Why Katherine is Always First to Comment

Some of you have wondered: who is Katherine and how does she manage to be the Queen of Comments on this lowly chicken blog. This explains it all:

Katherine, just a few years back, with her first chick. Look at that smile!

P.S. Comments are good! More of you should try it!

So much to celebrate!

Alexandra may be the only person who can claim her birthday was upstaged by chickens. Her birthday was last week and we celebrated with a lovely lunch:

Chelsea, Claire, Alexandra and Victoria

Pamela and Alexandra

Alexandra drove south to celebrate her birthday with a hot-air balloon ride, but the rest of us gathered here on Saturday afternoon for what turned into a Chick-Naming-Party. I’m going to try to post a poll with the names in contention, but for the moment, you’ll have to be content with pictures from the event:

Ashleigh made some amazing treats for our guests!

Victoria created the chick-naming materials

The Chicken Kingdom is looking good

Hope marched her babies out from the coop right on cue as the guests began to arrive

Pamela visits with the little Black Copper Marans chick

Phyllis enjoys the Silkie

Ashleigh holds the little Easter Egger

Katherine makes sure that Autumn doesn't feel left out

Pamela and Kirk re-define chicken coop attire (they were on their way to another party, actually...one that didn't involve pine shavings)

Soho the scaredy cat: "If I don't look at it will it go away?"

Our neighbor, Jo, dropped by to welcome the baby chicks

So did Chadd and his friend, James

Lori and Victoria

Birdie even joined us for some outdoor time

Julia, Victoria and I enjoyed a little late-afternoon sunshine when the fog finally lifted a bit

Somehow I missed getting a photo of Marie-Christine. Maybe that means we need to name a chick after her…

Yesterday was Father’s Day, and, in addition to being splashed all over the blog (thanks for all the nice comments!) the CE enjoyed a lovely brunch and reveled in the phone calls from all the far-flung kids. Julia brought fresh-baked banana bread and Victoria made a pie and some amazing artwork, so it was a very sweet day.

King for the Day, and Emperor forever!

PG and the CE

Trying our hardest here to make every day a holiday!

Re-wind Pt 3 of 3: They say it’s your birthday!

Just a run-of-the-mill birthday, or so I thought. As they stack up, they seem less like a collection and more like, well, old age, I guess. I was planning to be happy with the gift of tyrannical tv remote appropriation (anyone up for an NCIS marathon?) but someone (not naming names, but Victoria comes to mind…with assistance from Ashleigh and the CE) stopped just a chicken feather short of declaring it a national holiday. And now, with not one, but two, birthday dinners and innumerable gifts later, I stand before you, another year older and woefully behind on writing thank-you notes.

From birthday dinner #1: Alexandra, PG and the Diz

The CE and VIctoria with the best birthday dessert ever: Trifle!

Beautiful flowers from Katherine

Be still my heart! The CE gave me a signed album cover of Joni Mitchell's "Wild Things Run Fast". Best gift ever from the best husband ever!

The table is set for dinner #2

Victoria and Ashleigh worked for hours and hours and hours on the second birthday dinner. The food was so amazing I want to go back and have it all over again!

Ah, popovers and prime rib! Heavenly!

Julia brought these breathtaking peonies

I didn’t know the guest list, so I was holding out a shred of hope that Hugh Laurie might knock on the door, but the next best thing to a House heartthrob has got to be Michael in his dapper James Bondesque jacket:

Michael and an admiring Birdie

Karen and Julia

Pamela, Soho and moi

The one, the only, CE!

PG, the ubiquitous Soho, and Dave

Beethoven thoughtfully dressed up for the occasion

The cooks and their muse: Ashleigh, Marie-Christine and Victoria

It’s much easier to age when you’re lucky enough to have such wonderful friends and family around. I think my college roommate, Anne, summed it up best with this card:

Inside it says: "You're no spring chicken, but you're still a tasty dish!"

"Can we move on now? May is SO over. Yawn!"

Animal Planet

Readers have come to my rescue in the absence of my camera (which was duly returned and is now charging up to record this weekend’s activities). From my father in Indiana, a link to a news story in that bastion of investigative journalism, The Elkhart Truth. You will remember an earlier post (“The Blur That Is Life”, March 20, 2010) about the meanies there issuing poultry eviction notices.

