Man, Did It Rain Here Yesterday!

Which in truth is a very good thing. I only hope the deluge didn't wash away the carrot seeds we sowed Thursday. "We shall see what we shall see." ~Lucia Lucas

This, however, has curtailed my running schedule somewhat. Two weeks from today at approximately this hour of the morning, I'll be heading to the starting point of an adventure. With my cousin, who instigated this and my daughter who aides and abets me in all areas of nonsense, by my side (and possibly on either side dragging me across the finish line) I will plog 13.1 miles.

What else can I relate? Oh yes.... this! We started a new BOM at the shop

So cute!!!!

and I rushed home Thursday with my packet and feverishly began tracing the fusible and sorting out all the designated fabrics for the different pieces (oooh so exciting!!!!) and fused everything down. Did I say everything? Yes... I am very thorough. I began carefully cutting the pieces out and laying them down on the pattern. Oh it was looking so cute! That's when it dawned on me that I had fused all the pieces to the front of the fabrics, instead on the back. Where it is supposed to be fused.

Nobody tops me when it comes to stupid! So after Georgia rushed me new fabric and fusible, I concentrated and did it right the 2nd time. I have a good excuse for being distracted, though.

I love Netflix streaming and recently they uploaded the Frasier series. I never watched these back in the days it ran on TV so picture me in the workroom, crying with laughter while cutting out those shapes. This show was hilarious! It isn't often that I laugh out loud during comedies but lately this one and The Big Bang Theory have really gotten me roaring. Again, I am late to the party because anyone I ask if they'd seen these say, "Yes. Years ago!" Gee.....

Hey, ever get the Wolfermans English Muffins catalogue in the mail and wonder if they are worth trying out? The answer is a strong affirmative. They are wonderful! And so many varieties to choose from, you will be in a quandary as to which to try first or next. Have fun!

I can't believe how quickly this short month February is passing. Even with the leap day, it's gone fast. Mardi Gras is in two days and once more I will avoid all parades with reckless abandon. Instead, I shall hang out with the chickens and throw them stuff! They are as silly as any parade goer I've seen, except they don't lift their shirts. They surround me and jump up to grab stuff and cluck at me. Seriously, if they could talk, I swear it would be the line, "Throw me something!" And I do! And just like parade crowds, what I throw is never enough! So I throw more.....

Hey, that's how I roll.

If you do go parading, stay safe. If you don't, come join me on the Back Two.

We Went For A Drive Today

Just me, John and three roosters looking nervous in the back.

They settled down once we hit 42mph. It was a short drive to the Feed n Seed where we take unwanted chickens..... or so I learned.

We had a bit of a rodeo catching them. They eat out of my hand and I am able to touch them but they stopped liking to be picked up about 2 weeks ago. So, when I reached out to snag one, the eldest, he let out such a fuss, even Rooster Stu clucked in alarm. It took me faking them with the scratch and John swooping in. Still, what a racket!

John got the white one, Ghost, screaming and squawking until he held him upside down and his wings just drooped dejectedly. He drooled a little as well. In the cage with him.

The last one, the one I hatched, let me pick him up like he was okay with it, not exactly happy with the arrangement, and in he went and off we went.

When we got there, they brought out two cages and we easily moved them from one to the other. The men were surprised at how calm they were. And handsome. They really are good-looking.

At this point I was starting to get upset, myself with this arrangement, so we left quickly.

I hope they go someplace happy and homey. It's not their fault they are roosters but I can't have birds going for me or disrupting the happy coop for the others and that was definitely beginning to happen!

It Was Bound To Happen, Right?

Out of the four chickies that hatched this summer, it is looking like three of them are indeed of the male persuasion.

Dagnabbit! This is the luck of the draw, I know, I know, but how does one dispose of unwanted chickens?

I love Rooster Stu, he is a great bird. He has never ever rushed me or intimidated me and now I have a chicken that went from a sweet little guy to a hormone-crazed fiend on steroids.

