Opportunities to Serve

           We always have opportunities to serve no matter where we live – there is community service, charity organizations, shelters, Red Cross . . . the list goes on.  When I lived in Salt Lake I would put in hours of service in various church projects such as the pasta plant, the dairy, the bishops storehouse, the cannery and Deseret Industries (2^nd hand thrift store) to name a few.  I lived within minutes of those buildings.  In Oregon we are located one and a half hours south of the nearest storehouse and one and a half hours north of the pear farm which I have mentioned in a few of my posts.

          When I was attending church in my son’s ward in Utah there was an announcement made for volunteers to clean the Jordan River Temple which I have learned is the busiest temple in the world.  I felt impressed to volunteer if I could and offered my services.  I had assisted in cleaning the temple two times before and enjoyed having that experience. 

          I bore my testimony in their ward and meant to put in a plug for how fortunate the members were to have temples so near to them but also be able to volunteer to work at a large variety of places sponsored by the church.  But when I returned home I was reminded of a service that I don’t think most members have the opportunity of doing and that is feeding the full time missionaries. 

          Missionaries in Utah are over stakes and I don’t believe are given the same opportunities for really getting to know the members the same way as those that serve in single ward boundaries as opposed to stake boundaries (see here for LDS language on what ward and stake mean) especially small wards (or branches) as missionaries are able to eat with members regularly.  When Richard and I lived in Kearns Utah we did have the missionaries over more than the average as we were the ward missionaries at the time. 

Pros and Cons

Return the Free-Range Back Where They Belong

             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 chased them away – but only temporarily.  I wish Bonnie would do that.  She isn’t as intimidated by the chickens as she used to be, but certainly not a threat to them.  She was to Levi’s dog however and so he called for someone to collect her so that there wouldn’t be any trouble between her and Bonnie. 

Levi worked hard on tearing down the deck and improving the yard – only the chickens are still there and returned to their favorite haunt though in a different form.  I hope the chickens don’t inconvenience what Levi is meant to accomplish.

“You Know Those Aren’t Our Chickens, Right?” and “This Ain’t No Poop Deck: Be Gone!”

         I don’t know how many posts I’ve created about the fowl creatures that come into our yard.  The turkeys were still around after Thanksgiving but seemed to disappear before Christmas.  The hens have seemed to multiply though their eggs have not.  I haven’t seen any roosters except for Mitch who seems to be the source of the “pighen demon” call.  Trying to sound like Bruce whom I thought had vanished but did see him the other day.  He’s not as annoying as Mitch.

        Jenna was told by the owner’s son that the black rooster was named Bruce.  I don’t know if he personally gives the animal names or if they really do have names.  They are not pets after all – except for maybe Miss Piggy who looks like she could win tons of blue ribbons for the tons of weight she must have put on.  Roland’s special name for the pig is “Chris P. Bacon” though not an original joke as I have heard it before.

        For the most part Jenna is the one who comes up with names for all the fowl who have wandered into our yard.  She says “Mitch” looks like the kind of rooster that are popular with oven mitts and other kitchen décor – but “Kitch” didn’t seem to fit and so she picked a rhyme that worked. 

        She calls the feather-duster looking one Cheryl – I don’t know why.  I’m guessing Cheryl and Mitch are roughly the same age as they had entered our yard as babies – well, not fluffy chick type babies.  They were obviously rooster and hen but very small in size.  I figure they are teenagers right now and Mitch is a cocky teenager at that.  He has not perfected his crow but I think he thinks he’s hot stuff.

This photo does not begin to capture how many chickens come into our yard

        Jenna has named the smaller orange hens Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy.  She calls the large orange hen Merida as she seemed to be the most brave about climbing up our deck and not bothering to run when the door was opened.  She just stays as though it’s her domain.  I don’t mind the creatures coming into our yard and even on our deck until they have decided that it is their personal toilet. That does not set well with me.

        Roland just cleaned all the poo off the deck with the garden hose and it reappeared the very next morning (less than 12 hours) and so I took the meshing net that had snared one of the chickens and laid it across the stairs.  They dared not cross it until they spotted Bonnie’s bowl with the chicken livers inside.  Jenna reported that they had crossed over to delect on Bonnie’s food.  Cannibles!!!

        Roland went to the feed store to purchase chicken food and a coop for them to lay their eggs in instead of under the porch – which they haven’t been doing but I doubt that Mitch has gotten around to impregnate the females who used to lay roughly three eggs each day (that is one for each of us if we don’t count Bonnie).  Our neighbors said we could keep the eggs if they laid them in our yard.  Okay, having them invade our yard as though it is a free-for-all territory is one thing – but enticing them to stay?  What is Roland thinking?

        We have purchase a lot of eggs over the years.  A LOT!!!  Even with only the three of us their small eggs are not enough.  So we still buy them.  Theirs are brown.  Ours our white.  

The darker yolk is from one of the brown eggs laid by the chickens
The lighter yolk comes from the white eggs we buy at the store

And we have been purchasing chicken parts in another county.  We feed those to Bonnie.  I don’t think Bonnie knows she’s eating organs that resemble those running around our yard.  The chickens don’t know we have a freezer full of chicken livers, hearts and gizzards.  If they did I’m sure they wouldn’t come around anymore. 

 Begging to Be Fed.

As though feeding them has ever been our job

Somehow they believe that it is.

 If they only knew.

Not Exactly a Free For All

 

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

interested in.

The fowl are

welcome to eat

all the bugs they want. 

 

The garden food is

for humans.

Other animals are

not to mess with

our garden.