The world has changed

since my last post.  We lost a sister, Krista Schlenker on June 7, 2013 after having been on chemos for 3 years that never stopped her breast cancer.  She was just 36.  Here is the kicker.  She went to the doctors told them of her pain but they didn't test her for breast cancer because they thought she was too young.  By the time she was seen by a smart doctor the cancer has spread throughout her body.  

I didn't have much time with Krista, but the time I had was enough.  Enough to know how special she was.  Enough to know that I had to do something really special in her name.  I have created a non-profit organization called Krista's Gift.  It came about after Krista finally allowed us to help her.  She timidly said she could use some help cleaning.  We donated funds to a cleaning service for her.  That is what Krista's Gift is.  I am setting up a legacy for Krista.

Last month I was mowing the lawn.  This month putting together a Non-profit organization.  At least my world has changed.  I have worked for 38 years in business so many of these processes are familiar to me, some are completely new.  Challenging? Yes.  But it is good work.  It is good to use my skills again.

The Chicken Challenge is alive again.  I used to refer to it as the Chicken Wars but that really puts a negative spin on it.  It is simply a challenge to change our covenants.  I am circulating a Petition to change our covenants bypassing the HOA as they were a hindrance in the last attempt.  Our community is largely for the change but we also have a lot of apathetic members. Our challenge lies in getting those to sign.  My garden is being attacked by grasshoppers.  Chickens would do wonders for it.  Much better than I do for sure.  I am not of fan of catching the little buggers and would gladly leave it to a small flock of hens.  The bonus being fresh eggs and a place for food scraps.  It just makes sense.  Double sense as we live in the country on 5 acre lots.  Need I say more?  I think not.

Breast cancer.  It is with me, will always be with me.  This month I am 2 years out of treatment.  That's a big deal!  Yet it actually makes me more fearful than safe.  My first recurrence came within 18 months so I am past that.  It is said among sisters that we never do feel completely safe, we just learn to live with the uncertainty.  I have close friends that are Stage IV that know their prognosis, but even at Stage IV some live decades.  For our young sisters that isn't good to hear.  For our older sisters it means the world to them.

For all of us we are left with the remnants of chemo.  The aches and pains, osteopenia  osteoporosis  neuropathies, heart problems and a host of issues we may have had before our cancer aggravated by the chemo.  Reconstruction issues to be done or completed, repaired.  We often are asked "Are you done with treatment?" In response they are usually faced with a blank stare as I try to process all the information to explain to them what it is like when "the treatment is done", but in the end the blank stare ends and I simply say, yes.  I try to get to the "yes" more quickly but I can't.  It seems my mind wants everyone to understand even though I know they never will unless they have walked the same path.

But we are the lucky ones.  Krista was not so lucky.  She had a montra.  "Push through".  No matter how sick she was, if there was an activity that she wanted to do she would push through and do it.  I think that is true most of the time for many of us going through chemo, we don't have a choice. I admit there were times I opted out of an activity because I was worn down.  Krista never did. She pushed through.  I will remember this and do my best to do the same through life when it gets hard.  Push through the pain, the fatigue and fear.  Live our lives to the fullest.  She was an amazing lady.  I will push through to make Krista's Gift amazing!

Kristasgift.org

Some chores may be best left to the better half...

Today I pulled up my big girl pants, started up the ride on mower and attempted to enjoy the day and get some mowing done.  I remember being excited to have a ride on mower, it was fun to have something to ride around on.  It was like a grown up toy.  That is until you realize you actually need it to do a chore that you're going to have to do over and over.  A chore that is likely going to take a few days to finish.  Yuk!  That's not fun at all.  Regardless I climb on the mower now wishing it was much bigger and mowed a path about 4 feet wide.  In fact as I'm spending about an hour on this machine I have discovered many enhancements I would have included had I designed it.  I should perhaps explain that the area we mow is 5 acres.  It's not flat, it is in what they call the High Plains so sometimes it is dry, mostly it has the climate of the semi-arid desert complete with cactus and yucca plants.  We do our part to remove the cactus and are beginning to work on the yuccas.  There are trees here and there, hills, driveways, seedlings and all sorts of miscellaneous goodies. In other words we are not mowing a well groomed lawn, it is the prarie.

This first enhancement I'd make is some way to ensure I could mow a straight line because I'm sure the aircraft pilots are wondering what kind of code I'm trying to send up by the weird shapes I'm making in the fields.  Doesn't this machine come with a grid?  And what about wildflower sensors?  Our cars can sense the curbs and bikes behind us why can the mower avoid the cute patch of wildflowers just ahead?  And watch out for that little baby bunnn......y  Whew, he got away just in time!  And just who designed this seat?  Ours is about two feet away from the wheel and the whole thing bounces like crazy.  Give a girl some shocks to reduce the jiggling!  Gees, even my cheeks were jigglin' (all my cheeks :) ha ha).

