“And believe me, a good piece of chicken can make anybody believe in the existence of God.”
What was a lovely summer morning with a cooling breeze has become a cloudy day with a dark sky, a rain threatening sky. I shut the window behind me as I felt a bit chilly. The breeze has turned cold.
Yesterday I was able to cross everything off my to do list. That doesn’t usually happen. I felt accomplished.
Gracie got her first tick yesterday. I was patting her ears when I found one on the underside of one ear. It was small and hadn’t embedded yet. I hope it can swim.
I can hear the swishing of the leaves on the oak trees. That is the only sound. I wonder where the birds went.
I once raised chickens. My first laying hen was a gift from a Ghanaian friend. The hen was white and hatched 5 chicks. She was a horrible mother and the chicks began to disappear, eaten by one predator or another. Her second hatching was much the same. I ate her for dinner a couple of nights. Such is the fate of a bad mother hen.
I like to shop at farmers’ markets, especially the one in Bass River. Mostly I buy fresh vegetables though I have also bought cheese, local honey, candles, fresh herbs, desserts, jams and jellies and once some lamb. The market is set up in a circle so I do one loop. It is held every Thursday and Saturday.
One of my favorite places in Ghana was the market in Bolga. Every third day was market day. I had gone to my first market during Peace Corps training. It was a disaster. I got sick from the smells, but, by my live-in in Bawku, three weeks into training, I had stopped noticing. I loved my market. I’d bring my woven shepherd’s bags which stretched and fill them with tomatoes, onions, eggs, garden eggs, okra, oranges, bananas and pineapple. A chicken, bound by its feet, I’d slide onto the handle bar of my motorcycle. Sometimes I’d find a surprise. Once it was a watermelon. I could buy cloth, sandals, pots and pans, dishes, glasses and so much more. I always thought of the market as an adventure.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: bad mother, Bolgatanga, chickens, cloudy rainy, eating chicken, farmers' markets, garden eggs, Ghana, hatching, hens, Okra, Peace Corps training, raising hens, shepherd's bags, sunny day, tick, vegetables
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June 27, 2017 at 2:13 pm
I’ve always wanted to have chickens but I’ve decided to wait until I retrire, I feel I don’t have the time they need since the dogs take up most of my free time as it is.
I wish we had a farmers market here. I think they have one every autumn in Falköping but I doubt they have anything else than fruit and vegetables. The laws here are made so it is more or less impossible for farmers to sell theior products from their farms. I’ve always wondered if they fear that we would rather go there than to our stores?
I wish I could say that I only found one tick on my dosg 🙂 🙂 🙂 Sune is a tick magnet because of his long fur, Nova rarely walk in high grass so she rarely have ticks and Albin has, like Gracie, very short fur so most are spotted fast but not all I’m afraid. I have to go through them after every walk we have now.
Have a great day!
Christer.
June 27, 2017 at 5:58 pm
Christer,
Mine didn’t really take up much time. They were free range and would leave the yard in the morning and return in the late afternoon. They had a house for roosting in my back yard.
Lots of cape towns have farmer’s markets. A couple are in the afternoon so you can go to one in the morning and another in the afternoon. I don’t think that the vendors at the markets have huge farms, but even of they did, there should be plenty to sell in both places.
I went through and checked all of Gracie after I found the one. Her stomach was shaved for the ultra sound last week so I just had to look there. I was happy not to find any.
Have a great evening!
June 27, 2017 at 11:48 pm
I think raising chickens is the new sheik hobby. My coworker raises them in his back yard. I’m awaiting my sample of fresh eggs. My insurance agent also keeps chickens but I doubt he will offer sample eggs if I buy more insurance. Fresh eggs don’t require refrigeration as long as you don’t wash the shells. Store bought eggs have to be refrigerated because they are washed to illuminate salmonella bacteria from the shell.
There has been a farmer’s market in downtown Dallas since I was a kid. Unfortunately, not all the vendors are farmers. Many of them are selling cold storage produce just like the grocery store but at a higher price. The city now requires that cold storage produce has to be marked as such. This is the best time of the year to go to the farmer’s market.
This afternoon a large thunderstorm formed over the DFW airport and sat there pouring rain, thunder and lighting for nearly an hour before it blew itself out. I just stayed later at work instead of fighting the traffic in the rain. Instead I took the express toll lanes to save some time. Regardless how many new highways and tollways we build the traffic just grows exponentially. 🙂 Businesses are moving here in record numbers including Toyota who is moving their headquarters from California and bringing 4,000 new workers. Not having a state income tax is a big incentive to move your highly paid executives to Texas.
June 28, 2017 at 12:27 pm
Bob,
My farmer’s market is all fresh and most of what is for sale is from the cape. There are also two farms stands which grow the produce they sell.
I bought only fresh eggs in the market in Ghana when I had sitting hens, not layers. I first had to check they were good eggs. They were held to the sun to check the level of the egg inside. The market lady always gave me good eggs as she knew I’d be back to buy from her. Nothing is worse than opening an egg which has been sat upon for a while.
Much of the state had thunder and lightning, but it missed us. The Sox game was delayed twice. It didn’t finish until 12:30. By then, the stands were pretty empty.
New Hampshire also doesn’t have a state income tax nor does it tax goods the way Massachusetts does. My sister shops there for some stuff as it is considerably cheaper.