Clucky Me

It's Saturday morning, finally a day off! It's only 5:45 and I should be still asleep. But when I drifted slightly out of my slumber a few minutes ago, I was feeling so peacefully happy and in love with my life that I wanted to get up and start my day, sitting up in bed with a cup of hot coffee and my phone for a few rounds of Words With Friends. But I chose my laptop instead, because I want to tell someone.

My husband was offered a few hours of overtime at work, so he got up early, and that's why I woke up. He came to kiss me goodbye, like he does every morning. And like every morning, after he left, I could smell his cologne on me, and that always makes me feel happy. I love that. Sitting here in bed, smelling my darling's cologne on me. 

I opened up the curtains and felt a gush of happiness looking at my backyard and the gray, overcast morning. The view from my bedroom probably wouldn't do much for most people, but I love it. It takes me back to a time when life was really simple, whether it was in my childhood or someone else's. It's basically a big dirt lot with some immature trees, the old tool shed that's about to be the new chicken coop, and some basic paddock fencing. I can't explain it... it just fills me with happiness. 

In a couple of hours, my daughter Toluca is picking me up to go hiking. We're also swinging by my mom's house and grabbing her. If this gray weather lasts, it'll be perfect for hiking. We live in a valley surrounded by small mountains and have our choice of hiking trails. I normally go to Wildwood Canyon, which is near my house, but my daughter likes Griffith Park, so today we're going there. I'm really looking forward to yak-yak-yaking it up the mountain, just us hens! 

I'm really lucky. I know I am. I'm happy and fulfilled and excited for what lies ahead. And I wanted to acknowledge that luck by proclaiming it to you.

Coffee's ready, and I'm done writing for today. Thanks for being my friend!

Why did the punk rocker cross the road?

HE WAS STAPLED TO THE CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!!

Blogging along on the bottom of the beautiful briiiney sea...

Mornin! 


I just read a few blogs for the first time ever. I'm a little intimidated by the formatting and stuff. In fact, when I post this ...post, I have no idea if it will show up as part of my chicken blog or in a new section or what. Will I need to have "sections"? 


Anyhoo, I hope I don't disappoint anyone as I learn this new world of Blogging!


I haven't made any advances toward my goal of getting chickens since last week. My husband and I are still changing our minds everyday about the design of the new, California drought-resistant backyard, and my chickies are part of the overall project. For now, I'm just dreaming about their comical beauty and imagining their whines and clucks filling my backyard. And picking them up and scratching their necks and getting that weird, powdery stuff on my fingers. If anyone knows what that is and it's gross, DON'T TELL ME! 


My mom just called and said that I don't need to know anything about "blogging", and to just do it. Thanks mom! 


Until the next one...


B'GOK!


(i'm trying to find the "post" button. Or the "publish" button. Or however you finish this thing)

B-gok! bok bok!

It's Mothers' Day. I woke up thinking about my old chickens.

I had two Rhode Island Reds back in the early '90s that were given to me by a friend making a movie, so they were "movie chickens". I had no idea how to take care of chickens, and I figured (correctly) that they'd do fine just thrown into the yard. I introduced them to my Golden Retriever, Paco, who was more than delighted to follow them around, sniffing their butts. The chickens didn't really care either way. Did you know that chickens actually have personalities? Not great ones, like Golden Retrievers, but distinct nonetheless. One of my chickens was really nice, and liked to be held and petted. The other one was an ol' biddy, kind of snotty, not very friendly. Attitude, table for one! We lived in North Hollywood in a little guest house with a private yard, and they were a great little addition to the place. It was fun finding eggs here and there, and it was particularly funny when I would leave the back door open and they'd come in. It's really weird to see chickens walking around inside the house.

Because of their personalities, I named them after my then-husband's two aunts in the south of Italy... Zia Marina (the sweet one) and Zia Serafina (the ....other one).

When we moved to Burbank, we took our chickies with us. We had a much bigger back yard, had a daughter (my darling Toluca), and added another Golden and a cat to the mix. Everyone got along great, except that Zia Serafina once attacked Toluca and scared the bejeezus out of her. Little shit!

What ultimately happened to Zia Marina and Zia Serafina? Well, one day, my best friend Jennifer came over to play. Her dog Joe, a chocolate lab, was pals with my dogs. We let them play in the back yard while Jen and I hung out with Toluca. We were sitting on the steps when Joe came up, full of love, offering a present to Jennifer. Zia Marina! Oh nooo! Not the nice one! That was that for her.... and we were left with tough Zia Serafina. I was sadder than I'd let on about Zia Marina because Jennifer was horrified and I didn't want her to feel any worse than she already did. I eventually gave tough Zia Serafina to my friends, Alex and Merdy. I think they gave her a good home.... either that, or threw her in the menudo.

FAST FORWARD!

It's 2012 and I'm ready for more CHICKEEEENNNNSSS!!!! My backyard is about to be transformed into a California-scaped paradise, with a chicken yard in the back. Our house was built in the 1930's and there's an old tool shed that I think was built at the same time. It's old and weathered with peeling paint and rusty hardware, and therefore my favorite backyard treasure. I refuse to tear it down! Instead, I just hired a few meaty boys to move it to the back of the property, making room for the new backyard and converting it to a chicken coop at the same time. I AM SO EXCITED!

And that's why I'm starting this blog. I want to tell you allll about it. Not so sure you want to *hear* allll about it, but that'll be up to you.

Here's what I'm thinking: I'll have to first come up with a design for the inside of my coop. It's an 8' x 8' box with a solid roof and a plank floor. I plan on cutting a square hole in the side and reattaching it with two bottom hinges and a sliding lock on the top, so that it'll fall open and be it's own ramp, like in the cartoons. I'll nail a few 1 x 1's on it for steps. I also have a really expensive window left over from our house renovation a few years back, so maybe I'll install that on the back wall... for the purpose of shoveling out poo to the future compost pile.

I want awesome chickens. I want amazing, flavorful eggs like the ones they have in Italy. I want the chickens to be pretty and/or freaky looking, friendly if possible, and -why not- blue eggs! Did you know that there are chickens that lay colored eggs? There are these lightly tinted blue and green eggs, as well as the browns, and speckled eggs, too. Don't worry, they're all the same on the inside. I want them to graze and be friends with my dogs, and I want to feed them delicious, organic food and table scraps so that their eggs will have rich, orange yolks. And I want to share fresh eggs with my neighbors, family, and friends. Doesn't that sound great???

So welcome to my first blog. I hope you come back to read more, and I hope you enjoy reading about my Chicken Adventures.

And I hope I remember to keep blogging.

Wish me CLUCK!