IF ONLY WE HAD DNA

Right now there stands a strong chance that Boss Hog was wrongly convicted of murder.

We have new evidence that a predator is managing to get into the hen house at night and injure and/or kill our chickens.

I opened the pen this morning to let the chickens out and one of the Victor Polish chicks tumbled out of the house. She was somewhat mutilated but she is in the hen hospital and hopefully will survive.

We got rid of Boss Hog and we have been keeping our dog Slim on the chain when the chickens are out. Still, a chick was found dead in the yard from multiple injuries. Roosters Moe and Mouzon died from injuries blamed on Boss Hog.

What if Boss Hog's meanness toward us was actually pent up anger and stress out of his protective nature? What if he knew something was attacking his family and he was aggressive with us, trying to tell us there was some ever present danger?

Oh my, it's too late to call the Innocence Project.

FLOOD WATERS

Water level marker in State Park. We usually drive right up next to it.

State park pavilion under water as well as other picnic tables and picnic spots.

This is where we launch our boat. We usually park near the middle dock.

AND THE THUNDER ROLLS

It is nice to live at the top of a hill. We are still having lots and lots of rain. Most of the area below us in flooded. As of yesterday we could still get to town, but today will be questionable. It is not raining at this moment, but the rolling thunder is making a promise of more to come. The nearby State park is under water.

Rain days, snow days, happy days for the retired people living at the top of a hill. It makes me happy to know that I don't have to slop around outside getting the vehicle ready while trying to keep my clothes clean and my panty hose dry so I can fight the elements and get to work. (Just for the record, I do not even own one pair of panty hose today.)

I will have to slop around later to get the chickens, cats and dog taken care of -- but, it won't matter. We live at NOL-NOC Estates (No One's Looking - No One Cares). It was my life blood as a single, working mom, but there is nothing about the corporate world that I miss today!

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

I lived over half my life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I consider Tulsa my hometown. Jessi sent this link to an interesting upcoming Tulsa event. I think she may be getting more information on it in California than we are getting in Oklahoma. I wish I had a guess in on the population to stand a chance of winning the car. Be sure and read all about Tulsarama!

MAGIC GOPHER

Give this fun game a try. It is called

Magic Gopher

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A MILE MAKES

I truly feel like a homesteader when it comes to doing laundry on the estate. We are on well water and while the well doesn't go dry, it does shut off the pump if the water gets below a certain level. Ron has to manually restart the pump and it takes at least two hours before we get water again. I can be sure to shut off the pump if I do two loads of laundry......unless I stock up on rain water.

We have a tub on the back porch. I catch rain water and use that water for laundry. The tub also catches June bugs and leaves and other debris so I have to strain it before I pour it into the washing machine.

If we lived three miles outside town, we would be on rural water and we could have high speed computer access. We live four miles outside town, so well water and dial up.

We are one mile from the 21st century.

SHARE THE INSANITY

With my big sister. I am still the younger, but now I'm the BIG sister. My spouse says there had to be two of us to share the insanity. I think my name should have been addendum -- an added thing. Her name could have been guardian. Can you tell which one of us was in charge? A picture is worth a thousand words and this one tells which of us would grow up to be a chicken farmer -- the one with no socks and messy hair. My sister put this inside my birthday card. There can't be a better picture anywhere that says "sisterly love". We are very very different AND exactly alike.

REALLY GOOD

I enjoyed several Netflix movies this week. The one tonight won the prize. INSIDE MAN with Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, directed by Spike Lee. I didn't even remember having added it to my queue.

THE WRITING ON THE WALL

"AT WAR" explained. This sign posted in a Marine barraks says it all.

HUMAN SADNESS

When true life drama swirls around us and human frailty is on our doorstep, it is much easier to wrap up in chicken dilemmas than face family hardships.

THANK GOD FOR SURGE PROTECTORS

Lighting struck our phone on Thursday night It fried the phone lines and the cordless phone, but did not hurt the computer because of the surge protector. Hooray!

HOW SAD CAN IT GET?

The King is dead. King Moe died this morning. Who could have guessed from the great photos of Moe that he was near death!!! He barely made it onto the roost last night. He did not get up with the others this morning. I could not find any injuries on him other than the neck wound Boss Hog has inflicted earlier in the week. The Silkie Rooster Mouzon passed away earlier from his Boss Hog injuries, thus we now have nary one rooster and Boss Hog, the murderer, is living in a lap of luxury in a Kansas barn.

I do have Beulah Dean back on a nest with new eggs. Even when we removed the old nest, she continued to try sitting on every egg she could find. I will monitor her very closely. I can't imagine after sitting for 30 days, how she will set for another 21. We shall see. Also, I'm not sure these eggs will be fertilized if it was all up to Moe. If all goes according to plan, these eggs should hatch on June 29th.

Who knew that my life as a chicken farmer would only become more and more traumatic at every turn.

