housing chickens

ken figures these "free chickens" have cost us about $500. so at two eggs per hen per day, if they started laying tomorrow, it would take until new years for any sort of ROI (return on investment). my numbers geek husband. i don't care about any of that. i look out my window and this view makes me smile. that's what matters.

on naming chickens

this is cleo. 

she was the first hen to get a name. with her 'eyeliner' i thought it was fitting. this photo was taken a few weeks ago, when we first got the chickens. below is cleo now, pictured with 'flo' (the other red hen). they've really grown!

we also have 'rocky', 'clyde', 'lola', 'carmela', 'bonnie', 'beth' and 'chica-kahn'. (HA!)

sadly, we lost adrianne last week. i don't know what happened except she was teeny tiny and i don't have a CLUE as to what i'm doing with these birds! but i am learning. that was a hard day. but it's all part of raising animals, i guess. and now that i know better i can do better.

i think ken was worried about us getting too attached - naming them. but in my mind, how can i not name them? they are living beings. they will eventually gift me with their eggs. how can i not?

and let me just say, if he didn't care about them too, he wouldn't be talking the time to build a perfect coop.

we're almost done! tonight is the first night they'll actually sleep inside.
today, the coop got painted. tomorrow, i'll start on the trim. you just wouldn't believe the craftsmanship that has gone in to this little coop!  it's all trimmed out in rough-hewn cedar. the window is a totally custom casement window. and both side doors have hinges, latches and screens for ventilation. that window! i think it's my favorite part. ken took four 12 x 12 panes of glass and built a perfect window. it's insulated, and the nesting boxes come out the back with hinged lids. ken says his brother is going to call these 'city chickens'. that is fine by me.

someone is pretty pleased with himself. and nine little somethings are clucking happily tonight.

wednesday webshare

i found the most adorable patterns for dishcloths ever! kris patay, of kris knits has designed some serious cute. i bought one set and went back the next day and bought four more! i mentioned it to a friend and she said she just couldn't pay for dishcloth patterns. the next day i got a text that read, "i just spent eight dollars on dishcloth patterns!" serious cute.

with inexpensive cotton and just a few hours you can easily create a whole set of cloths to keep for yourself, or gift to someone special.

i made all of these in the last week or so, all available in her free pattern section:

picture courtesy of kris knits.

this is the first one i did as a blanket square. it ended up a little small, but with some tweaking, i think many of her patterns would be usable for blanket squares.
this is the one i did in blue for the schuyler blanket project:

 

they knit up in a jiffy. go on and buy yourself some cute.

kentucky unfried chickens

ken went down to kentucky this weekend to do some work for his parents. he stopped by his brother's small farm on the way home. when he told me where he'd been and said, "i have a surprise for you." my first question was, "is is alive?" i know my husband. he's the sort that will come in the house with something cupped in his hands - toads, snakes, bunnies and once, even a baby raccoon! i was pleased to see my surprise was only a box of chickens. i'd been talking all year about wanting some laying hens. well, now i have nine. and one little banty rooster. today, we need to build a home for them.

pics to follow!

Schuyler Blanket Project

i haven't been knitting much lately. i don't know if it's just a summertime thing, or maybe grief, but i just haven't felt inspired. i've gone to my knitting group a few times in the past weeks and that has helped. but otherwise, i've just not felt creative, until yesterday. 

a few weeks ago i joined a particular knitting group on ravelry but it's ties are much closer than just an internet forum. the schuyler blanket project was founded by my friend, tammany. her daughter, the namesake of the project was born last summer. when schuyler died the same day, tammany's knitting friends put together a blanket of squares, hand-knit by them, in the hopes she would feel the comfort of their love as she wrapped the blanket around her. tammany started the schuyler blanket project to share that love with other grieving families. 

i pledged two squares on a blanket for a woman i don't even know. but i do know her pain. and i  know the magic these blankets hold. these squares, hand made with love are no great miracle but in some small way they matter.

if you have some spare time (literally, my first square knit up in just a few hours), and a willing heart, please consider knitting (or crocheting) an 8 x 8 square for this wonderfully worthwhile project. send your squares to me directly and i will see they find a home in a blanket for a mother who has experienced life's greatest loss.

as the garden grows, so does the gardener

mr. melly has been working non-stop for weeks, in the yard and in the garden.
last year was our first gardening experience, and as the garden grew, so did this gardener. i learned the difference between pole beans and bush beans. i learned the best way to eat a tomato is like an apple, right off the vine, warmed by the sun. i grew hibiscus from seed. they made it through the winter. the mandevilla did not.

i learned wisteria do not like to be moved around. i grew a plant from seed last year and was thrilled to see it leaf this spring. i wanted to move it to the garden, but killed it trying to replant. one day i will have a blooming wisteria. but not this year.

but i do have strawberries!

they are sweet and delicious. and i learned six plants can easily turn into about ten!

i also learned some work needs to be done in the fall. it has taken ken no less than five days to get the space ready to plant. he got a rototiller and made quick work - removing the grass, turning the fall leaves and working in my compost. compost, what a miracle! i took all my kitchen scraps last year, sawdust from baby mac's crib and weeds basically, and created a beautiful, nutrient rich product to work into the soil. mother nature is one clever lady.

stay tuned for more pictures and to see how my garden grows.

hold on

many of you know my love for the work of artist kelly rae roberts.

recently, she teamed with demdaco and that union made her work incredibly affordable.

remember i got one of her art girlies? well today, i found this little gem. 

a gentle reminder to just. hold. on.

starring marilyn monroe

i've been thinking about blogging lately. so i figured maybe i'd come and post something. but what can i say? 

and what can i blog about that will push the last post down, out of sight? everything feels trivial. dumb.and then, i think of marilyn. 

she's the one on top of the dog pile. and she's justin's cat - marilyn monroe.

i've never known a cat like marylin. she acts more like a dog, really. she greets ken at the door when he gets home from work with the rest of the pack. she comes when he calls her and cries for him at the door when he goes outside. ken, the self-proclaimed cat hater is now a self-proclaimed cat lover. this cat, anyway. her antics make us laugh every day. and laughter really is good medicine.

justin james 

september 10, 1987 - march 7, 2010 

love you, buddy. always.

this

is in my yard right now.
my dogs are going NUTS!