Winter Chickens and New Painting

Yesterday it was quite warm and I opened the chicken house door so the girls could go out. They took one look at the snow and declined the invitation. Today, though, most of the snow had melted so they were happy to get some sunshine. Hannah, who is certainly twice the chicken that the others are in every way, was very verbal about the experience. She also ran to greet me when I went down at the end of the afternoon to feed them and close them in. I held a handful of pellets out to her and she ate them out of my hand, then followed me to the house. I hope the weather is like this a lot this winter so the chickens don't have to be couped up for long stretches. They really like to get outside.
I received the paintings in the mail that Thelma sent in trade for my Epping Road pastel. They were so tightly packed in a mailing tube that immediate gratification was far from possible. It took me over an hour to extricate them. I had to cut the tube carefully and then pull it apart. Eventually its structure revealed itself as a spiral and I was able to unwind it. The Judy Rogers painting was as wonderful as I remembered. I framed it today with one of the frames from the watercolors I had professionally framed years ago and then tried it in several places before deciding where to hang it. I ended up putting it over the mantel in the dining room where I will be looking at it as I sit over my coffee in the morning. It is basically a very light and cheerful painting and brightens up the room considerably, too. Originally I planned to have it in the living room, but I don't have as nice a place for it there, and I certainly wouldn't see it as much. It is impossible to see the image in this picture I took because I wanted to get the whole ambience, but I am just thrilled to have it. I have loved it since the first time I saw it over twenty years ago, so I know I will not grow tired of it or lose my enthusiasm. It is one of my prize possessions.