Blog friends and poultry

I can't tell you how much I value the online community. Folks that I have met through blogging and other online activities have offered friendship, a sympathetic ear when things are hard, perspective when things seem hard but really aren't, and a never ending wealth of humor and great photography every day of the year. The whole family has had the opportunity to get to know what every day life is like all over the USA and Canada and to enjoy wildlife, ranch life and ordinary life of all kinds. Folks I have "met" here at my desk in the dining room have been kind enough to help me with every kind of thing from starting fires with wet wood to doing a better job of taking pictures myself (I found the button, Steve).

However, I have never, until Sunday, actually met a real live blogger. A while ago though I mentioned that I was having a hard time finding chickens. Since Empire Livestock closed the small livestock section of the Tuesday auction it is hard to just pick up a couple extra hens. When I said something about this phenomenon on a blog I regularly read the owner offered to give me some chicks.

I didn't have the slightest trepidation about saying yes. You can tell from her writing that this is a very special lady and I couldn't wait to meet her in person. Sunday I dressed in my best farmer chic (blue cotton work shirt and jeans worn so thin and soft they feel fuzzy) and Alan, Beck, the boss and I headed out. We met at the Tractor Supply near the kids college. There we found out that Teri is every bit as nice in person as she seems on her blog. And the chickens are the cutest things you can imagine. Becky has taken right a hold of caring for them and keeps them in this cage in the hen house days and in a box in the kitchen nights. They are probably fledged enough to be out all the time, but with chickens being such a scarce commodity we are taking no chances with them. It is interesting to sit in the kitchen at night and listen to them twitter to themselves as they fall asleep. With papa wren on the front porch singing his babies to sleep and them in the kitchen it is sort of like surround sound with birds.


So thanks, Teri, for the poultry, it was super to meet you. And double thanks for the introduction to the local farm version of Craig's List....(now there is an addictive pastime! The boss and I went through all the ads yesterday morning and just had a ball...) It was real neat to actually meet another blogger. Maybe someday I will get to see others in person....you never know.