Chickens in the Driveway...

I have a Barred Rock hen, one of the Henriettas, who likes to walk on the wild side.  I constantly have to chase her from the front yard to the back, so I've named her "Miss Adventure" for her tendency to wander off in search of new pastures. At least I'm exercising more!  Wrangling chickens is a demanding job!

Yesterday, while I was reading drafts from several of my classes, I heard something--not loud, but rather metallic.  I thought, perhaps, the acorns were falling on the roof of the shed, which makes a nice pinging sound.  I looked out and discovered that several limbs had fallen from the Oak tree in the middle of the yard.  Not that unusual--limbs fall all the time.  But these limbs fell on the Henriettas' chicken run, flattening it to the ground.

Poor Henry the Roo was in the run by himself, but he's okay.  He did manage, though, to make it out into the  yard with ALL the hens!  He's having a great time chasing them.  And he's awfully proud of his prowess, too, judging by all the crowing he's doing.

This is Lydia, a Barred Rock mix.  Barred Rocks lay brown eggs, but Lydia's eggs are white.

Mrs. Bennet.  She's a Red Sex Link.  She lays brown eggs.

The Brahmas, aka The Dashwoods, Marianne and Elinor.  They lay brown eggs.

One of the Henriettas--this one is a Buff Orpington.  She lays brown eggs.

 A view of the collapsed run and some of the limbs that brought it down.

Another view.  You really can't see all the limbs in this, but I figure three large limbs came down, as well as a few smaller ones.

And yet another view. All in all, a mess, and a time-consuming repair.

Even my best-laid plans go awry.  But, in the midst of reading/grading, I need a break.  This wasn't quite the break I was looking for!

All's well, though.  The run is functional, though they don't usually spend much time in it, except when I go the the University to teach.

Spring Break...

is not much of one, so far.

My brother and his wife came in Saturday night, and, Sunday, we got out in the yard and cleaned up.  We cut up limbs that had fallen down, and I have so much stuff for the burn pile, plus two big piles to burn in the front yard.  Mike and Linda cleaned out the front azalea bed; we cleared out the space in front of the garage; didn't do much in the back yard except cut up a huge limb that fell late last year.  I managed to get a climbing rose bush planted at the corner of the front porch. The yard looks so much better.  I'm hoping that we can all get together in April to plant the butterfly garden I want.

My mother and two of my sisters showed up on Sunday.  Mom cooked cabbage; Jeri brought red beans and rice; Mary brought me a bookcase and some chotchkas from my sister Lydia, all in keeping with the bee theme, except for a beautiful star ornament to hang in the back yard.  I feel lucky to have my family members.  Really, I love them all, but I know who I can depend on.

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I've been grading papers...gee, that sounds so familiar!  Why should spring break really be a break?  I have midterm grades averaged for three classes.  I have two sets (well, really three) of papers to grade and two sets of drafts to read.  I'm hoping to get the papers graded and grades posted by Wednesday so I can spend some time gardening.

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The repair shop didn't get in the parts for my car, so I have no idea if they'll be able to repair my car this week.  I'm kind of ticked about that...I don't have three consecutive days for car repairs when I'm working; these guys aren't opened on Saturday, but I'm not taking my car to the Mazda place in Bossier.  The last time I had to have my car repaired, the Mazda dealership kept my car for ten days--they didn't bother to tell me that one of their mechanics quit.  Every time I called, they told me "We'll have it ready tomorrow."

I probably should go to the store tomorrow, just in case.  I hope I can get the car fixed and inspected before I have to go back to school.

Where's the Rain?

June has just barely arrived, and I can hardly stand to go outside. These 90-degree temps have me hunkering in the house. The thermostat is set to 76 to hold down the energy costs (Ha!), and I'm comfortable, but I have so much I need to do outside; I just can't face those chores right now.

On Tuesday, I planted two climbing bushes my mom and my sis gave me on the back fence. I got up yesterday and found a large tree limb straddling the fence right where I planted the bushes. What are the odds of that? So, early Wednesday, armed with my saws and loppers, I took down the limb on my side of the fence, leaving the rest for my neighbor. I think she got the heavier end of it!

I spent the hottest part of the day cleaning out the closet in my study. How can one person cram so much stuff in a closet? And it's not a big closet, either. I took out three bags of clothes--some for my daughter, some for Goodwill--and I put the computer gadget bookshelf in there to get it out of my sight. I feel as though I have a bit more space in the room; it doesn't feel so wall-to-wall. And everything is organized. I just love organization. So, today, I need to tackle the closet in my bedroom--but I haven't had enough coffee yet!