Cha Cha is gone ~

We interrupt our knitting today to tell about the passing of one of chickens. I'm not sure I've told you about our delightful chickens, so a bit of history before going on. Two years ago, on Earth Day, our family did our part to becoming more sustainable by getting 8 little chicks at our Grange. My husband grew up on a farm and had chickens, but I'm a city girl. Our oldest daughter did tons of research on which chickens were prolific egg layers, and easiest to have around....and my husband began building a coop and aviary that would keep out raccoons (and probably bears... it is deluxe and secure). As part of the learning experience, we were to name our chickens after favorite authors. I named "my" two chickens, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (surprise, eh?) and JK Rowling. My husband named "his" chicken Julia Child (don't say it...). We realized that the kids didn't realize that these chicks were female, as they named "their" chickens Charles Dickens, Jasper Tompkins, Lemony Snicket, Doctor Seuss and Richard Peck. Early on, Charles, who we call Cha Cha (since that sounds more feminine) became distinct because she was the first to greet us when we would visit the coop. She was so curious and chatty and seemed to be trying to tell us stories. She learned how to jump on our outstretched arms, and was very social. She was also great at posing for pictures, even with my knitted hats! She's the one that would come into the coop while we were cleaning it, and chat the entire time. As we filled the nesting boxes with new straw, one at a time, she would investigate the newly filled box, one at a time, and chat about that too.

Cha Cha was a delightful companion, and I will miss her terribly.

(Here she is with Lemony, our black Sussex)