"Revenge of the Hen" & "Pairs"

Let me begin by stating that my children are pretty much terrified of our hens. When we let them out to "free range" for the day my girls avoid them at all costs. They enjoy watching them and even throwing an occasional handful of oats at them, but when those chickens come within striking distance, the girls are on a run. And rightly so. You see, my hens don't have the best manners. If given the opportunity they try to take a little nibble from our toes. (Jillian came to me the other day with a tiny battle wound on her ankle. Let's just say she now no longer instigates the chicks.) In their defense, they aren't mean. They just don't know any better. They've grown accustom to associating our presence with food. But that rationale doesn't help my girls understand.

This evening I decided to prepare a picnic family dinner. As we were finishing up, one of our chicks decided to come enjoy the feast. Lexy grew nervous and was whining in my lap. As the chicken grew closer, I told Lexy that she wasn't going to bother her, she just wanted my brownie. To which Lexy exclaimed, "Well, then GIVE IT TO HER!" (Emphasis on the shrieking included.) We got a big chuckle out of that, and then before I knew it, Lexy was literally crawling UP me. Which was due to the chicken, who was now perched on the picnic table beside me, eager to partake of my dinner. Lexy now has a whole new fear of the chickens. No....fear is a rather vague term. I would classify it more as "terror".

Hubs doesn't look scared. But he is. I'm pretty sure.

Alas, I present to you our collage "pictures of pairs". It was just a "two by two" kind of day.

Shortly after we finished up dinner (translated: the chickens drove us and a crying child inside), these pair of lovely deer decided to drop by for leftovers. They took off rather quickly when they discovered we had none. Or perhaps it was due to the dog barking at them.

Our pair of ailing guineas are recovering. The wheezing, whistling, sneezing and snorting is a bit better today. They've been pretty quiet. I'm hoping that is a good thing.

The pair of hens held a private meeting out in the bushes this afternoon.

While schooling the girls this morning, we actually caught the cat and dog spooning. Bizarre pairs.

The pair of isolated rabbits were holding a meeting of their own. I'm pretty sure they were plotting a way of busting out....again.

I'm feeling a bit Noah's Ark-ish today...