Visit from Bryan

Bryan is an old friend of Scott's. They met back in college and Bryan is Scott's BFF (besides me, of course). Isn't BFF weird to say in relation to a 40-something? It sounds so wrong, it makes me LOL. Obviously, I am a relic trying to exist in these tech-savvy times. Pat me on the head and send me on my way.

ANYWAY, it's always nice to see him. Evan thoroughly enjoyed his "Uncle" Bryan, too.

We took the daily walk down to check on the cattle.

Peafowl now at Chez Monica

I LOVE BIRDS! Have I mentioned that? Well, if not, here ya go. I love 'em. As of yesterday, I am now the proud owner of an adult peacock and peahen. I'm so excited!

I'm keeping them in the chicken coop for a while until they get acclimated to their new home.

A friend of a friend needed to re-home them and my friend knew of my predisposition to animal husbandry so she put her friend in touch with me. She said that the peahen has been laying as of late;-)

I am so glad. I've wanted peafowl for a while now but I never did anything about it.

Not to get too weird about it but I kinda think the universe is trying to help me out. Here's why:

1) Completely not an avian topic--I needed to get a job. I did not want to go out into the "job market". I loved my old boss and always loved the thought of getting back in touch with her. What happens? My old job opens back up, a friend recommends me and I'm back with my beloved old boss as of the beginning of April!

2) I always wanted peacocks. Never did anything about it. A friend of a friend comes along and viola, I have peacocks (peafowl; sorry).

I know it may sound flimsy to some, but I do kind of feel like things are going my way. Knock on wood, I hope I'm right:-)

I AM a Knitter! Sort of….

My most wonderful friend, Jeni, sent me a beautiful knitting set to get me started knitting a couple of months ago.  I was feeling pretty low and she really went out of her way for me.  There was some super soft chenille yarn that was begging to be made into something really pretty.  I tried to learn via the instructions but I wasn’t catching on very quickly so I went down to my local Alpaca Ranch and spoke to a lady there to learn a bit more.  She got me started on a very small project with very thin yarn, better for a complete novice, like myself.

So, I set out to make a hat for Evan, and I just finished!  I’m very excited.  I feel more and more confident and I can’t wait to use the super cool yarn Jeni gave me!

I’m also getting some very helpful advice from Cristin, who is a fabulous knitter.  She is the one who inspired me to take the leap into the world of knitting.

                         Please don’t look to close to the hat, so as not to see ALL the dropped stitches and such.  Just remember, this is my very first knitting project.  Pretty cool, huh?!

A little bit o’rain in Central Texas!

We are having a little rain shower here this morning.  Everyone around here is thoroughly excited and we relish ANY moisture we can get!  It won’t alleviate the drought but it may lessen it a bit.  Right now we are at the “Exceptional” Drought Stage, which, I believe is the highest drought stage. 

Teddy took a trip today

Wow, I am truly in awe of my bantam rooster, Teddy. He survived quite an ordeal today.

It all started when Scott, Evan and I left out to run errands today. We took the truck (F-350) b/c we needed to pick up some feed and supplies among other things.

First, we drove to the mailbox, about a little over 1/2 a mile down a dirt road, stopped and got the mail. Then we drove approx. 15 miles to the electric co. to get some account info. changed. Then we drove to Austin, on the highway, doing between 70 and 80 mph. We stopped at the OC Condos to drop off some stuff, then we went to the dry cleaners to pick up some of Scott's cleaning.

It was at the dry cleaners that Scott tapped on my passenger window and said, "Is this ours?" He was pointing toward the back of the truck and I had no idea what he was talking about.

I got out of the truck, looked by the back wheel and saw my beloved Teddy clucking under the truck. I was dumbfounded.

We tried to catch him but he kept running under cars in the parking lot. Eventually, we managed to manuever him across the strip mall property, across over to the OC Condos we had left and locked him in one of the backyards. Then we spent a good bit of time chasing and lunging at him in the backyard.

Scott finally grabbed his little leg and I got a good grip on him. He was very sedate in my lap on the way home. I told Scott I hoped that Teddy wouldn't poop on me on the way home and Scott responded that he thought Teddy probably already had the "poop scared out of him" from his ordeal. I think he was right because he didn't poop on me for the whole 30 mile ride home.

Poor Chicken!

I am so thankful that Scott was able to catch him and that it was a happy ending. I honestly don't know how he made it. There were so many times that he could have jumped out or fallen to his death. It was incredibly windy today, too, which is probably why he was there in the first place--to take shelter from the wind.

Anyway, I think he has a strong will to live and I'm glad:-)

This is an old photo of Teddy and me. He's a sweetie.

Out of the mouths of babes...

OK, so this morning I am putting Evan in the car and as I am buckling him, he snorts from a stuffy nose. I sweetly say, "Oh, poor baby, you've got boogies?" Boogies are what he calls snot and boogers.

He replies, "Yes, momma, I got boogies." Nothing out of the ordinary about that, BUT, then he follows with "I don't eat boogies, I drink boogies".

Um......hmmm......OK. I guess the good news is that it sounds like he knows he shouldn't eat them. After that, I'm at a loss.

Moving on. We have some more chicks. Evan loves them. He is so gentle with them, thank goodness.

My Little Reader

Evan is such the little person nowadays. He wants to be just like mommy and daddy.

Yesterday morning, he pulled the kitchen stool into the middle of the room, climbed up with book in hand (not a child's book either) and announced in a very studious manner that he was going to read. I had to grab the camera and preserve the moment!