Trying to outwit a chicken is not easy

I believe I've mentioned -- well yes, many times -- that Ninja's great pleasure is destroying my garden. With her vigorous scratching and pecking, she not only upends plants, but creates a massive mess on my patio. Normally I don't get fussed about a few leaves or a bit of dirt. After all, that's just a sign of life well-lived. And the squirrels do their part to be messy and rambunctious and they're still cute. Let's also not forget the bird poop. But given the amount of detritus Ninja can kick up, and how far she can spread mulch and leaves all over the place, I decided is was time for a big clean and a potential solution to some of the mess. First, the big clean (and you will probably not see it this cleared off again in your lifetime):

There are two major spots Ninja likes to disrupt the most and since I had a few bricks lying about from a former project, I decided to create a barrier. Not just any barrier mind you, but one that adds a decorative touch. I've used this type in various places around the garden and clichéd though it may be, I've always liked the look of it. You might also note the dark blue pot (behind the Buddha) next to the tree. I managed to salvage some of the succulents she upended and by putting them in the pot, they should be out of harm's way. Of course, the squirrels may have something to say about that. In my household we're taking bets to see if the pot and barrier are up to the challenge of effectively allowing her highness to scratch and peck to her heart's content and allow me to have a semblance of a clean patio. If it works at all in that location, I'll be adding a border along another prime spot as well. Fingers crossed.

In other Ninja news, she seems to have settled down into a single nest for laying eggs. Against expert advice, I've now chosen to always leave one egg in the nest and harvest the other. In the past, when I've stolen all her eggs, she just finds another spot and it takes a couple of weeks to locate it. I now take a sharpie and put a dot on the egg being left. When another egg appears, I remove the egg with the dot and add a dot to the new egg. This has worked for a week so far and I'm very careful to make sure she doesn't see me raiding her gifts. Of course this is all based on the premise that chickens can't count. Time will tell.