ChickPea Souffle: 31.12.08

Wednesday 31 December 2008

Four chooks a-layin'.........

The Fourth Day of Christmas (Well, near as). There was my True Love, shivering in the cold and clutching 4 eggs !

Yup. All four of our little darlings are now laying, wee ‘Moe’ having succumbed to the Hormone Blitz just a few days before Christmas. So with a rising ‘Egg Mountain’, TH pulled on his swimming trunks and set off to surf the world wide web and seek a recipe to deal with the situation. Result ? ‘Pickled Eggs’ joined the outgoing presents list.

And now, on the Fifth Day of Christmas – Myna seems to have gone broody…………..

.........................Any suggestions of how to help a broody chook get over her impossible dream ?

Oh yes - and have a Happy Hogmanay !

The Beasts

White and tabby BartCat is the Senior amongst our furries, closely followed by Lady Blue Spot Bramble, and the baby of the family, wee Miniature Poo Holly.

Murphy was our first dog, a fine rescue collie with issues who left a gaping dog shaped hole in our lives when he left us to run in Elysian Fields. Hector was another rescue dog but his issues were too big for us to live with and he returned whence he came.

Eena, Meena, Myna, Moe, Melody, Min, Maid Marion & Maybelline were our chooks (hens) who lived with us for about ten years, feature in some of the early posts, but left us along the way.

Meet Us

Let me introduce Us. The ChickPea Family.

Now Departed This Realm - but still of Prime Importance (‘cos he was so very Beloved), is The Hubby(TH). He was one of Life's Gentlemen, one of those people you meet who you remember. Especially his chuckle. I carelessly misplaced him at a large gathering. He was running the bar, but taking time out with his camera to record the proceedings. And I lost him.... I felt bereft....there was absolutely no sign of him ....I tried the hall next door, looked outside, but there was no sign… and then I heard The Chuckle away over the other side of the venue (behind a pillar).
My heart always melted when I heard that chuckle ....

So that you can understand the early landscape, I need to include Father-in-Law who was 95 on his very last birthday, lived with us for five years, and died in mid-July 2008. He had severe dementia and was perhaps THE Main Reason for ChickPea entering the Blogosphere. I still miss him and I guess he will continue here. To Protect The Innocent, and because he was Ace at dominoes, I call him “Domino Joe” (DJ).

Ms Mog was my beloved feline companion for 20 years until summer 2009. Young Master Catlet bounced into our lives a wee while later and both eradicated and transformed the cat-shaped gap in the family.

The first 2 chooks arrived in July 2008, ate all the slugs they could find and gave us eggs - so in October 2008 we welcomed 2 more. Initially intended as therapy for Domino Joe, our flock assisted our recovery when DJ stepped into The Next Realm. But when I was diagnosed with breast cancer the remaining two hens went to live on a retired farm where they spent a further very happy year or two with more freedom than they could believe.

Mr Mutt joined us in September 2006 - a rescue dog ‘with issues’ - who we learned to both respect and accept. He became ill in the early summer of 2010, leaving the family bereft. An attempt to re-home a five year old dog proved painful and unsuccessful, so we gained a Monsterpuppy to add to the family. She is a blue Standard Poodle, now 10 years old and still a major delight and distraction .... tho most of the mad energy that abounds is from our wee MiniPup who is now just over 2 years old.

ChickPea Souffle

Wednesday 31 December 2008

Four chooks a-layin'.........

Hi !

The Beasts

Maybe helpful links for carers

other links......

Self-Sketch

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