Brit Lit and Making Chickens Pay

It's week two of Modern British Literature and so far I adore my professor and the class in general. We have to do research projects and since race and colonialism is one of the subjects in literature that fascinates me, that is the one I chose. We are being divided up into groups of our choosing and so far there are only three of us in that group, and as it looks currently I'm the only white one in the group. I hope to learn some different perspectives from my group members. The Gender and Sexuality group was so popular it looks like the professor had to move some people out of it and close it to new members. I almost chose that one, I just don't find the subject as intriguing as I do this. Last semester I wrote my final paper in Lit Theory about cultural identity and Nadine Gordimer's South Africa and since then I've found the concept super intriguing, particularly from the perspective of a person like Gordimer who was born and raised in South Africa, who was separated from the land of her parents and saw herself as South African, not as British or Lithuanian as her parents were. Seriously, if you get a chance to read her work it's amazingly worth it. 

This week I've got my readings on Imperialism to do, plus some Virginia Woolf and Joseph Conrad readings, plus more to read in The Good Soldier. I have to do some annotations in my Imperialism and race readings, as well as write a mini-report so the other students in the class who are in other groups can get an idea of what we are working on. I'm sure we will have to comment on at least one other person's work. There are four or five people in the class that I know from other classes so I know I will get to read some amazing perspectives and ideas. There are some brilliant people that I have the joy of sharing my UCF experience with. 

Outside of all of the reading I'm doing I am also doing my best to keep my little flock of chickens. I never thought I'd be a chicken lady, but what started as two has ended up ten so here we are. 

That is the strangest of the bunch. Her name is What the Fuck, or What the Fork if Joey is outside with us. She's darling. Well, I think it's a she. I didn't get a good look at her wings in the three or four day window after she hatched so I probably won't know until she's at least three months old. I've taken her as my baby and refuse to sell her like I will the others. 

This was from several days ago. Sadly the third little black chick perished after getting squashed by one of the larger chickens, so as soon as we have more money we will be building what amounts to a little chick nursery so that won't happen again. 

Cleo and Cuquin have been excellent mothers. Maripi won't lay on her eggs so we get at least one egg a day from her that goes directly into the fridge just in the instance that it is fertilized. I doubt it, she's meaner than sin and won't let our rooster Tete near her without trying to peck his eyes out. 

Tete is also quite mean, which I expected for a rooster. The only person who can handle him is the woman we got him from, a friend of ours and experienced chicken lady. Once the others get a little older we will be giving them to her for selling. 

That teeny yellow one in the image may be what's called a frizzle. Their feathers are what is best described as curly. My boyfriend named her Snoop, because she's a frizzle my nizzle. (Yes, he really said that last night when he told me her name). 

Silkies are a load of fun and have more personality than I thought a chicken would have. They are also really easy to care for. Their eggs are tiny (you need two to equal a standard egg) but they are super flavorful. Nothing beats a yard egg. 

We have the remnants of Tropical Storm or whatever it was Elsa dropping loads of rain and yuck on us today. Last night it stayed so chilly that we were able to sleep with the windows open. It's like the Pacific Northwest got our weather while we got theirs. Sleeping with windows open is practically unheard of this far south in the month of June. I'm mainly worried for my garden, particularly my Rosemary that I've babied since I got it at the beginning of the pandemic. It was originally in a pot, and now it's outside and at least three feet tall. I'm thinking of propagating it just in case it does get destroyed during a storm. Thankfully my green thumb has finally decided to appear. I've got a window garden to rival my outdoor garden. Who knew that being a green witch would be my thing? 

On the anxiety front I am doing better going out. I was able to go to Family Dollar and Publix last week without medication, and the week before that I went to Aldi unmedicated. I've learned that I have to go when I want to, and when I feel forced to it's when the anxiety really happens. I wanted to go to those places and push myself, therefore I was able to go without any issue. Agoraphobia is a beast that I'm determined to defeat! I'm trying to surround myself with positivity. I have a 10 Minutes Planner that I use each day to plan my day and record my successes and failures. I'm making sure to make space for mindfulness and reading for pleasure. One day I will have my shit together.