I came home the other evening to John steaming because when he tried to close them up for the night, two birds were still out in the run, in the dark(!) and one of them came at him with passion. He had to fight the chicken off with his feet as he left the gate open. When I went out, the four "babies" were nestled together in a laybox, all sweet and cuddly. But the next morning, darn if he didn't try to corral ME! I had to get a long stick to keep him at bay.

Now, this morning all was well in the world and I spent time feeding them kale by hand, all normal but I was keeping a weather eye on this chicken all the while. Everything was as it had been. I know too that this won't last.

So, we went around town trying offload the roos to anyone who would take them. No takers. A friend with chickens is my go-to gal and I asked her what she does with unwanted chickens. "I've been known to take them for rides." Don't you love a southern sense of humor?

"Leave the gun. Take the canolis."

Of course, this evening as I went to give them some scratch, this crazy bird mounted a Buff Orp and Stu whooped into him like a red-headed step-child! Which I find a tad amusing because I remember how comical his first attempts were back last year and he got chased around the run for his clumsy moves.

Well, all this is to say that tomorrow morning I will take the last photos of the chickens that are exiting my little corner of the world and take away these pearls of wisdom.

"Don't let a chicken go broody"

"Get straight runs"

John would add, "All In. All Out"

Will someone out there please remind of this when I write a post about eggs in the future?

Do You Have Any Idea.....

... how hard it can be to photograph a chicken? ??????

I lost track of how many clicks it took to get THAT. They don't pose. They don't cooperate at all!

But doesn't Buttercup have lovely wing feathers coming in?

They are growing so rapidly, I stand in amazement. Still, Nutmeg is quite small compared to the others, and only 3 days younger than the oldest one, Val. That is short for Valentino. He is very handsome.

It's great fun to watch him and Buttercup go at it. They are by far the most active of the four and fly around the little cage acting like raptors. The cage is going to be too small to hold them all at the rate they are growing.

Pleased as Punch...

...to report that all 4 chickies are doing well.

No. 1 (still unnamed) is definitely a rooster! He bops around the cage, trying unsuccessfully to fly with his stumpy little wings and barging around the floor like he owns the joint.

No. 2 Buttercup, the little yellow chick with brown streaks, is growing rapidly. She is a real mover.... and very pretty. Doesn't like being handled. None of them do.

No. 3 Sable She is the most docile of them at the moment and does this funny thing: When she evacuates, she does the small squat and starts backing up a few steps and then out it comes. Like a dumptruck. hahhahahaha

No. 4 (formerly Wren) is now named Nutmeg or Meg for short. I am 87% certain it's a female and is the cutest of the bunch. Like a tiny version of Sable in coloring with a splash of white around her face.

She is still so much smaller than the rest and has this way of falling asleep on her feet. She moves around, interested in what the others are pecking at but doesn't have their stamina (yet) so she just slows to a stop and her head lowers til her forehead touched the sawdust, and stays like that until someone (usually No 1) bangs into and startles her awake again.

Can you tell I am in loooovve?

Kat gave John this salt block for Christmas and we finally used Saturday for dinner. You set it either on a grill outdoors on cook right there, or you can heat it in your oven under broil for 30 minutes and set it on some bricks on the table and cook there. That is what we did as it is too hot to cook outside now. Well, you could still do it but it isn't what I call a good time.
Here you see us placing thinly sliced tuna, salmon and shrimps on the block. Caution: at first the salt doesn't overpower the meat but apparently the longer the meat stays on the slab, the more the salt releases. So shrimp, which stays longer to cook, gets saltier as the dining continues. Rachel made a terrific mango salsa and salad to go with it and it was great fun to sit at the table and talk and sizzle. In air-conditioning.

Saturday... I Have Lost Count of the Days

No. 3 with Mama

Yesterday's trials began Thursday when John called to tell me another chick hatched out and a 4th one was struggling in its shell. When I got home, No 3 was still wet and the 4th was in what looked like a collapsing egg!