I found myself fantasizing about how I would design my perfect mower and all the different components I'd include... then I caught myself put the damn thing away and went to my garden.  I'll leave the mowing to the better half.  Chances are he is not designing a new mower when he rides it, he's probably happy he's not pushing one.  Perhaps he's designing a new wife!

My First Love

Oh that wonderful feeling. Anticipation. You catch yourself day-dreaming about the next meeting, how you will spend your time together, what new things you'll notice about them, how they feel, smell, look..taste.  They occupy your thoughts, thinking about what has happened in the past and timidly you start thinking about the future, planning, hoping.  You start to get a little embarrassed by how bold your thoughts of the future get to be.  How will they look in 5 years, 10 years..then you stop.  This is absurd. One season at a time. Goodness you barely even have all the beds prepped yet and already you're dreaming of adding trees in the front garden.

Yes, gardening was my first love.  I was completely captured by it.  I fell hook line and sinker.  From the moment I was given a 10 x 10 plot to tend to for a mere 3 months during the summer up to the present moment where I live on 5 acres and can garden as much as I desire.  I live in a climate where gardening is next to impossible and I still love it.  I live at 6400ft altitude in the High Plains of Colorado. It is high and dry and very windy.  I always said I love a good challenge and I got one.

When I was a young girl in grade school our local Botanic Gardens offered a summer program for kids.   They would let you tend to a small garden plot as long as you made your commitment to show up every weekend to water/weed/harvest, whatever was needed.  You could come during the week too, if your school schedule allowed.  Well mine did.  I made sure of it.  With help we first designed our gardens on paper, then planted.  Oh how thrilled I was when the seedlings popped out of the ground and began grow into plants.  I loved every bit of being at the garden.  They let us borrow the tools which I thought was really nice of them and they taught us why we needed to use them and how to use them.

I grew summer squash, corn, cucumbers and flowers.  We had a limited supply of seeds to chose from.  In the fall when our harvest was done we entered our prized produce into the "Garden Show".  There were several different entry levels, strait up veggies or fancy stuff you could do with your veggies.  I wish I had taken photo's, but I still have my blue ribbons somewhere.  My summer squash won a blue ribbon. It was beautiful.  My fancy entry won honorable mention but I have forgotten what I had done.  Summer squash (yellow) is still my favorite veggie.

I am still in love with gardening and always will be.  It always brings me joy, gives back way more than I could ever give it.  Even the year when I was too sick to have a garden, I somehow managed to drag my sick butt out and drop a few pumpkin seeds into a bed without adding any compost or turning the bed.  Nope.  Just dropped the seeds in and hoped for the best.  And they grew of course.  My garden never lets me down.  It is a love that never disappoints, no matter the odds.  A love that will last forever.

End of the Road

Coming home is always bittersweet. It's nice to be off the road and on stable ground, but it's sad to be home back to the routine of everyday life. It was sad to drop little Kira off at her home with Jenn & Joziah.  We had so much fun with her, she has the sweetest personality and just loves to have fun.

We thought this would be a good test run for renting RV's since we made our plans for this trip very last minute.  We originally asked for a 31' Class C RV which we thought would be adequate for our daughters and their families plus pups if they all decided they could come.  At the last minute they upgraded us to at 32' Class C, which sleeps 8-10 and has 2 slide outs instead of 1.  Turns out it was a good thing because the crates we brought for the pups took up a lot of room, in fact they took up an entire bed.  The rule is you must be buckled up any time the RV is in motion.  But...they tell you they know people don't follow the rules.  We did follow the rule for Kira.

We were frugal.  We packed our cars up, drove to the Rental facility to load up the RV and get on our way.  This was to avoid renting another day to bring the RV home to load as the RV rental facility more or less on the way to pick up Kira.  It was a savings to be sure, but a hassel to off load out of our cars.  Luckily our cars were safely kept in a gated area.

We planned our menus, activities and overall supply list well.  However we did plan too many activities for too little time.  That is usually the case with our vacations.  We would have loved another day for each park we stayed in to enjoy it.  Because we stayed in state parks we really didn't need an RV with a toilet and a shower as they are available at the parks.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the RV, but we could have done with less for sure.  I loved sleeping inside safe and fairly warm.  Yes even with a furnace, it got cold at night.  Not sure if this is due to the type of RV or just the nature of the beast. We had lots of blankets and I got to cuddle with Kira so we stayed toasty warm.

