Oh what a week.
Oh what a week I’ve had.
It started with the death of Vesper and it’s ending with some holiday time for a tired bird!
Before I zip off into the great blue yonder, I want to introduce you to the new ladies and let you see how Judith has grown!
All the girls are spending the day and night out in the chicken ark and they seem to love it! We’ve been letting them free range in the yard as well when we have a moment to supervise.
After the tragic passing of Vesper, Judith seemed very distressed and we knew she needed to have some poultry friends again so we zipped off to Idaho Falls and claimed two new ladies from the flock of the poultry professor of Idaho State University (he really knows his chickens).
We were planning on securing one friend for Judith but I couldn’t resist one more sweet little hen and we came home to The Gables with two new ladies:
Winona the White and Rhonda the Red.
Rhonda is an exotic lady (literally) and will lay me pointed eggs. She’s quite a debutante and in a fabulously lazy fashion, she’ll spend all day in bed sipping champagne and eating small scones.
Winona is actually an ameracauna! This is the same breed that Vesper was! She’ll lay me blue, green or pink eggs and is one truly wild little girl. She has a strong personality and is fiercely independent which makes her the leader of the flock. She’s quite striking.
Rhonda and Winona are six weeks older than Judith and so little blondie chickie baby looks like the runt of the flock — she’s still so sweet and soft and friendly. Judith is my chickeny delight.
And I promised you images of the chicken ark! So here they are! RW designed our ark himself and I think it’s a pretty spectacular chicken abode. As you can see, in this photo, both ends of the ark flip down so we can herd the ladies into the sheltered nesting box or into the open space after they’ve been out strolling or playing croquet in the grass. The long wooden bars on the side of the ark allow us to pick the entire thing up and move it to various locations in the yard which guarantees that the girls will always have fresh grass to nibble on and their….byproduct….will fertilize whatever yard space we set the coop down on.
The sheltered nesting box also features a small air vent so that on warmer days the girls will experience a nice breeze coming in and out of their indoor space.
Winona really delights in perching on that upper roosting bar. Most of the time, if the girls are inside, they’re all lined up on this roost. Comfy. The entry door to the roosting and nesting area features a sliding door so I can lock the ladies in or out or I can leave it open and let them come and go freely.
There are a couple of perches in the open coop area for the girls too, in case they want to get their toes out of the grass and take a peek at the mountain view (which is somewhat visible, in this photo).
They’re right at home in the ark and RW did such a lovely job of designing and building it!
In other news, a mourning dove has decided to build a nest in a nearby tree. She perches on our grapevines in the sun when the morning light is softest and strongest. I think she was sent to me, in this time. For this time. I watch her from breadth of our kitchen window while I take my coffee or tea and feel very peaceful. Indeed.
Last night, I decided to start reading the most beautiful and disturbing book I have ever read in my life. I finished it in a couple of hours and then fell asleep. When I woke up, the morning seemed brilliant and the fresh paint on the walls of the bedroom seemed to capture the pale reflection of a handful of colors. I thought that perhaps the unsettled feelings I’ve been holding in my heart, this week, had seeped up and out of my bones and were drifting about there, against the texture of the ceiling, like a fine mist. I opened the windows to let in the day, the mountain wind, the scent of the plum blossoms and something reached into my home, gathered that mist up in a pair of able hands and ushered it out of my life.
Friday puts anchor down in this peaceful harbor.
Take a row boat to shore and stroll into town on those sea legs.
We all deserve rest and comfort.
xx
The Noisy Plume
PS Thank you so much for your lovely comments on the post from yesterday. You’re the brightest beams.
so much appreciate glimpses into the secret life of chickens.
the colour of eggs to be lay'd.
their everyday joys and activities.
quite ingenious ark and housing created by RW!
i used to raise exotic chickens and loved the everyday interaction with them, gathering their bright jewel eggs.
even had one that came in the house and visited, a tiny white-crested black polish hen.
may you have much deserved rest for you mind, body, and spirit.
je t'aime, ma cherie. and i can't WAIT to see the poultry harem for myself, in person, in about 2 months. it's still so hard to believe. and i'm still going to meet them wearing a pair of shin guards. just so you know 🙂 love you in this season, and every other season too. feel the embrace of the miles between us, for soon it shall be no more.
We've finally met the entire "flock" and they seem very happy! Happy egg making to you!
You are just the best and those little ladies will soon know how lucky they are. What a beautiful, peaceful, loving, hugging, producing, exotic group they are!!! Hugs and clucks to all…..XXOO Sal
Lovely ladies! Hello 🙂
So happy that your flock has grown again <3 What beauties!
Great to see the new ladies! They're both elegant…but their butts don't hold a feather to Judith's.
And WOW, I love that Ark. What a great design in both form and function! An airy, cosy, portable A-frame…brilliant. Good on RW!
Here's wishing you a lovely holiday. Fly into peace, my friend.
🙂
D
"We all deserve rest and comfort."
I love you.
I must admit great chicken envy {as well as chicken ark envy}! So quaint and wonderful. The eggs will be treasures.
May I ask what book you read?
e.
I must admit great chicken envy {as well as chicken ark envy}! So quaint and wonderful. The eggs will be treasures.
May I ask what book you read?
e.
I must admit great chicken envy {as well as chicken ark envy}! So quaint and wonderful. The eggs will be treasures.
May I ask what book you read?
e.
well excuse me, but what book would that be? you can't dangle that carrot and not deliver…
i hope you find comfort today, both you and your new bangs.
I have to agree with observant mme bookling…what book was it that you read? I am glad you are preparing for R&R, I plan to work, no choice…ha ha
I like 'she' referring to it as a harem but I seriously hope that you don't allow any roosters to walk in that A shaped house : )
Happy trails…is that what one says to a jolly traveler? Happy trails and enjoy!
xx
YEAH. what book???? i adore books, especially on days off, lazy times to read….
too many of us wanna know the book title….
PLEASE?
yeah i want to know what book too! do tell…
in other news, your chickies are beautiful, can't WAIT to see pics of those multi-coloured eggies!! i betcha they'll make dynomite morning omelettes…
it's beautiful, sunny and warm here today. wish you were coming home soon so we could go for a nice cold drink on a hot patio.
xoxo
Ok. The book is Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson BUT….be warned. It's beautiful and fiercely TRAUMATIZING.
🙂
***
I would like to be clear about one thing. I do NOT recommend this book simply because I will not be responsible for the trauma that you will experience with nearly every turn of the page. Sorry to say. The story is awful. Simply awful. I started it and finished it for the choice combination of diction and syntax (such as I had never read before) that appeared now and again…and left me reeling.
This is not a nice book.
I am not advising you to read it.
Not at all.
Save yourselves and never look at this title.
And that's all I have to say.
Your next job should be writing the book reviews for The New York Times:))
GUFFAW!!!
I know.
I probably just helped sell 100 copies of this title. Crap.
My comfort came in the mail making a lot of noise from the mountains of Idaho. The Specimen earrings are dangling on my ears <3
I have to say I'd never seen a chicken's home before, this is serious!
that aptly named ark looks wonderful.
Sturdy made for heavy yard sailing.
Hurrah for the gorgeous ark! And welcome to the lovely new ladies, I'm glad that J is in good company 🙂
Ooh!
Thanks for the chicken and ark love, everyone! The ladies curtsy and blush at your compliments as well.
Also.
I feel badly about the above book review….yeesh. I keep going back and forth on how I feel about it. Actually, I just don't know how I feel about it, the fact that I've dedicated so much thought to it throughout the day proves that the content is certainly provocative…Carson is a poet. A beautiful poet. And she does a poetic job of telling what is such a terribly disturbing and sad tale…..
…I just don't know what else to say. I loved it. I hated it. It was wonderful. It was dastardly.
Sigh.
Cluck cluck.
Life as a chicken must be easy. There's nothing to read except the lay of the land.
xx
dear jillian.
don't feel bad about your book review comments.
your first feeling about it drew us in – "….most beautiful and disturbing book…."
i, for one, am captivated when someone says their book was read in a couple hours' time. what drew them in, i wonder….
so with that, i have a copy and shall read it. our local library has a vast and varied collection. small and three rooms, but many books.
feathering nestful ark-chicken sleep to you….
Ah ha!!! Sounds just like the local Alaskan library I used to patronize!!! TWO rooms there, in Glennallen, and lots of books!
🙂
xx
Wow, so jealous of you! I badly want to have some chickens, but don't quite live in an ideal city for it. Goal for next move: chicken friendly.
MOVE TO MISSOULA!
We'll be chickeny state-neighbors!