Since it was late and the 3rd sat protected under Mama, I left everything as it was. It would dry out and not be molested by the big birds and no 4 would be out, hopefully, in the morning. It looked weak and rather miserable and I steeled myself to the knowledge that this one might not make it at all.

But the morning came and no. 3 was binking around Mama, chirping at me and interested in everything. Mama was in no mood to be fooled around with but I got her shift enough to see no. 4 still there in an ever-encreasingly crushed egg. What to do. What to do. Wait n see. I removed no. 3 so Mama would presumably quit shifting so much.

By 2ish pm I decided to take matters into my own hand. The little thing was completely surrounded by an egg that had been crushed and a membrane that was drying out and smothering it.

I know I shouldn't interfere but it looked like it was trying but needed help! So I quickly removed it to a shoebox with sawdust in it for warmth and hurried back to the bathroom where the others are living in a large cage.

Would YOU be able to just turn away? Well, neither could I so I sat there for several hours and "helped" it get loosened from the drying membrane and one foot released and started kicking. And I waited.

I was so tired from not getting good sleep for several nights in a row. Waking at 3 am makes 3 pm seem like bedtime. So I left it and took a nap. When I returned an hour and a half later, it looked like progress was being made.

So now I put it in the palm of one hand and began wetting the membrane with warm water and easing it off the dried feathers.

This went on for an hour or so when I realized the membrane that was still attached at the navel (yeah, chickens have a navel!) (who knew?) so it was still soaking in al the remaining blood and nutrients from the yolk sack!!!!! Yea!!!! I put it down around 6 to think about dinner.

When I returned an hour later, it had completely separated itself naturally from the sack and was kicking gently against the sawdust and fluffing out its feathers. At this point in time, I felt better about its chances of survival.

By the time 10 pm got there, I was more than ready for bed and checked on her (I am going with her from here on out) and found her fluffing nicely and gave her water on her beak. I put the whole shoebox in the cage to keep her safe during the night but separated from the others. No. 1 keeps trying to "fly" but still can't get as high as the top of the shoe box so I figured they would not bash into her.

This morning (4 am) things look very rosy for the baby in the bunch.

She looks like a wren in color. I may name her that...

She is integrated now with the others and they have shown her how to drink and don't behave too roughly. She is standing wobbly on her pins and moving around slowly.

She may never be robust as she must be called a preemie but I think I have bonded very strongly with this one. Please don't be a rooster!!!!

Day 23

tired little hen.....

I think the little black one is a male. It stands very straight and runs around the cage, bashing into things. It looks like a mini Stu.

Trouble in Paradise

Remember how I wrote I didn't know how many eggs the hen was sitting on but I knew she had more under there than what I gave her?

21

I slipped her 7, the ladies added 3 or 4 that I knew of and I marked all of them. For a week I was diligent about checking daily and removing any unmarked egg but I slacked off like a complete idiot!

So I just went out there to check on things and I find no evidence of further pipping. I sat and listened for a spell to see what I could hear but either I can't pick up that register or there is no pipping or peeping goin' on down there.

I lifted the Mama up and moved her to the next box and marked the rest and got a final and accurate accounting.

And now.... this chicken who has been dutifully sitting on ALL THESE EGGS for 22 days has more to go if she stays broody. From here on out I will inspect twice a day and remove any new eggs her friends out there deposit in her bank.

So the bad news is I think the original 7 have done all the hatching they are gonna...... any of those will be disposed of on Saturday or possibly Friday and the rest will be a wait n see.

I don't know what else I can do. If she abandons the eggs naturally, I can handle that. But if she continues to sit there, let's see what happens.

Note to self: Don't do this in the future..... Mark the eggs and monitor daily. I don't care how clucky the hen gets.....

Trust but Verify. ~Ronald Reagan

Day 22, Another Chick

Hello World!

Hatchling

Here is the first of what I hope will be more tiny chickens.

