Moo-ing in the wind.

As I type this, I can hear the cows moo-ing on the property across the road. That neighbor has four horses, a flock of chickens and roosters, at least a dozen goats, and about ten cows and bulls. We thought he recently added the cattle to his livestock, but we found out from another neighbor that he's had the cattle all along-- they've just been on another piece of property that he owns which we can't see from our hill.

I don't know if that cow is moo-ing because of the sudden drop in temperature today, or because of the winds we've had all day long. This morning was warm and terribly humid, after a night of rain. I left the house wearing jeans, for a trip into town to the resale shop and to get groceries at WalMart. The jeans were way too hot, but I didn't feel like changing clothes again. As it is, when I get up in the morning, I change from pajamas into my coop-cleaning clothes, then I change again into either clothes that I wear around the house, or going-into-town clothes. By the time I got back from WalMart, I was happy to have the jeans on because the wind kicked up and the temperature started dropping from the low 90s into the mid-70s. I don't know what it is right now, but I'm guessing it must be down to 65 degrees.

When I pulled into the driveway this afternoon, all the chickens were in front of the cottage, even though it was drizzling a little bit. Usually, they run underneath the shrubs or into the coop when they feel raindrops on their feathers. So why weren't they in the coop, being that they were so close to it? I pulled the car into the garage and then thought I'd check on the coop-- maybe Gatsby was in there. Sometimes that cat will take a nap right inside the door of the coop so the chickens either have to fly over him, walk around him, or sit outside the coop and watch him sleeping.

Gatsby, however, was not in the coop, but right outside the coop and looking in. And as I looked into the coop, the chickens were all behind me, cackling and clucking away, as we all watched the plastic liners flying in the wind and flapping up against the west side of the chicken-wired wall of the coop. And the noise was horrible.... all that plastic beating up against the fencing... no wonder the chickens (and Gatsby) didn't want to go in there.

As fate would have it today, I had found a very pretty and very heavy plastic shower curtain at the resale/thrift shop..... just one dollar for this brand-new shower curtain. I bought it to have an extra plastic curtain for the coop.... and I surely needed it this afternoon. But first I had to put the groceries away...... and the chickens followed me away from the coop, across the driveway, and right into the garage. I don't want them in the garage, so I closed the big door and called to them as I walked out the side door... they followed me to the back door and I gave them half a can of WalMart-brand corn. I couldn't find fresh corn-on-the-cob today, so I bought them some cans of corn (their favorite treat).

While the chickens ate the corn, I put the perishables in the fridge (love the new fridge!) and then I changed clothes again-- back into the coop-cleaning clothes. Out I went with the step stool...... the chickens followed me through the backyard, across the courtyard, towards the coop. As soon as they heard the tattered plastic liners flapping in the breeze, they stopped and just waited by the cottage. I took down the wind-whipped plastic...... and put up the heavier shower curtain..... the hooks fit right into the chicken wire, so that part was easy. This time, with the heavier plastic, I let it fall behind the horizontal wood support that's near the top of the coop, then I also let it fall behind the horizontal fencing support near the middle of the coop. I used those plastic tie-down things to anchor it here and there, and I'm hoping the heavier plastic will work better than the thin plastic liners that I had before.

If this doesn't work, then I think either a plastic tarp or a painter's drop cloth will be the solution--- both suggested by my cousin F up in NY...... she has been following the "chicken saga" since Day One, so she's nearly as invested in these chickens as we are. No matter how much the neighbors laugh at me and call our Coopacabana an "uptown coop," I am determined to make it as comfortable in that coop as possible for those birds, without going too over-the-top. A little thing like trying to keep them out of a good wind isn't over-the-top, in my opinion.


I spent most of the evening setting up the dining room for company tomorrow. Our next-door neighbor from our old house is coming up for lunch, and bringing a friend of hers. They have been here before, and the three of us had a nice time and a lot of laughs. The dining room table looks like Halloween.... that orange and black spider-webbed tablecloth was a great eBay find, and I've set the table with orange and black china..... all bought at after-Halloween sales over the years. Courtesy of the chickens, tomorrow's lunch menu will feature egg salad on cute little rolls, and I've got black-cat sandwich-picks to stick into each one. I came up with a new recipe for the egg salad....... instead of mayonnaise (which I don't like to use), I've mixed the eggs with fat-free yogurt, a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese, and a bit of sweet pickle juice. Delicious mixture. Between the little sandwiches, some miniature quiches, sliced pickles, and green grapes-- we will have a nice lunch tomorrow.

For dessert, I'm combining easy recipes from Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee.... sherbet cups rimmed with honey then dipped into shredded coconut..... then you cut up brownies into the cups, then crushed pineapple, then a scoop of ice cream, then a Dove chocolate square sitting on top with a bit more coconut sprinkled on top of it all. It will look very pretty, very festive..... and I think I might just put a black-cat stick into each ice cream scoop.

Even without our usual huge Halloween guest list, the dining room looks like it's ready for a party. A small one, but a party just the same.

And, as I finish typing, the cow across the road is still moo-ing. If I didn't know there were cows over there, I would swear there was a ghost just howling away in that pasture.