Tales from the Coop Keeper. A vignette of domestic bliss. And chickens.

 Since beginning the decorating blog thing, I've stumbled upon so many talented gals.  I've decided they are so awesome I will be kind enough to share them with you.  But they're still my best friends, you understand.

Just sayin'.

Today I'm gonna feature The Coop Keeper aka The Chicken Whisperer aka Counting Chickens aka Jayme.  Perhaps you've noticed I like sharp wit and humor.  Maybe?  Well I do.  I LOVE to find other funny bloggers, with funny stories to tell, with funny lives, with funny noses.  Ok, I don't really care about their noses.  Anyway, my homey Jayme fits all the criteria in a perfect storm for blogging.  If you've not hopped into the virtual world of Jayme and her 'girls', let me please introduce you to her wicked sense of humor without further delay....because the world needs more Jaymes in a bad way.  We all need Jaymes in our life to make us laugh til we cry.  I'm being serious.  I literally laughed so hard I cried one night reading some of her old posts. She lives just a couple hours from me, and I'm soooo gonna meet her for real, up close and personal.   I can't wait to introduce you.  I will stop talking now.

Please meet Jayme at Tales from the Coop Keeper, homemakin' farmgirl extraordinare

(she asks you to please ignore the rosemary up her nose)

She cooks and bakes (and shares recipes and how-tos!):

She knits:

She gardens:

 

She Junks:

She decorates

She landscapes:

She does Giveaways:

She drinks this with plants:

And with her cat:

She and her hubby have renovated a 140 year old farmhouse:

For example, Porch before:

Porch after:

She has one of these!!!

Lovingly called "The Squirrel" (see the squirrel?)

She entertains:

She embraces her inner vintage homemaker and plays dressup:

Pin curls and vintage earrings....swoon!

And she kills things then sings about it:

I mean, what's not to love here?  Is she livin' the life or what?

And if you can believe this, she also homeschools her 13 year old nephew Aaron.  Say hi to Aaron!

(this dude COOKS!):

 And you MUST read THIS post about puberty.  That's all I'm gonna say about that. 

Ok, now on to the main reason for my post today. Jayme also has a brood.  Like me, except hers have beaks and feathers.  And some serious personality.  I thought perhaps it would be fun to introduce them to you as well.  I interviewed each of them for this post because they have some very wise things to share with my readers. I've included links to where you can read more about each of them because I KNOW you will want to become better acquainted. Shall we begin? Yes, let's.

 Meet Stubs

Stubs was injured in a coon attack, and left with disfigured feet. Nevertheless, when we sat down together she exuded confidence, and I noticed she has fabulous flappies wattles.  I asked her about how she was coping since the attack.

Me: How has your disability helped you to realize your dreams as an impressionist artist?  In what ways do you foster your self-esteem now that you have been physically challenged?

Stubs: You know Cindy, living with a disability is difficult.  There are so many things I can't do.  I can't scratch.  I can't roost.  If I'm not careful, I get depressed.  Surprisingly, I'm the top bird around here.  I have to be...if I showed the least bit of weakness, I'd be hen pecked.  The Coop Keeper encourages me though.  She's always encouraging me to do the things that I can do, like paint.  She always tells me that my eggs are her favorites.  They are a beautiful color, I must admit.  I get horribly itchy at times, and I can't scratch myself.  It's maddening.  I take my mind off of it by searching for worms.  I do have a gallery showing planned for the Spring of 2010...don't miss it!  

Here she is at work:

Ta da!

Next up we have Helen: 

Helen also survived a coon attack, having had her head almost swallowed.  The experience has had a profound effect on her.  She's much more humble, has taken to contemplation and even began a ministry.  Her companion Fifi was nervously sitting nearby and kept interrupting.

Me: After your harrowing near-death experience with the coon, how has your perspective on life changed?  Do you believe it's vain to fluff your feathers now as the more carnal of us do?  Does it bother you to always be last?  Does Fifi get on your nerves?  Is she too shallow perhaps?  

Helen:  Cindy, first of all, thank for taking the time to talk to me.  No one usually bothers.  Since the great coon attack of June 2009, life has changed drastically.  For me, life was all about bugs, dust baths and who could get to the water cooler the fastest.  I'm much more retrospective now.  I don't run around as much.  I still do preen.  Cleanliness is next to Godliness you know.  Fifi is a thorn in my flesh.  I'll say no more.  It doesn't bother me to be last anymore.  Sometimes I feel a little useless around here, I don't lay, and I'm blind in one eye.  The Coop Keeper loves me though.  Did you know she carried me in her jacket for two days?  She slept with me, carried me all over the yard and force fed me fresh strawberries and yogurt?  I'd be dead without her.  That's love. 