Having a kitchen was awesome. The refrigerator was perfect, the stovetop was great and the oven would have been great to use had we known how.  It even had a microwave which was nice to have but we could have done without.  We brought all our own kitchen supplies and did fine.  They gave us a checklist to pack by and that helped a lot.  A few things were left behind but nothing we couldn't make do without.

Our shampoo and conditioner mysteriously disappeared.  We figured a crafty raccoon must have reached in and grabbed them...until we got home and figured out they must have dropped into the trash which was stored in the shower when the RV was in motion, then moved out to a different part of the RV when the shower was in use.  This wasn't figured out until we unpacked.  The raccoon story was much more fun to tell :)

The company we rented from was great.  They sell you different packages with the cost of the daily rental. You are allowed 100 free miles per day and pay .29 per mile above that.  Then you purchase one of three packages. The standard, the something better and then the works. (I forgot the real names)  These packages have to do with what is supplied with the RV and what you will do yourself when returning the RV.  The Standard (what we chose) is pretty much you get the RV, with full tanks (gas, propane, water) empty tanks (black (potty) and grey water).  The deal is you are responsible for returning the RV exactly how you get it.  You have to clean it, refill/empty all the tanks.  With the Something better and Works package you pay them do some or all of that stuff, which can end up costing around $650.  So we paid for an extra day costing us around $170, brought the RV home and scrub & dubbed it up, filled/emptied and saved $$$.  Yes it was work, but very much worth the savings.  It also gave us extra time on the last day of our vacation.  Had we not extended it one more day we would have been rushing like crazy and most likely had to cut something out of our trip.

Is is a good way to take a road trip? Yes, heck yes!  I would do it again in a heart beat.  It was great. I hope we can do it again when more of the kids can come along.  If we have more folks going it wouldn't be a bad thing to have a car following for those little side trips.  Buying an RV may be something I would consider but I'd have to test different models out before I'd make a purchase like that.  I can't help but think of my friend Lori and her Teardrop that she just recently upgraded to a Raindrop. So many styles to check out...

Crazy times

Anyone who has spent a few days in a RV gets a little crazy. Add a toddler and two dogs into the mix and it gets pretty nuts. In the best way possible. Kira has been so much fun asking millions of questions, playing games, working on puzzles and lots of time just being silly. She loves stories and I have made lots up along the way. We have also picked up books at the places we stopped.

Mount Rushmore was much better than anticipated. I had been before but Al wanted to go for the first time. It really is an amazing sight to behold and as Americans we should be proud to have such a work of art. Even Kira was impressed. We were delightfully surprised by a group of youngsters from a St. Mary's School, as they performed "America the Beautiful" On hand chimes.

Hand Chime Video

Not a sound was heard as they played except the wind and those beautiful chimes. That was crazy lucky. 

We made an unplanned stop at "Walls Drug Store".  Now that place is crazy!  A it is like a drug store on drugs. I just can't think of any other way to describe it.

We spent the night in Custer state park. It is a massive state park where I am sure one could spend an entire vacation at. However we were there for just one night in a nice little camp spot nest to a duck pond. The park is full of wildlife and during our shirt visit we even caught a glimpse of Buffalo and lots of Antelope and Deer. 

The last morning of our days of fun finds us at Mt. Crazy Horse. It is a work in progress and a sight to behold. They are doing an amazing carving out of the mountain and let you take rocks from the carving home. No way I am missing out on that!  I am looking forward to following the progress on this monument. Google Mt Crazy Horse to learn more about it. 

Now we are on our way home. I am sad this trip is nearing the end. We learned a lot about RVing which I will summarize in the near future. Most of all we had the opportunity to vacation with family. Bucket list item. Check.

The Twist Cone

Aberdeen, South Dakota.  This smallish town was our destination for the day because that is where the infamous fast food place called "The Twist Cone"  I was sure with a name like that we could get an ice cream cone that was actually twisted.

We drove from Sioux Falls at the bottom of the state to Aberdeen about 3 hours driving (RV with toddler time) to get our twist cone. This place is just as cute as can be with a big neon cone on top.  With all the confidence of a self named twist cone connoisseur I stepped up and placed our order.  Kira had the strawberry butter/vanilla twist, I had the classic Chocolate/Vanilla twist and Al had the same twist.  Here
 is a picture of Kira's cute little cone:

There is no argument that this little cone is adorable, but twisted? No, not at all.  The Twist Cone, fails to live up to it's name.  I did not get a chance to take a picture of my cone nor Al's because the blobs that they were, they were quickly melting and we had lots of licking to do.  It wasn't even warm out, the ice cream is just very very soft. It does have a really good flavor I have to say.

