Ode To Pudge

An Ode to Pudge

We thought we were in trouble,   (What were we thinking?)

We ordered a male! The pictures were so dashing

 But just look at that tail-(and we were drinking!)

Well, since we got a little woman, (you just could not deny her)

She must have a little man (she just needed one beside her)

So, and then…

Thus began the saga of

The Rooster and his Hen…

We asked for the dashing rooster

To take care of his fair dame,

And soon enough the post office

Rang us that they came.

Along with a flock of biddies

Of differentiating  clans:

Barred Rocks, ameraucanas; a mixed bunch in our plans…

We named the little rooster, Pudge

And his little woman, Pidge

Because they were of small stature; white and black (just a tidge)

They all grew up together, and all the girls soon knew

That little mister rooster Pudge was the one to look up to.

He took his position kindly; a gentlemen at his best

He proudly let them know when it was time to go to rest.

He bravely gave a warning trill, when a hawk was overhead

All the girls stood still and looked

Waiting to be led,

And when he found a delicious tidbit on the ground,

He let himself go hungry as he gave his girls what he had found.

He was so very handsome, he loved his humans too

But  sadly they were away one day

When he knew what he had to do.

The wild cat came-a-calling

And stole away his hen

He stormed up to his enemy

And there he met his end.

His humans came too late to know

All they saw were the feathers

The tears that fell that day could match the

Flooding stormy weathers.

And so, Fair Pudge, you were small, but oh! so mighty

We will never, we are sure to say

Find another so uprighty.

We know that you will rest in peace

Along with your dear Pidge

And if we could have given you lodge we would have called it

Rooster Ridge.

We are sure there are some people who will never understand how one can "fall in love" with an animal, much less of the poultry variety.... however, there is something to be said about respect for the critters that are in our world-whether we invite them, or they choose to live near us of their own accord.  

Pudge came to us via mail-order; he was described as a smaller chicken with beautiful spots on pristine white feathers...we decided to order a male and a female of this breed.  We knew from our research that they were a bit flighty; in Mamie's mind, that was like "a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs", but, since we feel that way quite a bit ourselves, we thought it would be nice to have a good-looking couple of chickens in our brood of average Joanns.  (Of course, we love them all.)

  

Sure enough, this little white-with-black-spots duo were the self-appointed victims that ran around the coop like we were going to send them to the guillotine; all we really wanted to do was to refill their water and food receptacles.  Pidge, the female of said duo, was especially skittish and edgy...we could never get her to come close to us. If we went into the coop to see if there were any eggs available, and she happened to be sitting in one of the boxes, she would look at us, pupils enlarging ever wider as we stepped closer. Despite our coo-ing and chicken-seducing words, if we got too near, she would let out a shreik and leap out of the box, even if her egg was half-way out, and moan and harp to all creation about her close to death encounter for a long time afterward.

Well, Pidge was the one who would always fly over the safety net we installed across the garden so that the chickens could go through their tunnel into the garden area and scratch, eat bugs, and dust-bathe to their hearts content in relative safety. Ironically, being so scaredy, it was she who would always fly over the fence and go exploring alone.  This finally caught up to her when one day, Mamie and Poppy came home to find she was gone.  Only a few beautiful, spangled feathers were left to show that she ever existed.  But, we would not have to run ourselves rugged trying to catch her or run her into the coop, where the rest of the flock were obediently and wisely settling in for the night.

However, Pudge was not so edgy as his mistress.  He was beautiful; his feathers were pure white, and the black spots shone on the bright white background so well that you were mesmerized by his looks.  We were so proud to have such a handsome rooster, but we wondered how well he would be able to hold his manly position over a bunch of girls much larger than he.  In time, he proved his manly, but gentlemanly nature; he warned his girls of impending dangers, he alerted them to tasty tid-bits he found (and could have devoured himself, leaving the girls none-the-wiser), and he shooed them into the coop at the right time of evening, when the girls would have otherwise languished outside until it was quite dangerous.  

Pudge loved Mamie and Poppy, too.  That is what endeared him to them; he would treat them like they were his own.  Pudge would run up and greet them, and look around for a treat to offer Mamie or Poppy.  He was so gentle with his girls, unlike many of the roosters they had encountered before.  Not one of them got sore backs, or were afraid of him or screamed out when he offered a romantic gesture.

Sigh-but Pudge is no more...and so this little poem is an ode to our feathered friend of whom we will never forget.  Thank you, Pudge, for all that you did for our little farm, and for giving your life in the honor of your girls...

