Thursday, April 21, 2022

Wondering, Wandering, Peace


 So for those of you who did not read the comments I left last night, I will now report on how last night's internal exam of a hen went. 
It went fine. 
The procedure did not appear to cause a great deal of discomfort to Annie who stood in the sink while I plumbed her depths. And I did not find an egg. From what I've read, if you can't feel an egg within two inches, you are not dealing with an egg bound chicken.
Honestly, I think that she, like her sister, may have been attacked by something. One of her wings looks a little funky and I noticed last night that underneath it, a lot of feathers appear to be missing. I'm certainly not a vet and I didn't do as thorough an examination as I should have but it's not easy to hold a chicken and examine under her wing by oneself. Again, I told her she was a brave, strong girl and I wrapped her up in the towel and took her back to the nest. I am starting to think that I am most likely causing her more stress by trying to "help" her than it's worth, especially since I am obviously not helping her at all. 
So. 
She seemed fine this morning but still with the very swollen butt. 
Darla and Violet are continuing their egg incubations. I caught another hen laying on top of Violet today, and indeed, there was another egg under her when I checked a little while ago. Two more under Darla too, and I took those. I'm keeping her to ten. I let Violet keep the three she's sitting on but I feel sort of bad because before she started brooding, I put two of her eggs under Darla, wanting another little bantam so Violet isn't sitting on any of her own eggs. 
Again- here's a stupid human trying to assist a chicken who is doing exactly what chickens have been doing quite well on their own for six or seven thousand years. 

I have not been very productive today. I met up with Jessie and Levon at a local farm-to-table place for lunch and between that and going to the library, it seems like my day just flew by without me getting much accomplished. It was grand fun, though. 


No pun intended. 
Levon got a grilled cheese sandwich which he proclaimed to be gooder than macaroni and cheese. High praise indeed! 
I had a salad with a crab cake on it and it would have been a healthy-ish lunch had I not used approximately three-quarters of a gallon of blue cheese dressing on it. Hey! It was ROSEMARY blue cheese dressing. 
I swear, I have left all will power and the making of good, nutritional food choices fall by the wayside. I mean, I still eat good food, it's just that the form I eat it in is extremely questionable when it comes to fat and calories. 
I remember when I would have just eaten the salad without a crab cake on it and used vinegar as a dressing. Guess what? I was a lot thinner then. What happened to me? Did I really give up giving a shit or has a lifetime of restricting every bite that goes into my mouth finally gotten to me? Both? Sort of? 
I do not know. 

Moving on, when I got home I got out the garden cart, a shovel, and my pruners and went out front and dug up the Norfolk Island Pine that was my Christmas tree for all the years it could still fit into a pot but which froze down to the brown bone a few months ago. Into the cart that went. Then I dug up a briar vine with a root that looked like an alien life form and which, had it been a yam, would have fed a family of twenty-seven. I picked up some sticks in the front yard, added them to the cart along with the bamboo I've been kicking over, kicked a little more that's grown up in the last two days, pulled a few small invasive rice paper plants which are hard to see because they're surrounded by such thick invasive Crocosmia which I haven't even started pulling yet, and towed all of that to the burn pile. Although it was less than an hour of work I was sweating like a beast by the time I was done. It's back up into the eighties here but not yet into the nineties so I should be grateful. 

My sweetheart will be home tomorrow. His time away has gone like a blink to me. Rather like a dream in which my days are far more formless and wandering without anyone else's schedule to consider. I do not have a demanding husband but he is another human with whom I share my life, my space and as such, his needs and wants must be considered which I am more than eager to do and yet, at the same time, having this time by myself is a sort of gift which I very much enjoy. I would feel completely different if I didn't know he was coming home when he's been away. I am vastly aware of that.  

Here's a little rose that is blooming in my beside-the-kitchen bed. 


I do not remember planting that rose and I swear to you, if you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't see it if it wasn't blooming because it's so tiny. And yet, it is probably the most exquisite rose in my yard. 