We departed Aberdeen with light hearts because we are on a great adventure.  Our next stop will be in Oahe State Park.  Yet another wonderful camp site with a beach side view.  We arrived late in the afternoon with plenty of time to take the dogs for a nice long walk, take a walk along the swim beach and Grampa took Kira to the playground.  Tomorrow is a big day.  We are going to go fishing for Walleye.  I have never caught a Walleye and I hope to while I am here.  If not, I know I will enjoy the task regardless.

Sioux Falls

Our two goals for the day were Falls Park in Sioux Falls where I would get to meet up with a fellow breast cancer sister and the 2 nd goal was to visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell Palace. 

Falls park was very cool. Kira like climbing up the observation tower so much she had to do it once with gramma and once again with grampa owl. 

Sadly I wasn't able to meet up with a sister breast cancer patient as she has had a set back and was in the hospital. With a toddler with a runny nose we didn't want to compromise her health. We will have to make another trip to see her. Please join me in sending prayers for Lisa!

Off season The Corn Palace is only open until 5pm. We scooted or butts in at 5  :01pm. The doors were still open but all the employees had gone home. It looks to be a fun place. We'd go back again someday. 

Today is a really big day. It is the day we go to The Twist Cone. Yay!

Welcome to SoDak!

After a very long and windy drive we arrived in Yankton, SD in the wee hours of the Saturday morning. Ok so 1am may not be considered wee by some but it was by our standards. 

I've learned a lot about traveling by RV in the past day, the most important is wind is your enemy. Unpacking is only fun if you aren't in a hurry and walking while moving makes for lots of bruising.  (Sometimes you just need to move around)

Our first night we parked the beast at Lewis & Clark recreation area in SD. We woke up to an beautiful mist covered lake surrounded by green trees, flowering shrubs and grasses everywhere. Simply beautiful. I took lots of pictures with my new camera to post later but here are a few I took with my phone to share. 

Kira with her Teddy Bear Pancake.  

Kira's new favorite phrase "are we there yet?" 

Having a great time!  Love to all!

Road Trip!

Who doesn't get excited about a Road Trip? Well, I am so completely excited about this road trip I can hardly type slow enough to make sense let alone spell the words right.  Thank you spell check :)  

I have a bucket list.  On this bucket list is an experience I hope to check off during this road trip. We are traveling to South Dakota.  Any guesses as to what the experience is?  Could it be Mount Rushmore?  Surely the carving of our great Presidents is a sight to behold by any American? Nope. Not it.  Perhaps it is the Beautiful Black Hills, home of Black Hills Gold.  Such beautiful jewelry, delicate, sparkly. mmmm  Nope.  Not it.  I know, I know you must be thinking it is a trip to the Missouri river to fish because I have always wanted to catch a Walleye and they are bountiful there.  That has to be it right???

Riii..Wrong.  Not it.

The reason I am traveling to South Dakota is quite simple.  I am a self appointed connoisseur of the "Twist Cone". You would think this is a simple thing, however many servers simply can't manage to pull off the simple twist and you end up with blobs of vanilla and chocolate ice cream on your cone.  That is not twisted.  In an effort to find a place with an authentic twist cone I came across a place in Aberdeen, SD.  

"The Twist Cone"

With a name like that it has to know how to twist a cone right?  Well, I have to have faith that it does :)  So we are renting an RV and picking up Kira and off we go to The Twist Cone.  One our way in and out of the state we are going to see some fabulous sights and even meet up with a fellow breast cancer sister in Sioux Falls.  We will be teaching Kira to fish, showing her camping the easy way with the grandparents.  Playing cards, cooking, making smores all kinds of fun stuff including a lot of driving.  It will be a whirlwind trip but a very important one.  Our pups are coming along because they too need adventure in their little lives.  I will actually be checking two items off my bucket list.  1. Traveling with family in an RV with our pups. 2. A genuine twist cone.  I am sure to check off number one.  We'll see about number two...

I'll be taking you along with us along our trip as Al gave me a new camera for Mother's Day.  Today will be a day full of packing.  This packing I do not dread!  I am so excited!

The Result BAGAWWKK!

The Results of the final count on  were 75 yes, 21 no.  Out of 167 residences, only 96 bothered to return their ballots.  So once again the effort to change the covenant failed.  Even though of those that voted, clearly the majority are in favor of changing the covenant.  In my opinion, the rest of the residents are "chicken".  They clearly won't take a stand either way.  Now those numbers have changed by late ballots coming in and the number of yes votes continues to climb.

