A California Fossil In Nevada

So I went out this afternoon to pass out some bread to the chickens, and noticed that Pong, our 14 year old white Frizzle mix banty hen, was not showing up for goodies--unusual for her, since she has no idea she's a living fossil and doesn't hesitate to shoulder the lesser hens out of the way and assert herself when it's goodie time.

A quick search of the nest boxes and we found her.  She didn't want to stand up, so off to the house she was whisked for Chicken Inspection.

She was nice and fat and seemed perfectly healthy, and when offered food and water wolfed it down like nobody's business.  But she still didn't want to stand, so I suspected an injury--Cam, our huge Giant Cochin/Americaunas mix roo is seriously in love with her and cannot get it through his love-addled head that she is well past the point of lay and is a dignified, retired old lady.  So he keeps jumping her and he's so darned big, he just squishes poor Pong.

Blossom, our Silkie mix hen who is currently in the house nearly recovered from Head Boink, decided to posture and growl at Pong and Pong tried to hurry away--limping on her left leg. Aha!  Suspicions confirmed. It appears to be a thigh injury, high up in her body.  Hopefully, Cam The Dunce didn't break the old lady and she'll bounce back in a few days.

Meanwhile, she's in the house (although being kept seperate from Blossom to avoid any further injury since Blossom is kinda being a dick), getting goodies, pets, warmth and loads of tv to watch.

And since she is, it's picture time! We hatched Pong in March 2003. She had an identical sister named Ping.  When they were little they looked like two little ping pong balls, so they came by their names naturally. Ping passed away a few years back so now it's just Pong.

Pong's main claim to fame is when she posed in 2003 with her hatchmates for this series of pictures--a bunch of baby chicks in a Peeps box. When everyone else eventually climbed out, Pong decided the Peeps box was lovely, thank you, and plonked down for a bit.

She's a grand old lady now, very beautiful. Daddy was a buff Frizzle bantam Cochin, mama was Moet, our Frizzle Bantam Cochin.  Pong came out mostly white with a black tail & wings, and a lovely black speckled cape.

Pong declined to stand for picture time, understandably.

Cute old lady face.

And some high-quality Chicken Glare!

She hasn't lost her touch...

After this it was time for grapes and scrambled egg...good food for healing! This pleased her somewhat and she cheered up.  Kinda.

That's better!

Let's Go For A Drive!

So today we decided to go out and find the kid some snow to play in, since yesterday's storm kinda skunked us here on the valley floor.  We tossed the sled into the car and off we went, decided today to aim for the Pine Nut range across the valley--we hadn't been out there yet and wanted to explore anyway.

Unfortunately, the storm hadn't cooperated and there was no snow to be had.

But we had a nice drive anyway and got to explore a bit, which is always fun!  Down one of the roads we found a cool old barn--around here you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a cool old barn--that was tantalizingly close to the road yet fenced off.

Just as well it's fenced off since the dry stone walls were falling apart.  I *think* this was a dairy barn with animals below and hay storage above--note the hay loft carrier arm sticking out on the left side and the lack of windows in the second story.  There is also a very small house to the left of the barn, it was so overgrown with trees I couldn't get any shots of it.

But the barn was fascinating!

 There is some kind of machinery on the left, it appears to be a large green tank. The entire lower floor almost looked house-like.

On the top of the barn is this decorative vent.

Down the road a little ways and we come upon this massive old cottonwood tree.

It honest to God looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie.

Haha...naw, it doesn't have eyes.

it's got eyes it's got eyes it's got eyes--!

I think this tree had a starring role in 'Poltergeist'.

Alongside cool old tree was a nifty, but puzzling, bridge arrangement over a creek.

There are a total of THREE bridges over the creek--the wooden one, the fixed metal one and the metal two-part drawbridge. The area was fenced and posted against trespassing so I couldn't go over to get a better look, so I can't for the life of me figure out why three bridges are needed--I could see two, if you needed to lead an animal over one bridge while you used the other--but the wierd low-mounted drawbridge is perplexing.

It's actually probably gonna kinda bug the crap outta me until I get it figured out, truth be known...
Oh well.  Back down the road...

Where we suddenly come across some cool yard art!

This guy had a gigantic steel dragon, bottle trees, old farm equipment, metal sculptures...

All kinds of cool stuff!

I liked the dragon best.

The artist was smart enough to guy-wire the thing down so he wouldn't fly away in one of our epic Nevada windstorms. I can just imagine the frantic 911 calls if that happened...

I especially liked the dragon's head.

Great, now *I* need a giant dragon for *my* yard.

Despite the snow in the background of all these pictures, we couldn't get to it in the amount of time we had, so instead we stopped off at the park around the corner from our house to visit the resident ducks and the non-flying Canadian Goose (he has a wonky wing) who lives at the pond.  For some reason the goose looked like a 'George' to me, so that's what I've decided to call him.

We hadn't thought to bring any bread so they pretty much snubbed us.

After this it was time to get home and feed the chickens before they snubbed us, too.

The Progressive House!

Went back to visit a very cool little local thrift store/junk shop on the outskirts of town today on highway 395, 'The Progressive House'.

It's one of those old-school stores, a cross between grandma's attic, an eccentric yard sale and treasures found in an old barn.  The folks who run it give off a definite Hippie/Burner vibe and are very chill and fun.  When you first see the place it gets your attention right away:

 Flowers decorate the eaves all along the front...

One of the signs for the place was created using repurposed items and glass...

Another sign.

The also have 'Burma Shave' type signs all along northbound Highway 395 advertising their stuff nailed to various fenceposts.

We hauled along some outgrown clothing of the kid's to donate...

Their 'Open' sign.

One of the ladies there had painted this skateboard.

Then you get to go inside...

Cool door knocker.

And when you DO go inside...well let's just say that you can't look fast enough.

There is stuff hanging from the walls and ceilings as well as stacked on the floor and stuffed into every available nook and cranny.

Cool vintage lamps...my husband fixed me with a steely look and said, 'NO MORE FUNKY LAMPS'.

An old stump revamped into a costume jewelry rack...

Nothing is priced. When you ask how much something is, they smile pleasantly and ask you how much you think it's worth, and that's what you pay!

Someone has quite the eye for creating fun little scenes, and mixing modern with vintage.

A collection of vintage games and home movie equipment, it was like opening the hall closet door at grandma's house.

Love the Mid-Century Modern look of the logo on this projection screen.

A shirt signed & gifted to the shop by a tourist group.

The back of the store...

I struck out on what I had my eye out for--stuff for funky outdoor yard garbage--but the kid snagged herself some strange rubber duckies, and I unearthed a couple of old world atlases that will become origami and some fun chicken coop decorations...because what's the point of even having a chicken coop if you can't decorate it and make it into something silly?

More weirdness, and coolness...

Yeah, you never know what you're gonna fin--

Wait--'Leather Goddesses of Phobos'?!
While I stare goggle-eyed, husband shrugs and says, 'Oh yeah, that was a game.'

It's true, you never know WHAT you'll find in a thrift store...