Ballerina Chickens

Ha! That title reeled you in, didn’t it?

Well, okay, so No, the chickens have not been doing pirouettes over the lawn, but they are practicing their leaps over their fence and that is getting on my nerves. We’ve been letting them out of their “secure location” a bit this winter to free-range and eat bugs and weed seeds. But now with spring on the horizon it’s time to rein them in a bit. We’ve been thinking of inviting the little kids of our neighborhood over for an egg hunt at Easter, and we need a little time for the “manure” (as we farmer people say) to compost into the lawn. But those darn chickens are not cooperating, and Felicity and Pansy must be of a breed that still has a lot of flying capacity in them. I’ve enlarged their run but have not yet installed some sort of netting for a roof, so they just work up an energetic flap and fly over. Argghh! Then I must chase them, catch them and throw them back in. It does get me some exercise on a slow day, so I suppose that’s beneficial.

Felicity on the lam

In the chicken tractor that my sweet husband built in the fall - useful for days when we don't feel completely cooped up but not totally free range, either. Bella is to the right, sniffing for goodies.

I also feel that it is time for a ballet update. Since my sad second beginner ballet class, I had to miss a couple due to familial illness and strife. Thursday I returned with great trepidation and still without cute pink slippers. But my friend was there and we are slowly learning and feeling less insecure together. Loulou has been coaching me on the positions: first, second, third, etc. When we were told to balance on “releve” and feel that we were growing two inches taller, I did kinda feel a little taller (always a good thing for me). And at the end when we did our little dance routine-y thing across the floor to the lovely, floaty piano music, I was concentrating so hard on the steps that I forgot to feel intimidated and instead felt almost graceful! Maybe that means that I am no longer a “chicken ballerina.” Ha!