Dec 5, 2015

Three French Hens


 "Three French Hens" in honor of the season and my French heritage.

Even though it's only Little Nell on the right, named in honor of my 100% French mother (added the Little to Nell after a Charles Dicken's character) that is actually a real French chicken.

My mother would have laughed SO hard if she'd known I'd named a French Cuckoo Maran chicken after her. My mom had an Audubon clock and when the cuckoo, cuckoo'ed we laughed until we cried.

My mother had advanced Alzheimer's and I took care of her...back and forth to Alaska..for a combined total of three years before she passed, going gently into the good and peaceful night in 2013. 

She used to say, you have to laugh at everything so you don't cry. And boy, did we! We laughed so hard that we...well, you know how it is when you get older. And then, when that happened..we laughed again! Oh, how I miss you my sweet, sweet little mama!

Dorothy on the far left is named after my mother-in-law. She might not have seen it as very funny... but she would have loved telling every single person she knew how crazy I was. Ok. I'm pretty sure she did that on a daily basis as I visited her every single day. And yes, I did my very best to maintain and uphold her view of me. I kept her entertained is all I can say in my defense!

In the middle, Edith..named after my husband's college roommate's mother, Edith.  I told the namesake, Edith when I last saw her. She rolled over to me in her walker and gave me the biggest hug ever! I think she got a real kick out of the strange honor of it all. 
 

The other girls were on the deck but not on the Christmas bench at the time! They got their own photo shoot. And yes, they all wanted in from the rain...they're chickens, after all!



Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares her creative and healing  journey from Alaska to Oregon. Wildcrafting and the textiles arts... sewing, quilting, and creating prayer flags. Join me as I add my healing energies to changing our world..one little project, one gift of sharing from my heart, at a time.

6 comments:

Marlynne said...

Love your Chicken names for your family and friends! We use to have chickens but our dogs played TOO HARD with them! Needless to say we had to stop that GAME!

jenclair said...

My father used to that with the stray dogs and cats that showed up at the place down in the country. He named them after my mother, his sisters, and sisters-in-law, etc. He would drive down every afternoon to feed them. My Aunt Barbara was particularly insulted by one ugly dog named after her that had been abused and was afraid of everyone but my father. :) He named the donkey Frank after my husband! I love your hens--they are beautiful, but they do look as if they would prefer to follow you inside. :)

allthingzsewn said...

We have named our girls too, I have stopped the visits on the deck though by putting up a gate. So now they go under the deck when it rains, They were just doing too much decorating to the chairs, you know that the girls want the best seats available.Your ladies are just beautiful.

Maggey and Jim said...

I lost my Mother in 2013 also, I had her for 72 years and she lived with us 33 of those.Miss her each and every day.would love to have chickens but getting too old to start now. Have a wonderful holiday..

Michele Bilyeu said...

Thank you so very much~ For stopping by, for leaving a comment, and for making me laugh this morning. Yes, the chair 'decorating' is such an art form. Not just the deposits but the chicken scratching on my wooden chairs! People pay good money for this kind of scratch off art and I get it for free ;-)

Have a good day and an even better week!
Michele

Michele Bilyeu said...

Oh, this touches my heart, so! Yes, I miss my mother every day, too. I talk to her, I reach out with my heart, and am so blessed to feel her reaching back to me. They remain such a part of us, and often our dads do, as well. Hugs to you today, and every day!