©Sweet Pickles Farm

Welcome Home

When Mamie and Poppy first realized that wine was not just a singular thing, (that it in itself is something complex and multifaceted) they resigned themselves to the fact that they would never know all there is to know about it; they recognized that it would have to be enough to just keep trying to learn more, enjoying sampling new flavors and experimenting with the pairing of different wines with different foods.  They realized too, that they would never run out of ways to use wine in recipes, to share it with friends, and to try to pass on to said friends the joy of experiencing how variable the many flavor components can be, according to each of their tongues.  When wine is slowly sipped and taken apart on the palate, certain flavors can spring to mind: jams, fruits, and sometimes even things like grass, bark, and as Mamie says, new carpet.  Each person perceives something different.  Fascinating!

The senses that we are blessed with are quite remarkable.  Closely related to our sense of taste is our sense of smell.  It is crazy how certain smells can bring back distinct memories, sometimes in a flashback that can give you memory whiplash!

It does seem that as we get older, this sense of smell is heightened as it relates to memory.  Distinct smells can bring back feelings that can be rather comforting- or not.  After being away from home, we were quite surprised that our house did not smell quite like home. 

 Right before leaving on our trip, we put down a new rug in our bedroom, and it had a strong smell of newness, chemical-like even, from whatever was used to treat the wool or the backing.  We opened windows, and turned on the fans, and that seemed to have helped to air it out. 

 Also, before heading out, we mopped the floors with a new-to-us cleaning product, smiling about how it would be so nice to return home to a scrubbed-clean house.  However, when we walked in the door after a two month leave of absence, we were surprised that we did not recognize the smell of our own home.  We were feeling a bit grouchy and sensitive; it took a day or so to figure out that it was not only due to being exhausted from all the travel and work we did while gone, but also because we were feeling out-of-place and disjointed. Why? We missed the "smell" of home, and it jumbled our emotions.  It is just amazing how our senses mean more than just the initial signal to the brain...the messages perceived are affected by them deep inside, one way or another, good and bad; sometimes we are affected indifferently.  As for us, we set about a remedy; lighting our favorite candles, turning on some soft music, and making a familiar meal.  Soon the house began to smell like freshly picked basil and rosemary, sauteing onions and garlic, and clothes just out of the washer began to clunk as they flailed around in the dryer, becoming a comforting sort of white noise.  Yes, the feeling of being home was beginning to return!

Of course, home is just not the same without our little fur kids.  We are so happy our doggies were well taken care of by loving people, but this place sure seems empty without them.  We will be reunited later this week.

Mamie and Poppy are so thankful to have the constant in their lives of each other.  No matter where they are or what is happening, good or bad or indifferent, there is comfort in each other and their memories.  It reminds them of the song, "Our House"....

I'll light the fire
You put the flowers in the vase
That you bought today

Staring at the fire
For hours and hours
While I listen to you
Play your love songs
All night long for me
Only for me

Come to me now
And rest your head for just five minutes
Everything is good
Such a cosy room
The windows are illuminated
By the sunshine through them
Fiery gems for you
Only for you

Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
'Cause of you
And our la,la,la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la.....

Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
'Cause of you
And Our

I'll light the fire
And you place the flowers in the jar
That you bought today

This post is copyrighted by http://sweetpicklesfarm.blogspot.com/

From the Warmth of the South to the ICE BOX

Where have we been? Right after the first of the year, we volunteered our time to help on the beginning stages of a major project in Warwick, New York.

As we planned for this trip, we had to make arrangements for Pickles and Stella to find someone to watch them for close to two months. Now, that was not easy for us because our pets our also our family. Our son took Pickles so she could hang out with her cousins Marzipan and Desmond. We were so relieved knowing she would be safe and would have plenty of play time.

  "Just a little nibble Please"

Our sweet daughter-in-law sent us this picture of her staring down a brownie.
 Stella went to stay with a lovely family with three kids. She scored because they love animals and have a little boy dog named Sammy who was happy to have a friend around to play with.

Doesn't she look relaxed? 

We sure have missed them, though!

  As for the rest of the critters around the homestead, our wonderful friends and neighbors are keeping an eye on things. That is such a great help, and has allowed us to focus on our work and not worry too much.

