Chickies!

 

Five new tiny little members of the family here at Serendipity.

Imagine a big cotton ball... That's about the size and weight of these little chicks. But, you'll also need to imagine that cotton ball peep peep peeping and skittering around after mama.

Three days ago I brought these babies home from the farm supply store.  That night after dark, I carried them out to the coop where Dolly was broody and patiently sitting on the fake eggs.  One at a time, I slipped each baby under her.  She'd look... give it a peck... scoot it under her... wiggle her feathers in contentment.  The next morning she was proud to show off her new family.  They spent a day or so in the nesting box. Then she brought them down to the ground in the coop and started teaching them. After a day of that, she brought them outside the doors of the coop to explore a little further.

They never stop peeping.  She never stops clucking.  I guess that's how they converse. 

Cute.

My Deer and Our Love/Hate Relationship

Two days ago...  

Aren't we lucky to have deer that watch us each evening as we walk?

One day ago...

Those stupid deer have helped themselves to my garden again!

Do You See a Mural in My Future? (Eeeek!!!)

Last month my art studio (a.k.a. The Fonzie Room... the room above the garage) got a complete make over.  I wrote about that HERE. 

Now it's Ron's turn with a new shed.

The characters in this story are the men in my life: 

my husband, two brothers, brother-in-law, and dad.

First they ripped off the back of the garage!

Dad is almost 95. He was there to supervise.

He kept a pretty close eye on the boys...

... and on their work.

Yep... that's Dad using the skill saw. (... sigh...)

So many ladders...

It's always a relief when everybody's back on the ground.

Now... Walk with me.  We'll go around the garage.

There's a look inside the in-progress shed.

Here's the back wall. 

Or... Is it a great big canvas?!?!

This morning I dutifully painted the whole thing the color of the house...

But...

You know I've always been a fan of Mr. Plumbean's house!

(If you haven't read The Big Orange Splot, you should probably just click on over to Amazon and get yourself a copy.)

Shall we vote?

⌧ Leave it plain.

⌧ Go for it!

If you're wondering if it would bother the neighbors...

Nope! 

Just deer, raccoons, possums, squirrels, and birds.

Evening Walks

Autumn evenings are fine for walking the dog and enjoying the neighborhood. 

Some neighbors line up to say hello.

Others just go on about their business.

They might even offer a chair and ask you to stay a while.

Or they might show up back at your own house.

Fall Chicks

Just a few chick-pics to make you smile.

I had a couple of broody hens that just would not give up.  In the end, I gave in to them and got them some babies. (Or, maybe I should say that Ron gave in to me... and let me get them some babies.)

From two different farmers, we got some day-old chicks, waited until after dark, then slipped them under their new mamas. We had happy chick families the next morning!

These two are Ameraucanas,
so I'm hoping for blue eggs one day!  

(Look closely, you'll see them.)
The other farmer said these three were a day old,
Hmph... They got fluffy pretty quickly.

That farmer also said these were Easter Eggers,
but I'm not completely convinced.  We'll see.

Dolly's such a good mama hen.
These tiny littles blend in with the ground.  I have to be careful!

I just love seeing a yard full of colorful chickens.

Just Down the Road

Just down the road, just around the bend...
     You'll see my veggie garden and my 12 little hens.

Just down the road, just past the hill...
     You'll see purple irises and yellow daffodils.

You can watch the squirrels and cardinals in my favorite dogwood tree
     or sit on my red benches and visit there with me.

Just down the road, my yard will be your view.
     Come right on over!  I'll be waiting there for you.

I painted this in response to Sara's Inspiration Image for February's Inspiration Collaboration.  Her photograph shows what she sees when she goes for a walk outside her house, and she asks, "Where do you live?" 
There are so many specific things I love about my backyard.  How could I choose one to paint that would represent it all?  
As I was coming back from taking my little dog on a walk, I knew when I got right here, what I'd paint.  
It made me think of the part of Mary Poppins (the book) when they all jump into a sidewalk picture because there's so much more to the painting... You just can't see it because it's behind the trees.
There are so many things to see if you go a little further... just down the road.

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Garden Cat

I love this cat's attitude... "This is my backyard, and I prefer stretching out right here in the sun among the plants and flowers."

I was flipping through photos on my aunt's phone looking at lots of cute pictures of her great grand babies, but when I came to a random picture of this cat on the wall among the flowers... I knew immediately that I wanted to paint it.  

I found out that the cat's name is Toonces Spraybuttsky, and he belongs to my cousin.  Honestly, you have to think maybe our cats are cousins too! Pounce also loves to hang out with the plants on our back deck and beside the plants in the garden... not to mention the family resemblance! 

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

View from My Art Room

This morning I'd been at it a while and needed a fresh look at the mess I was making on the canvas painting I was working on.  
I got up, stretched, walked over to the window, and... Oh goodness... 
My backyard was a busy place...
9 deer, 6 chickens, and 1 cat.
Everyone was just as happy as they could be.  
All the Eaton animal family members get along just fine.

Little Red Hen

Meet Red Red...
    Or maybe it's Other Red.
I can never be sure because they look exactly alike and are right beside each other all.. the... time!

Here's the thing...
We gave them names when we got them, but we always ended up calling them "The Reds."  I felt bad that they didn't have their own names, so we decided to make the red and the other red proper nouns. They became Red Red and Other Red.

At night Red Red and Other Red live in the Cousin House with Fancy while Sylvia, Dolly, and Monique live in the Sister House. They all hang out together during the day.

Red Red
She is funny and smart and brave.  As soon as I let them out in the mornings, she follows me right to the back door.  She's learned that if she's right there, I'll toss her a handful of treats.  She's happy to eat right out of my hand or stick her head down into the treat jar.  

Other Red
Ditto everything I just wrote about Red Red. Except for the times when one is laying an egg, they're together.

Fancy
What a little sweetheart.  She's gentle and timid and maybe a little slow.  She is usually waddling up about the time everyone else has just finished whatever treat I've just tossed out.  She's the easiest to pick up which is a good thing because she's never quite ready when put everyone else to bed.  We end up picking her up and putting her in the coop.

Sylvia
This one has the attitude!  We laugh at her all the time because she has a mind of her own. She's been a good mama twice though. We love the pretty blue eggs she lays for us.

Dolly
Dolly is kind of bossy, maybe even a little grumpy sometimes.  I think she wants to be head hen.  She was a good mama this summer.  You can see a little one under her.

Monique
The beautiful hen was that little baby under Dolly in the photo above.  She just began laying eggs of her own this week.  She's still pretty skittish, but she's settling in to being a grown up instead of the baby.

Here are the girls having a sunbath beside their houses. They're so funny.

I completed this painting during a painting retreat last weekend at Welcome Home Retreat in Weatherford, Texas.

 Original Oil Painting on 6"x 8" Wrapped Canvas.

[SOLD]