Beneath the Wraps

           I cannot believe tomorrow is Mother ’ s Day.  The weather isn ’ t speaking volumes of how Mother ’ s Day has looked in years past.  Yesterday we had sun showers all day.  The rain has been pouring all night and this morning.  Not to mention the hens have been cackling.  I can ’ t sleep with that!  Nobody rescued them from whatever they were cackling about nor did the rain drown them out as they seemed to be louder than the pounding rain. https://funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/1577805/Chicken/          I must have slept at some point – and hard as I had another weird detailed dream.  I don ’ t know where Richard and I were or why.  The neighborhood was not one that I remember.  Somehow we got separated and I went to a house in which I know the woman but chose instead to go to the house next door to wait for Richard when I heard his voice inside of the first house.   ...

             Pit Bulls have always had a bad reputation for being vicious dogs.   Any dog can become vicious if neglected or abused – which Bonnie is not.   She is the sweetest dog – at least to humans.   I have seen a side of her that lives up to the name of a female dog.             Levi is the name of the man who has built our deck and back room.   He has a dog named Roxy – also sweet and probably kind of dumb like Bonnie.   Unlike Bonnie – who is quite overweight – Roxy is skin and bones.   She does look like she hasn’t had a good meal for a while – but she also has little interest in eating or playing with dog toys.   She would like affection and loves to chase the chickens. Bonnie, on the other hand, seemed intimidated by the mass amount of chickens that used to come into our yard.   Now she decided that she can not only chase the chickens but catch them...

                 A few days before our family’s arrival, Jenna pointed out the chickens in the cucumber garden.   No cukes this year!   Roland is mad!!! He decided that we would quit feeding and watering the chickens and return them to where they came from and pen them in so they cannot come on our side.   I told him to wait until after the kids arrived as I thought perhaps Randy could assist as he is tall.   Before we sent them on their way, I was hoping Devan would have at least one experience with feeding them and collecting eggs. Carrie enjoyed the free-range eggs and says it is something she will splurge on as the free-range are healthier than most of what is sold at the grocery store.   I personally don’t care about the cucumbers.   I couldn’t see Richard eating all that would grow – but now we will never know.   Not this year anyway. The chickens are still in the yard.   Levi’s dog had c...

            It’s been nearly a year since my first mention of the neighbor’s chickens.   They used to lean a ladder near the fence so the chickens could climb back into their own yard.    At first it was just a few on the hill – not the 15 plus that have accumulated in our yard during that time.   Roland doesn’t want them under the deck and I don’t want them on the deck.   We don’t want them in the garden and so have been putting up barriers all over the yard.   we had to add netting to the steps to prevent them from going through   I did find at least three of them on the inside; they had dug under the wire to make it wide enough to go though. Roland used some stakes for the bottom.  Hopefully that will work. Despite our efforts the chickens have managed to dig under, fly over, or somehow manage to squeeze themselves into areas where we’d rather they not be.   The chickens always stop near ...

Day 3          Since it has been light enough to drive Jenna to seminary in the morning, I have been taking her in while Roland sleeps.  He gets the honor of picking her up as the sun is glaring so loudly that I am not comfortable with it.  Happy Doughnuts offers specials each day: Maple Bar Monday, Twists on Tuesday and so forth. Wednesday's specialty is biscuits and gravy for a dollar.  Thus after we picked Jenna up from seminary we went to Happy Doughnuts to get biscuits and gravy for Roland and me and a bacon maple bar for Jenna.           Roland and I left the house again just before 9:00.  We drove to Canyonville to get our second shot.   Unlike the first shot where we had to get out and go inside, we stayed in the car while they came out to us to get our ID and give us our shots.   So we are now good to go.             Since we were alrea...

               I don’t know how many times Roland has cleaned up after the chickens which aren’t even ours.   I don’t mind them in the yard.   I really don’t.   But I do not care for arrogance or assumptions.   We purchased netting for the deer a few years ago and the chickens have gotten entangled in it.   I asked Roland if we could use it to surround the deck.   Last night we went out and he used a staple gun which is holding thus far, but seems like it would be easy to tear.              Roland decided to repurpose the green wire shelves that were once a part of our cheap greenhouse.   He had stapled those to discourage the chickens from getting under the porch.   Now it just looks more like we are trying to capture them and keep them – which isn’t the case at all.                Roland continues to feed them and we do collect the ...

        Another member joined the fowl menagerie team. Well, no.  Not quite.  Joining would imply that he would travel in their pack – which he does not.  He seems to keep to himself.  There also appears to be a puzzled look on his face – but perhaps it ’ s just the mask he wears that is throwing me off.  I wouldn't have even known it was a pheasant if Roland hadn't said anything (He was the first one to spot the pheasant and then Jenna.)  If Roland hadn't said anything I would have thought that he was a rooster trying to disguise himself.   It wasn't long ago when Jenna and I watched a goose imitate a flamingo.   The goose standing on one leg         The pheasant stands by himself – sometimes observing the other chickens.   His cry is worse than Mitch ’ s. I don ’ t know what he ’ s thinking.   I can only guess.   Jenna took this one with her cell phone  ...

  There was frost on the ground and so were the chickens.   I don ’ t understand the draw.     The roosters have gotten brave enough to approach us. They will look at us in the same manner as Bonnie asking, “ Why don ’ t you feed me? ”   At least Bonnie has an excuse to look at us that way.   She has been placed in our care after all.   The fowl are all trespassers.   They are not our responsibility. I have seen their owners feed them but evidently we have better grass, better bugs, better vittles somehow.   The roosters have discovered the bird seed carelessly fallen to the ground knocked over by greedy birds eating from the bird feeder.   Roland thinks it is his job to feed all of the stray animals except for the deer.   The fowl are welcome in our yard.   The deer are not.   Right now we don’t have anything that the deer would be inter...

        I have never had the best sleeping habits.  2020 seems to have changed the sleeping habits of many of my friends.  I seem to have more erratic dreams somehow.  I usually don ’ t remember them.  Sometimes I remember pieces but never any detail.  Take last night for instance.         I could hear the sounds of an injured animal.   At first it sounded like a dog – who se dog? We don ’ t see many dogs in our neighborhood.   We see a lot of cats.   Oh, wait.   Perhaps it isn ’ t a dog after all.   It must be the chickens.   They ’ re scared.   Why are they scared?   There is a mountain lion after them.   I hear a gun shot.   Oh, no.   The police are going to come around and ask what time we heard the gunshot.   I don ’ t want to look at the clock.   I am sooooo tired.   I ’ m guessing it is 2:30.      ...