• HOME
  • BLOG
    • ANIMALS
    • CHORES
    • COOKBOOK
    • GARDENS
    • GLIMPSES
    • GREENHOUSE
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT US
The Stylish Gardener

Sheba the Queen

12/27/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
My sweet Splash Orpington hen, Sheba, is so givin. And so reliable, too. No matter the weather, she lays a lovely sage green egg for me almost every day.

Today was was no exception, even though it was an exceptionally cold day--12 degrees was the high temp! And for some reason when it gets that cold, I have an uncontrollable urge to get outside and experience it.

Yep. I'm an odd duck.

An odd duck who love chickens. Which is why, in the freezing cold 12 degree weather, I was outside having an impromptu photo shoot with the queen of the coop, Sheba.

Well what else is there to do when it's that cold?

Oh...that's a good point you have there. Cuddling up on the couch in comfy pajamas snuggled under a cozy blanket and binge-watching the new season of The Crown certainly is another option.

And certainly a more normal option too. But the normal path isn't always the most common one we take around here.

​Take Will, for example. Today he played the part of photographer while wearing a t-shirt, karate pants, and house slippers. And while shivering and shaking so much it's unbelievable that the camera was able to focus.

For what it's worth, I did tell him to put on a coat, but for some reason he didn't take me seriously. Couldn't have been because at the time I happened to be dancing around the front yard holding a fresh egg in one hand and cradling a panic-struck chicken in the other while not-so-subtly practicing a few poses from my old modeling days. (Notice I said "days" and not "years"--It was a short-lived experience, mainly because I was too short for the experience!)

Anyhoo...You think he'd be used to this kind of stuff by now. Or maybe that's the problem.

Either way, he snapped a few photos as Sheba and I struck a few poses...



Picture
I call this Sheba's supermodel pose. She looked straight at the camera, cocked her neck, and stuck her chest out like she was ready for her close up, Mr. DeMille.
​
Picture
But she quickly lost interest, and I had to do a little sweet-talking to get her to keep going. "Aww, such a pretty girl, you're doin' such a good job, sweet little chicky, just look at the camera, you can do it...". You get the gist--all the normal things you say to your pet chicken during a routine photo shoot.
​
Picture
And this is the part of the photoshoot where I realized that I forgot to put on any makeup. Apparently I wasn't quite ready for my close-up. But Sheba was, so just focus your attention on her please. She looks stunning! Or stunned. One or the other...

​
Picture
Either way, Sheba's the queen of the coop, and no queen should be without a crown. And since I could almost technically be called the queen mother, I got a crown too.

​And then since it was freezing outside and our photographer could no longer feel his fingers, we called it quits and went our separate ways. Sheba scurried back into the coop and jumped into the cozy straw-filled nest box, and Will and I skedaddled back into the house and made ourselves a cup of Queen Elizabeth's favored East India Company Orange Pekoe tea, courtesy of my sister's recent trip to London.

And then I put on my comfy pajamas, curled up on the couch, snuggled under a cozy blanket, and started binge-watching the new season of The Crown.

See...I do occasionally do normal things.

Especially when it involves anything royal!


0 Comments
    Picture
    Picture
    The Inside Dirt
    Picture

    The Animals...

    I love farm animals.  There are plenty of good reasons for this: they provide food, income, fertilizer, pest and weed control...they can even till my garden for me!   But what I really love is having odd farm animals just wandering around.  I like to just sit and watch them happily scratch, root, or strut about--doing whatever comes natural to them.  Sometimes it gets a little crazy, but they're such a big part of the homestead equation, I can't imagine not having them. 

    Archives

    May 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.