We were going to have a two hour
layover in Atlanta, but by the time we got there it was "rush
from the Tennessee bus to the Alabama local bus." There was
barely time to gobble the food Pat made for us. Took the
Madagascar chocolate with us, and enjoyed it very much later.
Thank you Pat! Made visiting Georgia work out so much better.
Next day we visited my sisters
farm. This is her in the back garden of her home.
She had to do chores while we
talked and relaxed together. It was my sister and my
girlfriend meeting each other for the first time. Enjoyed
listening and watching.
Tonia said her chicken flock has
reached a size she likes. Hovering somewhere in the 35 to 50
bird range. Enough for unlimited eggs for the whole family,
plus enough to sell that the chickens pay their own way.
Beyond that they are beautiful and relatively trouble free
outdoor pets.
Virginia was feeding the
chickens just fine until the turkey showed up. He went and
stood over the best grain patch and started pecking anybody
that got near. It was an effective reminder what the term
"pecking order" means.
Nobody wanted to get pecked by
that turkey. They stayed out of range.
Put food in the goat pen and
there is no arguing beyond pushing and shoving. Everybody was
swallowing at the same time.
Then they immediately start
waiting for you to bring more. "Baaahhh!", "Bleat!",
"Groan..." After a while they go back to clear cutting
whatever growth they can find in the pen. They are great for
clearing land, but you gotta give them time to get around to
it.
The coop chickens are the
easiest ones to gather eggs from. Sister explained that the
chickens all start out as coop chickens, but once they escape
they become yard chickens. Yard chickens smell different to
the coop chickens. Because of this, when she puts a yard
chicken back in the coop the rest of them peck it to death for
being foreign. She just leaves the yard flock alone. Maybe
harvest the old ones for the Jamaicans down the road to BBQ
for two dollars a bird alive in a cage. Gathers the eggs when
they are easy to find. She lets the broody hens have and raise
their kids. Cheapest way to get more chickens!
We hung around the house and
talked until late. Ginger charmed us all with her antics. Then
they dropped us off at the hotel, which had this nice little
card in the bathroom. Nice that "Green" is a good word to
them!
Woke up to a text message from
my brother in law. They had an accident on the way into town
that morning. Hit a buck and totaled the Honda. We were on our
own to get to the bus station. We got there with plenty of
time to spare.
Waiting for the bus there was
this '70s game show running on the TV in the bus station. Some
of the contestants look kind of familiar, but the other ones
gave me that "Whose that?" feeling.