I have noticed that Magnolia Grandifloras are beginning to bloom. If I live to be a thousand (fat chance) I will never take those blossoms for granted and will never fail to consider them a wonder and a sort of miracle. 

Love...Ms. Moon


24 comments:

  1. Well, so the chicken had a false pregnancy then! I wonder if whatever got her sister attacked her, too. Poor little guy.

    I like how you love what you have and enjoy your days.

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    1. You know what? I DO love what I have. So very, very much.

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  2. Hope Annie will live on and improve..... glad not eggbound, but she still sound like she needs to overcome wounds? Lovely day for you....beautiful rose...... and...to heck with any kind of *diet* when you have blue cheese dressing to put on a crab salad. You go, woman! Life too short to pass that up!
    Susan M.

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    1. She seems fine and dandy but just with a very swollen butt.
      She's a hardy little hen!

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  3. That little hen - so much fuss, she will be the talk of the flock. Darling photo of two chicks up top! Chicken drama - here comes that pesky human again, hide your eggs!! I agree with Susan- life- too short to pass that up.

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    1. When I showed Levon the picture of me holding Annie he asked, "Why did you bring that chicken in your house?" I said, "Well, it's a long story." And then I told him the very basic outlines of it and he said, "That wasn't a very long story.

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  4. I wonder if chicken wounds abscess, like cats. That could account for the swelling.
    It is a fine little rose. Too bad they don't stay forever.

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    1. Could be! But her comb isn't pale and in all other regards she looks completely normal!
      Roses have lives that are way too short, don't they?

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  5. That rose is a real beauty ... such a delicate color of pink!!
    Did Annie seem to enjoy the warm water sitz bath the other day? That might help her little swollen fluffy butt!

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    1. She didn't fight the bath. Whether or not she enjoyed it, I do not know. But I stroked her a lot which I enjoyed, at least. Chickens are so soft.

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  6. Love the photo of those 2 sweet chicks up top! A lady who isn't afraid to show up for her humans and animals alike and get her hands all dirty...You're the best! May Annie come through! You always make me chuckle by saying you weren't very productive today, then go on to list eleventy-seven things you did...puts my ass to shame! I know you'll be glad to have your man back by your side but you are such a dear to allow him to go off guilt-free and do his thing...that's a big key to a successful marriage IMO. The photo of Levon and the rose are both breathtaking.
    Angie D

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    1. Well, I certainly do not mind getting my hands dirty and if I did, I'd be in deep trouble with the life I'm living.
      Mr. Moon is safely home and and already down the road at a friend's house, helping set up for a fish fry tomorrow. He'll be back soon though. Martini time!

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  7. In the photo, Annie looks quite perky, so I'm thinking she's got a good chance, just needs a little time for healing. As for the foods you eat, I say forget about fats and calories, just eat what you want, but restrict the amounts, like half a cup of dressing instead of half a bottle and so on. You now what I mean. Eat what you love, just less of it.
    I love looking into the depths of roses and seeing all the different shades and tints.

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    1. Annie does look perky, doesn't she? She just doesn't look like an ailing chicken. I'm hoping for the best now.
      Yes. I try to eat smaller portions.
      "Try" being the key word.

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  8. I am glad that Annie looks so alert! Sounds stupid, but I rush here in the morning to check on your chicken.

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  9. I love seeing your dear, beautiful face. Poor Annie. I hope she will soon be okay again.

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    1. Thank you, sweet friend. I am just a rough old bird now myself.
      I think Annie is okay. I hope so.

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  10. Gosh, that is a pretty rose! Nature has so many treats for us if we look around.
    Glad Mr. Moon will be back tonight for martinis! Enjoy your weekend!

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    1. Some days I can barely get anything done for just looking around me at what's growing in this yard. It is all so beautiful right now.

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  11. I love that photo of you and Annie! If I were you, I'd put it in a frame. I'm glad to hear she's doing OK and apparently not egg-bound. I'm also impressed you digitally examined the interior of a chicken to a depth of two inches! Good Lord!

    I had a feeling that Norfolk Island Pine might not make it. Oh well.

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  12. Eat what you like. You've earned it.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.