Commotion

Something is going on in the front room.  I hear Frankie talking to someone.  Zorro is racing up and down the hall, he wants me to go 'check this out', but I'm in the middle of a project and I can tell Frankie is in charge, so I continue working.

Soon I hear a scrape, scrape, scraping sound coming from the direction of the hall.

Frankie:  (In a sing-song voice.)  "Special Delivery."

I turn, and there in the office doorway stands Frankie with three rather large, ornate, painted white wrought iron bird cages.  One in each hand with the third being pushed along the floor in front of her.

In each cage sits full grown white chicken looking bug-eyed, and gently clucking to each other.  I'm assuming they are discussing which one is going to end up in a stew first.

I open the envelop Frankie thrust at me.  The note read, "Dearest, I hope you enjoy your French Hens.  Your True Love."

What does he mean, enjoy them?  And, why would a True Love keep giving me birds, surely he must know I am a great lover of these creature.  He can't possibly think I would actually make a stew out of them, nor can I keep them...I have a cat.  She has already discovered them and is circling the cages like a lion stalks prey in the wild.  And Zorro...I've never seen his nose work this hard.

Poor hens.  They each could use one of my pills...I see their anxiety level rising.

Frankie and I are in quite a quandary ourselves, what are we going to do with these beautiful birds, 'er fowl?

We've no room to keep them, we are certainly not going to eat them, and we most certainly don't want to scare them to death, which is where they seem to be headed at the moment.

Oh dear, and by the same token I don't want My True Love to think I'm not appreciative of his gifts, as unconventional as they have been, so diplomacy is definitely called for.  Frankie and I have decided to place the French Hens in the sun room with the two turtle doves, and the Pear Tree and Partridge that arrive a few days ago.  We are hoping we will think of some solution later on.

I am hoping My True Love is done sending birds, there is quite a din going on at the back of the house.  I'm also hoping should any more gifts arrive, they are small, quite and do not require a feeding schedule.

What?  One of the hens wants to know if I will help her bake some bread?  Mercy me!?

Looks like I've got to go.