the worm has turned and we are having the best weather right now. clear, sparkling, intense blue skies, 60-70 during the day, 40s at night with sunshine that would lead you through the darkest briar path.

oooh! (hugs self) i am so happy!


vowing to take zulu on longer and longer walks each day -- i'd like to get us up to 45-mins at least once a day, with the outside goal of a 15 minute at night.

want to get back on me bicycle again, too.

springy springy delight.

i am woozy and punchdrunk with it all.

was just outside, bringing in the chooks to their pen, when i was accosted by the sweetest, most beguiling scent.

it was as if i had never smelled anything pleasant before. just so intense and enticing.

i looked around, thinking it was too early for the jasmine and spied...oh, lo! the orange tree.

really, there is just nothing like the smell, the bestest smell of an orange in bloom.

what a gift.

today has been filled with scent noticings, however. i was heating up something in the micro and pulled in a waft of cinnamon...ahhhhh, the cinnamon brooms above me on the way. happy.

and, when walking into the kitchen, the heady freesia -- gorgeous maroon and yellow blooms my mom recently cut from my garden.

it is mid-february, and spring she has arrived. 84 degrees today, to dip to 67 tomorrow. this is the rollercoaster of blooming new life.

mmmmmmmmm.

Two Percy notes:

1. Loving the ripe persimmon. Bring on more of that!

2. Hate those damn blue stellar jays. Hey, wait, I'm bigger than them! See me chase them away! (gallumph, gallumph)


...Really, life gets no better than throwing grapes to yer big, black Australorp and watching him wolf them down and look at the sky as if to say, "will there be more grapey rain?"

Been a freakin' long time since i've been here, and i'm tired and i want to sleep now. but i need to relate my cat's bizarrity.

I was eating homemade cheesecake recently, and Cleo became exceedingly interested (to quote Wallace, "Cheeeeeez"). At least this was my assumption. When I finally let her partake of a bit on my plate, she proved me wrong.

What did she lap up? The graham cracker crust.

Breaaaaaaaaaaad. And, she likes her fair share of the vege, too.

:D

oh, and newsflash: not a chance in hell that Percy is a girl, despite hopes and desires. we got us a big ol' rooster.

at least mercy will produce eggs. we're thinking of getting a couple more hens, when the time is right.

that is all.

Today is wonderful. I am still in jammies, having eaten a delicious bowl of leftover rice with fried eggs, chicken sausage and soy. I have mowed the back lawn, and am watering the front. I am sipping on an amazing cup of pu-erh and chrysanthemum tea, and there is more in the pot. The sun is breaking through the fog, slowly, and it promises to be a day of 70-75 degrees with some breeze. Scrub jays call in the back yard, and the chickens are chortling in their box.

Perfect.

I will putter today. I am so excited about this. I will clean up the house, and put away clothes and get laundry going. I will revel in my aloneness and the rhythm of the pets here. I will prepare for teaching my first class tomorrow night at the college. I will eat fresh fruit and yogurt and taste each exquisite bite, instead of wolfing it down.

I will walk in the freshly mown lawn and feel the blades between my toes.

N has made huge progress on the chicken coop, with some great help from our friend Stephen, who visited this weekend. It promises to be a lovely, long-term structure, fit for 5 chooks. He's truly an amazing guy, just pulling the whole thing together after studying up on some other coops online. I love that. He puts the hand in handy. Heh. I am bursting with pride about his cleverness. Man, just *think* about the playhouse he'll make when we have kids!

so, All Is Well on the Ventura front. Nice change of pace, just relaxing and enjoying and realizing it is all goot.

Panic happened briefly on Saturday, amidst and exceedingly good, social and productive weegend.

We were working in the yard, both front and back, and decided to let the chickens run free in the back, feeling they were purty safe since they are much bigger now, and we were also checking in on them regularly. They do so love wallowing around in the garden, rolling around in their dirt bathyness, picking at every little thing, and visiting with us.

So, after finishing one last task out front, we walked down the side of our house, and there was Percy, alone, walking toward us, determinedly. Percy's never been in that area before, and certainly rarely is alone for more than two seconds, as Mercy is basically connected at the hip. N and I both said, "where's Mercy?" and "uh-oh" simultaneously, and I started to run, Percy hurrying behind us.

Fucking neighbor's cat was in the yard, stalking, in the grass.

My heart dropped as I chased her away, and no Mercy in sight.

N grabbed Percy and put her in their box, and I, with that sinking feeling, started calling for Mercy, scanning the yard. No Mercy, no Mercy, no Mercy. (No, I'm not missing the irony there.)

N asked if maybe she'd flown over the fence, I just didn't know....then, I saw her. At least part of her wing....

We have a large pile of bricks on our patio, waiting to be utilized. Leaning up against it, in lean-to fashion, is a square cement paver. All I could see was her back, with a wing sort of tweaked. I started toward her, calling her name and "chick chick chick", thinking "oh god, this is it." She then popped out her head from behind the paver and pulled herself up and leaned toward me. I scooped her up in a second flat and tucked her into my body, petting and soothing her.

She had a little cut near her beak, and her heart was racing a gazillion miles an hour, not unlike mine, I suppose. She seemed to really appreciate the cuddles and petting and soothing. She looked up at me, as if to say, "I'm okay." I think she actually might have received the little slice on her face when she buried her head.

Three things came out of this for me (besides no alone time in the garden for them, at least for now.):

1. Chickens are supposed to be dumb.
2. Percy came to find us when there was danger.
3. Mercy hid all her vulnerable bits under cement so the cat couldn't whack her. Her hefty body wasn't an easy target, but her head and face certainly were.

What a trip. I love our chickens.

Decision made: Keep it pure...no visuals until I see the whole movie! Whew, what a relief.

And, this just in: My cat just love loves LOVES bbq potato chips. I know they cannot be good for her, but it is so cute, watching her chomp away on the crisps with her many lacking teeth. Gnaw, gnaw, gnaw.

Oh, we just got a late nite invite to go over to some pals. We go, we go.

It's nice bein' dinks. Or sinks, or...whatever. Us!

To do or not to do; that is the question.

Go and see the online clips of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" before I see the movie, or keep it all a complete surprise?

O! The anticipation, the indecision, the...agony!

Not knowing what to do.

Advice?