Lesson 448 – Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree

I’m a little behind this year. Putting up the Christmas tree is always a big event (as is taking it down) in our house. Just as Santa does in the parade, the tree in our house might just as well be the starting gun to the season. And they’re off.

We usually get our (artificial) tree up during Thanksgiving weekend but between the holiday, the relatives, and the kids home from college (and let’s not talk about the mouse that jumped out of the Christmas box decorations when I was down in the basement) I just haven’t gotten to it yet.

I think though, that the natives are getting a little restless.

We always keep our Charlie Brown Christmas tree up all year. It’s so sweet that no one can bear to take it down. When I found it this morning, this is what it looked like:

Lesson 447 – My girls are not really feeling the love at the manger

Last year I bemoaned the fact that you never see chickens at a Christmas manger scene. Oh sure you see donkeys, camels, and (quite) a few sheep, maybe even a dog or two, but you never see chickens.

Which I thought to be a bit odd because surely they had chickens over there in Bethlehem, after all, chickens not only give eggs but they are a handy one-sized family meal. I had then theorized that perhaps the rooster had crowed throughout night with all of the activity going on and as a result had contributed greatly to the breakfast served the next morning (ensuring peace on earth for the new mother and child), but that still didn’t explain the lack of hens.

I tired to remedy this in my own little way:

Doesn’t really work well for long, as the hay eventually gets pecked all over the room.

Lesson 446 – Double yolked eggs and other oddities

If you take one of my chicken workshops, then you learn how chickens form and lay eggs. The first thing I always do is draw a chicken oviduct on the white board. It’s not that hard to draw because essentially the oviduct is simply a long twisted tube.

So let’s start at the beginning. Roughly every 18 hours (more for some birds, a little less for others) a hen releases an egg. That’s the yellow part that is blamed for our cholesterol counts being high.

As it travels down the oviduct, a gelatinous membrane is added. That’s the white of the egg, also called the albumin and is the stuff of which lovely meringue is made of.

The egg then continues to travel down the twisty oviduct. Because it is being rolled over and over, the fibrous strands inside (called the chalaza) twist which helps to anchor the yolk within the albumin.

Once the egg reaches the lower portion of the oviduct, calcium is deposited around the egg creating the shell.

Lesson 445 – Happy Thanksgiving

From our flock to yours –  Happy Thanksgiving, may you enjoy a relaxing and joyful holiday with friends and family

(and if you want it, go for that second piece of pie.)

 

Lesson 444 – of a different color

You know the expression “a horse of a different color?” The first time I remember hearing that was during the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” When Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Lion arrive at the Emerald City, they are met by a carriage pulled by a most unusual horse. On the way to the Wizard’s secret chambers, it changes color before everyone’s eyes.

When asking about the strange horse she’s told – “Why that’s a horse of a different color.”

I stared in wonder at that beautiful animal, what a clever being to be able to do that.

This is what I’ve found out about that horse – At first, the film’s creative team thought the horse could be painted to create the multi-hued illusion, but the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said no. The trick was to find a substance that would not only pass the ASPCA test but would photograph clearly. Food coloring was tried, even liquid candy, both without success. The colors were too tame, and much too tasty. Finally, a paste of Jell-O powder was found acceptable. The horse continued to lick but, with frequent touch-ups, the problem was solved. Apparently, if you watch closely you will see that the driver tries hard to restrain the horse from trying to lick itself. The filmmakers used a white horse and sponged it down with different colors of Jello. During the film, the Horse of a Different Color changes color 6 times: Green, blue, orange, red, yellow, and violet

When I first saw this wonderful creature, I asked my parents for months to “pretty-please” get me a horse of a different color. No amount of logical discussion could keep me from my asking (over and over and over.) What do you mean it doesn’t exist? I saw one with my very own eyes.

I knew, with all my heart, that a horse of a different color existed. (By the way, I also asked for a Tribble in my youth – but that’s a whole different story, in fact one might be inclined to say that it’s a horse of a different color.)

