Peabody the peahen

Peabody has recently made nest #2, this time under a Redbud tree instead on top of the shed roof. Still, her eggs are not fertile due to a conspicuous lack of a peacock. Not that she hasn't been looking for one! She has been crossing a very busy street looking for a "guy" for the past 2 weeks. So, because I'm small of brain but big of heart, I traded her three peafowl eggs for three very fertile Bantum eggs. (aka "banty"..those cute little jungle fowl that keep the snails at bay and which provide the neighborhood with fresh eggs.) She raised a banty baby last year and did a very fine job of it. Sweetpea still has a tiny identity issue but is currently nesting on two stone eggs and a golf ball. (Chickens can over-run a place almost as quickly as rats.) It was hilarious watching a golf ball size chick follow its hulking pea fowl mama around and it was very interesting watching mama teach the youngster how to hunt for food, fly into bushes, and then up into the trees, and to avoid the banty roosters.

At any rate, this was the most enjoyable portion of the morning. There had earlier been an attack waged upon the passion vine, which was rather enjoyable in a twisted sort of way, and then the flooding of my laundry room, the cleaning up of which was not enjoyable at all. I am not really complaining. At least it wasn't a Katrina sort of flooding and I REALLY did NEED to clean under the washer and dryer. Goodness only knows when THAT was done last. So now I can go back to doing battle with the passion vine...pictures at 11:00.