The hen went to sleep facing one direction and faced the opposite this morning. Additionally, ALL the eggs were under her for the first time in days... which made me curious... So I lifted one wing and found a broken shell and started making peeping noises. She scuffled around and this baby popped it's head up and peeped back. She promptly pecked at it as I removed her (I hope it is a her) from the nest.

IF this is not the cutest thing ever, I don't know what is

Man Is Amazing

Man has devised tools to make life easier and then quite difficult.

Case in point: Our chicken coop has a Little Giant watering bowl that fills automatically as the level drops.... and it has worked swimmingly for two years. Until a month ago, when it began to drip and overfill.

At first I though it had something to do with being out of adjustment, so I tinkered with it for a week. But the problem became more emphatic, and as result, I looked for the accompanying information *(I save everything. The trouble I get into is trying to find where I squirrel things away. In this case, I put my hands straight on it)

The only thing that came with it was a diagram of parts and the admonishment that only the valve needs periodic replacement and for this you also need a a 4 in 1 tool. Slick.

Now, see.... I have no engineering gene and my motto in life is get as far as you can without opening the manual. So I called the company and order the valve (5) (one needs backup in life, yes?) and the 4 in 1 tool. In the meantime, I used a Rubbermaid trough.

So after a week passed, the chickens began acting more and more confused because 1.) a large baby blue rectangle was sitting where they expect a small red bowl, 2.) a hen has been sitting still for 7 weeks and 3.) there is a largeish wire cage sitting under the broodbox waiting for this evening to transfer the setting hen (no they don't know this.... keep in mind, these are chickens and although I talk to them and tell them what I am going to do, I don't think they understand English). When you add 1 and 2 and 3 together, you get a flock of worried birds.

But the package arrived yesterday without instruction. Nothing on the internet explained what I had to do...... so I just crouched down in the coop and figured it out.

How so? you ask.... see this little thing?:

It is less than 3/4" in length and screws into the shaft after you unscrew the setting nuts and slip the coil away. (remove the old one first, obviously). Works like a charm again. No dripping, no wet floors...... easy, when you know how.

And this is the 4 in 1 tool....... used to unscrew the old and screw in the new....

However, I wasted an hour Googling this and finding NOTHING on how to replace a valve on a Little Giant Bird Waterer. NOTHING.

Note to men: When you create something that seems simplistic, keep in mind it might be a product wimmenfolk without mechanical backgrounds need to use as well.... and these days, I suspect there are lots of young men who know nothing about mechanics, either!

Tomorrow is the day we might begin to see new chicks.... I am getting so broody, meself!

Chicken Update

We are at Day 15 in the incubation of 13 eggs under the broody hen. She has stuck with it this long and I really hope she'll hang in for another 6 days.

At this point in time, we have bought a pet cage and set it up in the coop with straw, readying it to transfer the hen and eggs into (at night for least resistance) so when the chicks begin to hatch, the other birds won't disturb her or try to kill them.

Now, full disclosure: I don't know if this plan is going to work. I think once the eggs begin to hatch, it's pretty much over in 36 hours Whatever comes in that time span is all that will as the hen loses interest in sitting.

Or I can remove the chicks altogether as they dry and let her finish with the others.

So I am not certain what will happen or the direction I will take. I do know I don't have enough room in the coop to leave her in this cage along with the babies and I have nowhere else to house the entire brood with Mama. So I think I will remove the entire box to the garage til the hatching is over and then separate her from them and take the brooder inside the house so I can really keep a close eye on the babies and get them accustomed to me.

I raised the 3 Orpingtons this way a year ago but I had purchased them from the feed store at about 7 days old. So this fresh-start beginning is very new to me.

With 5 cats in the house and many more from the surrounding neighborhood lurking around, I really don't want to leave them unattended for an hour.

"Lots of things can happen to little girls...." ~david sedaris

I've Been Out-Foxed!

by a chicken, of all things!

You know I slipped eggs under the broody hen, right? The first two eggs came from our flock and I marked them with a date. Then I got 5 more from my friend and thought... well I will know all of those are her set. so no point in dating them. They were all laid on the 5th and begin incubating on the morning of the 6th.

