Chicken Update!

I LOVE MY PEEPS!

There. I said it. Don't you feel better? I know I do.

Okay, so Peep is growing as slowly as molasses pours in January. The other five peeps are growing in leaps and bounds. Lookit my baby Peep!

Aren't her bell bottoms the cutest things ever?!?

What she really likes, though, is to peck at my iPhone while I'm trying to photograph her, or trying to type on FaceCrack. I think she thinks the symbols and images are bugs.

So ugly she's cute

Here are Polish (as in the nationality or sausage, since that's her breed), Red, Caramel, Ginger (her feet are green) and Mary Ann (her feet are blue):

Of course you can't see their feet. And of course they aren't in order. Left to right it's  Polish, Caramel, Ginger, Red and Mary Ann

Polish is a royal pain in the butt. She's mean to my Peep. She fights with the others all the time. Seems to want to be the top hen in the pecking order. But Red, from our original chicken threesome, is also a dominant bird. They're living together somewhat harmoniously, probably because it's too hot to fight much, but I can't help but wonder if a fight's not brewing somewhere down the line.

Red's a fiesty girl!

Ginger is shy

I enjoy the chickens immensely. Every morning I spend forty five minutes to an hour sitting on the porch with Peep on my shoulder or lap, snuggling, while the other five run around the yard eating bugs and scratching the ground. We do the same thing in the evening before dusk, but I'll put Peep in the herb or vegetable beds so I can weed and she can play at being a big chicken. Mostly she runs back to me. Sometimes she'll flap her wings, trying out the new feathers. More often she just wants me to scratch her chest while she naps. Cute thing.

Her coloring is pretty. I think she'll be a golden laced Cochin, like this one.

I knew this about chickens, but they've been so darn adorable that I'd forgotten - chickens stink! Their poo is nasty. And everywhere. And my dogs want to eat it. And the poo attracts flies. Last week my Hunny came out to the porch and grabbed the broom, then hose, and said, "I know we raise chickens, but we can't let our back yard look like the Beverly Hillbillies anymore." Thanks Hunny. Does that mean I can't get my cement pond? Seriously, though. Chickens are messy and smelly.


I still love them.


So that's the update in a nutshell. Peeps are growing. I'm enjoying quiet time with them. They're relaxing creatures. We all love holding them. They love running all over the yard.


Until I write again ...

Flea

Book Review, Peter and the Starcatchers

I know, it's the not the grown-up novel I promised. Still reading the one I want to review, and just finished Grisham's The Testament (good plot, but classic Grisham style - reminded me why I stopped reading him over a decade ago). Today I bring you a children's novel, Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

I picked this up for Goof Ball a couple of years ago, thinking it would interest him. I seem to be the last to know what will interest my children when it comes to books, unfortunately. He likes zombies and World War II. Period. Oh, and Neal Schustermann. Yeah. This book sat on the shelf for two years. Then I cleaned Goof Ball's room and found ALL KINDS of interesting stuff. But let's limit ourselves to the book, eh?

Peter and the Starcatchers is a prequel to Peter Pan. Pirates. Orphan boys. Rich rajahs. Star stuff with magic power. Ships and bad guys and adorable girls and a crocodile! Humor by the bucket load, but subtle for the most part. I DEFINITELY recommend this book as a read-aloud for young-ish children, particularly if they've seen or read Peter Pan. Barry and Ridley do a phenomenal job of unpacking the story, taking us backward in time to see the characters before we knew them. Almost like X-Men: First Class, but with magic and pirates and Peter! The character development for people we already know and love is awesome!

Oh, I wish my boys were still eight and five! I'd read this to them in a heartbeat. As things stand, I still may ask Oatmeal Head to read it, as he'd appreciate the humor. Definitely a laugh-out-loud book. Please, if you have elementary aged kids, or grandkids, do yourself a favor and read this book to them. You'll both appreciate the depth and humor of Peter and the Starcatchers. You'll create memories with your child that won't be undone.

Until I write again ...

Flea

Growing Pains

I went away for the weekend. Didja miss me? Didja? Huh?

