RIP Pong

Welp, just two weeks shy of officially becoming the World's Oldest Living Chicken, Pong, our white frizzle bantam Cochin/Belgian d'Uccle mix hen has passed away from old age. Rather then write it out again, here is Pong's story:
Three Months To Go

We hatched her in 2003 and she was the last of the chickens we brought up from southern California when we moved here to Nevada in 2011. Here she is as a chick in 2003:

And at 9 months old:

And last month at age 15 (she'd been eating grapes, pardon the dirty face fluffies).

She was a sweet old lady and we'll miss her.
Also, now my husband has to dig a hole in the back yard, which is under 4 inches of snow. And it's snowing again...

No, That's Not What I Meant...Aw Damn!

Look winter--I was *kidding* about the Game of Thrones thing, OK?!

Last night, after I padded through the kitchen around midnight and looked out the window...and actually yelled, 'Oh, come ON!'

I had to go outside to see if I was seeing what I *thought* I was seeing.

Yeah.

Today, and daylight isn't helping.

I'd call this 'the view from my kitchen window' BUT THERE ISN'T ANY VIEW.

 It's like being in Icicle Prison.

If you look close you can see Nora the rooster hopefully eyeing the salt on the walk I'd just shoveled, hoping for his very own Fun Trip To The Vet or alternatively, Horrible Salty Death. To be fair, the stuff is the size of chicken crumbles and glitters so prettily...
The next storm is due tomorrow and they are calling for flooding. So yeah, a whole new joy.

Oh, and husband just stalked out to glare into the closet the furnace squats in..."It's making a weird noise."

YAY.  That MFer breaks and right hand to God, I'll take my wood-chopping ax to it. And I've got a good one, too.

2/12 UPDATE: SOMEBODY GET MY AX. Furnace igniter is dead, and our next storm is due tonight.

We Come From The Land Of The Ice And Snow...Ah-Ah, AH!

Another snowstorm yesterday into last night...and this morning the view from my kitchen window is straight-up 'Game of Thrones'.

Looking out the sliding door...

HEY CHICKENS, HAVIN' A GOOD TIME, OUT THERE?

The rest of the yard looks like the World's Worst BBQ/Beach party.

Venturing outside, seven inches of snow overnight. The icicle crop has gone all Icicle Armageddon.

The kitchen window from the outside.

The big one has nearly made it to the ground.

Out in the chicken yard, the kid has been busy making snowmen.

Cthulhu on the left, a nod to Calvin & Hobbes on the right. The one on the right ripping it's own head off still needs a face, she had to come in to warm up a bit first.

A snowCthulhu...*wipes away a proud tear*

OK, I'll go shovel the patio and walk...wait--where the #@&* is the snow shovel?!

Ah. OK, so I need a snow shovel to unearth the snow shovel.

*sigh...*

Weird Food And Winter

So...it's been snowing. And snowing. And icing up. And so flippin' flappin' cold we have chosen to hunker down and bake cookies to have with our coffee as we watch the snow fly. The dogs are asleep in the corner and Pong naps under her heat lamp.

Meanwhile...I've been noticing things, cooped up in the house as I am. Like when I opened a new jar of peanut butter and realized it possessed a...belly button.

And an outie, at that.

The next day, lunch surprised me with...a face.

Heh...cabin fever is FUN!

Now to be fair, this is what it was like outside.

It got to be a proper two-day blizzard and laid down about a foot of snow, complete with whiteout conditions making the houses across the street cease to exist and black ice everywhere.

The back yard. Even though the coop and run were open, the chickens refused to come out. Snow must NEVER touch chicken foot, after all.

I leaned out the back door and called, 'Chick-chick-chick!'

Predictably the response was a universal 'Screw you' from the grumpy poultry. They wouldn't even come out of the coop.

Meanwhile, the next morning, the 2019 icicle crop was coming in nicely. This was the view from my kitchen window.

The next day, and now we're talkin', baby.

 Ignore the cobwebs, the spiders took a hankering to this side of the house recently, way up I can't reach and before I could get out there and remove them the bad weather hit.

Also, the one icicle on the left outside the kitchen window is busy forming A HAND.

It'll be the perfect murder when it strangles us all in our sleep, melting away and leaving no trace of itself.

Lordy, things need to thaw out so I can get out of the house again. Meanwhile, off to make zuchinni bread...
Oh, and look on ebay for hatching eggs...Chickam in April!