up grapes for Carol. That's me.

    Nicol- Well. That point will inevitably be reached.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That advice made me actually laugh out loud.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh thank ya, jebus. I seriously thought it was just ME. Because a friend of mine gave me a bunch of those bubles that you force in water, and htey are tall and lovely but yes, they SO smell like cat pee, and I thought it was just my insanity talking.

    Yeah-you call THOSE ice sickles? Please. (actually, that is impressive even to this hick).

    The GarageMahal? Classic.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've told you our neighbors have eight chickens, haven't I? My boys will bundle up every single day, go outside and cluck at them.

    I swear they understand each other.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I remember when I'd go get eggs with grandpa from his hen house. He had about a dozen chickens and a couple of very mean roosters. He'd carry a baseball bat with him when I came to gather eggs.

    Grandma was always fixing something with the eggs and I remember having fried eggs and they were so so so good. Scrambled eggs were the best at grandmas. Makes me want a chicken for her eggs!

    I can't stand cold weather or ice either. I need to move down south, further south than you perhaps so I won't see all that frozen stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Im glad you named the feral chicken. But you know what they say "you name it-you own it. They also say "you feed it-you own it". I'm sure she's super happy to be named, fed, and owned by you, Ms. Moon.

    And don't worry about the cold. My chickens survived frigid New York winters, kept laying, and were none the worse for wear. Their little fleshy bits didn't even freeze up.

    Those are very pretty ice-sickles

    ReplyDelete
  11. you know i love you and your chicken..but if you would live next to my home..and i would wake up in the morning..by the yelling of a rooster..i would only love you but not your chickens i fear

    anyway..thats the solution for the pee odor in ur house..if someone smells it and makes a face..just blam eit on the narcisus lillies..which i actually dont like that much...

    ReplyDelete
  12. DTG- I thought you'd like it. Don't tell Baggy I said that, though.

    Kori- Yep. Cat pee. For sure. And I should take some pictures of the GarageMahal. Yes I should. It's bigger than the house.

    Nancy- I believe people and chickens go way, way back. I love the image of your sons going to look at your neighbor's chickens. Just like Harley from next door coming to see mine!

    Rebecca- My roosters are hand-fed and they are sweet to me. Unless I try and catch them, which I do not. Uh-huh. Those claws are huge.
    And it doesn't freeze here very often. If it did, I'd probably know how to spell icicle.

    Michelle- Yep. They say that chickens are fine in the cold although I noticed that a lot of my hens were hanging out in the hen house today. Maybe there were just tired of being in the same space as the roosters.
    And I'll feed Carol if she continues to give me such lovely eggs. Gladly.

    Danielle- They sleep pretty late, actually. They're lazy birds.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The idea of you freaking out over a little frost makes me chuckle.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've been talking to Denny about getting chickens. In spite of homeowner assn, I think I could manage it since technically, they're not farm animals, they're birds. So far he's not buying it, the part about a coop and a fence and heating for when it's cold. Money and appearance and he says it wouldn't stop the raccoons and foxes and coyotes and cats.

    And most of the time I'm OK with buying organic eggs but your chicken stories and egg pictures make me want my own...keep posting them so the rest of us can enjoy vicariously.

    And have a WONDERFUL Blue Moon New Year.

    ReplyDelete
  15. "ice sickles" made me so happy, please always spell it like that.
    And who knew Aloe bloomed? Amazing!
    love your writing, your ways of seeing and being and sharing, as always, as always.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Daddy X- QUIT LAUGHING! I TOLD YOU!

    Kathleen- Especially if you only get hens. And build a stout coop. And a place for them to get in out of the weather. You would love chickens.

    Bethany- Yep. Aloe blooms beautifully.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.