But, no, I guess he’s a tad more clever than I give him credit for.

When I called the dogs in, this is how he looked. He had been over at the pond, baking himself on a sun-heated rock.

Scooter, I’m onto you!

Pip now has a twin.

Wendy even captured Pip’s perpetual smile.

I still don’t want to work with sharp needles. But, Wendy did teach me a new crochet stitch. I’m working on a scarf. It might be finished by winter.

On her third day here, we shopped at five plant nurseries and came home with a trunk full of vegetables, herbs and flowers (annuals and perennials) and 160 pounds of potting soil. With her plant knowledge and eye for horticulture design (and now sore back) we put these together:

The next morning, my husband got up early and baked off croissants (Trader Joe’s frozen are the best) and I hurried out to the garden to dig in the perennials – all while Wendy slept in. See? We are very good hosts.

I wonder if my Mother’s Day present is goat tip-proof. Excuse me while I go find out.

Pink Lady’s Slippers. They’re an orchid, and propagate with the help of fungus in the soil and bees in the air. The pink ones grace my property in May. They’re pretty, but soon wilt into the weedy edge. An untidy lawn is worth having for these moments of ephemeral beauty. Isn’t that true of one’s life, as well?

Somehow, I can’t fit blogging in! So, I’m going to take a short break and enjoy Wendy’s visit. I’ll try to post some photos on my FaceBook page – although I haven’t taken any yet. I’ve been too busy!

The boys would have eaten these,

but these greens were safe from hungry goats in the fenced vegetable garden. These beautiful leaves are a braising mix, designed to be eaten young or mature, but always cooked. The other night I clipped enough leaves for myself. I always wash greens in a couple of immersions and swirls in clean water, and then spin off the excess water.

There are two ways to cook greens. Either sauté them quickly and eat at the just wilted stage, or cook at length in a cook broth with a flavor booster, like a ham hock. Young greens like these are best sautéed; tougher greens are best done in the long simmer. For both methods, the leaves shrink to a fraction of their raw volume, so always pick more than you think you can eat. To prepare the first greens from my garden, I heated a large sauté pan, tipped in a touch of fragrant olive oil, and tossed in the greens. (They were so young and tender that I left the stalks on, older greens would have had the ribs stripped off.) I stirred and turned, and within two minutes the greens wilted.

Next, I sprinkled on about a quarter of a teaspoon of exceptionally good balsamic vinegar (the type that is aged until it  has the consistency of molasses and is so sweet that you’re tempted to drink it), gave them one more quick toss in the heat, and then brought them right to the table, where I used a quick turn of the salt and pepper mills.

Dinner was pan-fried sole, a baked potato and greens.

Unlike Caper, I don’t eat until bursting. In fact, after this light and healthy meal, there was still room for homemade chocolate chip cookies and ice cream.

You will get to tour the property and go into the barns.

We’ll look at chicken bottoms.

You’ll get to pet the chickens, and hold one if you’d like!

We’ll sit on the porch while I talk about everything from chicken behavior to coop design.

And there will be iced tea and cookies (homemade, of course.)

While here you can wave hello to Queen Candy, and you can pet the goats. The boys are eager to have visitors.

The cost is $25 per person. Email me to reserve a spot. Classes fill quickly, so don’t wait.

Also on the calendar – on May 16 I will be at the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown, NY, with a Chicken Keeping talk and slide show. I am so excited about this opportunity to see a beautiful part of the country that I’ve never been to, and to tour a great living history museum! Do any of you live out that way? Please come!

Candy is peeved. She’s the Empress Rabbit and should be attended to before all others. Candy lets me know her displeasure by ringing her bell and gnawing at her door.

I let her out and she gallops down the ramp,

and then she checks to see if her royal subjects, the hens, have been let out yet,

and then she goes and pees.

It takes a long time to pee.

The rest of the day is spent visiting with the chickens, all the while maintaining the proper royal attitude.

She confers with the goats.

At the end of the day, as night falls, I go out to close up the barns. As I check on the hens, Candy watches me, and when I step into her pen, she runs a big loop around her hutch royal abode, charges up the ramp, and turns and waits for her due. Two banana chips.

All hers. You don’t have to share when you are the Queen.

A turning point for me happened two years ago, during a lunch with a friend and an editor. We were talking about what I was writing, and how hard it is to get published. We had just finished a course of egg salad and greens, and were eating chocolate soufflé. We were on my screen porch, watching the chickens in the yard. She said, “This is what you do. Do this.” She swept her arm out at the view. I felt like I had been given permission to turn my backyard world into my writing world.

Now I have my books, but I also have you, and this on-going conversation on HenCam about a chicken keeping life. The story continues in my school visits and chicken keeping workshops. It’ll be told in new books and articles. But, mostly, it happens here. Thanks for reading.

Lily celebrated the anniversary by going fishing. It’s raining, thank goodness, and the pond has been rising, enough so that the little goldfish were swimming in the shallows. Lily caught and ate one before I realized why she was prancing and wagging her tail in the yard. She’s taking the rest of the day off.

I wish that I could take the day off and go fishing (although not exactly the sort of fishing that Lily does) but I’ve things to do. Writing projects are in the works.

If you have a favorite story that you’ve read here, do let me know.