Three days isn't very long to be gone from the Hunny and kids. Three days is a very long time to be gone from my Peep. See my Peep as a baby, just about three weeks ago?

On or about May 30th, posing with Fred and Bessie

See my Peep when I held her this morning?

Looking a little like a buzzard, but nowhere near the feathers of the other peeps

Freakin' eh. Little monster is growing like crazy.

I was worried, for awhile, that Peep seems to be waaaaay behind the others in her growing and getting feathers. Here's a shot of three of the others about Peep's age today:

The only thing they're missing here is their head feathers

Huge difference, huh? Then I read, just this morning in my chicken magazine, that Cochins (Peep's breed) are slow to mature. Whew! Poor wee Peep. The other chickens pick on her.

In other news, my Hunny's birthday is this coming weekend. And I plan to do a book review in the next day or two. Maybe a couple of reviews - one adult fiction and another children's chapter book fiction. I finally read Peter and the Starcatchers last week. LOVED it.

That's it. Y'all go on and get back to what you were doing. Solitaire on the computer or whatever. I'm going to get back to my lovely, soothing ironing.

Until I write again ...

Flea

Goof Ball

Goof Ball will be 14 on Friday. He's been to a week of scout camp, countless scout overnights, nights away with friends. All over the last four years. Monday he left for church camp.

Four days. With people he knows. Including girls.

He was some nervous. I couldn't figure out why. At first I thought it was the showers - something about doors on showers and hearing stories about camps with no doors on showers. We checked the camp website. Curtains they have. Curtains are good enough.

Then I thought maybe it's the fact that he has to shower at all. I don't think he ever showered when camping with the scouts. No girls around, hence no need to shower. Nah, that can't be it.

Maybe it's the whole girl thing. Middle school girls in swimsuits. Hmm. No, I'm thinking that's probably a plus.

Sports? Surely there isn't too much in the way of sports. Goof Ball has a C-N bar tarsal coalition, or bones where joints should be connecting his heels to his ankles. Sports hurt his ankles. But if he stays in the water, he should be fine, right?

I just don't know.

Maybe it's that his birthday is Friday and he'll be getting into town late Thursday night and he doesn't think we'll celebrate. That's probably what it is. I hope that's all it is.

Thing is, we got him something cool, something he's been asking for for six months. And I'm cleaning his room while he's gone - something I've never done for him. That's right. You heard me right. I don't clean my kids' rooms. Hopefully it will be cheerful for him.

Cleaning his room - it's made me sad. We'll be homeschooling this youngest child in the fall. He's been bullied at school the whole four years he was in. He's so ADD, poor thing, and so nostalgic and empathetic. I've been finding things in his room from his earliest childhood. Poppers, his big floppy stuffed tiger, tucked behind his bed. Got that when he was three. Beanie babies. Beginning readers.

Other things, like piles and piles of clothes. Trash. Bits of broken toys he can't or won't part with. I'm throwing away the broken things. Throwing away clothes. Bedding. He has so much bedding. It was a mess in there. I was nearly in tears all day.

He's under there somewhere ...

The chaos. The stuff he clings to. The clothes. The mess. The way an ADD adolescent lives. I get it. It breaks my heart. It hurts. I didn't throw away the good stuff. Really. And I don't even know how to teach him how to do it right. I still haven't learned. It hurts.

I'll have him all to myself next week while his siblings are at camp. I'm looking forward to spending time with the boy. Hearing about camp. But right now? Sad. Sad he went away to camp reluctant and nervous. Sad about the state of his room. Sad that I'm so unsure of what to do. Sad to feel it all, experience  it so deeply, knowing that there's no easy answer for my sweet boy.



He truly is a sweet boy. See this boy? I'm proud of him. Glad he's mine. I love him.

Until I write again ...

Flea

Peep in an Herb-An Jungle

Until I write again ...

Flea

Chicken Watch (yes, yes - another one)

I know, I know ... another chicken watch. But! We have new feathered friends. Lookit!

Yes. It looks like one is a rooster. Yes. He's being listed on Craigslist as we speak.

They're still a little camera shy. Lemme try again ...

The one in the middle has an afro. Isn't she the cutest thing EVER?

Dang it! Okay then - let's attempt the three big peeps who live here already.

