close call:

yesterday evening i almost lost my sweet Lucretia bird. 

i was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner, when all of a sudden i see my brother in law chasing his dog around our yard. all i could see were feathers flying everywhere. 

he had Lucretia. 

i flew out the door and started yelling and going after him, too.

somehow she got away and was deep inside an azalea bush.

she appeared not to be breathing.

after dog and owner left, i saw her little body starting to heave. up and down. up and down.

she was alive!

after watching her a while i left her to regain her composure. 

within the hour she started stirring. 

i went back outside and started feeding the other chickens hoping this would coax her out.

slowly she started coming across the yard, came up to me and ate some treats out of my hand.

i looked her over, and miraculously, despite missing quite a lot of her tail and hind feathers, she seemed unharmed.

-Lucretia in the snow a few weeks back-

this morning i saw her pacing the fence, as she does before she flies the coop.

i saw a chicken go up to her as if she was trying to tell her: 

"don't do that again....remember what happened yesterday?" 

she attempted it though, yet did not make it up on the ledge.

i wonder how long it will take my spunky, freedom loving girl to recover and break free once more.

guess she will always live life on the edge.

pictures:

my dear friend Anita tore her rotator cuff a few weeks back.

she loves doing pottery, yet due to her injury she has not been able to go to the studio and throw.

therefore, she picked her camera back up and is taking pictures.

this inspired me to go out with and play with my camera also.

here are a few pics from yesterdays walk:

 

looks like spring is finally well on its way!

rib bench:

here are some images of the bench that is on its way to the Lillstreet Gallery in Chicago:

somehow i managed to delete the other pics. not very happy about that. there were some good ones.

adventures in aquaponics: take three:

we got 50 little gold fishys the other day!!

these are to jump start the water and to get the bacteria level right
so we can introduce tilapia into the big tank.

the pumps are all working,
and the weather is looking like its holding up in hopes of being able to plant
 some lettuce, herbs, etc, in the gutters.
this little gut was a little adventuresome and got stuck in the overflow.

a screen has been installed since, so they should be safe now.

yes please!

i love a good brisket.
there is something magical about meet thats is cooked slow and low

and even though i had the pastrami and not the brisket, i am sure it is equally as amazing:
tender, moist, flavorful, delicious!

thank you John for taking us.

i cannot stop thinking about my "sandwich" 

SO GOOD! 

YUM!

jasper silas:

after helping out Jason with cooking at the James Beard House, 

i got to stay in NYC and head over to Brooklyn where i got to meet the best thing about my trip up north:

my new nephew

JASPER SILAS BOY! 

he is one amazing, beautiful, and chill dude

i enjoyed holding him, hanging out with him, his parents, and his one set of grandparents for a few days and got to see John and Corinna being wonderful, new, uncomplicated, super in love parents.

i love you little bear.

you are wonderful.
you guys did good.
very good in fact!

Beard House:

the end of March found me driving to NYC in my co-woker sleek silver Hyundai. 

on board with me was said co-worker, Willow Grove's sues chef Jacob and line cook Dayna, uniforms and kitchen stuff.

after some hiccups and bold driving moves, we finally arrived at our destination

we met up with Chef Jason and Christo who had driven up an escalade filled to the max
with supplies consisting of food, tools, utensils, decorations, etc.

we had some killer sushi that night, and the next day had the pleasure of helping him make dinner for about 50 people at the 

James Beard House with the theme of a "Virginia Luxury Escape" 

Good times were had by all, before, during, and after the event.

it really was a privilege to participate in this special occasion and to help out a friend 

who had a dream realized.