Calling Mr. Natural

I couldn't find him,  Mr. Natural . . . anywhere.  The chickens were
waiting to come in to their bathroom  tub roost for the night.  They
were impatient.  So when I opened the door, one walked in.  I
scooped it up and carried it to the bathroom.  Then another, and
and another,  Three walked inside on their own and I picked them
up and carried them to the tub.  (Poor chickens--no coop yet for them.)
 The 4th walked in and evaded me and promptly escorted herself to
the bathroom.  Mr Natural showed up and took care of the final four.
It will be a shock to them to discover they really don't live in the
house with us. 

Both of us have felt so badly lately that nothing has gotten completed.
His truck is in the shop.  Still another unexpected bill.

Butterfly bushes are starting to bloom.  Except for the new one, which is
heat stressed.  I have tried to get them all together.  All that I truly
accomplished was sending my neck, back, and shoulders into muscle
spasms for 2 days straight.  Obviously, the dose of prednisone I am
currently taking is not helping me that much. My daughter came and helped
--she watered the worst of them.  And carried the ones on the porrch
around to the back yard--except for the ones not needing direct sunlight.

Mr. Natural didn't water them, so that is up to me I suppose.  Or maybe
my daughter can help me as she's coming back tomorrow.  I am very
determined.  If I have to buy a coop and hire someone to paint the house,
but I will buy the scaffolding first.  I'm hoping he'll feel better soon.

And that is where we are at the bird house.

All for tonight.

Kate 
  

Midnight with the Chickens

Mr. Natural sometimes sleepwalks.  And he did last night around midnight.
Only this time I didn't know he was asleep.  He looked totally awake.
He went in the bathroom--the chicken's bathroom--and proceeded to
gather them all up and put them in the container--to take them outside.
He thought it was morning--until I woke him up--before he reached the
front door. 

Then it really got funny.  He was apologizing to the chickens for waking
them.  I think he speaks chicken because they seem to understand
everything he says to them.  He cooed and fussed over them and I
tried not to laugh too hard.

This is truly a "bird" house!

All for tonight

Kate Thorn

Life

First, the chickens.  They are are now regular visitors to the deck.
They have even flew up on the railing and eyed the birdfeeder.
but so far, no accidents.  My deck (and  front porch) leave a lot
to be desired.  But, on the positive side, they are on their final molt.
Once they finish this molt, they will be adult chickens and ready
to lay eggs.  So Mr. Natural is talking more about their new home.
(You know, with heat and air conditioning and hot and cold running
water--I am joking--but I think if we could afford it, he'd do it.)

My butterfly bushes are going to bloom out this year--soon.  One is
nearly as tall as the tree I want to get cut down.  I bought a gorgeous
vibrant purple one at Lowes and both hummers and butterflies have
been visiting it.  My orange trumpet vines are nearly ready to plant
at the base of the tree.  I have 2 more butterfly bushes but they had to
be treated first. 

I changed my mind regarding as to where to place their birdbath.  It
is definitely going in the front yard in view of the bead room.  Speaking
of, he repainted it--it is beautiful--a nice neutral off white with a whisper
of pink in it.  Lovely. 

Daisy's old perch--is getting the same color, only
in semi-gloss and the top will be covered with similar shade of carpet.
This is to help  her from falling off--having one eye gives her depth
perception problems, so this will help her.

The bead board which will cover a goodly portion of one wall is
also painted the same shade, though you won't notice that when all
the beads are on it.  And maybe I'll be able to bead enough to
strengthen my hands, which are incredibly weak as is the rest of my
body.

When I went to Doctor on the 14th,  he added to my diagnoses.  Just
what I needed.  More autoimmune stuff to deal with.  He added
hypothyroidism  (Hashimoto's I believe).  I haven't started on any
thyroid meds yet--He started me of 20 mg Prednisone.  I see him again
in July for a recheck.  I looked pretty horrible by the appt.  Mr. Natural
went with me--I was having problems focusing and knew I would
forget to tell him.  Still look horrible.  The Prednisone did alleviate
the pain that was body wide by then--but I only feel good for a few
hours.  The pain has been greatly helped, but the lack of appetite
and difficulty swallowing continues.  I go nowhere now.  Exhausted
all the time, so there will be lapses in this blog until he gets me remission.

All for tonight--

Kate Thorn

Painting

Mr. Natural painted my bead room today--pink even.  Actually it was much
pinker than the paint showed on the can or the colorstrip.  We were going
for a pale beige with a hint of pink. So we we got more pink than we
bargained for.  I plan to tone the whole room down by adding light beige
accents.  (I think!)  And some lacy ivory curtains.  After all the beads
get in there, you won't even notice the a bit too pink walls.   

The above pics were snapped as we looked out the window and saw
the "Girls" rolling in the dirt.  The leaves are pretty thick; that's why
there are so few.

We were visited by the pileated woodpecker, and while he was busily
throwing seeds he didn't want on the deck, the chickens were climbing
the stairs to get the discarded seeds.  They were noisy.  I thought they
would disturb the woodpecker, but he paid them no mind.  Chickens
and a pileated woodpecker on the deck at the same time.  It was quite
a sight.

All for tonight

Kate  Thorn

Dust Bathing and Siesta Time

"Ain't Misbehaving"

The chickens were as good and even endearing as they were
maddening and frustrating the day before.  Maybe they picked
up on our feelings and decided to mend their ways for a day or
two at least.  .  They stayed very close to the house while we were
gone to look at the mobility cart--which I didn't purchase.  It needed
new batteries and not much power going uphill.  Since we have a lot of
hills here, it would be useless.

I saw the slender black hummer today.  Wish  I could get a really
close look at it and ID it--still think it is a Lucifer at this point.

All for tonight

Kate Thorn

Chicken Chasing

Today began much as yesterday, but the chickens pushed Mr. Natural
a bit too far this time.  He spent most of day chasing them, keeping them
in the yard and out of the neighbor's yard, and they found their way to
the fig trees that have been petted as much as they.  Then he couldn't
get them back to front yard.  And the water hose was brought out.  That
did the trick, and they behaved for hours. 

But only for hours.  Then their older teenage behavior began.  He was so
frustrated by around 5 pm that he actually said they had to be moved to a real
coop--he had to get some relief.  I crossed my finger and prayed.  I really
like the chickens--a lot more than I thought I would--but not free-ranging.
He left for an hour and I fretted about them the entire time--I can't walk
fast enough to get them if they decide to roam out of the yard and into the
road.

I felt great the first 5 hours this morning (I'm on a new medication), so
it is working--but it didn't last very long.  All for tonight.

Kate Thorn