Scraggly looking critters, aren't they?

Little boogers. They're out of their coop and catching bugs instead of posing. One more time:

The red one's a runner

Stink. Well there's always Peep, who's a camera hog. Peep?

Yay! Peep's also a pig. She eats 24/7. Growing like a weed.

Thanks for popping in to see the chicks!

Until I write again ...

Flea

Scream, a Book Review

This week's review is Scream, by Mike Dellosso. Mike writes horror/suspense, which I'm slowly learning to love, and Scream was a good way to acclimate myself with the genre. Since I can't seem to get more than 30 pages into Misery yet. I'm building up, see.

While at the writers conference, I met Mike at lunch. Got to talk to him for a bit, hear the back story on how he came to writing, hear about his darling family (saw his beautiful girls and wife at the banquet the last night). He's a gem. My friend, Heather, especially enjoyed getting to know him, since she writes mystery and suspense.

I picked up Scream for my Oatmeal Head, thinking it would be nice summer reading for him. He's not too interested in books, but his computer was recently revoked, so I'm thinking summer reading might now be right up his alley. Scream is a great summer read - not War and Peace, the characters are interesting and I cared enough about them to keep going. I love good character development!

So here's the deal: the main character, Mark, is separated from his wife. He's driving home late one night from work, talking to his best buddy on his cell phone, when the reception goes wonky and blood-curdling screams break in. Hair-raising, pit of Hell screams. Ten minutes later, the friend dies in a fiery car crash. That's the first few pages.

The fun part is that this happens multiple times in the book. Mark gets a phone call, he's talking, blood-curdling screams, death. I am SUCH a wuss. It took me THREE DAYS to read this book. I kept putting it down because I was freaking out, not wanting to find out what happened next. Gah!

The secondary plot (at least, that's what I initially thought it was), was equally creepy. Women being abducted, flashbacks to the abductor's childhood trauma. In and out of the story it kept jumping, keeping me on my toes.

I liked Scream. The characters are all faced with the ultimate question: "If I die right now, what happens to me?" Mark especially, as he watches people drop like flies all around him, hears and sees the terror. It's weird and awesome.

If you're looking for something interesting and different, something for a beach read, this book is great. I don't, however, recommend you read it late into the night, or while you're on a camping trip. That would be bad. Unless you're into that kind of scare thing.

Until I write again ...

Flea

Books and Stuff

I'll be doing another book review tomorrow - Mike Dellosso's Scream. Stay tuned for details on a creepy horror book!

Hopefully I'll be reviewing another book next week - Eva Marie Everson's Chasing Sunsets. I bought it for my Kindle yesterday (poor neglected Kindle), and will start it this afternoon. Have to finish Scream first. Taking me awhile to read Scream - it freaks me out and I keep putting it down.

I started Stephen King's Misery a couple of weeks ago. Talk about creeping me out. I think I'm maybe 30 pages in. Right from the beginning I knew things would go VERY BADLY for the main character. Tough to stick with it with his future looking so painful from the outset.

Read another Gansky last week, Submerged, third in a series. Very good. I recommend the entire series. Kind of mystery meets thriller meets paranormal. Next week I hope to read a Gansky collaboration. Since I'm at the doctor's office with Maybelline, I don't have the title in front of me.

Maybelline might have strep, but probably not. Bad sore throat, lots of drainage, cough. We'll see. She goes to camp in a week and a half, so getting better is a priority.

I'll be popping around this evening, visiting most of you. Leave me a comment if you're not in my blogroll and I'll come say hi.

Until I write again ...

Flea

Chicken Watch!

Just watching them grow ...

A saucy little chick

Peep loves her mama

Steppin' up

Peep and Dad

Until I write again ...

Flea

Chicken Watch 2011

They're officially Goof Ball's chickens, but the Hunny and I are having our share of fun while we can. Today's story will be told with pictures.

A boy and his chick

The Hunny and his chick, having a convo

Because one chick is never enough for the Good Flea - they thought my eyes looked like bugs and tried to peck them out

Awww! There's something touching about this shot

I sure hope they're all girls ...

Until I write again ...

Flea