The Girls

I've been meaning to write a post about my neighbors chickens ever since last summer; it only took me 7 months.......

My late neighbor Dave's house was bought by a young guy named Teggart in the summer of 2014, and his girlfriend Morgan moved in within 6 months, and they became urban farmers. They originally had over a dozen chickens, and that included what turned out to be two roosters. One of the roosters was a big fellow, who as the summer progressed, found his voice. Now I didn't actually mind too much, I do however acknowledge that I might have felt differently if he had been doing his thing from the start of the summer and I woke up to that before my alarm clock every day. Apparently there were some neighbors who didn't appreciate it, and eventually they were forced by animal control to find both roosters a new home.

Babs

So since late September, it's just been The Girls. I've named some of them after one of my favorite movies, Chicken Run (from the makers of Wallace & Gromit). Even though she technically doesn't look like the chicken Babs from the movie, I've named the little Bantam Babs; she is my absolute favorite. 

There are three yellow hens, and I call them The Three Gingers, or Tres Gingers, because I'm not that creative, and they are all ginger colored. I've covered my bases with that one. They also remind me of the main character Ginger in the movie, because she was always trying to escape, and two of the three gingers are the first ones to get out of their pen every day.

The Three Gingers or Tres Gingers

There is one I want to call Rocky, even though in the movie Rocky was a rooster (voiced by Mel Gibson), because she will fly over their fence to get out. I have yet to capture this on video, but she cracks me up every time. Most of them are actually pretty entertaining to see how the both get in and out of the pen. To get out they will scramble up the side of the coop and then fly out. To get in at night, they will get on the edge of Teggart & Morgan's front porch and fly into the pen and land on the top of the coop. The last stage will be a short flight down to the ground.

My cats don't bother them, most of the time they are curious, but keep their distance. The girls also like to come up on my porch too, and thankfully have not left too much of a mess in their wake. I am definitely going to miss them when I have to move. They are starting to respond to my voice and will come running when I am putting food out in the bird feeder and I will toss some on the ground just for them. They were also treated to some of the apples and Italian Plums from the trees in the backyard last summer. So there we are, a short story about my neighbors free range chickens. 

Babs & Munchkin

Banangrams

 The new year is off to a bumpy start with my having caught a cold that kicked me in the butt. I caught it at the end of my first week back at work - illness was going around the office as usual. I stayed home a couple of days last week which is kind of a big deal for me. I usually want to plow through it, but I knew that I should stay home and rest if I wanted to get better. I'm basically over the cold, but this past week I was still sleeping a lot and my voice is very hoarse. I call it my phone-sex voice; it was always very popular when I was a waitress.

And because I spent virtually every evening and the last two weekends sleeping all the time, I am behind in posting on the blog, Instagram, and pretty much all other communications for that matter. My post today is featuring some of my solo Bananagrams. I got the game a month or so ago as a way to have some fun and try and keep my mind sharp.

I used to do the crossword puzzle everyday for fun when I subscribed to the local newspaper. Because I'm no longer doing that to give my brain a work out, I am playing at least one game of Banangrams every day, usually when I sit down to eat lunch or dinner. One goal is that I wanted to force myself to think creatively. What I mean by that is that I will keep going until I come up with words that use all the letters. I tend to be absolute in my thinking, and I am having to let go of that, and will re-arrange or even start over completely if I have to so that I can play a complete game.

I am also getting better at not going 'Ugh!" when I pull letters like V, Z and Q; although I fully admit I need to increase my vocabulary for words with the letter Q - but thank goodness the Chinese came up with two spellings for the word life-force! Qi has become my saving grace on more than one occasion.

Another Sad Day

Alan Rickman

So sad today - just found out that Alan Rickman died, he was always one of my favorite actors, in roles too numerous to recount. Both he and David Bowie dying in the same week, at the same age of 69 from cancer is freaky. David Bowie was a favorite singer of my oldest brother Mark. Rest in Peace boys, you will be missed.

Game Plan

I found this card today at Trader Joe's. I love their cards by the way. I get a lot of cards there for events at work. But I also get cards for myself sometimes too. But I won't be giving this to myself later for a special occasion - it's going to be my prompt for every day. My marching orders for 2016.

I think this vacation has been enlightening because I've seen how easily I can waste time. I did really need this time off,  but I also realize that I have a lot more that I want to do that I enjoy, but that I don't actually get off my behind and get started on. I need to get out of my own way and start doing what comes naturally. Game on.

What Does 2016 Have in Store?

I don't make New Year's resolutions because I know that I will break them in no time. And I don't always get overly reflective heading into the new year, but I have been over the last few days.

It started two nights ago as I was transferring dates from my 2015 calendar to 2016. I always do it between Christmas and New Years; writing down birthday's and adding a year. I also have the year that loved ones have passed, both family and pets. I got a bit melancholy looking at how many death's were noted, and how old the rest of us are.

This has been a very difficult year for me; I have shed more tears than anyone knows. I have my good times for sure, but I have also experienced a lot of sadness and loneliness in the last twelve months. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for a lot of things about my life, but am equally unhappy about some things I have always wanted that I no longer have any hope that they will ever come to be.

A few days ago, I saw on the next block up the little blue house that has been empty for over a decade is in the process of being torn down. There are a few guys salvaging what they can from it before it's demolished. It made me very sad - I hoped for the longest time that someone would come along and buy it and bring it back to it's former glory. It's a sweet little craftsman with a bay window and picket fence. It brought out the romantic in me; I saw what it could be, not what it was.

Seeing that house being ripped apart was just another sign to me that there is less and less that connects me to this neighborhood and the house that I will have to leave after almost 18 years. I am a little scared (to be honest) about where I will end up next, and can only hope that it will not be worse than where I am at. There have been many changes on the block that make me glad I am leaving, but there are still little things that make me wish I could stay.

This is not going to end with me saying something deep and insightful, I don't have it in me right now. I am just going to keep trying to do the best I can, and try to stay as positive about the future as I can, and know that some days that is a real struggle, and others not so much.