 

  

Let's quickly move on to Miss Fifi LeFew before she lights up again:

 

 Me:  What is the best color companion for your glorious blue green eggs?  And what's your best piece of advice for staying calm in a tense situation, besides say squawking and putting on a show?   

Fifi: Oh Dahlink, there are no better eggs than my lovely blue green eggs.  I sink zat Stubs eggs are the best to be zeen with mine.  Ze Stubbs lays a lovely golden brown egg.  Makes mine look even lovlia...Ze CoopKeeper, she is so afraid that my smoking will reduce the beauty or the frequency of my eggs, but she ez so wrong.  You see, as a lovely french bird, I smoke.  Eez no problem.  Zee other chickens, zey sink I'm, how you say 'neurotic'...zay don't know...zay should live through zee coon attack...zay would understand zen.  Zee attack, still so fresh in my mind, zee skwauking, zee running.  Zee smoking, it calms me.

Okie dokie. Moving right along.  Next are the uber-crafty gals.

Chicks after our own hearts here in the blogsphere.

Here's Mrs. Puffington

and her loyal stitching buddy Mother Plumtree with a sample of her work:

Both these gals are rather soft-spoken and genteeeel, both lost their way to the porch where I was waiting for them, sipping ice tea in a rocking chair.  I tried to ask them about their hobbies, you know

....to draw them out a bit. Didn't take long.

Me:  Have either of you considered stitching up some road signs to help you get around the coop and yard?  Do you quietly gossip about the other girls when you're crafting???  Do tell.   

Mrs. P and Mother P:  Pray tell, what have you heard about us?  Landsakes we wouldn't be talking about our friends like that.  Well, maybe Fifi...and I do remember talking about Helen once or twice....like why she won't get a backbone and fight for her rights to the scratch grain....but that is it, I think....   We have stitched arrow signs, towels, and other fineries and strategically placed them around the yard, but that darn Coop Keeper finds them, and gets excited and either hangs them in the coop, or gives them away on some blog she does.  We've given up.  We just watch Helen nonchalantly and follow her....

Next in was Scooter.   Take a wild guess why:

Scooter was brought in to be the BFF to a fellow chick (who has most unfortunately and prematurely passed on to that glorious coop in the sky---RIP Sugar Pie).  She's a pretty young thing, and given to that teenage chatter that fills my own house so often.

Me:  What is it like to feel so needed, and what will be the 'got to' color for winter scarves this year?  Will you be modeling for Antropologie in the near future?

Scooter: Hi Cindy!  Actually, I just signed a two year contract with Abercrombie.  The 'got to' color for this winter I believe will be teal.  It's bright, clean and really stands out against my rust feathers.  The Coop Keeper is busy designing a new line called  'Poultry in Motion".  Cindy, I gotta tell ya, it feels pretty good to be so needed around here.  The Coop Keeper and I are like 'this' (gestures with her claw).  I have to be extra careful around here when I'm out free ranging.  My friend Sugar Pie was lifted right out of her dust bath.  Hawk.  I can't talk about it.  It was horrific.  I think the Coop Keeper would lose it if she lost me.  I see her out in the yard all the time, looking for me.  She gets a hold of me and covers me in kisses...I can't say it's my favorite thing...but it's better than the frying pan.

Here she is showing us how scarves should be worn this winter:

Lastly, let me introduce you to Scarlett (and her friend Aunt Pittypat whom I've not had opportunity to interview as of yet.  I'm told they were discussing Project Runway before being interrupted by the Coop Keeper's camera here.)  Notice the glorious always-in-fashion-and-the-envy-of-all-women red feathers. Redheads are always stunning, no?

Me: What does your morning beauty routine entail?

Scarlett:  Morning routine Cindy?  It's a daily ritual, as in it takes all day.  You don't look this good without work honey.  First things first Cindy, you need a good nights roost.  I go up early to get the best spot.  First thing in the morning, I re-hydrate by drinking alot of water.  I also go heavy on the scratch grain, for a glossy sheen to my glorious feathers.   Sure the scratch grain puts a little junk in my trunk, but what's wrong with that?  I preen a few hours a day, take a good long dust bath, and start the process all over again.

I'm told there are two more black chickens, but we are waiting for them to identify themselves as hens or roosters.

Yes, life is exciting for the Coop Keeper.

Now see, aren't you glad I brought Jayme and her crew to your attention?

Go visit her as soon as you can, but please don't ask to borrow a tree. 

I will leave you all with some links to some of my favorite posts from Jayme's place:  

My Weird Weekend

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

Tour de Coup

okaybye.