It's Chicken Corner's fifth new year's eve today, and time to consider the year that's winking out and make a resolution or two in an effort to shape the one that's coming in just a few hours, ready or not.

First, 2010: This year brought four chickens to Chicken Corner's household. Goldie died, so we start 2011 with three, whom we now call the Usual Suspects: Rainbow, Sparkle, and Cutie Patootie.

Budgets were lean, and new projects around the house deferred at an unprecedented rate. We spent a lot of 2010 still getting used to it.

Accordingly, I cut back on watering and found that it didn't make a huge amount of difference -- especially after the rains came.

Photo by Meeno Peluce. Jaipur 2010.