First in line.

That's was our nick-name for our chicken named Edie-- "first in line." And she always was, whenever we went out there with bread or corn or lettuce for the hens...... Edie would push her way to the front, as if waiting on line to be fed was beneath her. And the funny part about that is that my Aunt Edie wouldn't ever wait on line in a restaurant, or at a buffet..... I can remember her saying "I'm not in the Army-- why should I have to wait on line?"

So our little jet-black chicken with green iridescence in her tail feathers, was most likely first on line the other day at the fountain in the front courtyard-- and when the little frog that lives in the fountain stuck its head out of the water, there was Edie-- first on line and she probably tried to get hold of the frog and fell right into the fountain. The end result of that was tragic. I wish we had been home at the time.... we probably would have heard her, or heard the commotion from the other hens.... and maybe Edie could have been saved in time. We like to think so, anyway.

We're still saying "poor Edie" around here whenever we see the chickens. Especially me-- I gave the six hens a whole can of corn this morning, just because I felt so badly about Edie. I noticed that none of the hens have slept in the bread box in the coop-- that was Edie's favorite place to be. I wonder how long it will take for one of the other hens to claim that little spot.

Speaking of little spots-- the hens found a quiet corner underneath the shrubs in the back courtyard... and this morning, I found three eggs there-- two brown and one green/blue. Either the hens were upset on Tuesday morning because the lawn-guy was here and making noises around their coop, or they were upset about Edie drowning in the fountain. For whatever reason, they decided to lay their eggs on the ground near the garage, in a hen-made cave protected and surrounded by the bushes. The only reason I happened to notice those eggs is because I was out in the yard this morning and calling out to Dolly (the red hen) and she was back in that spot and cackling at me every time I called her name. She is just the sweetest hen.

When Dolly came out of there, I saw the three eggs..... she must have laid one there yesterday, and then Henny Penny must have put her egg in the same spot (chicken see, chicken do?) and then Dolly's egg today was still warm when I picked up all three of the eggs. This afternoon, Henny Penny laid her egg in one of the nesting boxes, so I hope they will all do the same from now on. Either that, or I'll be walking around all the flowerbeds every day, searching for eggs.

I've spent the last few days decorating the house for Christmas........ and everything is really done now. I thought it was all done yesterday, then I remembered the plastic bins-- when I was packing up before we moved, I put some larger holiday items in those plastic storage bins just because I had them and it seemed easier than boxes for some of the Christmas and Thanksgiving things.

The dining room table looks like Thanksgiving.... the rest of the house looks like Christmas. And I have to say that all of our decorations (mostly 1940s and 1950s-style) look like they've always been in this house, or were just meant to be in this big old house. Every room has its own little tree...... there are Santas and angels and reindeer everywhere you look..... and we've decided to put the "big tree" to the left of the fireplace, which is where we used to put it in the old house. But that's our project for right after Thanksgiving. Until then, we'll enjoy all the table-top trees that are up and glistening and Christmas-ready right now.

Our friends C and R will be coming down here for Thanksgiving week, spending a couple of days with us before they visit their family up in Austin. It will be great to see them again, and hear of all their upstate-NY adventures since they moved there. Was it over a year ago now? Two years? The time goes so quickly these days.... as it always has..... except now I'm just noticing it more.