Great Big Chicken

I'll start by saying that on the arts and crafts front, I'm in between projects at the moment.  I have a pastel piece in slow progress in my studio.  I just finished what I consider a flop of a "welcome sign" for my foyer area that I'm not even going to show you until I come up with something better, and I'm just about to start on the three canvas piece to go above my bed, so no cool pictures of stuff like that today.  I'll be sure to show it when I get it finished, though.

I thought today I would tell you a little tidbit about one of my "boys."

I live with a great big chicken... a big 80 pound chicken with four legs.

It's Duke.  Now ordinarily Duke is not afraid of much.  He will growl at other big dogs in the neighborhood (he's pretty sweet with the little ones though), he isn't scared of any people that I know of, and he's fine when I take him new places.  His biggest fear is actually a little thing.  A little thing in my house that he uses every day.

Yep.  His arch nemesis is his water bowl.

(I know... He looks terrified.  I feel a little guilty about making him sit beside his bowl for this picture.)

I bought that awesome Le Bistro water bowl/tank thing when my mom complained about filling Duke's half brother's water dish 20 times a day.  I knew a big dog was going to drink lots of water, so I thought why not just get a great big 3 gallon water tank.  

I bought it before Duke got out here, and Murphy used it and wasn't scared at all.  Duke, however, is terrified by the gulp, gurgle, gulp, gulp noise it makes when the bowl refills.  He creeps ever so gently over to it as close as he thinks is safe.  Then he streeeeetches his nose out, and drinks.  Sometimes it takes a few seconds before the gulp, gurgle, gulp, gulping starts, so he looks up every once in a while to wince and see if it has started yet.  If it hasn't started yet, he'll drink some more.  If he hears it, he slinks away to return a little later when there's no more gulp, gurgle, gulp, gulping going on.  

Don't worry.  He's getting plenty of water.  I have to refill the tank every other day, so I know he's drinking plenty.  Plus, I think he's coming to terms with the gulp, gurgle, gulp, gulping and slowly making progress.  Hopefully one of these days he'll even be good friends with his water bowl... maybe... 

For now, though, it's just one of his quirks that keeps me entertained and makes me love him even more.

Oh, and he's a little afraid of the camera too.  Yesterday after photographing my wreath, I decided to try to take some pictures of the guys since they were all up under my feet.  

He just won't let me take a pic with his ears up.

At least not both ears at the same time...

Since Duke wasn't much in the mood for a photo shoot, I set the camera up for a few snapshots with Murphy...

I really am so thankful for "my boys."  I would be so lonely at times like these when Kent is gone for a few weeks.  They give me lots of love and laughs, and they are one more thing to keep me busy.

pssst.... You can help keep me busy too.  Hop on over to my Etsy shop and place a custom order for a personalized pet portrait for yourself or someone you know.  Or check out the painting in this post to see if I could create a similar custom design for you.  :-)  If you're interested, e-mail me at Lindsay.Edwards (at) Live (dot) com.