Rooster, get out of my van!!!

Chock that up for another thing I never in a million years expected to say!! LOL!

Only in my world would I be chasing a chicken out of my van! Unreal. You have to understand, out here in the boonies, it is very expensive to have garbage pickup, so we don't do it. But as we all know, garbage does occur. So, we load up the van, and do a "dump run". Well, today was the day. It usually ends up being once a month, but in this case, we had lots from construction projects, cleaning out the garage (we are still cleaning out from what was here when we moved in nearly two years ago), and general stuff. So, it was time for a mongo run!

The kids helped pull out the last two rows of seats in our van ("the monster" as the kids have dubbed my fifteen passenger van - hey, it seats lots of kids, and can pull a horse trailer!!!), and we loaded it full of gross stinky stuff, old decrepit and moldy suitcases, construction debris, general garbage, and what not. We had one old garbage can that has been here since before we moved here, and has always been full (the contents are probably about three and a half years old - I simply don't want to know what is in it, not a chance, no way). It took courage to haul that huge thing out and get it in the van, it has never before fit in one of our dump runs!!! But, now all the clutter from in front of my garage/rabbitry is gone!!!

Amazingly, I only had one child volunteer to come with me for this nasty - I mean, good - trip. We rode with all the windows wide open, and still didn't want to breathe. Why garbage can accumulate such a stink, I only somewhat understand, but it was truly awful. By the time it was all out and weighed, it came to about 500 pounds!!! Glad to have it gone. Ugh.

Would you believe that in the great "clean out" from the front of the garage, we discovered another spot where another hen has been hiding her eggs? Sure enough, a big red hen is sitting on 12 eggs! The little stinker! But after our summer with the fox, it is lovely to think that these sneaky hens are replenishing our flock! And for free, with the exception that we don't have the lovely eggs to eat.

Anyway, the rooster. Well, after we got back from the dump run, the van still smelled bad. Thank goodness for vinyl floors. I took bleach and water to all the garbage cans, left all the windows and doors open on the van, and then wiped down the cargo area with bleach and water! Of course, while I am on my hands and knees in the back, what do I hear but some clucking. From near my head. I look up and am nearly eye to eye with our big black striped rooster. Thank goodness he is pleasant, and just surprising to find yourself eye to eye with. The kids thought it was quite hilarious to hear mom scolding a rooster from inside the van!!! They helped me get the rooster out, then chase down the barn cats that also crawled inside!

And after all the cleaning, all is sterile and smells so much better now! Whew. Amazing what you can get done if you have to! And to evict the rooster to! Who would have ever thought that I would be doing some of this? Not that I am complaining, it is just amazing to me sometimes.