chickens and pearls

Every morning I collect eggs from our 8 hens. I’ve been having an ongoing battle with one who refuses to move from the nest. Every morning she growls at me. I never knew chickens could growl. She says “errk, eerrk, errrrr” and looks at me like this:

We have come to an agreement. I give her a minute to complain, then I reach under her while she half halfheartedly pecks at my hand. She usually has 3-5 eggs protected under her breast feathers. I’m thinking of giving her some fertilized eggs and leaving her alone. She would be a good mother.

The other day I went out as usual. It was early and had rained the night before. I was about to collect the eggs when I noticed a spider web looking like a necklace of pearls in the morning light. It was so beautiful I thought I’d share it.