The Southsider Voice
Visit us at these places!
  • Home
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • Sports
    • Car Nutz
    • Stilley Goes Trackside
    • Southside Deaths
    • Personal Recollections
    • Reminiscing
  • About the Voice
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • Newspaper Archive
  • Classifieds

Chicken Run

6/27/2018

0 Comments

 
Several of my friends have been inquiring about our small flock of chickens. It is a bit more complicated now that there are three different age groups of these girls. Yes, girls are the only chickens in our feathered family. We have no roosters.

A few years ago my wife, Lyn, started our chicken family when she purchased three young hens and a mobile chicken house and fenced in area for them to reside. As the girls matured it seemed that they were running out of space so some adjustments were made and they took over one of our outside sheds. Some months later a new storage building was constructed.

Shortly after that one of our hens got sick and died In February we bought four more young chickens, which lived in our garage during the winter. As they matured we discovered that one of them was a rooster.

We thought it was a good idea to see if we could find him a new home. Charlie now resides out on the Westside and is part of a much larger and growing population of chickens owned and taken care of by a church. Lyn has checked on Charlie a couple of times. We were given a new baby chicken to replace Charlie.

We felt that our one young bird would be lonesome living by herself until she was full grown, so we purchased one more to grow up with her. Now the older five chickens reside in the building. The two younger ones are still living in the mobile unit. They all seem to be getting along pretty well when they are allowed out in the yard.

We have started getting eggs from one or two of the girls that moved in with us in February. One day last week Lyn carried in five eggs at one time. I found four eggs during my Saturday morning visit to the chicken house. It’s fun when we have time to sit outside and let the girls roam around the yard. They are good friends with Stuart (our dog) and Guessie (the neighborhood cat).

This weekend, Lyn leaves on her third missions trip to Ecuador. She will be traveling again with a group and they will visit the same area of Ecuador and reconnect with the same families. Unfortunately, the two-week trip is again being held during the first two weeks of July.

Stuart has become really afraid of thunder and fireworks. He normally goes to Lyn for comfort when he hears loud noises. I’ve learned that if Stuart and I drive to Columbus and back on the Fourth of July, he misses out on most of the fireworks. I play the radio loudly and Stuart curls up in the seat.

​I’ll be living in what I call “camp conditions” while Lyn is gone. I’ll be the sole human in charge of the house, the yard, a dog, a cat and seven chickens. Stuart and I will be at the airport to meet Lyn and her group when they return July 14. Because of Stuart’s therapy dog status, he is allowed to enter the airport.
0 Comments

June 20th, 2018

6/20/2018

0 Comments

 
I enjoyed a special three-day weekend, and it all started Friday when I had lunch with Sharon Darko-David, a former classmate of mine at Southport High School, and her two granddaughters. I had met one of the girls, Daphne, last year. We had a lot of fun and I was looking forward to seeing her and meeting her older sister.

​
When I arrived at Sharon’s house to pick them up, Daphne came toward the car calling, “Shotgun.” During our lunch last year I had given her the nickname “Trouble.” It was apparent that the nickname was going to stick. Her older sister, Sophie, and Sharon climbed into the backseat and we were off to lunch.

After lunch we headed to my house so the girls could meet Stuart,my therapy dog, and our seven chickens. My wife, Lyn, introduced the ladies to the chickens, and soon I noticed Trouble carrying one of the younger chickens.

The gals soon noticed the horses on the other side of the fence,which is part of the Southport Equestrian Center. After they visited with the horses, we drove around to the center’s main area and saw some other horses and Charlie the donkey. Stuart and Charlie are pretty good friends.

On Saturday our daughter, Michelle, drove down for a Father’s Day visit and lunch date. Michelle was the original young lady to have the nickname “Trouble” issued by me. Back in her teen years the nickname was a perfect fit.

There is a third “Trouble” in my life now. Our youngest grandson’s girlfriend, Diana, has earned the nickname “Little Trouble.” She was at our house the previous day when I had my friends over to meet the chickens. For a while we had two Troubles at our house at the same time. Had Michelle been available Friday, we might have set a record for the number of Troubles in one back yard.

Around 5 p.m. Lyn and I went to the Marian County Fair so we could listen to our good friend Carly Brooke sing. Carly is only 16, but this is the ninth year she has performed at the fair. As her career blossomed, she and her family moved to Nashville, Tenn. She has a bright future, and you can look her up on social media to hear her sing. 

That evening Lyn and I went to the Indiana Fever’s basketball game, and they defeated Atlanta 96-64 for their first after starting the season with 10 straight losses. The team, although it played great in the second half, is struggling with three first-year players. The Fever are continuing to regroup since Tamika Catchings retired. We have enjoyed the same seats for several years, and we like everyone who sits around us and the staff that works in our area. 

I received a call from my son, Mark, Sunday morning. We are making plans for lunch. Later, Lyn and I ate at Lincoln Square. The entire staff is friendly, and our waitress was wonderful. It was a special three days and a wonderful Father’s Day. I’m a lucky guy.
0 Comments
    Picture

    Fred Shonk

    Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools. 

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

 DROP OFF: The Toy Drop 6025 Madison Ave., Suite D
Indianapolis, IN  46227  |  317-781-0023
MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 17187, Indianapolis, IN 46217

ads@southsidervoice.com | news@southsidervoice.com
Website by IndyTeleData, Inc.