The Chicken Man

I shared with you just a few days back about The Chicken Lady that I met while doing research for the article I wrote called, Urban Chicken Farming, for This Land Press. I met several urban chicken farmers inside of Tulsa’s city limits and began to understand the movement to raise one’s own chickens within the city.

This man lives just a few blocks from me, so I biked over to interview and photograph him. He thought I was “pretty green” for doing so. In reality, I felt like a little exercise and I hate driving if I don’t have to.

The hens roamed the entirety of the back yard, but escaped to the coop at night to steer clear of any potential predator’s mouths. What are they-chicken or something? Heh heh.

The chicks clucked around, avoiding surly confrontations with the cats, the dogs, bees or anything else this man had going on in his backyard. It was a real zoo.

Raisins treats allowed me to get up close and personal with this golden lady. So pretty. So clucky. So demanding of the raisins.

After a couple minutes interviewing the Chicken Man, he offered me some eggs to go. I cooked a couple up for lunch, shocked by the color deep orange color of the yolks. These backyard eggs were different than any store-bought-even the organic, cage-free eggs. And they were tasty. Very tasty.
The odds are that I will be housing some chickens next year. I am slowly becoming more and more a fan of this idea. Now, to I just have to get the neighbor’s dogs on board with this idea….

Pretties for your Ocular Senses

The rain has been relentless these past few days and I love it. The rain reminds me of Europe, of comfort food, of cozy blankets and hot cups of tea.
Get your ocular’s ready. You are about to have an ocular freak-out session.

It also reminds me that right now my rain barrels are brimming with free water for my garden. Free. I love that word. (Learn how to make your own rain barrel here.)

But mostly, the rain just makes everything more beautiful. And I’d like to share with you three beauty shots that the rain had a part in creating.

Drizzly rain, hot coffee, a sandy beach and Biceps=the perfect San Diego morning.

 

I happened upon this plant in Scottsdale and have no idea what it’s named, or what it wants to be called-maybe Gerald, Harry or perhaps Monique-but whatever his/her name is, it’s unique leaf display caught my ocular’s.

 

This shot of the sun rising over California somewhere wasn’t enhanced, retouched, cropped or straightened. It’s Raw, baby.
And fantabulous.
Hope your ocular’s could handle this much beauty in one day. I’ll stop for now, just so you aren’t ocularly overloaded. I hope you enjoyed my “Pretties”.

The Chicken Lady

I recently wrote an article entitled, Urban Chicken Farming, for This Land Press. I met the most amazing urban chicken farmers and discovered why there seemed to be a movement to raise chickens within city limits.

This lovely lady resides in a neighborhood I could only dream of affording, and yet we are connected by a strange love of chickens. She’s named each of her little feathery friends, feeds them treats each day when she gets off work and knows their personalities.

 

She loves to hold her chickens as if they were pets. In fact, they’re so used to being handled, this little chicken lady wasn’t upset that I was all up in her biz-ness.

 

I love how the reptilian claws are attached to the feathered hen. It’s always been a dichotomy of fluffy and scaly to me.

 

According to the chicken’s owner, this is the most photogenic of the hens. I have a feeling this wasn’t the chicken’s first photo shoot…
After a couple of hours spent talking about the benefits and the superior taste of one’s own fresh eggs, along with the companionship the brood provides, it’s no wonder this chicken owner is enthusiastic about her pet of choice. She’s embraced the title of “Urban Chicken Farmer”.
Who knows-I may just be next.

Fall time in Europe

Awhile back, Biceps and I saved our pennies and vacationed in Europe for an entire month. This morning, as I sat in my housecoat with coffee in hand, a slight rain drizzled outside. While the water splashed on my windows, I was reminded of the mornings in Europe we huddled together waiting for our train, usually snacking on some sort of pastry and wishing we had packed warmer clothes.
We wouldn’t trade those moments for the world.

This tiny little town of Hallstatt, Austria is less than 1,000 people and only accessible by boat. We flitted about in the off-season, unencumbered by the usual tourists-drinking coffee and hiking its mountains. It was quiet, to say the least-except for the occasional cow bell.

 

The path to Neuschwanstein Castle (Schloss) is lined with ever changing colors-which can be seen in great depth-if one is too cheap to pay for transportation up the mountain and decides to walk the 5 million miles on foot, uphill….

 

Simple. Beautiful. Fun to climb for the first 20 minutes, then prodded on with the promise of coffee for finishing the hike by a certain someone with a name that rhymes with Ticeps.

 

I wanted to rent a house and live here forever. But then I realized I wouldn’t be able to see my parent’s or Biceps parent’s or my brothers or my cats…..needless to say, no house was rented.
We were thankful to see Europe in the fall, the colors were vibrant, the tourists were sparse and the weather just cool enough to warrant a jacket a handful of coffee.
I would love to go back soon. I hope Biceps is reading this. Hint, hint…..