Tag Archives: Chicken

Harry’s House of Hens

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If you’ve been on my Facebook page or follow me on Instagram (TheRealMojo68) in the past few days, you may have seen this adorable photo.

Harry's House of Hens

Dot’s grandparents received a shipment of mail-order chicks last week. I know. Mail order?! But apparently it’s quite humane. They ship overnight with air filter and cooling packs to keep the chicks comfortable. Good to know.

They ordered them quite a few weeks ago, which allowed time for Grandpa to build this amazing chicken coop.

Harry's House of Hens

Grandpa has a workshop out of his garage. I don’t mean a little table with a tiny saw for cute fun projects. I mean, this man works for a living and his garage is his workshop. There are planks and bins of nails and power cords and tools and tables and saws and rulers and instruments… any- and every-thing a woodworker needs. As you can guess, he’s very good at what he does.

So when Dot went over for the afternoon a few days ago, I followed. I wanted to see the chicks. I didn’t expect to fall in love with them. Or even better, have one in particular fall in love with me.

I Call Her Ethel

I named this one Ethel. While Dot held and played with several chicks, one and two at a time, Ethel was content to immediately fall asleep in my hand. Can you believe I spent half an hour holding a chick and looking at the others? That’s it. That was the entertainment of the evening. Watching chicks. And you know what? It was fun and I’d do it again!

Grandma Sue and I talked about the care and raising of the chicks. These are Rhode Island Reds and they’ll lay brown eggs. They’re supposed to all be female, but at this very young age it’s sometimes hard to tell. So they may end up with a Rooster or two. If that happens, he’ll go elsewhere. They want eggs, not more chicks.

Then Grandpa Harry took me out to the chicken coop he built. I tried to take a photo of Ethel in a bin, but she refused to leave my hand. Meanwhile, Dot’s chick pooped on her. I didn’t take a photo of that. You’re welcome.

For now, the chicks live in a large box in the family room. There’s a heat lamp that is constantly on, a feed tray and watering trough. The chicks eat, drink and sleep in this box. In about a week, they’ll be moved outside to the fenced-in garden area.

Box o'Chicks

Grandma and Grandpa have fenced in six small fruit trees and the chicks will adjust to outdoor life under the mesh security. When they’re older [read: bigger] and more able to avoid birds of prey, they’ll be moved to the chicken coop. They’ll have full reign over that area until being locked up at night for their own protection.

Chickens are great for pest control. They’re also a great natural garbage disposal and will eat all your table scraps. Their droppings are natural fertilizer. And there’s nothing like farm-fresh eggs cooked to perfection on a lazy Saturday morning. Am I right?

Yeah. I’m really looking forward to living vicariously through Harry’s House of Hens.

Happy Eating, y’all!

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

Alienation

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I don’t care if Chick-fil-A supports Biblical marriage. I don’t care if Henson Productions supports homosexuality. I don’t care.

I do care that people are being legalistic instead of loving, and people are being bullies. I do care that social media is jumping all over it as if we’re sending Earth’s orbit straight into the Sun.

I don’t care if someone is gay any more than I care what color their eyes are. If they aren’t willfully hurting someone, or if they aren’t blindly acting out of ignorance, I don’t care. Why? Because they don’t care who I do (or don’t) sleep with. I do care if someone is being abused or taken advantage of. I do care that too many people find a reason to say someone else hates them instead of taking the High Road and just letting everyone get along peacefully.

Call it sin, lifestyle choice, or what-you-will. Nobody’s perfect.

Nobody.

And I’m okay with that. I don’t want people judging my entire existence based on one aspect of my life. I’ve been served enough mercy and grace to share! Haven’t you?

Why does one person’s belief have to alienate another’s? If someone wins the Big Lotto some people are happy, some say he’s a gambler. If someone drinks too much some say he’s an addict, some say he’s a party dude. There are two sides to every story. And I don’t believe that just because someone is gay, they’re going to hell any more than I would believe that just because a person says he/she is a Christian that means they’re going to Heaven.

I’m a Christian, and I know my views are controversial. The liberals will say I’m too conservative, and the Conservatives will say I’m too liberal. But here’s my take on the whole social situation.

IT DOESN’T MATTER.

It’s not my place to judge anyone. It is my place to love them, no matter who they are or what they do. Christ didn’t set Himself up in the Courts. He ate and talked and stayed with prostitutes and [gasp!] tax collectors.

My Church teaches us to love the sinner but hate the sin. And we are all sinners. Period. There is but one way to Heaven: Salvation through Jesus Christ.

And it’s not up to me to decide for anyone else what that salvation looks like or acts like or what it is. I know what my salvation is. And I know how I’m supposed to act.

Matthew 22:37-40 [NIV] states

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-A, says his company supports Biblical marriage. Why is that “hate-mongering”? He didn’t say, “We refuse to serve gays.” He didn’t say, “Let them starve.” He said, “Hey, this is what we believe.”

So why are supporters of the Gay/Lesbian community not considered hate-mongers for bashing Chick-fil-A? Why couldn’t they just agree to disagree, instead of starting a social free-for-all?

How is it okay for one group of people to loudly voice their opinions and beliefs nearly everywhere they can, but when others do the same, it’s “wrong”?

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

It should be as simple as that. Some people think homosexuality is okay. Others don’t. I’m not going to condemn anyone for their beliefs, unless they’re abhorrently evil. Some people think even one sip of wine is one sip too many. That wearing any kind of jewelry is excessive. That owning two cars in a five person family is greed.

It still tastes like Chicken.

Chick-fil-A made a statement. It doesn’t change the restaurant recipe. They didn’t suddenly add pepper instead of bread crumbs. It’s not a political statement. It wasn’t a challenge or an ultimatum. Cathy simply voiced his belief. Now, Chick-fil-A is a Christian company. Why does it suddenly surprise anyone that their beliefs are dictated by the Bible? I’d be more surprised if the head of Chick-fil-A was a Wiccan.

I’m sad at the condition of the world. I’m sad not because there are Gays and Lesbians. But because there are

Bullies!

In all communities.

And I’m sad because people just don’t listen to each other any more. They’re too busy trying to be recognized. Trying to be right. Trying to point out how the other side is intolerant. But in doing so, aren’t they just as intolerant?

My name is Molly Jo. I am a Christian. I am also a Sinner. And I love you.

Because you are a Person. Period.

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

This post is linked up with Frankly, My Dear…’s “What’s the Word?” Wednesday
WhatstheWord

and Pour Your Heart Out With Things I Can’t Say