Saturday, February 20, 2010

Morgan Doing Guard Duty In Her Raincoat

    Rain! We were only supposed to have a 30% chance of rain, but it has rained pretty much night and day with a few breaks. This morning it looked like it was clearing up so I let Morgan and the chickens out for the day. Oops! The rain started up again and the chickens all went under the house. Morgan was getting soaked, but I couldn't bring her inside. She has to stay on the job and keep the chickens safe.
   I remembered I had a raincoat stored away that would fit Morgan. I have wanted to let her wear the raincoat before, but Kristine always said no... ah... but Kristine is at class. So, I dressed Morgan up in the raincoat and she is still out in the rain watching the dumb chickens.

   Why! Why won't they go back in the coop instead of under the house. Sigh! I took treats out to the coop and called them, but only half of them showed up. Stupid chickens! Oh, dear... I know they aren't stupid. It was my fault. I shouldn't have let them out. Edit: Morgan later dried out in front of the wood stove and is dry and toasty warm. The chickens are in their coop.

   I went searching around for information about chicken and rain. I sure didn't find much. I wanted to find out if chickens have some kind of water repellent oil on their feathers like duck feathers that would enable the chickens to tolerate spending time out in the rain. All I came up with were opinions. I was looking for some factual information, but had to settle for this page as the best of the lot. 

   The neat police (Diane) are going to be checking today to make sure I cleared all the mess off my sewing table. I did neaten up the mess and sorted the stuff into groups that needed to live together. Now some of the mess is messing up the dining room.

   Most of it was painting supplies or cookbooks. The cookbooks are now on shelves and the painting stuff is back out on the window seat with the rest of the building stuff. I can't finish painting until I can leave the windows open, because of Kristine's asthma. We have started tree asthma season, so she is dealing with that now.

   I made chickens soup and biscuits on the wood stove in case the power goes out. Photo of the biscuits tomorrow. 

(February 20, 2009)
"Red Tag" means the house is unlivable.
We lived on the next mountain side over from the earthquake
epicenter at Loma Prieta mountain.
Our house flew up in the air and split the foundation.
I remember feeling at the time that San Francisco was
stealing our earthquake.

[2 eggs today]
I wonder if the chickens are going to lay their eggs under the house?
There were two in the coop before I let them out.
Kristine, I promise, if it looks at all possible it might rain
I won't let Morgan and the chickens out.
Ok?

~:>
Smiles

23 comments:

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

Morgan looks very sharp in the raincoat! I can only imagine the smell of a wet dog AND wet chickens together! Nothing else like it, I'm sure! :-)))

Your desk/sewing table looks great!! Could you come and do mine too??

Hope your power stayed on--Soup & biscuits sounds great on a day like you were having!

diane b said...

Morgan is my heroine. She looks great in her raincoat.

diane b said...

The neat police are well satisfied. You can go and play now.

RoeH said...

I LOVE that raincoat for the dog. So cute. And Morgan probably likes it too.

Melodie said...

That is so cute,a doggie rain coat!

We always have let our chickens out in the rain...even as a child my grandparents chickens free ranged rain or shine.We live in Texas so the climate is not as cold as some places,winters can still get nippy.Anyways,ours have always been fine!

Toni aka irishlas said...

Morgan is adorable in her raincoat! Glad you took a picture!
Your sewing table is nice and neat. I sew in my shed (studio) which until just a couple of days ago was snowed shut... still have material sitting on the table to finish a project.
It's great that you can cook on the woodstove and do it so well.

JoyceAnn said...

Awww ~ Morgan looks so cute , he could pass for Big Bird (LOL).
I would take you up on that challenge , but I cleaned my table off a couple of weeks ago , at the moment , it's clean. Now , if I could just keep it that way :0). Your sewing table looks wonderful! Chicken soup and biscuits cooked on the wood stove sound heavenly.

~ Many Blessings ~

Carol Murdock said...

Well never let it be said; that Morgan doesn't dress in style!
LOVE that sewing table Callie!

OH! I saw you over at Vicki's, get her books, they are wonderful!!

Lorilee said...

Love the raincoat on Morgan! My chickens don't seem to mind the rain, unless it is pouring down. They get all wet and pathetic looking!
Blessings,
Lorilee

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

Morgan you look so cute in your raincoat.. You certainly are doing a great job. Looks like you are keeping mom in line too keeping her busy at cleaning up...

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Diane Perry said...

That is one of the cutest pictures I have seen. A dog in a rain coat is a lovely sight. We have snow at the moment. Hens need snow shoes, I think.
Di
x

Kateri said...

I wouldn't be surprised if there is an egg or two under the house. :) My chickens don't mind snow but they won't come out if it is raining hard.

lisa said...

I love morgan's rain coat! You are such a thoughtful mom!

Gail said...

Neither rain nor snow...

Vicki Lane said...

Hi, Callie -- Love your header! We have a flock of Ameracuanas and Gold-Laced Wyandottes -- but because of foxes, coons, possums, hawsks, and skunks, they have a big house and a big run to scratch around in.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Morgan in a raincoat is wonderful! We had a lab in a raincoat (died of old age) but she loved to be wet so it was purely for our benefit!
Thanks for the tip on linking. I used the technique on my new website in progress: backyardhencam.com. Bet you never thought you'd become a blogging expert!
Cheers from a place that predicated rain that never came.
Lee

Dog Hair in my Coffee said...

My chickens have never minded, or seemed to mind, being wet. I always wondered why they said "mad as a wet hen" because they never seemed mad. Just sort of pathetic.They don't seem to love being wet, but they never seem to mind, either. Silly birds. My table with my sewing machine on it looks just like yours did yesterday. I've cleaned up the rest of the house, but haven't gotten to that yet. I can't sew until I do, as I can't really FIND the machine at the moment!

Deb said...

love the rain coat...my guys would be jealous...thanks for stopping by to visit...

Alettesiriane said...

I admire the dog for keeping the raincoat on.Your sewing desk is nice and neat.I wish I could show mine in the same way.One of our chickens came inside and layed eggs in a special corner furniture(can't for the life of me find the english word)But she would wait until I opened the front door,and run in.I gave up chasing her out,and just made a nice nest for her.At least I didn't have to go out for the egg.

Becky's Barnyard said...

Morgan is just too cute in her rain coat. It doesn't seem to bother her. I always let my chickens out even if it is raining but like yours, if it raining very hard they will run under the porch.

flowerweaver said...

Morgan is too cute in her raincoat. I wonder if Francisco would wear one? He is sort of wimpy as wolves go. Who ever heard of a husky that likes to eat tropical fruit!

Didn't realize you had been through the earthquake. My former house went through a flood and I sold it 'as is'. I can commiserate. I also grew up in the SF Bay area (did you know this?) and have experienced my share of earthquakes.

Wish I could find my sewing machine...it seems to be under piles of fabric right now!

Louise said...

I'm impressed with your sewing table!

I know very little about chickens, but the ones I photographed on the porch go out in the rain if the humans are brave enough to go in the weather to open the pen.

Tanya said...

Morgan looks great in her raincoat!