Well that was Wednesday and today I went out there to see how Mama was doing, make sure she's eating and drinking.... she stood up at one point and darn if I didn't count 9 eggs under that mess of feathers! So now I don't know :

1. If there will be more eggs laid in that nest by one of our and

2. Which ones are later to hatch.

This might be the beginning of complications.

Chicken in a Basket or You Can't Thwart Mother Nature

Four weeks ago, one of the Buff Orpingtons went "broody" on us. She has been in a state of anxiety the whole time and this is spreading to the other hens out there. They have dropped off laying eggs to around 1 or 2 a day total and I take those away from her to discourage the "setting" instinct.

The others haven't joined her in the "brood" business but I worry it's only a matter of time.

I have been trying all suggested methods proffered to "break her up" which means get her to knock it off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the record, I have:

Removed the fake egg which stimulates production in hens (supposedly)

Taken her off the nest box 4-5 a day

Spoken in soft modulated tones in an effort to talk her out of this state of mind

Scolded her mercilessly

Massaged her neck muscles

Dipped her feet and underbelly in a cool water to drop her temperature

Whined

That last one was my idea and it didn't work either. She just would stand there and cluck cluck and ruffle her feathers and looks so sad and frantic at the same time. So I started acting frantic. to John, "What do we do!!!?? What do I do!!!!" He looked back at me. He knows what I am thinking.

So, I asked the chicken what she wanted to do..... and whaddaya know?

She wants to keep her babies! So I scrounged two and laid them underneath her and she did just that!!!!!! She shoved them under her with her beak and settled down with this more passive countenance. (I swear!) (It's true, I swear!) If I had given her needles and yarn, she'd be out there knitting.

So I called a friend who has a rooster and asked if she had any eggs to spare and she did from yesterday's haul which she had not collected yet. I ran over just now and brought home 5 more eggs (very pretty birds she has too so I hope the babies, should we get any out of this, are going to be awesome. Her roo looks alot like Stu)

I slipped them under as well and she spread out and accepted them. 21 days.

Check back.

Squeezo Press Redux

Last year, I recounted the saga of the Squeezo tomato press and railed about losing so many tomatoes as we waited for it to arrive. This year, life is ever so much different. (I am pleased to say)

Here is it "in action" or at least as in action it could be considering I am alone pressing and shooting photos

The tomatoes go in the hopper ( I have been cutting up Romas only because this Margerita variety is so large, they can't enter the shaft unless I do)(they are very meaty with few seeds)

and the skin and seeds exit out the left while while the pulp flows down the chute into the bowl!

~Voila~

I am able to stay on top of the tomato crop as they ripen this year. So far, all the pulp is going into the freezer until I get so much I can thaw it all out, cook it down and can with the pressure cooker. The house heats up during that process so I don't want to be doing it all the time.

The jalapenos are busting out as well so I'll get busy with those here shortly, too. I grew a new variety, Mucho Nacho, and they are MUCH bigger than the ones last year. Less difficult to clean out.

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Here is the latest quilt I have been working on for a recent LSU ag graduate. The Dresden plate blades are fruits and vegetables.... get it? One more border to go and I'l throw it on the machine.

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I can't leave without mentioning Stu, best bird ever. He keeps a watchful eye out for the flock and never lets down his guard. I am so glad we have him out there. Good boy.

Well, Life On The Farm Is Kinda Laid-Back!

Ah, I miss John Denver's voice. When I am out wandering around the vegetables and chickens, I have that song playing in the recesses of my head.

We have had some great weather these past two days. It might be only one day but it feels like more. This is because I got all sorts of things accomplished yesterday.

Let's begin with...... THIS!

I have been wanting to paint a block on the coop and I knew it would be this one. It's called Chicks and Hens. HAhahahah love it. Subtle. An inside joke for us quilters.....

The chickens hung around and watched me do it as well. They are SO much fun to hang around with.

