Thursday, April 18, 2013

a chicken by any other name.

Three years ago, we picked up eight little chicks from a farm supply store.  I had every intention of naming each of them.  As chicks they were easier to tell apart, but as they grew their distinctions lessened.  Truth be told, I couldn't tell them apart at all.  So we fondly refered to them all as "the girls."  Owning chickens has been a learning process for us, and overall we are thankful for having had the girls in our lives.  They taught my children about reproduction and about the food we consume.  They taught my husband and I that we are not and can never be farmers as we are much too soft hearted. 


Three years later, illness and predators have taken most of the girls.  Only two remain.  These two, because they are different breeds with very different appearances, I can tell apart.  Today as they followed me through my spring cleaning in the garden, scratching through the leaf piles I had just raked and making for entertaining company, I realized these ladies are much more like pets than farm animals.  They were ready for proper names.


When we got those eight little chicks three years ago I had intended to name them all after female artists.  With only two chickens, I had to pick my names carefully, and there were the opinions of the wee folk in the family that also needed to be taken into consideration. So today I proudly introduce you to Frida and Lady Dorothea: two of my favorite Surrealist painters, and two lovely lady birds if I do say so myself.

Frida and Lady Dorothea
                        
Frida

Lady Dorothea



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