This morning, I was sitting in the kitchen reading my book when I heard a commotion outside. James and Bean were outside, so I rushed out the front door to see what the heck was going on. I looked off to my right and running through the woods there was a huge dog with a red chicken in its mouth. Right behind it was my husband running as fast as he could over the rugged terrain. I knew in an instant that this was my favorite chicken; the smart one that comes to the patio door and begs for treats every morning. She is a beautiful and friendly Rhode Island Red. As I watched feeling horrified I recall being amazed that James was keeping up. I guess all the adventure racing has made him an expert off trail runner. Then all of a sudden the dog dropped the chicken and ran up the road towards its own home. I saw a totally freaked out chicken running through the woods, back toward our house but focused on the dog which was now closer to me than my husband. I watched as the dog kept going up the road and out of sight. Then I turned to my husband who was now looking for the chicken but could not find her. I went down to where I had last seen her to help look. No sign of her. There were wads of feathers on the ground, but no injured chicken could be found. James went back up to the house to check on the other chickens and see what our toddler was doing and I kept up the hunt. I wanted to find her if she was alive and put her in her house where she would be safe. I was worried the dog would come back and sniff out her hiding place. For the next hour and a half I called and cried and begged to find her. But all I saw were leaves, sticks, dirt and rocks. I finally gave it up. James assured me that if she could, she would, make her way back to the chicken yard.
Hours later, as Beanie was taking her afternoon nap I decided it was time to go out and see if our little red hen had returned. At first I did not see her and my heart sank then I looked up and standing behind a tree was a rather statuesque red chicken. I walked up to her and she walked away from me. Good sign….she seems to be walking fine. She was understandably still nervous. I followed behind her escorting her, if you will, to the fenced in area where I coaxed her through the gate. I was so happy I ran in big bounds up the hill to tell James the good news. I then went in the house and got her some crackers and went out and fed her a treat. Poor little sweetie must have been terrified. She pecked happily at her snack and as best I can tell, other than missing some feathers, she seems to be fine.
Today, Allia wore us out with her playing dress up. The new shoes triggered a never ending need to put on this skirt, no that skirt, no this skirt and these tights, no wait I want pants, no I need a bigger skirt, etc. etc. etc. Each wardrobe change required mom or dad’s assistance and/or it involved a lot of whining and crying because it was hard to put on or take off or didn’t fit just like she wanted. And don’t even get me started on how her room looked after she dug through all her drawers and toy boxes looking for just the right accessories for her latest outfit.
Best part of the day was the amazingly beautiful weather. The sun was shining, temp in the mid 70s with a slight breeze….what more could you want? We played outside all day long.
Our new bike rack finally arrived and Daddy installed it on my car. Look how pretty it is....it even matches my car! And, we can easily put it on the SUV for vacations and trips when we want to haul a lot of gear.
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