Robirda is our chicken. We have been working on adding to our flock, so far to no avail. No matter. She has enough sass for a whole brood of hens. (Sassy seems to be the only type of woman we keep around the Loftus homestead…)

Robirda has one flaw, and that is that she likes to hang out at the hospital all day. One Thursday when I was working she casually sauntered onto the peds ward. The patients got a good laugh at me chasing her as she ducked under beds. Someone did help me catch her, and I took her home and kept her penned up for a few days. It didn’t really stick, though. The next day that I worked she was hanging out at the patient waiting area. I  joked to Anna, the nurse I was working with in antenatal clinic that I like to take my pets to work with me. She laughed and said, “Me too”– her dog had been sleeping in front of the clinic all morning!

On yet another day, Matthew carried Robirda home, looking a little harried. The health department had just arrived for an inspection. I don’t think they would have been very happy to see Robirda hanging out with the lab technicians…

Robirda likes to roam the whole hospital. Multiple people have told me they are ready to take her home and eat her. I hope not– she just started laying little eggs with bright yellow yolks (the other eggs you can get in town have very pale yolks, suggestive of low nutrition).

But maybe she does have something else in her future. Short term nurse Lydia has had several heart-to-hearts with Robirda in the administrative office at the hospital, which led her to text me one day about “prayerfully considering Robirda to CO (clinical officer) school.” Well. Medical education is certainly a passion for us. We’re not ruling it out.

Robirda and her benefactor enjoying a nice swing.