A Delightful Afternoon

On Thursday I decided to stay home and work around the house. No gallivanting around for me on Thursday, is what I thought. When a friend called and asked if I wanted to visit a lady who has chickens, go to a Farmer's Market in Wheatridge, and stop at an Italian bakery I weighed both options; working at home or taking a fun trip; guess which won?

First stop was a home in Arvada. As we drove up the driveway I saw beautiful Birds of Paradise made out of metal, chicken yard figures, and flowering and green foliage.The back yard had a chicken coop where I heard the four chickens making cooing noises instead of the clucking sound I thought I would hear. It appears that having chickens is more common than one thinks. She is the third person that I know that has chickens in her yard. It seems to be a growing hobby for some.

I have never looked closely at a chicken and saw that the feathers form beautiful patterns. The black-grey-white chicken feathers reminded me of ocean waves. The red chickens had feathers that looked like  soft fur. Cher, Carole, Annie and Rosie wandered around the pen and sometimes pecked at watermelon rinds.

Speaking with the two persons who know about chickens I learned:


Chickens eat anything especially left over food.
They like grass and eat garden pests.
They are low-maintenance.
The fresh eggs are more nutritional than eggs purchased in a store.
Yolks are a different color and larger than store bought eggs.
They have quirky personalities, yet are lovable.
It is fun naming them.
They have a cooing sound and not clucking sound.
They sense when there is a hawk flying overhead and make a different sound, as if to send out a warning to the other chickens.
It is pet that helps feed the owner.
The color of a chickens feet lets one know if they will be laying eggs.
All chickens lay eggs but if chicks are wanted then a rooster is needed.

I enjoyed learning about chickens and looking at the  four pretty ones in their pen. I also liked the different  lawn decorations.

As we entered the house I was asked if I liked Choke Cherry jam. I said I did and was given a jar of dark purple jam that I was told "goes great over ice-cream or pancakes."


Second Stop was the Farmer's Market around 44th and Wadsworth. We arrived too late because some of the people were packing up their wares. My friend went to the fresh vegetable booth and purchased four peaches. I went to the Mexican booth where I tasted a green chile salsa that I liked and bought some tortillas. When I read the label it seemed as if the items were healthier than what I usually buy at the store.






Third Stop was Gargaro's Italian Bakery at 5058 Marshall Street in Arvada. The bakery is located in a yellow house and sells pastries, bread, Italian sausage, sandwiches, and pasta. A board behind the register had a joke of the day. I will paraphrase it because I do not remember it exactly:  "A limbo dancer walked into a bar and lost the competition." It took me awhile to figure it out and had to laugh when I got the gist of it.

My friend offered to buy me a cookie so I picked a white chocolate-cranberry-oatmeal one and she picked the white chocolate- raspberry cookie. As we waited for one customer ahead of us, my friend began chatting with a young man who was also waiting. He was buying cookies for the people at work. He paid his bill of sixty-seven dollars and left. The man behind the counter said, "He paid for your two cookies also." We were both surprised and even though the young man looked to be in his twenties we both commented on how nice he was to pay for cookies for two old ladies! A random act of kindness goes a long way in making people happy.

Fourth Stop was Starbucks where we ordered iced tea. We covered lots of topics of conversation and enjoyed drinking our tea and eating those delicious cookies! It was a fun afternoon spent with a good friend and I thanked her for including me in the delightful afternoon.