Alice and Joanie B. Find Unlikely Friends

Joanie B. and Alice - library hens and friends. Where one goes, there goes the other.  But last summer when Laurenjoan first brought Alice home from the county fair, Joanie B. did not want to be friends. Instead she let out a very loud squawk...

Joanie B: Squaaaaawwwk!  (how dare you) squaaaawwwk! (come into) squaaawwwwkkk! (my yard) !!!!  The very idea -- squaawwk!

Joanie B. went on this way all afternoon - and for a week after.  Poor Alice!  One day she was with her 16 sister pullets at the fair; the next she was stuck with one mad hen.
Eventually the squawking and determined pecking gave way to calm.  Alice knew Joanie B. was the boss, and then, finally, they could be friends.

 James Taylor expresses it best:

You just call out my name,
and you know whereever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
all you have to do is call and I'll be there,
yeah, yeah,
you've got a friend.

Sometimes you never know who will be your friend. If you're a one-legged chicken, it might be a dog....

If you're a hamster, it just might be a snake....

Unlikely friendships can form anywhere, anytime....

               True friendship unfeigned
Doth rest unrestrained,
         No terror can tame it:
Not gaining, nor losing,
Nor gallant gay glosing,
       Can ever reclaim it.
In pain, and in pleasure,
The most truest treasure
        That may be desired,
Is loyal love deemed,
Of wisdom esteemed
       And chiefly required.

Henry Cheke (1548–86)
Source: The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry -  SCCLD elibrary

Stories of Unlikely Friendships

The Leopard and the Cow	Frenemies for Life
Owen and Mzee	Little Pink Pup
Suryia & Roscoe	Unlikely Friendships ebook: Unlikely Friendships

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Source of the graphic at the top of the page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryanburns/4404164059/

Who's the Best Dad for a Chicken? A Dog! A Bedtime Story!

It was almost Father's Day...

...Alice and Joanie B. were clucking about who had the best Dad (all idioms aside)....







Alice: My dad Ruled the Roost - he knew how to crow like no one's business..






Joanie B: My dad was THE Cock o' the Walk - he could strut to beat the band..


Alice: My dad was always scratching out a living . . .

Joanie B: My dad feathered our nest with a nest egg . . .

Alice: My dad was raised by a dog - here's a home video of him with his chicken siblings and their daddy dog:

Joanie B: Woof! My dad was raised by bedtime stories like these--

Dads, Dogs, Chicks - Bedtime Stories to Beat the Band

Interrupting Chicken	Chicken, Pig, Cow
Surfer Chick	If My Dad Were A Dog
I Was A Third Grade Bodyguard	The Case of the Tender Cheeping Chickies

Happy Father's Day to all the Best Dads in the World!

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**Interested in reading more Alice & Joanie B. adventures?? Well then, click here**

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rooster photo sources:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/495494/golden-laced-wyandotte-rooster-1-year-old

http://ahensnest.com/2012/05/rooster-named-gimli.html

https://pinterest.com/crazyquilter54/roosters/

Chickens, Chickens How Can Your Garden Grow??

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

 With silver bells, and cockle shells,

 And pretty maids all in a row....

UNLESS you're a CHICKEN !

Alice and Joanie B., who, like most discerning chickens, love flowers - they are magnifique to eat!

Easter lilies so savory (as most bulb flowers are, except tulips--hmmm candy - Joanie B. likes red the best, Alice favors yellow)...

Annuals - so delicate and sweet - they melt in a chicken's mouth as they shred them to bits...

Pure scrump-tious-ness - the flowers, not the stems and stalks and leaves...as you can see by this photo of Laurenjoan's garden...

 What to do, what to do - if you are a flower lover and NOT a chicken?  You, being a discerning person who loves flowers, as they are magnifique to look at....what to do?
Why go to your local SCCLD Library - or simply go on line to www.sccl.org and order up a few books and such that will arm you offensively for a beautiful garden, a place to see and enjoy flowers whether in a pot, or in a vase, or in a book, or in a bedtime story...

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers!

Free-range Chicken Gardens Many gardeners fear chickens will peck away at their landscape. But you can keep chickens and have a beautiful garden, too!	A Backyard Flower Garden for Kids Where should your garden grow? -- What should you grow? -- Butterflies, birds, and you -- Planting time -- No space? No worries!
Rocks, Dirt, Worms & Weeds Jeff Hutton shows you and your kids how to grow your own food and your favorite flowers, attract butterflies, create crafts, & more.	Outside your Window This beautiful book captures all the sights and sounds of a child’s interactions with nature, from planting acorns or biting into crisp apples to studying tide pools.
Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers A biography of First Lady Bird Johnson who reminded citizens about the importance of conserving natural resources and promoted the beautification of cities and highways by planting wildflowers.	Planting A Rainbow This educational picture book helps children understand how to plant bulbs, seeds, and seedlings, and nurture their growth.

 

Photo above from:  Countryfarm Lifestyles

Top Ten Edible Flowers Your Chickens Will Love

Run Chickens, Run - Exercise @ the Library

Alice and Joanie B. try to get to the gym, but after working all day (or the evening shift) at the Milpitas Library - the gym is the last thing they think about....in fact...






...The last time Joanie B. made it to the gym, her trainer had NO MERCY -- as you can tell by this photo Alice took (while faking a stretch) from her yoga mat.

Needless to squawk about -- this is not a nightmare they wish to revisit...


BUT - how to keep their girlish-chicken-figures while working at the library???

Ever the top-knotch research library-hen - Alice found an advertisement for a great video on YOUTUBE -- The Betty Glover Library Workout - check it out:

Alice: BAWK! Only problem - The Betty Glover Library Workout is from 1987 on VHS!
Joanie B:  Wrrawwk! Looks like a good workout - if you can time travel to 1987 - or even 2007 when maybe there were still a few VHS machines around...
Alice: Chook, chook, chook! We should try a library ebook for exercise:

Exercise eBooks at SCCLD

7 Weeks to 300 Sit-ups

Warrior Cardio

Joanie B: Wrawk about a Playaway for exercise??

Playaway for Checkout at SCCLD

Happy Healthy Monsters and More

Alice: Since we have a DVD player, we could exercise in the comfort of our coop - how about these - ??

DVDs for Exercise like these are at SCCLD

Ageless with Kathy Smith

Banish Fat Boost Metabolism

Joanie B:  Chook, chook, chook!  There are always good BOOKs for exercise ideas -

Exercise in a BOOK

The Men's Health Big Book

Chubster

Notes from Laurenjoan:

There's no denyin' - or lyin' - we need to exercise in order to live a happy, healthy life.  You can try a gym - or you can try the library - SCCLD has a vast collection of books, DVDs, ebooks, and more for your exercising pleasure.

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Chicken exercising photo source:  Sacha Goldberg - the photo is really of Sacha's grandmother and her chicken named Bob.