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Before their 1st month of life, it was obvious, I'm good with my chickens. Intuitive. Oddly, understanding their commands. Until getting my girls I was a chicken virgin.
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If you understand dog/cat commands, you should probably understand chickens. Maybe not.
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My chickens give me pleasure, daily. Entertaining, never boring. They're beautiful too. Calming, like watching ocean waves.
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More, I've discovered chicken people, such as myself, overlap much in our DNA, becoming quick friends.
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It hasn't been lost on Beloved how much better I am with chickens & gardens, than a man.
Pic, above, here.
After we had lunch today near our home, I did the ubiquitous, cleared Beloved's plate into napkins. For some reason, my pleasure with his tasty crumbs, irks him no end. "Oh, the girls love a biscuit. Pizza is their fav, but cantaloupe....", I got the-look. Quickly I mentioned his homemade biscuits I dole out 1/morning. My girls truly love Beloved's homemade biscuits best, "Crumb Pecking Good", were my exact words.
Pic, above, here.
Chicken, above, beautiful, and the one, below, loved well, just like my girls.
Pic, above, here.
Pic, above, here.
I don't write about 'how-to' with chickens. Not that kind of expert. My chickens are for my soul, teaching me all sorts of bible metaphors, in addition to their comedy routines, and pure joy.
Pic, above, here.
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Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, above. I went to Chatsworth, historic garden design study, years before having chickens. Now, thinking, How could I not have made sure to see her chickens?
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After getting home, and giving the girls Beloved's scraps, including a bit of biscuit, proof again, Beloved's homemade biscuits are crumb pecking good. Store bought biscuit crumbs, ignored.
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If you're thinking of getting chickens for the 1st time, my Pinterest Chicken Board has a lot of good links.
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Garden & Be Well, XOT
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Hope you already know, The Vintage Contessa, from the top pic. She's gardens & chickens too, along with junking, vintage clothes, Italy, her sons, her husband, etc. From her latest post, "Then YOU have me in my CONTESSA CURTAIN COATS who at almost 57 would LOVE TO OWN a full length LEOPARD PRINT COAT!!!INstead,I have had coats made out of old curtains!!!I had the POCKETS MADE BIG to GATHER the HENS EGGS.I did not want to go down to the coop and scold myself for forgetting the basket……..you see I wander the garden in the cool summer mornings and enjoy visiting with THE GIRLS.They are always happy to see me!"
2 comments:
Oh I am so so happy for you and your chickens! You know, I cannot even believe it; but I got our chickens 28 years ago in Pasadena.......(a suburb of Los Angeles.) NO ONE had chickens. But my friend, a race horse trainer had these gorgeous bantams...."Mille fleur" Belgian bantams (miniatures). I looked everywhere..and told everyone (that is how to find things.....tell everyone). so my lady who made my curtains called me from San Diego and said..."I found those "Mille Fleurs!!" Here in a feed store in San Diego!
YAY. So I called my friend Eddie (I had decorated his house and his office; he had gone to Stanford with my husband....(another great story!) and I asked him to go to the feed store and pick out some chickens.
He said....well, you need four small hens and one rooster; I can do that....but how am I going to get them to Pasadena?" (he lived in Pasadena, but he was training at Del Mar at the time.....and that is San Diego 3 and a half hours away from Pasadena)
I said....."You will send them in a taxi!" Dead silence. "You are serious". I said YES!!
Adam had such fun on the phone with Eddie.....old friends from Stanford.....and he called with an ETA!
I was waiting in the courtyard when the taxi arrived......and we took all these pictures....of the taxi and the cardboard box on the backseat with the little chicks. 4 girls and one little boy.
The driver had no sense of humor.....none. He was really glad to get rid of those "noisemakers" on the back seat. It did nothing to dampen my complete joy of receiving them!
I said....."What do I owe you?"
He said......"Mr.Gregson said to tell you that the cost is on him; because he will be telling this story the rest of his life!"
(You have to pay a taxi both ways.......that was a seven hour taxi ride) I never did find out what the chickens cost....nor the ride.
What I can tell you was that it started such a joyous ride for my husband and me; our daughters (who were in college and kind of thought it was cute) but our grandchildren.....joyous ride that is still going on!
The people who bought our house in Pasadena wanted our chickens......(very chic!)
And we moved to Santa Barbara and found the same breed at a local neighbor who generously gave us 4 little hens and a rooster.
Twenty years later......same flock.....We now have 4 roosters, 10 hens....and have just hatched in the last few weeks....7 new chicks! It is a thrill a minute! We adore them!
I better post another blog post.
HAS IT REALLY BEEN FIVE YEARS since you got the GIRLS?!!!
I can hardly believe THAT......
The fact you make BISCUITS for THE BELOVED is charming.Of course they will LOVE the crumbs.......which will make those EGGS all THE MORE BETTER!
THANK YOU for sharing my CARLA COULSON Photo..............it is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE.
I have just finished READING about CHATSWORTH written by DEBO.AN account of every room what was there or what she DID in the years she was THERE.I Think YOU would ENJOY!
TARA...........I am headed to England in a few days but will not make it to CHATSWORTH, I guess it's TOO far OUT but I will be seeing The CHELSEA GARDEN SHOW and SISSINGHURST!!!PLUS, more GARDENS like GREAT DIXTER and HEVER...........is there anything I can get YOU???
I MEAN IT!!!!
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