When we left our home in the Deep South, the temps were in the teens,  which is unusual.  But it did prime us a bit for what was ahead...as we drove to the Northeast, the temps continued to drop, and reaching our destination, we found it very cold for these southern folk! Oh my, it is cold up here! Who knew that we were going to experience snow and cold unusual even for New York?  Mamie was hoping to see lots of snow, and she surely got her wish! 

Because of coming from an area that seldom sees this white stuff, we loved it. Mamie kept saying, "MORE!!! MORE!!" And we got it!

While we were up here, we got to see and enjoy a pizza oven in action...loved it!  Mamie kept saying, "We can put one of these in the back yard!"

But in just a few days, again another blast of the white stuff.

Another morning scraping, shoveling and trying to find your car.

The shot above is a glimpse of the area Mamie and Poppy have been working on. This is the side wall of what is referred to as the connector.

But as you can see, everything looks lovely when it has a blanket of snow covering it.

Where we are staying, wild Canadian Geese hang out on the lawn.  It is hard to believe that even though the temperature was getting down to single digits almost every night, and hardly ever got above freezing the whole time we were here, the Geese loved it.

It looks like he is saying, "It's so wonderful to be alive!"

So handsome!  Makes us miss our chickens :-)

Early this morning on the way to the donut shop, Poppy took a couple of shots of the snow. 

This snow behind Poppy's truck was from the small parking lot in front of the donut shop. Crazy to see snow piled this high. Of course, this is the opinion of two people from the South who get chills when the temps drop in the 40's!

When we get settled again, we will catch up with a few things that happened before we left, and get back in the kitchen!

©Sweet Pickles Farm

  Life has been being lived around here!  So many delicious meals we have had; cuddles and snuzzles with the grandson, only after the fact rueing (or at the least tsk-tsk-ing), that we didn't photograph and catalog our experiences.  Nonetheless, we are still like our beloved little Pickles- screaming out with the ecstasy of latching on to life like a gnawed-upon, beloved frisbee, exerting ourselves to suck the marrow out of the delicious moment, only to fall into a heap, gasping for air and wondering how long it will take to recuperate from the fete, until we can grab hold of it all anew.

Oh this vortex called life!  The balancing of responsibilities laid upon us, with the resultant need for plugging in to the battery-pack.  For us, traveling hither-and-yon- mostly for the sake of making a living, but at least with the pleasant bonus of visiting with the new grandbaby.  There have been things that have struck a melancholy note within our hearts; but also lots of smiles and delights of the senses- most notably, the comforting, familiar smells of home, such as onions and garlic simmering on the stove, the calming sound of the "te-tang" of two wine glasses chest-bumping on their way from the shelf to their most gratuitous calling.

No apologies here- just a case of "it is what it truly is"- life being lived...

Tonight was a night of music, chopping and stirring, and sitting in the moonlight slowly savoring the tastes of the kitchen, pups and kitties literally against our heels, requesting (with their moist, pleading button-eyes and methodical kneading of the porch chair cushions), hand-outs and skritches.  On the menu: lemon pork picatta, fried cabbage with bacon and white wine, caramelized fennel with parmesan, and roasted tomatoes with fresh basil. 

Roasted tomatoes from a farm stand in the rural country...

       Caramelized fennel...oh so delicious!

  Eating outside with the moon and the patio lights..

And oh...what to do with pounds and pounds of peppers???  Or is it pecks and pecks?

Chillin' and Grillin'

While Mamie and Poppy were relaxing on the sun porch, a large black bird with a bright red head flew through the yard.  As you can see from the photo, it is a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker.  We hear them quite often, hammering away in the woods around our house, but today we had the added pleasure of watching it.

Today we were feeling a bit melancholy. Our daughter and grandson left at about 5:30 in the morning to go back home.  We so enjoyed having them with us for the last two weeks.

Ice Cream & Eggs

Nothing like a warm day and a fresh serving of homemade-ice cream.  As you can tell from the lack of posts we are just busy people.  That can be a good thing when it is with family.  We had our Niece visiting with hubby and daughter. Also our daughter with our beautiful grandson was here for two weeks.

We grilled some ribs along with some grilled string beans (Oh my, they were terrific!), and on the side, some cabbage salad. And for dessert, homemade ice cream, cuddled next to a slice of fresh coconut cake. 

This was a vanilla bean ice cream recipe modified from David Lebovitz. Here is the link http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/02/vanilla-ice-cream/

The ice cream was wonderful. This was one dessert that had no leftovers.

After dinner we went to the coop to get the eggs.