One of the supporters posted a sign in the mail house speaking to the frustration of the "Apathy" in the community and how we are now ruled by it.  If we do not vote for a president one will still be elected by the majority.  Not so in an HOA.

Why fight an HOA?  I am really not against an HOA if they are reasonable.  However, I have found this one to be ruled so tightly due to the fact that they have been to Court that they can't see past that.  Not everything ends up in Court, but now that something has, they are so afraid everything will that they are scared to death to make any change at all.  I simply want to expand our self sufficiency skills by supplementing our small garden with a small flock of hens.  Many cities do this now, however we can't get a community of 5 acre lots to get this done.  It is so infuriating.

Luckily I have some great neighbors that are still willing to find a way to change this.  So we will continue to work at this.

We need help!

Hold on there Partner....

In a surprise ending the board sanctioned the mailing process for the vote to change our covenant to allow Chickens.  We were "invited" to the board meeting to "present our information" last night. We did so with the intent to come to an agreement without delaying this process.  Turns out a gentlemen who was there for something completely different came up with a solution to a problem that was keeping one of the board members from even entertaining the idea of sanctioning our mailing.  However in the end, with a simple change we successfully worked out a process that worked for all of us.  I like that.

Today I am doing some reprinting, stuffing, labeling and will make the trip to the post office.  It is a very happy day for me.  I am so excited to turn this blog into a place to update the antics of my hens with pictures, share advice of things I have learned as well as others.  Of course this will all depend on our residents and how the votes come in - I am very optimistic! Voting ends 9/28/12 - Next up.

THE RESULTS.

Outlaws

I saw the cutest Tshirt on the internet. It said "Where Chickens are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Chickens".  I guess that doesn't sound very cute, but it was.  It speaks to me because at this point I find the issue of having to fight for the right to have 8 hens on my 5 acre property so completely ridiculous, I find myself more and more thinking like an outlaw. It is so very tempting to skip all the BS and just get my chickens.  I have joined blogs, liked facebook pages, read books, talked to folks who own chickens, I even won a sticker for my car that says "I ♥ my backyard chickens".  Now, if only I had some.

I sent a copy of the ballot to the president of the HOA this week along with the plan the committee came up with for a PO box for the ballots.  The idea was formed to eliminate any tampering of the ballots by either side.  Side, meaning the HOA board or the Chicken Committee.  The PO box will be rented, ballots will be mailed, no keys to the box will be distributed until the ballots are picked up 3 days after the voting ends.  The ballots are to be picked up by one member of each committee and counted together.

Last night I received a one line message stating the board is meeting on Thursday at 6pm, you can present your information for approval at that time. Ok, so now I have to do a formal presentation.  Fine.  Done. I will show up at their meeting as they hash this apart.  I will fight to keep this mailing simple.  No delays.  No BS.  Just get it done.  Get it done fairly.

On the bright side, I have found the most adorable chickens.  Have you checked out a bantam Cochin Frizzle (pic above - from The Chicken Chick)? How about the adorable Silkie (below)?  

To sum things up.  On Thursday I present the "information" to the Board.  Either way, the mailing is sent on Friday voting ends on September 28th.  So by the first week in Oct we'll have our answer.  If it passes and is sanctioned by the board we'll have our change.  If not we'll have to register the change with the Courts.  If it doesn't pass.  I shall be an Outlaw.

The Meeting. Cluck Cluck!

On Saturday, July 28th, 2012 Pawnee Hills Community came together, 71 attendees (including proxies) met the requirements of quorum.  A formal HOA meeting was held.  A new resident, Dennis Brown and a long time resident and previous secretary of the board Ginger Wood were present on the ballot for the new Board Members.  Of the five positions available there were five candidates including the current board.  It really wasn't a vote, these volunteers would have become the board vote or no vote.  Regardless, it is nice to have two new members on the board.

But what about the Chickens?  Although we did not have the required 112 yes votes required to change the covenant, we had a lot of pro-change attendees and good discussion.  A few were outspoken against the change even going so far as to say the covenants were "perfect" as they are and don't need to change, and if we start allowing chickens when will it end?  It will open the door for llamas, goats, alpacas etc,.  There were negative comments indicating that if the community wanted it, it would have passed and it was obvious only a small group wants the chickens.  We did a straw pole vote and out of the folks present at the meeting (including proxies) 55 were in favor of chickens and 19 were not.  Clearly those in favor are NOT the minority.