Karen Wellington on her Goshen, IN farm

In nearby Goshen, Indiana, however, calmer heads prevail, and chickens are not only welcome, but catching on in a big way. The Truth story details one Karen Wellington’s efforts to walk her talk after becoming convinced that she could not support mainstream agribusiness. Ms. Wellingon’s 10-acre farm has become a homesteading experiment for her family, and  this summer she has reached out to the community with a chicken “co-op” idea.  She provides the land and the day-old broiler chicks, while co-op members will rotate the chicken-tending duties for the eight weeks it takes to raise “meaties” as they are known, for slaughter. Come fall, there will be a lot of chicken dinners served in Goshen. You can see the full story at http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?ID=517417

Land o' Goshen chickens

On the other side of the chicken coin, friend Katherine sent a link to a Los Angeles Times story about tough times for chickens in Bishop, CA. The headline says it all: “Neighbor’s Chickens Ruffle Feathers in Bishop”. Clucking over the interpretation of the community’s poultry ordinances has set neighbor against neighbor in this small-town portal to the Sierra Nevada mountains. 81-year-old Clifford Crickette sprayed his neighbor with a garden hose when the neighbor “tattled” to the city council about Mr. Crickette’s chickens. (I can’t condone the methods, but it would have been fun to watch!)

Endangered in Bishop, CA

The issue has become so heated that the city council has bowed out of the fray and put up a ballot measure for November. Hope, Autumn and Amelia are keeping their scaly little toes crossed for the ballot’s passage. Here’s to Chicken Solidarity!

Lastly, in the truth-is-always-stranger-than-fiction department, Alexandra suggested a potential career opportunity for the CE: canine interview consultant!

Co-op boards can be notoriously capricious and demanding (which is why we purchased a condo – can you imagine us passing any kind of interview?) and now the boards of pet-friendly buildings are subjecting the pets themselves to scrutiny. In the NYC real estate blog, Brick Underground, dog trainer Elena Gretch offers up her strategies as a consultant to hopeful co-op dwellers and their dogs.

It's a dog-eat-dog world in the Big Apple

According to Gretch, it takes about six weeks and $800 to properly prepare the average puppy for co-op interview prime time. Something tells me it would be at least triple those numbers to clean up Chloe and Soho’s act – hard to teach an old dog new tricks, you know…(read the full story at http://www.brickunderground.com/blog/2010/05/brickiq_how_to_get_your_dog_past_a_co_op_board)

I will post more NYC trip pix soon – we’re too busy living the experience right now to report on it but I promise to get on it ASAP!

Here a chick, there a chick…

Seems it’s been womens’ week here at the Chez Poulet chicken ranch:

The CE’s sister, Gail, stopped through town for a few days and was introduced to the ladies:

Alexandra’s friend, Maurna, visited and enjoyed a fresh-laid breakfast:

Bon appetit!

Look how rich those yolks are!

Alexandra’s cousin, Claire, joined us, too:

Claire made a new best friend

On Saturday, we had a lovely ladies’ lunch in celebration of Alexandra’s birthday:

We hope all your wishes come true!

Ready to celebrate now that the MCAT is behind her!

Mothers and daughters

In honor of Fathers Day, Alexandra and Victoria made some of the CE’s favorite sweets:

They stayed up late Friday night baking - so sweet!

Yum!

And friend Katherine surprised us with this mat – how great is that?

Pretty good likeness!

It’s the weekend again already?

Sorry, I had to break the rules. It’s Katherine’s fault – she sent me the following – not sure of the source unless, possibly, she, Dan and Karma created this little art installation themselves. Very funny!

At table.

Now that visions of chicken tongues have whetted your appetite, it’s time to check in with a few more “who I’d have to dinner” lists.  Friend Katherine, my stepdaughter, Angela, and her husband, Bobby, weighed in with the following:

Katherine’s list:

“Dorothy Parker, Shakespeare, Confucius, Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt and Charlie Chaplin.”

Wow! Quite the power table!

Dorothy Parker

Amelia Earhart (from www.boeing.com)

Charlie Chaplin (from www.amoeba.com)

And this eclectic group from Angela:

“Steven Tyler: for so many reasons, not the least of which would be that you KNOW he has good stories to tell when there is a lull in convo, and I would be on edge guessing at which scarves he would bring along and attach to his chair.
And, because he reminds me of everything I cherished and loathed about being a teenager. (Editor’s note: and everything Dad and I cherished and loathed about you being a teenager, too:-) )

Dream On...

-Coco Chanel: Fascinated by her childhood. How she pioneered fashion being a woman and poor the way she did is unprecedented. And I read she was incredibly unfriendly and difficult, a Type-A that would make me look loosey-goosey. And, of course, WHAT WOULD SHE WEAR?

-John Irving: as author of one of the best books of all time, “a prayer for Owen Meany” and the inspiration for the screenplay “the world according to garp” (one of my husband’s “top favorite movies of all time” I think he would bring intellectual dialogue between the salad course and the palate cleansing…Plus, I think Coco would like him.

If you haven't read this, you're missing something!

-Anna Wintour: she wouldn’t stay long, she’d pop in and not say hello to anyone, have a sip of ice water, and depart, while her “umbrella holder” escorted her to her Bentley, BUT, wouldn’t it be cool to see the look on her face when she saw Coco?? Although, she so aloof she might not even notice her.

-Clive Owen: he can arrive late and stay late. Everyone else, beat it. (Editor’s note: Wait! Wait! Can I swap out Hugh Laurie for Clive???!!! PLEEEEEEEZE?)

Three words: Yum. Yum. YUM.

-Caesar Milan: sorry to copy, Marilyn, but you know how I feel about dogs. Maybe he could bring an Animal Shaman with him and read TINY!!!!

Bernie Mac: if you haven’t seen his skit on the stand-up DVD “the kings of comedy”, then, well, that’s just sad. Amazon.com. Not saying it’s clean but it is side-splittingly funny…I was so sad when he died suddenly last year. ”

Bernie Mac (from www.phprider.com)

Bobby sent this touching list:

“First off, my father for a lot of reasons but mostly he was always the hit of the party.  Next would be James Cagney, another NY’er who could light up a room.  Burt Lancaster is 3rd, yes another NY’er and one of my all time favorite movie stars.

James Cagney (from www.allposters.com)

Next up I’m going to dig deep into the history books with Mark Antony, a nobody who made
his way up the ranks.

Mark Antony

I’m going to jump around a lot so bear with me, next is John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row are two of my all time
favorites.  Thurman Munson would have to be there, almost the greatest Yankee catcher of all time, Yogi was the best and you know what he can come too along with Phil Rizzuto who I used to listen to with my father,

Thurman Munson

Rizzuto would be in the middle of calling a play then out of no where say “oh and happy birthday to so and so…”.  Lets see, John Ramsey my 9th grade history teacher for sure, Gen Patton, Ms Lynn my 12th grade history teacher who was black and married to a Tusckegee Airman and used to dress up like an African Queen everyday and didn’t give a damn.  Clint Eastwood for sure, my grandfather Santos Palermo who refused to see the
movie “The God Father” because that would glorifying the MOB and he knew what kind of animals they really are.  Danny Shea who died on 9/11 and would
come up with best office pranks you’ve ever seen and to finish it off Angela’s grandfather whom I’m told had a sparkling personality and was a
great conversationalist.”

Last, and, um, least, kind of, the CE suggested this trio for his table:

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk! As they say, all the world’s a stooge…who’s on yours?

Good Karma.

The chickens were left behind when Chloe and Soho (aka Chloho, as they’ve been dubbed by young friend Chadd) were invited to lunch yesterday. The CE and I tagged along, thus getting to meet a charming and  lovely couple and their noble dog, Karma.

Karma

Karma is a Rhodesian Ridgeback who lives the life to which we all aspire. He has loving parents (“owners” being so poorly descriptive of the relationship between dogs and their people, I think) who provide him personalized dog treats and a fine Baluch rug to call his own.

We know this because the Chicken Emperor, eschewing social protocol, helped himself to an examination of these folks’ rugs. Apologies may be in order, but it was interesting to learn a bit about the rugs made by the Baluch (or Baloch) tribe. Karma’s particular rug features a border made from horse hair, which, the CE explained, is used due to a traditional belief that snakes will not cross horse hair, and therefore, whomever sleeps on the rug need not worry about creepy crawly nocturnal visitors. Sweet, serpentless dreams to you, dear Karma!

According to an article on www.farsinet.com, “the Baluch people are very kind and simple and weave rugs mainly to express themselves and follow an ancient Persian tradition, which dates back thousands of years. Colors of Baluch rugs are usually predominantly a rich burgundy with some very dark navy blue and accents of ivory. They frequently have either an overall pattern, or a prayer rug design. Any Baluch Persian rug is one of a kind and has absolutely no duplicates anywhere in the world.” Members of the Baluch tribes can be found living  in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

The article goes on to explain that Baluch rugs are of excellent quality and can last for many years. Favored colors are dark red or blue contrasted with splashes of white, yellow and orange. Powerful blues predominate, with ivory as a contrasting color.

A Baluch rug

We had such a fun time that we’re hoping to plan a reunion lunch at our house soon. Maybe, just maybe, there will be a meet-and-greet with the chickens, as well. We’re looking forward to seeing them all again soon, as we can most certainly benefit from a bit of good Karma now and then.

Our lovely hosts, Katherine (sp?) and Dan

Bernadette, patron saint of pet-sitters and catalyst for yesterday's lunch

The amorous Charlie, who also attended

A tired Tart, after much ball-chasing fun

Chloe, of course