Stu talks all the time. He is out there clucking and muttering and crowing all day long. There were a few times when a hen was laying and he'd walk into the coop and chortle at her. If one of them made that buk-buk-buk-BAWKKK sound upon laying, he'd be in there in a flash to see what was happening.
See that? It's the beginning of our first artichoke........ so tiny, so delish! Well, okay, I don't know what they taste like, yet.

Now, yesterday on Facebook, Home Grown Edible Landscapes had a link to a recipe for Leek, Potato and Zucchini Potatoes. If you have been keeping up with the cats and quilts, you will know that leeks are something of a passion with me. They are so delectable and expensive in the stores and I have been trying to grow them for several years now. The timing has to be right to get a decent size. I have more than 40 out there growing and two of them were good-sized. We also have frozen zuccs and lots of baby greens out there and even the parsley in the herb garden so I made it exactly by the recipe and only needed to use bought potatoes. I added walnuts and some blackberries I found out by the mailbox.

Also, remember UberGeek? The best computer and cute dude who has straightened me and my issues with viruses now twice? His mother and my friend brought us a whole buncha rhubarb last year and I have a little bit left in the freezer so, after adding some Ponchatoula strawberries to the rhubarb, I have this for dessert. Rhubarb Crumb

So that you can see the progress on the green stuff, here is a shot of the herb garden. So mature compared to last year. The cilantro is still going strong and the fennel is ready to be braised. I can't believe how huge the oregano has grown and I have to really get a handle on the mint because it is getting out of control.
Here you see the beginning of the lower garden. Last year we laid it out a little differently but this year I have divided it up in quarters.

Imagine if you will, in the lower left, you have 4 rows; 3 of tomatoes and one of assorted winter squash. To the right with the supports are 4 rows: Cucumber, summer squash, green beans and ornamental gourds. Behind this in the 4 uncovered rows are the potatoes and to the far left back are 4 rows of bi-colored corn.

Now there is a disappointment growing. Or not growing , to be precise. Last week, we planted 2 kernels in every spot and 24 spots per row. As of now, there is less than half coming up and to be even less successful, although 2 kernels were planted, only one of them have bothered to show up.

So I think I will go out today and plant 3 in the empty places. They are supposed to germinate in 4 days and if I wait much longer to replant, they be so far behind the others as to perhaps not be fertilized later.

When the days are filled and sun's setting low, I pull out the fiddle and I rosin up the bow,

The kids're all asleep so I keep it kinda low........

THANK GOD I'M A COUNTRY BOY!

Another Day Passes

and with it, February inches farther down the calendar.

I was just trying to remember what I did with myself yesterday. Weird. I could not recall.

I planted carrots and beets and leeks.... oh yes. I visited the Big Box stores in search of this powder called inoculant which seemed to help start ff the sugar peas so nicely last year. I think I might be a shade too late to get a great harvest of peas, but it had been so cold and harsh up til this past week, I was fearful of having young sprouts get nipped by a cold front or, like last year, that snow day surprise we had in Mid- February.

Anyhoo..... after I teach a Basket class this morning, I shall plant the peas and sprinkle the powders and let nature take it's course.

At one point, as I walked down to the coop/run, my heart skipped a beat. I saw feathers everywhere.

Oh no. And not a chicken in sight. You can well imagine my dread. I walked inside the runs, calling out to Stu who is usually the first one rounding the corner. He appeared cautiously, nervously from the exit flap and I opened the door.

There they all were, cowering inside and fearful of coming out so I could look them all over and figure out who lost the feathers and why. They were definitely from one of the goldies. Poor babies.

They were all skittish, and Stu didn't help matters by strutting on his toes and curkling. I know that is not a word.... but it fits as to the sound he makes when he is distressed about something. It is not a crow or a tuk-tuk. It has a trumpeting feel, very alarming. And the hens pay close attention. He and Ginger kept a weather eye out as the others moved slowly out to peck at some corn grains I used to lure them out into the light. Ginger is a sentinel.