Why didn't the change pass?  The requirement to have a change pass is very very difficult.  Out of 167 homes, 112 yes votes are necessary.  That is a really big challenge.  People are busy, some people don't pay attention and some just don't understand.  There was quite a bit of discussion on how we can reach everyone in the community in order to do all that we can.  It was decided that a Chicken Committee would be formed (outside of the board) to raise the money required to put together a mailing of ballots to each resident so everyone would have the opportunity to vote on the issue.  The Ballots will resemble a political ballot marked as such on the outer envelope and have a "return by" date. Calls will be made the residents as well once the ballots have been sent.  Any resident may donate to the committee and by the closing of the meeting $84 had been collected. Eight volunteers including myself comprise the Committee which plan to have their first meeting in the near future to get organized and get this going.

Am I disappointed?  Yes and No.  It would have been a dream to have it pass on the first attempt.  I am not disappointed by the amount of positive support and logical people.  This is not a petition to overrule the HOA or bring in Zoo animals.  We simply want to raise a few chickens, have fresh eggs and some cute pets.

The Campaign and the final countdown BGAWK!

Our HOA meeting is this Saturday July 28th.  This is our Summer meeting where they put on a Barb-B-Que to entice the homeowners to attend.  We are hoping for a stellar turn out for this meeting.  Al and I have been campaigning for the past few weeks by posting our sign "Vote yes for Chickens" at the community mail house and accepting Proxies for the meeting.  It has been great to meet our neighbors and talk so positively about having Chickens in our community.  A few have been HOA bashers, but for the most part they just want the ability to live a nice country life style with a few hens.  Some, in fact many don't want to have their own Chickens, they do want the community to have the ability to.

The past "Chicken Wars" has come up frequently and it is clear there are still open wounds, however most of them are healing as so much time has past. A common complaint we did hear was that the current board is too rigid, won't listen to the community and will entertain changes but in the end will make their own mind up.  I certainly hope this is not the case.

When we moved into Pawnee Hills I had no notion to have Chickens.  However as I see the counties, cities and HOA's change their covenants and ordinances to allow for poultry in the backyards it just makes sense to me for us out here in the country to be able to have a few hens to raise.  Fresh eggs, in this economy or any economy makes sense.  Gardening is second nature to me and this will be the next level of providing fresh food for my family.  I've done the research, I've presented the research to those in the community who were open to it.

There are a couple of scenarios that could happen at the meeting.  Al and I alone do not have enough proxies to pass the vote.  The best scenario is that others in the community have also collected proxies and those along with all that attend the meeting and vote yes, a quorum is met and the proposed change passes.  Oh my that is just such a nice dream.

Another scenario is that a quorum is met, however not enough yes votes for the change to pass.

The third scenario is that a quorum is not met - meaning enough people show up for the meeting, I think this number is around 53, meeting adjourned.  I'll carry the proposed change to the December meeting.

Regardless of how many attend the meeting I imagine discussion around this issue will take place.  Who is to know if those against the change will show up or not.  If they do will they voice their issues?  The only indication we have gotten that there are some against this change is by words written on my postings in the mail house.  "No Damn Chickens" was one.  When Al and I were campaigning for proxies, some residents went out of their way not to look at us, to completely ignore us.  That baffles me.  You may not agree with me, but I am your neighbor and I am waving at you.  Can't you still be friendly?  I hope we can have good discussion without anger at the meeting.  Perhaps a change on the board would be good.  Perhaps they are tired an would like a rest?  We have new residents who have expressed an interest in serving.  Lets discuss it.

Most of all.  Let's open our minds and try something new.  If your neighbor has chickens it is not going to change your life and if it does, talk to your neighbor and have them make some changes!  Let's make Pawnee Hills the place people want to live at.  Not the place people hear about because of the Chicken Wars!  