POOR BEULAH DEAN

Tomorrow is the deadline for leaving Beulah Dean on the nest. Another egg exploded today. I have cleaned out the residue and I'm telling you, there is no stinkier smell in the world!

Ron suggested I call the feed store to see if they had any chicks that we could sneak into the nest for BD. No such luck. They are all out of chicks. We weren't even sure an idea like that would work.

That poor little Silkie hen has worked so diligently and stayed on her nest for such a long time, it is going to be awful to send her away with no babies.

WHAT CHANGE?

Last week we made our rounds to Wal-Mart, then the Farmer's Market for produce, then to a local off-the-roar farm store for homemade ice cream, jelly, bread, etc. The people who run the store are very nice people and it's a pleasure just to walk in and smell the bread and pies baking and the lunches being prepared. The owner's son is about 4 years old and from what we can determine, his name is Minnow.

Last week Minnow invited Ron to return this week to buy some special lemonade. He said his dad was going to fix old fashion lemonade for Minnow to sell. Ron vowed to return and he always keeps his promises.

Today, after Physical Therapy, Ron went by the store. It seems Minnow was having his nap. Ron bought some other things but before he left, Minnow was back outside. He is a tiny, blond haired boy with big eyes and always wears long blue pants with suspender straps and a light blue shirt. Usually his dog is with him, but the pup was on the chain for chasing cars.

Ron said, "Where is the lemonade you were going to sell?"

Minnow replied, "Mother decided we would sell it yesterday."

"Well, Ron exclaimed, You mean I drove all this way and there is not lemonade for me?" Ron could see the boy still had his stand set up and there was ice and lemonade.

"Okay" Minnow said, "I will sell you some lemonade."

"How much does it cost?" Ron inquired.

"Twenty-five cents."

Ron gave Minnow a dollar. Minnow disappeared into his house and quickly came back. He gave Ron some lemonade.

"Where is my change?" Ron asked

"What change?" Minnow asked.

"What did you do with the dollar I gave you?"

"I put it in my box." Minnow said matter-of-factly.

Ron looked at Minnow. Minnow looked at Ron and that was the end of that.

KING MOE ON GUARD

Today Prince Moe, son of Boss Hog, has officially been promoted to King Moe. With the Kansas departure of Boss, King Moe is now in charge of the flock. He is a pretty boy too and a big old rooster like his dad. He will do a good job and so far is very nice and polite. (If you remember, Moe is a sibling of sister Curly who still lives here and brother Larry who moved to bird sanctuary last year. Their mother was Chicken Annie, eaten by the "rotten" Rottweiler.)

joANNa

Jessi at the Santa Barbara Winery and the Angeles National Forest. Obviously California has her in it's grip. I fear we will never get her back to Oklahoma. Well, Joe has her in his grip too so maybe if he came back she would. Nope, she's a California girl now. Pssst, hey Jessi, I've got kittens.

READY TO TRAVEL

Boss Hog is ready for a trip. Today he goes to Kansas. We have found the perfect home for him so he has received a last minute pardon. Hooray!

T.G.W.I.F.

Thank God WHEN It's Friday...... Beulah Dean is on the nest still. (She is named for Rhonda's mother Beulah and our stock broker Dean) Eggs are exploding under her. Some have embryos inside, others were unfertilized and simply rotten. It appears that other chickens have been adding eggs to her nest, therefore we do not know if any might still hatch. I have removed the very, very, very stinky exploded eggs from the nest and added new straw. We have put a cage over Beulah Dean. I am letting her off the nest two times a day. We will continue this until Friday, to see if any of the eggs under her hatch. If not, we will end her set on Friday.

Can those of you who know me, picture me handling rotten, exploded eggs? I know me and can't picture it. Life sure takes on a change when you go from banker to chicken farmer.

What about Boss Hog? Well, he is still in the cage. We're going to have to make a decision about his future and I'm sure it will be the chopping block. He had beaten up the rooster Moe and left battle scars. The Silkie rooster, Mouzon, is near death and holding on by a thread. Boss Hog tried to flog Ron every time they got close and chased Mike and would have chased Hope if we had not kept her in when Boss was out.

He has always been a protective rooster, which is his job, but now he's just plain mean. We can't give him away for fear he would hurt someone else and we can't keep him in a cage the rest of his life.

Now I learn that Aracauna roosters are the best to have. We gave away Oreo last year and should have kept him and given Boss to the bird sanctuary.

Oh woe is me!

HIDDEN FLOWER

I was talking to my sister on the phone when I looked out the front window and saw something pink under the cherry tree. I had pink roses and didn't even know.

YESTERDAY

My birthday was yesterday.

Mike and Hope's parents came to pick them up yesterday.

We all went to lunch together and celebrated yesterday.

Things got quiet around here yesterday.

I watched the final episode of 24 Season Five while enjoying a half a bottle of wine and chocoloate covered cherries yesterday.

Ron and I went for a drive, etc., yesterday.

Boss Hog went to prison yesterday. (Might go to heaven today)