Fall is upon us.......

Breathtaking views.....
everywhere you look!

Geeeeezzzz! It's been a month since my last posting! Time sure does fly and so does the chicken! Here is a recent picture.

I was doing the dishes on Saturday morning and we let it out of its cage to put it outside to mingle with the others and it decided to pay me a visit before going out to play. We still don't know if it is a boy or girl. I can only say that it isn't crowing yet. If my calculations are correct, it will be a permanent resident of the coup by Halloween. Yeah!!!

THE BIG E

The Big E is a huge fair that takes place in Mass. every year. It is a combined effort of all of the New England States. There are even replica Capitol buildings of each of the states located on one street and you can visit each state building and learn just about everything you want to know about that state. My mission was Rhode Island. I had to get some Clam Cakes (Fritters) and Chowder! I must say.............It was the BEST!!! We also saw the Budweiser Clydesdales and all kinds of farm animals (show animals). I was in a mini-heaven! Kids were showing their cattle and milking cows, horses, sheep, goats, chickens etc. It was truly a blast. I had my camera in tote hoping to capture that award winning picture to submit to the non-professional ameteur photo contest, and after taking quite a few pics...............I fell in love with one and here it is. I can't wait to see who wins! First place is $20 !!! Regardless of the outcome, it was a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful and we had the whole day to just take it all in. Can't wait til next year!

CHICK FLICKS?

This is my husband Neil. He is introducing the new chick to the other chickens. You will notice that this video is really short. This is because the other chickens were trying to teach it the "Pecking Order". We saved the little booger and decided that was enough "Schooling" for one day.

This video is just a brief enlightenment of our nightly ritual. My husband has become "Momma" to this chick, therefore, if we are in the room and the chick is in the cage................it gets very upset. It will pace and chirp continuously until we let it out to be with "Momma". This is THE REAL THING FOLKS! Way too funny! Hope you enjoy it.

The Life in a Day of Me......

I wake each day wondering what it will bring..... I have a wonderful family, home, job and friends..........."What will I experience today?" I think....... Then the new day arrives! An example of my daily trials is........Friday......I'm leaving work at 4:30 pm. Call my husband (as usual) to see if we need anything while I'm on my way home. He is telling me that he is outside with the baby chick, all of the other chickens (and rooster) are roaming the front yard, the dog and cats are out also and there is such harmony amongst them......................until...he comes back into the house to put the baby chick back and he observes Cloe (my stepdaughters' cat) stalking the rooster! Before I could say "What! Is she crazy!" I hear nothin but RAAAAAAAAAAAAWRRRRRR............BBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK! RAWWRRRRRRRRR! and my husband telling me he has got to go....CLICK... The silence at that point was killing me! All I can think of is, the Rooster killed the cat! Being 45 minutes away from home, it was tormenting not knowing what was happening. I didn't want to call back because I might interrupt my husband trying to control the situation............so I just waited and drove home. I pull up into the driveway to find my husband yielding the shotgun. Come to find out, it was not the Rooster that was attacking Cloe.....it was a Raccoon! In broad daylight at our front steps! Cloe was a trooper and defended herself rather well until my husband kicked the raccoon off of her so she could get away. This in turn lead to a trip to the Vet. While my stepdaughter was on her way to the Vet, she called us (not 15 minutes after she left) to say that she was at the gas station because her car blew a head gasket. So on our way we go to rescue her AND the cat. Two and a half hours and $250 later (at my stepdaughters' expense) we arrived back home with meds and instructions in hand to care for the cat and plans to fix the car in the morning. Then the storm hits...........Power goes out, rains come down, winds blow and we can only sleep and wish for a bright tomorrow!

Chick does tricks!

Neil has decided to perform a little experiment with our new baby chicken. He wants to see how smart they really are. He has taught this chick to perch on his shoulder by just tapping his finger on his shoulder. Then he has taught it to fly onto his lap by tapping his hand on his lap. At first I thought it was just a coincidence........it wasn't. He is actually teaching this chicken commands! I took this picture the other day when they were both watching TV. Crazy huh? Later I'll tell you the incident with the garbage dumpster. A priceless story...................................

Bopchi's Pickled Beet Recipe

Zesty and fresh-tasting, these bright, beautiful beet slices add spark to any meal. Easy to make and so good for you. My mouth still begins to water when I think of how wonderful they tasted when Mother prepared them. You could also add hard boiled eggs to this also. If you're in a pinch and want to make Borcht (beet soup) but don't have a lot of time.........just pop open one of these jars, add a little sour cream and dill. You can serve it cold or hot. Rye Bread on the side!

SERVINGS: 6
CATEGORY: Side Dish
METHOD: Chill
TIME: Prep: 5 min. Cook: 10 min. + chilling
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
3/4 cup water
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 to 1 teaspoon pepper
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cans (13-1/4 ounces each) sliced beets, undrained
Sliced green onions, optional
Directions: In a saucepan, combine the first six ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat; add beets. let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Cover and chill 6 hours or overnight. Garnish with green onions if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Feathers for flight?

This chick is amazing. Yesterday I noticed that it is not "Peeping" any longer. Instead......it is chirping a tune like a songbird! A very pleasant melody I might add. I think it must be a very happy chick. As you can see in the photo it is acquiring feathers on its wings and little ones are sprouting for a tail. In just four days it has doubled in size and is beginning to get feathers! What will tomorrow bring?

Addition to the Family!

This was our surprise Friday evening (8/22)! One of our chickens "Momma" has been nesting on her eggs since the last week in July and finally this is what we got. There were 2 chicks at first, but the other one didn't make it.

Momma is still sitting on 3 eggs so...........we will have to keep you posted on that progress.

We have not named this chick yet because we don't know if it is a boy or a girl. We will have to wait until it is about 4 - 6 weeks old. If it crows......it's a boy! These critters are amazing. The chick wasn't even 24 hours old and it was already eating and drinking on its own. We try to spend a lot of time with it so when it gets bigger it will not be afraid of us. We are also going to have a little family/friends contest for the name of the chick so please feel free to post comments about a name. The winner will be announced at a later date.

A New Chapter Begins

In today's day and age of technology.......why has it taken me so long to learn this blogging stuff? I have been watching kids do this for quite some time now with what seems like no effort at all! It is like a second nature to them. For me on the other hand......it has taken me approximately 2 hours to get this far! I'm sure in time I will get much better and maybe I will even figure out how to post photos! Keep checking back to see how I progress. See...........even old dogs can learn new tricks :-)