The Godfather, East Coast language, Mystic Cedars Menagerie, Photos Finally

The Godfather visit went well!  Whew!   And I learned to speak East Coast.  Before the visit I didn't even know that the east coast had a language completely different from ours.   The first two days the Godfather was here I  only understood  about 1/2 of what he said.    Jimmy's Mom has the east coast accent but she has been living on the west coast for the the last 40 years.  It wasn't until the Godfather and Jimmy's mom were in the same room and talking to each other  that I realised that they were speaking a different language.   We did the usual Seattle first timers visit to Pike Place and Pioneer Square.  Every few blocks The Godfather would bark "What are we doing here?"      At first I thought he was unhappy and unimpressed with the local flavor.  But by the end of the day I  figured out that a barked "What are we doing HERE?" is east coast for  'I'm lost and turned around', 'how far away is lunch?'  'Where are we going next" 'What's that smell?' 'Why are those kids running around unsupervised?' 'Is everything in Seattle UP the hill?'  and 'I'm tired, I want to go home.'   Jimmy's Mom  understood what he was asking every single time by listening to his intonation and following  his line of sight. .  In a loud and barky way  it was a very subtle form of communication that the east coasters  must have developed to  live in the density   of  New York.  You can say anything, anytime about any activity and only  the person or people you direct the phase too know what you are talking about.   I also learned that  "Don't worry about it! " means everything from  'I already printed the boarding passes' to  'I'm going stab you in the eye if you say one more word.'  Yep, very interesting linguistics education I got  this week.
The Mystic Cedars  animal population was very popular this week.  No one was bored.  The Godfather is an award winning photographer and spent a lot time  photographing our menagerie.
Jimmy's Mom spent a good amount of time playing with  Marlow, the newest edition.   Much commenting was made concerning his emerging  personality.  Marlow has ceased completely being a toy.  He is a full fledged dog or I should say Dog.   He no longer spends his days  on any one's lap or wrapped in a blanket.   We had several beautiful warm days this week and he took complete advantage of them. He ran the yard, chased the chickens,  greeted everyone that walked by the fence and bounced everywhere he went.  Then we had the inevitable rainy day and he pouted and sulked in the house.  The Godfather  and Jimmy's Mom were very worried about him and thought he must be sick.  He had so much energy all week long  and now "he's just laying there looking so sad and unhappy".   I couldn't convince them that he was just pouting...and then  it stopped raining and  warmed up. He jumped up and took off running.   They just watched him and smiled.  Altogether it was a great visit.


Blogger will finally let me post photos  so here are some great shots taken by the Godfather

Marlow   

Blue Laced Red Wyandotte chicks and one strange.  Naturally nested

Rare Blue Laced Red Wyandotte chick. One week old

Blue Laced Red Wyandotte Rooster . Rare

Michaeletto The Assassin  

Naturally nested chicks,The Godfather, Saved by DD

With  chickens  free ranging a whole acre its sometimes  easy to lose track of one.  Which I did. One of my hens surprised me  on Monday.  I found her in the  brush behind the barn crawling with babies.  9 of them.   9 perfect healthy chicks.   How she managed to  set for 21 days  outside the coop and pen without being eaten by  opossum, raccoons, the giant owl that lives in the tree by the barn or other predators is beyond me.  But there they were Monday morning.  She was cooing and the chicks were happily peeping.   I couldn't leave them there because all that chick activity is just a signal to the cat that lunch is ready.  I had to get the clippers and cut my way to her.  She was buried deep under  blackberries, english ivy, tall grass  and a butterfly bush.  It took about a half an hour just to get to her and then the fun started.  Picking up the first baby was easy but then she realized what I was doing and promptly set out to kill me.  While she tried to kill me her  young scattered in every direction.  It took  three trips to the  temporary coop that I set up for her but, I finally had them all. Then I decide to catch her  so I could put her in with the babies.  Error in judgement occurs here.  Putting  my own safety first  I decided to shoo her into the pen and I hoped  when she heard her babies she would go to them.  It worked. She did.  I opened the  small pen and she ran right in.    Much cooing and happiness followed.  They are adorable. And they will be adorable for the next 6 weeks. Then... they will be chickens.   More.....chickens.  Anybody want a couple of very cute rare breed, naturally nested  chickens?    Blue laced red wyandottes are a rare breed and very expensive and YOU can have them for free.     Seriously, I didn't expect  that any of my hens would go broody let alone set on a clutch all the way to hatching.  The broody attribute has been bred out of most of the chickens we have in the united states.  
Little Mammas timing was awful. I am in the middle of painting the upstairs  because  THE Godfather is coming and Jimmy is freaked out. Its his Godfather's first visit and Jimmy wants to make a good impression.  Jimmy is working so most of the crap work to get ready for this visit falls to me.  I  finally called DD on Monday and asked for help putting the  house back together.  She came up yesterday and worked like a whirlwind to get two bedrooms cleaned and 5 huge bookshelves moved.    I did one room in the time it took for her to do two.    The bookshelves  HAD to be moved because when we pulled the  giant glassed book case, that came with the house, away from the wall, we discovered a second intake  vent behind it that was completely clogged and useless.  We think maybe that is why the central heat hasn't worked right since we moved in.  Sheesh.
I am a very lucky  woman to have a daughter that will drop everything to come rescue her Mom.  And rescue she did.  I would be in  tears  right now and probably chasing Jimmy around the yard with a  hatchet if she  hadn't shown up.  Thanks to her all is well right now.  I still have to get all the curtains washed and rehung and standard   'company's comin'" scrubbing to do... but the big crazy furniture moving part of it is done.
If I didn't have so much  work to do right now, I would be sitting in the chicken pen  admiring the babies.