Living on the edge I saw this duck on the verge of the Yates Mill pond dam near my house this morning. He was there for several hours in a steady rain - I really can't understand why. Maybe he likes the thrill of the cliff or the sound of the water or maybe some yummies are to be found near the dam.    ¶ 8:58 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Libertarians behaving badly
Eric Smith, Phil Jacobson, Bev Wilcox, me, and Barbara Howe (seated) at a recent convention committee meeting. Everyone has a penguin except for me - I am wearing a wind-up Peep that Bev gave me.

Eric was sporting his new tatoo. I love this picture of him :)    ¶ 9:18 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  A collage of pictures I took last weekend (or was it the weekend before?) at the Mill.
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  Pete taking a sniff around the yard... maybe winding the henhouse.
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  Let my People Vote! Here's a better picture of the shirt I'm wearing to the hearing tomorrow.    ¶ 12:14 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Chernobyl's legacy

From http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2152719,00.html

The UN says that 20 years on, the legacy from Chernobyl is not the feared hundreds of thousands of cancer-related deaths. It is a paralysing shadow of malaise, drug-dependency, state-dependence. ...

"People have been led to think of themselves as victims over the years, and are therefore more apt to take a passive approach toward their future, rather than developing a system of self-sufficiency.

"There's a sense of waiting for rescue from a rescuer that never comes. It's a real impediment to people being able to take charge of their lives again."

  ¶ 1:57 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  What I will be wearing tomorrow ... I will be attending a hearing on a (state) motion to dismiss the Libertarian Party of NC's Ballot Access Lawsuit. A friend (who is getting married soon) was kind enough to employ her considerable talent as a graphic designer to create (in under a half-hour!) this wonderful shirt for me to wear. This is a camera-phone pic taken under a flourescent light, so the color is actually dark brown lettering on gold, not that sickly green that it looks in the snapshot (which, actually, I kind of like).  ¶ 1:26 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  These are some of my favorite things... Chickens, StickyNotes, and Savage humor.

Celebrating (make that "celebrating") my return to the Land Of Cubicles.  ¶ 9:20 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Hens checking out the melon rind Yummy yummy cantalope!

Oooh, a bird right at my feet (the Phoenix). They are really becoming quite used to me, and still very curious to see what I am 'pecking' on (the keyboard). At first I thought they'd never get used to me, but now it seems as if they have gotten quite tame. Still a long way from having them 'leap into my arms' or being able to train them for dancing (yes, I'm serious. I think), but at least they seem positvely interested in me.    ¶ 6:47 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Putting in time in the henhouse I would like to apologise for the steady barrage of hen pictures. But I won't. In fact I warn (both) readers to expect a steady stream of them as the spring and summer goes by. But maybe you'll get lucky and I will grow tired of the hens. Maybe. Don't count on it, but I dore bore easily.
So I came out to share my dinner with the hens (I'm still here now), and the good news is that, although they looked to be thinking about bedding down for the night and made cute little grumpy querulous noises when I got here, they -also- seemed very curious to see what I had with me. And, I am happy to report, I did not disappoint them. They got popcorn for the first time, and seemed quite delighted by it. They were a bit nervous about my hurling it towards them, though, because it takes considerably more vigorous hurling to toss popcorn across a room than it does to toos, say wheat or cracked corn. For dessert, we finished off with a jicy rind of cantalope, which they know well and love better. They are still finishing off one peice of it now. I learned to throw wet big stuff like the melon rind in the straw litter rather than the dirt area (where they get grains) because they tend to scratch food with the feet and turn it into the ground.

Ah, now they have come over to the piece of melon rind closest to me. One of the Sumatras is even leving the rind and visiting me, which is a good sign. Usually it's the Phoenix who shows interest in me. Booger - I somehow deleted the second pic while editing. I will repost it.

Still haven't named them yet.    ¶ 6:36 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  A better shot of the Phoenix Here's a better shot of the Phoenix. Right now she is much prettire than the Sumatras, because she is older than they are and has her adult feathers pretty much in, but she doesn't photograph well. Or, rather, I don't photograph her very well, I guess.    ¶ 6:26 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Live ... from the henhouse Yes, I am blogging this picture I just took straight from the henhouse. Isn't technology grand? I've been meaning to spend more time with the birds so they can get used to me, and flash photography probably isn't the -best- way to accomplish that, but they do seem fascinated by my typing - which I suppose is appropriate, gien my 'hunt and peck' method of typing. They probably think I am after a particularly juicy pile of bugs. They are certainly getting closer each minute I type. I could reach out and touch them now... except when I stop typing and look at them they get creeped again and retreat. I brought them some fresh-picked sweet peas to eat; they seem to like those.    ¶ 6:21 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Paper wasp at the mill I was working at West Point Mill on the Eno yesterday and found this paper wasp just getting going on the underside of a windowsill. You can see an egg in one of the chambers already.    ¶ 6:17 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  I shouldn't try to edit pics in the sun I edited and posted the previous pics outside in the sun, and I see the job the auto-editor did on this one was crappy. Here it is looked very much less pixellated and washed-out.

I can't wait to get some better pics of this hen; right now she is the best looking one by far because she's older than the Sumatras and has more of her adult plumage.

I need to think of names... suggestions welcome.    ¶ 6:11 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  My new Peeps!
My flock! I got these three pullets - two Sumatras and a Silver Phoenix - from a breeder in Florida. They are still just youngsters; the Phoenix flew up to the highest roosting point in the henhouse yesterday evening, but the Sumatras, who are younger and not as accomplished at flying, huddled in the straw and tried to get underneath each other (THAT was amusing to watch, though I felt a little sorry for them) as if they were still nestlings. I guess within another week or two they'll all be roosting on high at night. I'm trying to get them used to me; I went home at lunch and shared my lunch - dried apples, canned pineapple, and pecans - with them.

    ¶ 5:07 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  colliething in green I've pulled a muscle in my leg, my arms are aching, and I've only got about 1% of the lawn mowed.

On the other hand, I'm sitting in my yard with my colliething in the lovely evening, listening to blues and posting pics from my phone via the laptop. My husband has just pulled in on his motorcycle, and we're taking the dogs walking soon. And tomorrow I will have the virtuous feeling that comes with aching arms. Not bad, this suburban life :)    ¶ 7:56 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Ed on couch with carrot
Home for lunch, I snapped a picture of Ed (camera-phone; sorry) on the couch enjoying half a carrot. The dogs - all of them, even the colliething - love carrots. Ed had some weird kind of seizure this morning at 4:30am where he woke up compulsively swallowing, licking, and trying to eat everything (Bill thought he was close to vomiting so took him outside; all he did was try to eat dirt), so he was tired at lunch and had to have his post-lunch carrot delivered to the couch. I say 'some kind of seizure' because this has happened before (although not at 4:30am that I can recall) at long intervals in the past, other beagle owners have seen it, and it starts and stops with no warning. Fortunately these 'fits' don't last long and occur infrequently, but getting woken up at 4:30 by a dog you think might be sick in your bed is no pleasant thing. Anyway he seemed the same as he always does at lunch - slow to wake when I got home, but eager enough to join the others in begging for a bit of cantaloupe while I was eating.  ¶ 2:24 PM 0 Comments Links to this post