On and off throughout my childhood, I yearned for that horse but eventually with age came a little bit of magic lost. I realized that the horse was not real and that the expression actually meant – “a topic or a plan that represents a change from what one thought was being talked about or considered.” The bit in the movie was a clever play on words and was not referring to an actual creature.

Yet one more time where I had to sacrifice childhood-magic for maturity.

And yet, a part of me to this day still holds out for that horse. Wouldn’t it be nice to think that somewhere, somehow in a remote area, a baby horse of a different color is being born right this very minute? Perhaps she’s just taking her first wobbly steps, changing from a timid pale yellow to a bright and vibrant violet as she gains confidence.

Until that horse and I someday meet (oh, and if she’s out there we will), I’ll just have to be content with the nearest equivalent I can find, a bit of  magic survived from youth, here in the backyard – my very own flock of a different color.

Lesson 443 – Don’t do this at home

This is a brown chicken.

These are leaves.

This is a brown chicken on leaves.

Kids, don’t try this at home if you want to be among those who are rounded up and put back into the safety of the henhouse at the end of the day.

Lesson 442 – Quotable Chicks

Friday’s Quotes for the Chicks 

“The cherished chicks are coming home to roost.”

Moms of college students everywhere

Lesson 441 – Simon the painting chicken’s newest piece – Sunflower

I told you I would show you Simon’s newest piece of art today and true to my word, here it is.

Simon the painting chicken's "Sunflower"

It’s called “Sunflower” (doesn’t it just brighten your day?)

Simon (her twin sister is named Garfunkel) had actually painted the flower part last year but we had never gotten around to putting the “seeds” in so last night, Addy went out to the henhouse and because it was raining she brought little Simon into the kitchen so that she could finish the picture and sign it (in the lower right corner.)

I held Simon who snuggled down into my arms while Addy helped with the paints and canvas. Not a peep was heard from our artist, in fact at one point, I even wondered if she had fallen asleep, but no, it turns out she was keeping one eye open at all times on Pippin, our dog who found this all highly interesting.

I don’t know if you caught that but we had a chicken in our kitchen last night painting and you want the know the best part about that? Not one person in my family thought it was in the least bit odd to do this.

A chicken in the house? We’ve had many before and I imagine we’ll have many more.

Lesson 440 – Simon’s back

Last night I attended a presentation at our local library put on by two debut Young Adult authors (Gina Rosati and Hilary Weisman Graham) It was a great event filled with heart-to-heart advice by writers to writers (and some of the coolest bookmarks I’ve ever seen.) I’ll be reviewing Gina’s book: Auracle – on this blog as it gets closer to its release date. (hey, us chicks have to look out for each other.)

While I was at the library, one of the librarians: Ellen came up to me, “Wendy?” she said. “Wendy Thomas?”

Wondering if I had any overdue fines on library books, I hesitatingly acknowledged yes, that was who I was and waited.

Ellen then went on to tell me a story from a friend of hers who lives in Washington State. Apparently that friend while waiting for a pizza to be ready started reading the free weekly newsletter often found in local restaurants and coffee shops around the town (and I’ve since discovered are also distributed around the United States and in 50 countries.)

One of the “Everybody’s Talking About…” articles in the newsletter was about a chicken owned by Wendy Thomas from Merrimack New Hampshire who had created a piece of art that ended up benefiting a local playground.

Wait a minute.

“That’s your chicken, right?” she asked me.

Lesson 439 – Flock worthy egg muffin cups

When you raise hens for eggs and not for meat, sometimes you have to get a little creative with how you serve those calcium covered delicacies. Don’t get me wrong, even the youngest in our flock can tuck into a platter of scrambled eggs with bacon on Sundays but sometimes those lovely weekend eggs can very quickly turn into weekday “not-again” eggs.

Trust me, if it’s made with eggs, my kids have probably had it. I’ve tried a few recipes in the past, sausage and cheese burger pies come to mind, as do quiches of every type but often it’s just too much of a good thing.

The other night for dinner I decided to try another egg experiment. I had seen a recipe on individual egg cups and thought I bet I could do something like that.

This is what I did: