Predator

Just went out to check on the chickens before going to bed, and I think I met Blues killer.  It's a giant OWL.  Yep, an owl.   He flew over my head as I was walking around the fence.  He was probably just trying to let me know that this is his hunting ground and to get lost.  He flew over my head and perched on top of the house (the big people house, not the chicken house).   The photo is really hard to see, but thats him at the top.  Watching me.  Laughing at me. Probably calculating if I'm a threat or food.

Annie's Chickens

We've been working like crazy to get the run finished for the chickens (run is a fancy word for playpen for chickens).  During this crazy two day period of nonstop poultry construction, we lost one.  Our baby turkey named Blue, got away.  We aren't really sure when or how, but he is gone.  Sometime Tuesday night he disappeared.    Most likely taken by foxes, but if you happened to be out walking and see a light gray turkey, with a long funny neck, he's mine.    Annie and I have both been upset over this lose.  Me because he costs money and time to replace, meaning more work for me and Annie because that was her baby blue.    We still have a third of the fence that needs to be finished, but it's up enough for them to run around.  

Annie had a blast introducing her girls to their new area.   She ran around with them for a while and then being to worn out to keep chaseing them, sat and held one in her lap for a while. 

Here's Annie's chicken catching method, step by step:

 

No, peek-a-boo is not the first step.

Memories of being pecked in the eye by Puff, still fresh in her mind, Annie was just being cautious when approaching her chickens.  

 

Evidently she thought that pretending to be a chicken would allow her closer access to catch her bird.  She clucked and pecked her way over to Gertrude, and to my surprise...  

Success!!!!    Annie caught Gertrude in record time.  Puff got away, but don't think Annie isn't going to hold her.  

In fact, right after she put Gertrude down Annie went after Puff and caught her.  She carried her around the run for quite a while.  You may notice that Gertrude and Puff are sisters.  They are both Buff Orpingtons and they are the softest sweetest chickens in our hen house.

After a while Annie decided she was done (haha, get the joke?) playing.  I was shocked.  She'd only been in there three hours.  Then I realized she only wanted to play with the door we just finished hanging.  

So this is where we are in our project.  Far more man hours in then expected with more to go.  Hopefully we'll finish before winter.  

(Joke: Only turkeys are Done.  You won't get this unless you had a teacher in school who was big on grammar)

back seat drivers

I spent yesterday with my sisters two oldest daughters and Annie.   They were quite entertaining until we got in the car, and then things got hilarious.   Oh yes, from the back seat I hear Sadie tell me, "thats a red light aunt Maddie, that means you gotta stop."  "OK, Sadie thanks."  Each light, I was instructed what to do and it was cute until the other two started to chime in, which created a mixture of laughing and fear.    "geen light a go light," ruby tells me.  Annie of coarse tells me, "yellow, red, geen all mean go super fast, mommy."   Ah yes, my little speed racer loves to live on the wild side.   And her comment of course launched a full on argument as to what light colors mean what.   When the others girls say stop, my Annie says go.  Do you think this a sign?  Am I in big trouble when she gets older?  At least she doesn't follow the pack, right?  Although in matters of driving safety I hope she learns to.  

the turtle and the hare

Well once again I'm struggling with another stupid medical problem, and the new meds are making me really sick.   The worst part is not being able to play with Annie.  Any quick movements seem to set off the cramping in my stomach, so I'm moving at the pace of a very slow turtle.  Annie and I have made a game out of it, but I'm not sure how long she'll keep hunching her back and walking at an excruciatingly slow pace.   At least I feel OK for the first part of the day.  It doesn't seem to hit me really bad until the evening.     It makes me sad to think of my poor sister keeping up with three kids while sick.  I completely understand orange ice cream for breakfast.   Yesterday Annie had cheese puffs and a juice box for dinner.  Tonight I'm forcing myself to make a real meal for her.    

late night terrors

I think possibly the worst part of being a single mom is just not having a man's presence in the house.  Being lonely and financially strapped definitely takes a back seat to the feeling of vulnerability one gets when things go bump in the night.    Last night I was up late reading, no surprise there, when I hear loud banging coming from the basement.  Not a normal house sound.   I calmed myself down, not wanting to be the woman who calls the police because a broom fell.   But then it happens again.   Done.  I run upstairs, pluck Annie from her bed and lock us in the bathroom (the only room that locks) with my cell phone.  I'm thanking God every second for my neighbors barking dog, Sophie.   Because of Sophie's 3 am barking escapades I have the Clayton police on speed dial.    Within minutes they have police surrounding the house looking for any compromised point of entry.   The basement door was unlocked, and they come in to investigate.  I can honestly say I've never been so scared in my life.  Not the police coming in, but the idea of someone bad in the house to get us.     Well there was no one bad in the house.   Turns out my mysterious house guest had found his way into the duct work in the basement.  Which of coarse bangs and echo's loudly.     Not able to sleep after that, Annie and I turn on every light in the house, and watch a movie upstairs with a chair blocking the door.   I really need a dog.

My day off

So Monday was my first day off in a while.  Annie and I spent it almost entirely outside in the yard.  Of course she gets to play while I'm hard at work, but we both had fun.   I got all the trim work painted for the chicken house, built a trellis (from scrap wood I found in the yard) for our green beans and kentucky wonders (followed by me untangling them and training them up the trellis).   Then we weeded the raised garden bed, and I had to move a few potato plants in order to give them enough room to keep growing.    Cleaned out half of the garage, where we found more toys for the kids to play with and Annie had a toy cleaning adventure with the hose.  

My next project is to get mulch down and find out what's wrong with the rose bushes.  They are looking a little sad.  

Here's a photo update on the Chicken Run.  We have all the posts in and just have to get the wire fencing up then we're done.   I'm most excited about hanging the screen door we got.  It's so cute.    It looks terribly junky right now with the makeshift run in place, but once it's all done it will look really nice.  I promise.

She outsmarted me again

Well I thought I had her on Sunday morning.   I hid every single princess dress in the house.  She had nothing to wear but regular clothes, or so I thought.    Little miss Annie unwilling to be outsmarted came up with an ingenious idea.   She came into the kitchen that morning and said, "I wear my doll clothes mommy."  Ah yes, she was indeed wearing her doll clothes.   A completely see through dress that barely covered her bottom all the way.   I couldn't decide if I should cry or laugh when I turned around to see her.    Thoughts of being arrested crossed my mind if I let her out of the house in it.  I am now committed to praying that she develop a rather amish dress style for when she enters her teen years.  

quick update on Sunday,

I guess a lot of people noticed that we weren't at church last Sunday.  We decided to check out a church near our house, just to see what it was like and because they have a single women's group that meets there regularly.     I was really hoping to like it there, but it didn't feel like home.   I really struggle with meeting other single women and Riverside has nothing to help me do that.  I'm not saying anything bad about the church, just that I've learned that I am one of those people who needs help meeting people.  I don't come off as it, but I am terribly shy.  I do not strike up conversations well (unless I've been drinking, that is) and I often find myself to scared to even say hello to the person next to me.   And I am most scared of single women.  I can't say why for sure, but mostly I see them as already  having a large group of friends that keep them too busy to get to know me.  Probably because I've actually had women say that to me.   

So that is where we were on Sunday.