Captain’s Log – This is How It Starts

It’s official. I have become a homeowner. For most of my adult life, I’ve always said since I don’t have a husband, I need a landlord. But here we are; the sunset is all mine. 

When I was younger, and my kids were little, we would go for drives out in the country and look at homes where we would like to live and dream of having our own place. There were favorites – out west of town on the edge of the desert where we could just take off and go on the imaginary horse or the imaginary four-wheeler across the freedom. 

And then, one day, a couple of years ago, I got the chance to rent the perfect little house right on the edge of the sunset with the idea that when I got myself in order, I could buy it. I'm not really sure about the order part, but with some magic wanding by Tania, the mortgage gal, I am now a landowner. The bunnies have a permanent home, and Elvira will not be far behind. 

Of course, now that we’re permanent when the lady in south Reno posted last week that one of her hens turned out to be a rooster and needed a home, I ran right up there and got him. 

But then my three free-range girls who came from Aunt Molly were mean to him. They do not share my sentiment that ten acres can be easily shared, and the meaning of “hen-pecked” became suddenly quite clear. 

Obviously, Larry, the lavender olive-egger needed his own buddy. 

So I called up Byron at Peepsville and told him I was home from my travels and needed to get A hen for Larry. One. Honestly, I only went for one. 

But then Byron-the-chicken-dealer told me he was gifting me a housewarming present and to pick a set. When Byron says a set that means two hens and a rooster. There may have been more than one set. 

He knew I liked the Phoenix (we got Sirius, Mrs. Dursley, Hermione, and Astoria) and had asked earlier in the week about the Porcelain (Zeus, Athena, and Venus). And then there were these really pretty Blue-laced Red Wyandotte (Louie, Marie, and Antoinette). There is also Lynette, who turns out to come with Louie but immediately defected to Larry. Love at first sight. He found his friend.

And then, for good measure, we threw in four little sisters – Miss Tracy and the Colonel’s Daughter and Pearl and Opal.

This is how it happens. How chicken ladies are made. Larry was a gateway chicken.

You can be sure the three original Boyer Bunny Ranch chickens are not happy. They are still prancing around explaining in no uncertain terms that chicken-hoarding is completely unnecessary. 

But the best part is Louie proudly wakes us all up at about 4:30 every morning, doing his rooster thing, and Larry, in his adorable little adolescent voice, accompanies him. Zeus is more of an afternoon announcer, piping in around 1 p.m. Apparently, those fancy little fellows are on their own schedule. 

Just wait until I find peacocks!

So while the search is on for some gorgeous watch-birds and the neighbors go about their unknowing bliss, we’ll be right here…

…Keeping you Posted.

Rach