The Meeting

I would call tonight's meeting a success. The speakers were great, we had a good discussion both for those for and the opposition as well.  The turnout was not huge, but we were glad to see homeowners come and take part.
Kim Allyn, D.V.M., first spoke about her experiences raising her own flock for 4-H with her daughters.  Some key points made were that chickens do not smell, are quiet, easy to keep, do not attract predators that aren't already in the neighborhood.  She spoke about the importance of keeping them well fed and watered as well as keeping their coop clean.  They do not require vaccinations and are relatively easy to care for.  They are also fun animals with personality.  Roosters are not fun, are not quiet and are not required for hens to lay eggs.  To keep chickens safe they need to be protected from predators such as raccoon, foxes, coyotes, dogs, cats, etc. They hens will stay in their coop at night and can be keep in a protected run during the day or have free range, keeping in mind they are vulnerable to predators.  Chickens are friendly but can have their own personalities just like any other pet.  Some are more friendly than others.
Sundari Kraft spoke about her experience in succeeding in changing ordinances an how to handle opposition to Chicken law.  Sundari spoke of the many cities in the metro area that currently have laws allowing chickens, Denver, Littleton, Ft. Collins, Arvada, ...the list was long.  She addressed common concerns such as smell.  Mainly fears about smell come from folks who grew up in rural areas near commercial chicken farms.  This is completely different because there would be an odor from a farm that housed hundreds or thousands of chickens in a small area for profit.  8 chickens on a 5 acre lot would not cause any additional odors.  Noise should not be a concern as the hens would not make near the noise as a barking dog would.  Concerns of predators was a common fear she explained when speaking to people in the Denver area.  Adding chickens to a community does not increase the number of predators.  The ones that are already here will be interested in the new food, but it will not add more predators.  Someone said they had heard concerns that having chickens would scare the horses.  Sundari did not agree that this could be a problem.  In comparison to our popular domestic pets, dogs and cats, chickens are a much cleaner choice.  The likelihood of disease transmission from chicken to human is much less than it is from a dog to a human. Chicken waste is safe to put on a garden for fertilizer however dog and cat waste is toxic to humans.
The attendees had great suggestions as to the language for the covenant change and several volunteered and assigned themselves to a section of the community to get proxies assigned to them for the July vote.
We didn't have a great turn out in terms of numbers, but the turnout we had was great!

Preparing for the meeting

I have two dynamic speakers coming to the meeting which I am very excited about.  I however am not a dynamic speaker by any means.  The only thing I have got going for me is my passion to have this covenant changed and my love for chickens!  I plan to have a great meeting regardless of the number attending.  I will write my introduction spiel, have samples of my proposal available, current covenant regarding poultry,  information on the county zoning regulations.  I will also have a write on flip chart with bullet pointed informative quips on chickens.  Possibly pages hung around the room.  Light refreshments will be served.  I am thinking of having a sign indicating "Opinions welcome, Respect demanded". What do you think?  I need to be prepared for those opposed.  Coop questions will need to be addressed as well as Predators.  Chicken Predators that is.    We will need to discuss placement of coops, built in accordance to architectural committee guidelines.  Notes will need to be taken and distributed.  I have one volunteer to help (not including my husband).  I'll ask her to take notes.  I will also put a jar up for donations as I have already spent around $200.  I won't expect much but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Chicken Pics

COWS?

On my way to work Wednesday I went to the community mail building to see if the flyers I had put up had been taken down.  Much to my surprise they were still there.  Flyers, regardless of the information on them, Lost, Found, Services usually are torn down within a few hours.  It seems some of the residence don't like them even though we have very large boards to hang them on.  I mean very large, there is enough room for the entire community to put up their very own flyer.  On one of my flyers someone had written a little note.  It read "What about cows?  We should be able to have them".  No signature, just that statement.  Well, this comes as no surprise, well maybe a little.  I was expecting a piggyback in for form of goats or perhaps donkeys, but not cows.

I left the flyer up for a few days and then replaced it.  In the back of my mind I'm thinking are we even zoned for cows?  I couldn't imagine our community with cows.  I guess some of the residence may feel that way about chickens but the two don't really compare.  Theoretically you could raise a chicken in your house.  You could never do that with a cow.  I have read about miniature cows that are more sustainable than a normal size cow because they need less feed to harvest. This reminded me that I need to be focused on pushing my agenda and prepared to let others like this "cow" person know that they are free to submit a change to the covenant, however my submission will be for poultry.  At the meeting I will ask for suggestion on my wording for the covenant change.  I would like it to included ducks and possibly turkeys as the county does.  I did have a fleeting thought that if there was a piggyback, and I could convince them to include a caveat that voting either way included a yes for chickens, I might be open to it.  Now I start thinking like a politician.  Yikes.

We are zoned for cows.  Our lots are zoned as RA-1 (Residential Agricultural-One) (Minimum 5 Acres)

From the Elbert County Zoning Regulations, The maximum density is one (1) animal unit per one-half acre. 

One (1) horse, mule or bovine = 1 unit

Five (5) sheep or goats = 1 unit

One (1) swine = 1 unit

One (1) Llama = 1 unit

Two and 1/2 Alpaca = 1 unit

Two (2) ostriches = 1 unit

Four (4) miniature horses = 1 unit

Elbert County Zoning Regulations -141-

Wowzer!  I could have 10 cows.  If I was a goat lover (they are really cute) I could by zoning regulations, have 50 goats.  And wouldn't 10 ostriches be fun?  Or I could mix it up and have a little of each and have a regular petting zoo!  Goodness.  Ok so zoning regulations aren't all practical for a covenant controlled subdivision, even in a rural area.  Five acres is simple not enough land to raise 5 horse on.  Our covenant allows for 4 and those who don't rotate the grazing areas or adequately supplement feed quickly have barren fields.  

