a flock of four once more

We got the cutest chicken the other day from a very nice couple I met in Kimberling City. Phyllis is a one-year-old polish crested hen. She's really sweet and wants to be around us all the time and lets us pick her up. (Possibly because the other chickens aren't very nice to her yet.) She's hilarious! Just the way she bobs her silly fluff head when she walks is a riot. Yes, David Rees, chickens ARE inherently funny.

for the birds

The birds were lively at the nature center yesterday while I was waiting for the rain to clear for a wildflower walk.

to Columbia and back

Somehow, I didn't take s single picture in Columbia, but here are a few from the drive there and back. And a few from the backyard.





Jamie caught these fish fast at Bennett Springs.

Oziel

My dear friend, Nedra, came to visit with her 4-year-old son, Oziel. We had a blast at the zoo and Fanstastic Caverns. And we even squeezed in a portrait session while Jamie cooked breakfast. Oz is a real sweetheart and a born performer. He loves music, especially the Beatles. He wasn't exactly in the mood for pictures, but he humored us long enough for me to get some good ones.

In his "George Harrison outfit."



With his brand new guitar strap. He wore his guitar around the house all morning.

This is Oz's favorite.

pecking order

Red pecks at Goldie during an otherwise peaceful dirt bath in one of the garden beds yesterday.

Young Love

Daniel Piatnitsky, 19, of Willow Springs and Kristina Nadtochayuv, 22, of Rogersville laugh while discussing their plans for the evening at Sequiota Park on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. “This is my first Valentine’s Day that I don’t get to complain that I’m alone,” Piatnitsky said. The pair have been dating for about six months and had just exchanged gifts--Reese’s Pieces because it’s her favorite and homemade fortune cookies with Hershey’s Kisses. Last year they happened to spend the holiday together as friends at Cold Stone Creamery, where they shook on a deal to stuff their faces with ice cream on every lonely Valentine’s Day. Now that they’re together, the deal is off. “But we’ll probably still have ice cream,” Nadtochayuv said.

A snow day, yesterday.

Today's front page: Abby Hrdlicka shields her face from the snow on her way to MSU's Meyer Library on Monday, February 13, 2012. "Snow boots would have been a good idea," she said. "I usually end up wearing the worst possible thing in the snow."