New chickens and new writing

This was a pretty nice sunset the other night.  Nearly every evening we try to get out in the paddock to watch the sun set.  We don't get to see the best of the sunsets here as there are a lot of trees to our west, but at times they are still pretty nice.

It is Tuppy's fave time of day (apart from meals) because as long as it isn't too hot she gets to chase her ball or kong.  She's a ball fiend! 

Rosie gets to do her little bit of an agility course at a slower pace, and she will flollop out for a ball or two if we make Tuppence wait so she knows it is all hers.

 

This week I've added two new chookies to the chook pen since a couple of the old girls 'fell off the perch' this year.  Apart from our one gorgeous Australorp, Nanny Ogg, we only have the orange hyline laying hybrids.  I like them for their bright cheerful personalities and of course for their egg laying ability.

The two new girls have been dubbed Mrs Guppy and Madame Blavatsky after two 19th century psychics that are sometimes mentioned on one of my fave podcasts, Mysterious Universe.  We like to have a theme for each generation.  The last three we got are named after Star Trek characters, so we don't mind mixing it up.  Whatever takes our fancy at the time!

Madame Blavatsky lives up to her famous namesake. She is quite tame, and very adventurous.  She got herself up on the their usual night perch the very first night.  She is a pretty orange with a brighter ruff round her neck and the typical dinosaur expression of a young hen.
 

  

Mrs Guppy is a bit more of a quandary.  For some reason she decided the first night that sleeping on TOP of the chook dome, instead of inside it, was the way to go.  Each night we had to go out after dark, gently slide her sideways with a broom, and catch her, then carefully put her up on a perch inside.  Funny girl!  Here she is on her dome, wondering what all the fuss is about and where all her friends went!

She has a pretty lighter lacework around her neck.  You can see it better here.  I like to pick slightly different colours if I can so I can tell them apart. 

 
The four old girls still have their beaks out of joint, but there is plenty of room for the youngsters to keep out of their way unless they get into a corner.  I try to just wince and tell them that next time I get new chooks it will be them being the mean ones!

The first week of writing on my new Freya novel has gone well.  I do enjoy her enthusiasm and lack of restrictions! My word count is 8726 and she's already had two fights.  :)

I've finally finished the illustrations for my tween book, Dog Slobber! Seventeen drawings is a lot of art!  This is a fun one!  You'll have to read the book to find out what it's about!:

Now I've started working on ideas for Chicken Soup for Satan.  The little thumbnails  in my sketchbook gave Andrew a chuckle so I thought you'd like to see them too.

The idea is the have the white GSD from the book, Ghost, in the shot, and also a bowl of chicken noodle soup on the table. 

After fiddling with angles, I got out the camera to see how it might look in real life and got Tuppy in to be my model.  She's kind of the opposite of a white GSD but she's what I have!

Then Rosie thought, "Hang on, Tuppy is earning treats over there!" so she had to come and join in even though I didn't want two dogs in the photo. Oh well, it's cute anyway.  :)