Just a Light Dusting, Please...

As predicted, we got some snow during the night... just an inch or so... a light dusting.  Enough to make everything pretty this morning, yet it has nearly disappeared even as I write this at noon.  I am still recovering from inner ear/vertigo, which got the best of me this past weekend.  Went to one of those walk-in clinics Monday, and they fixed me up pretty darn good!   Other than fatigue from the insomnia (from the Decadron injection), I'm doing well.  Got a lot accomplished yesterday; not as much today, but that's okay.

Moxie, visiting the Peeps cage; Peeps one week old

This morning, when I first saw the snow, Pretty Face and the Peeps were all peeking out of their little coop just opposite the back door. And, I realized that while the Peeps had seen snow, they had never been out walking in it.  So, of course, we had to see what they would do... It's always amusing to see animals walk in the snow, especially the first time.  They don't want their little feet to touch that weird, white, cold stuff, but there is no other way to ambulate than to ambulate!  They stood around a big dog bowl, eating cracked corn, then herded themselves up the back steps and onto the porch. So, there they were... ten chickens standing on the porch, staring in through the sliding glass door, and knocking on the glass with their little beaks.  ("Let me in... Let me in...")  Cute.  Too cute.  These are the Peeps that lived in the big cages in our office until they were about two months old.  They KNOW what wondrous pleasures lurk in every corner of the Ben-David household.  They remember us holding them, hand-feeding them, playing with them.  They remember falling asleep on our laps... with Moxie next to them, washing them like a mother cat and her kittens.  They know.

the back of the doll house

I have this old doll house on the back porch.  I originally had it as a "safe house" for my cats before I moved up to the mountains.  The three cats would get in the three rooms  and be protected from the elements.  Since I don't have three cats anymore, and the one I do have hardly ever goes outside, we had filled the rooms of the doll house with spare wood for the wood stove. But, this morning, I said, "What if..."  You see, the Peeps were all hanging out on the porch, on top of the doll house, atop flower pots next to the doll house... Even perching on pieces of wood that jutted out of the doll house rooms. What if I took the wood out of the rooms?                     Would they get in like the cats used to do?

Where's that "No Vacancy" sign???

So I carried the wood inside and have been using it for the fire all day.  Meanwhile, Pretty Face was the first to find a spot - left lower bunk, thank you very much!  Since then, various birds have been spotted in various parts of the house.  It's been another of those quirky little amusements to see who is where from time to time as the morning progressed.






Last I looked there were no chickens on the back porch.  They have a daily routine, which involves nap time.
I kid you not!  They all go back into the coop, hunker together in a big mound of  feathers, beaks, and feet, and sleep for about an hour.  They will be back out in a little while, ready to investigate the yards once again.

Meanwhile, Moxie and Beau are "guarding" the Peeps' chicken house.  They have stationed themselves on the hillside, just above the coop. Moxie, of course, considers herself their mother... But, Beau - bless his timid heart - is actually afraid of the chickens.  Yesterday I spotted them following him across the back yard, the way they would follow Moxie. Or me. Or Moshe.  Poor ol' Beau would  walk a little faster, and the Peeps would speed up, too.  Finally, he ran around the corner, apparently overwhelmed with the entourage.

Yes, I am easily amused.  I live a simple life.  But, it's a good life.  I laugh more deeply and more often than anyone I know.  The animals are a big part of that laughter. So, thanks be to God for giving us that light dusting of snow and providing me with a light dusting of laughter as well...