Getting back to CHICKENS...

POULTRY, FOWL AND SMALL LIVESTOCK (NONCOMMERCIAL)

Domestic, noncommercial use of poultry or fowl shall include, but not be limited to: chickens, turkeys, pigeons, small birds and ducks.  Small livestock shall include, but not be limited ti: rabbits, chinchillas or similar animals.

RA-1:  A maximum number of fifteen (15) poultry and/or fowl and twenty-five (25) rabbits or other small livestock shall be allowed.

These are the Zoning Regulations pertaining to chickens. In my proposal to change the covenant my original thought was 4 hens, but then I read that having eight chickens is best because it will allow you to build your flock slowly so when the first hens you bought retire, you still have room to buy new ones without having to kill your old gals. Chickens have a life span of around 10 years and only lay eggs for 2 to 3 years.  Having the option of having up to 8 chickens gives you the possibility of always having some layers.

As for rabbits.  I already have more than 25 rabbits on my lot - without trying.  Rabbits are very dense in this area as are deer.  

The Chicken "Agenda"

The invitations have been sent.  The speakers confirmed. Nothing left to do but wait for the people to show up.  Well, not exactly.  Just a bit of background....

I live in a community, an "Equestrian" community of 167 lots, average 5 acres each.  We are located in the High Plains, aka Eastern Plains of Colorado.  We are a semi-rural community, sometimes referred to as a bedroom community as there are many who commute to a larger city for work and merely sleep at there homes.  I live and work in this community.  My husband commutes 1 hour & 15 min. each way to work, 5 days a week, because we love it here.  We live on dirt roads with nearby paved communities.  Each home is different as each lot is different.  Some have homes and outbuildings, some just homes and stables.  We are several buildings on a lot including sheds. Saturday nights you can either hear the loudspeaker from the sports games being played at the high school, or the loud music from the house down the road, sometimes nothing at all.

There is one very unique thing about our covenant controlled community.  As mentioned we are an equestrian community.  I guess that is to advertise that we are horse friendly.  The entire county is horse friendly.  Regardless, that is the statement on the big sign as you drive in to our subdivision.  The community encourages horses.  That being said, we do not own any horses.  We have dogs.  Two wonderful active dogs that love it out here.  We lived in the city and a backyard was simple too small for them so we bought them a dog park.  Our five acres has a fenced in area of around an acre and the rest is protected by an invisible fence buried in the ground around the border of the five acres.  We love the horses.  The pass by on the bridal trails that border our property and we wave at the riders.  We enjoy seeing the new horses come in as well as the occasional colt that is born, although that is a rare sight here.  Next door to us there is a delightful miniature horse who entertains us to no end with his antics.  Much to our delight two weeks ago he gained a new friend and now there are two.  My granddaughter loves mimicking them and I love everything about them.

Our HOA was formed in the early many years ago and very few changes have been made to our covenants since the original ones were set.  Regarding domestic animal,s we are allowed 4 horses, up to 4 dogs, cats, etc.  No donkeys, cattle, sheep, any livestock really or poultry.   This county is fairly active in 4-H and LLama/Alpacas are very popular as are goats for projects.  Not allowed here. OK.  I can deal with that, after all we only have 5 acres.  But how does poultry fit into the equation?  One could argue this a few ways, and many have tried.  Known as "The Chicken Wars", this issue has been brought to the table long before my time here as a resident.  One Chicken War ended up in Court costing one resident over $4000.00.  Not to mention the fight it caused between homeowners...but that is another post.

The reason for my blog is to document the journey to change our covenants to allow poultry.  Our County zoning regulations currently allow for poultry on our lots so it is not a matter of changing county ordinance, just our HOA covenants.  As I go up against this I have to wonder if it would be easier to change a county ordinance.

I have set up a meeting for the residents to attend to learn about chickens.  As you will read in another post there seems to be some fears about having them in our community so I am bringing in a local veterinarian as well as a local author who is an advocate for changing city ordinances to allow urban homesteading.  The invitations have been sent.  I've received a few emails in support of my effort, which is awesome.  I have a gut feeling that this meeting will be just the beginning.  Although the timing for this was planned specifically for the upcoming July HOA meeting in which I will be submitting a request to change the covenant, this is a big challenge, one I expect to be working on for quite some time.  I have planned this so I will have time in June to attempt to meet more homeowners and possibly collect proxies from those who don't attend meetings.  So much to do...