I have to think it was a bird of prey. Or a cat that is now somewhere licking it's wounds. I found no evidence of blood anywhere but the spurs on Stu are over an inch long and I think he has a strop somewhere that he employs to keep them pointy and dangerous.

Good man!

That is a formidable bird.

KitchenAid

I bought the KitchenAid attachment of a grinder last year and finally had an opportunity to put it to use. This is venison and I used it in a chili last week. The tool works great and cleans easily.

John gave me the pasta press for Christmas and I hope to make some Friday. It's going to be brrrrcold and I have everything I need to make ravioli!!

I have now completed every block of the Leslie BOMb and am about to finish the borderwork on the 5th. WHoo-hhoooo!

The civil war quilt is really a good fun way to also use up fabric stash and since I have NO control on the pace, I think I will make two sets of this one. I have a lovely stash of blues/browns/beiges to use up and I think this is just the way to go about it.

The chickens have that "why is this happening?" look about them. The weather is not the best for them; nothing is growing from the ground up; no bugs are grubbing around. They are so bored......

oooooo I forgot to mention this!!!! The other day, for the very first time, we got 7 eggs!!!! Isn't that NEAT!!!! and in the dead of winter, when chickens are supposed to slack off.

Weird

It was blurry cold outside this morning when I let the chickens out of the coop. So cold, the water froze in the two troughs. Take a look at this ice formation and see what you think. Have you ever seen anything like this?

? Weird, huh? I wish I captured the depth better. The ice is in layers, about 4" deep and then the water is 1 inch deep at the bottom. Again Weird, because it was completely thawed and liquid while all this on top was hard and iciled. Is that a word?

I have a camera app on the phone that takes artistic photos. Here is Stu

He usually isn't so thalo-green

The Barn Is Done

and it truly is beautiful.
We know we hit a homerun too.... everyone who sees it is in awe. Women gasp......"OOhhhh it's greeat!!!!!"

Men are the biggest kick to watch.... much more discerning. They will walk in and just take it all in for a minute. To a man, they stand there with one arm across the chest, hand cradling the elbow of the other arm. The hand of the cradled up by the face, stroking the chin or cheek, lip pursed, eyes scanning the ceiling, the walls, the shelves, the worktop...... If there are more than one, they huddle together, stroking and furtively pointing at the attention to detail in construction.

And then they say, in reverent and slightly whispered tone, "I want one."

I know! We want another one already!

The veggies are growing and thriving. We ordered and received a roll of row cover material and have so far covered only two beds; the artichoke and tender greens but I am ready with the hoops to cover two more. The broccoli are looking great and although there are plenty of flowers on the peas, not all that many have pods. Some, and those are slow to grow. SO now I know, I should plant them farther in the north raised beds if they are going to get enough sunlight in the fall. Once the leaves finish falling, these will get more warm sun, but at the moment, they live in heavy dappling shade. I will do all I can to keep them alive under the wraps as the days get colder and the winds increase.

My daughter rescued a chicken in Florida and is going in with her neighbor to have a small flock!!!! How cool is this!? Very small, however. The towns restrictions are 2 per household..... ridiculous. 2? It's hardly worth the bother..... and only half the fun. You need enough to have a proper self-respecting flock! I mean, how on Earth can they establish any form of pecking order? 2 is just a squabble, surely. .... Well, if they EACH get 2 and house them in the same coop, that's 4. I think they could handle that. The chickens, I mean. Girls can handle anything!

Had a blast learning how to program a computerized quilting machine yesterday. Once you know the HOW, it seems (almost) easy; but getting to that place was a long process. The one I use has no computer but I look at it now and wonder....... can I get an after-market add-on? I really like free-motion. It's a thing about the freeness of it but I can also see the freedom I would feel at the end of this long list of quilts ready to finally use. I have a closet of quilttops that are neglected and shelves of fabric waiting to be cut. At this rate, I'll NEVER die. (of course, that IS my ultimate plan......)