My kids are not as funny as they think.

The Makeover

My kids are not as funny as they think.

I do not have a chicken collection. A certain daughter thinks I do and has infected her siblings. So I have an ever-growing chicken population in the house. A reader even sent me the cutest chicken bowl a few weeks back...it was adorable. But I do not have a chicken collection. 

So when this certain person gave me two new chicken books, and I sighed. Because I do not have a chicken collection. But then I read them. I was hooked.  For years, I was the kindergarten story lady, like Pip in Carry Her Heart.  I love children's literature. Love it!  Still, I do not have a chicken collection.

Check out Interrupting Chicken. You'll be as hooked as I am.

Holly

PS I do not have a chicken collection.

PPS I do have a new book, The Makeover. And the main animal in the story isn't poultry...it's cattle.

Crowing about roosters — Kandy Shepherd

“Do you think we have enough rooster and chicken stuff in this kitchen?” my husband asked when my new placemats arrived in the mail.

Perfect for my country-style kitchen (even hubby agrees!)

He made me think. When we first bought our little farm, the country-style kitchen had a very cute border tile of farmyard poultry that we loved. It seemed to be a good starting point for decorating the room.

The kitchen tiles that started it all

Our friends certainly thought so. Our first rooster-themed things were gifts—ornaments and dishtowels.

Italian, but purchased in San Francisco when the Romance Writers of America conference was there

I enthusiastically picked up on the theme. I’m a lover of gadgets and knick-knacks anyway, and love to bring back souvenirs of my travels. So over the last few years the collection has grown.

The gorgeous girl in the middle was bought in Reno, Nevada when the RWA conference was held there, and came home in my hand luggage on the plane

Two years ago, a house fire destroyed most of our kitchen and severely smoke-damaged everything else in the cottage. Most of those border tiles went, only a row around the chimney breast (we have an old-fashioned wood stove in the kitchen) remained. Try as we could to find those tiles to use in the rest of the kitchen, they couldn’t be replaced.

I use this cute timer often, I found her in Mendocino, California when I was doing location research

Thankfully the other chicken-themed stuff remained. I like them even more knowing they survived the fire.

Bowl from a flea market, eggs courtesy of our chickens

The latest purchase is some beautiful placemats and coasters, exactly what I want for my wooden table. They’re easy to clean and look smart. I love them!

I didn't need it,  I just thought it looked cute by the fireplace! 

I’m sharing some of my treasures here today, but there are others. Too many? I don’t think so. My eye is too easily caught by a rooster or two. (And yes, I am writing a story with a rooster in it!)

We have real chickens, too. Thirteen Isa Browns at the moment who look wonderful in the yard and give us beautiful brown eggs—perhaps my favorite chicken-themed items of all!

Meet Ginger, we rescued her from the jaws of a fox and my daughter nursed her back to health

I have friends who collect owls, dolphins and cats. My daughter loves anything with Audrey Hepburn on it. It makes gift-giving so easy! What about you? Do you have a favorite theme for collecting? Anything unusual? A theme you’ve grown tired of? Please leave a comment—I’d love to hear about it!

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

Her new contemporary women's fiction e-book, Reinventing Rose, is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and other e-book retailers. 

Kandy’s romances include the Amazon bestseller The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, and the award-winners Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is.

Watch out for her first release from Harlequin Romance in 2014.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com