Who is "& Co." ? Simple. & Co. is my beautiful little family, the circle of love that I am surrounded by. It's my husband and my beloved dogs and the chickens, too. They are my sanctuary, they are my heart and they keep me safe. They are my home and I'm grateful to have found them as soon as I did.
This is Michael, my better half and majordomo of the household. He’s smart, funny, compassionate, wise and present. He is a man of many talents and varied interests. A small sampling: he is rebuilding our picnic table this month, he is coming down the homestretch of reading War & Peace and he relays little snippets now and then, he made me red beans and rice last night for dinner. He knows me better than anyone knows me and makes me laugh like nobody's business. For all of this I adore him.
Here's Slip. Slip is an Italian Greyhound and the eldest of our three dogs. He was born in the 20th century (1999) and it shows. Mostly toothless and completely blind, he can still sniff out a bowl of kibble and make it his own. As for his hearing, he can hear Michael bicycling home in a howling wind from two blocks away.
Baby. What can I say? She bit into an electrical cord when she was young and has a very twisty tongue as a result. She tosses back kibble like a seal tossing back a sardine. Her hobbies include chicken wrangling, plate surfing and soaking up the sunshine. Favorite culinary indulgence: peas.
Our newest family member is Miss Lily. We simply call her Beagle, and let me tell you, that girl is all beagle, from the tip of her nose to the tips of her toes and then some. A finer bay, you will never hear. She is Window Monitor and not a thing gets by her. She’s a very fast learner and is getting accustomed to mingling with the eight chickens. That girl is alright.
The First Five: Tiny, Lupe, Lucy, Hazel and Dorothy. These were the first chickens that we ever bought back in 2010. We bought five because we thought we’d lose one to our own inexperience but all survived. The pairs were named after our grandmothers and their best friends. Michael’s are the Buff Orpingtons, Hazel & Dorothy. Neither lay anymore. Mine are Speckled Sussex, Lupe & Lucy. Lupe hasn’t laid in forever and looks like a water balloon. Tiny is the rooster. He’s a Wyandotte and named after the musician Big Tiny Little who passed away shortly before we bought him and also because he was Tiny. In fact, he was the tiniest. The Orpingtons, as pullets, would often tuck him under their wings at night. He loves them. He loves all hens. A lot.
The Three Madams Mayhem a.k.a. Jo, Rose and Sugar. These are our second batch of chickens. They were adorable as chicks, mean as hell as pullets and docile as adults. They lay beautiful brown eggs and are stepsisters to La Bête.
La Bête adopted us. This is all there is to know about her:
