Long awaited chicken post

OK, the long awaited post on chickens. Probably mostly pics, I will have the Young Miss do an entry on what kind they are, and care, etc. as she is the one who does all that, for they are HER chickens. Here is a view that shows where the chicken yard is in location to my root bed. You can see my clotheslines in the front, too. This pic was taken before we weeded the root bed today. It looks so good! The big tall tree behind the green coop is our apple tree and is as far as the run goes in the back. Now that they are fenced in, we aren't having to interrupt our day every ten minutes to herd chickens back to their area. It is so much nicer this way!
This is a little homemade coop Mr. B. made that started the whole chicken adventure. This is where the "Dots" (Gold and Silver-laced Wyandottes) live. Young Miss has 3 left from the ten she originally started with (the infamous wild dog incident took the other seven.), and this is where they bunk.

These are the new girls, and their hutch. It started as a rabbit hutch and had a few additions. THey have a ladder they climb up to get to the hutch. The day we rescued these girls, we were up till 10 at night, (one of us with a 102 degree fever), buiding this run. We needed to have this separate run so the two groups of chickens wouldn't peck each other to death. They are just now starting to be able to be out together the whole day without pecking each other. I think two weeks is a fairly short time for them to have come that far!
Here are the "Dots", from left to right: ChickieBoo, Goldie, and Lucy. Lucy is the siver-laced, the other two, golden-laced. ChickieBoo is my pal, and lets me hold her, but I don't do it as often as I used to, cuz once she pecked my tooth when I was holding her, and it scared the bejiggers out of me!
The new girls on the block from left to right, fromt row: Ida, AnnaBelle, Virginia, Mavis. Agnes is the one in the back. Ida is bossy, but funny. The others I am still getting to know. I can't remember what breeds they are, but they are close to five years old. They lay huge eggs, and this morning, we had 3 double yolkers in a row! How cool is that? I should get a better pic of them, now that they are all in the big fenced area together. See the squash there in the front of the fence? They hadn't gotten to it yet. What I think I love the most about these chickens today, is that they eat huge piles of weeds in a very short amount of time. Good birds!
We were at the feed store yesterday, and the man working there said they would have baby chicks probably next week. We have a big cardboard box ready to use as a brooder, and the big chickens don't need the lamp anymore, now that it is warmer at night, so we will probably set them up in the garage when we get them.

I am not sure what all else to tell you about the chickens. Do you have any specific questions, that I can have the chicken expert answer for you? She would love that. That's all for now, I gotta get myself off to bed, so I can be at the dentist by 7 am!
TTFN,
LB

The rest of the day

Well, this is a bit backwards, but we will start with the mural I am working on in the studio, cuz that is the way the pics got uploaded. Here is what I have done so far. The leaves on the right are still wet- they will darken up a bit and match the others a bit more when they dry. Mama and I drank some wine, listened to music, and chatted while I worked on this after supper tonight. And supper was great! Roasted beets and carrots (overwintered in the garden, and not tough at all!), bread, sheep cheese, salami, olives, and organic wine (I mixed mine with pomegranite juice.)

Here is a closeup of one of the leaves. I will be decorating all the leaves, this is the only one so far that has any special touches.

Here is another closeup, just for fun.

And now for the earlier part of the day. It was gorgeous, and we ended up outside, weeding. We got the whole root bed done. Here is the Fine Young Man, actually caught in the act of weeding. Most of the time he was chasing bugs or swinging sticks around.

While we were weeding, the Young Miss tended to her chickens. Here you see her putting fresh straw in one of the runs. I think there is a chicken or two on the far left of the pic if you enlarge it. I promise a chicken post next post!
Here is my fave pic of the day. My Mama does not like her pic taken, but actually allowed me to get this one, maybe cuz it just shows her back. Here she is in all her glory, showing that even though she is blind, she still can get all the roots of any ol' weed, any ol' day. Man do I love her. We have had such a good day. She is staying the night again tonight, which I am grateful for, ad Papa Dude is away, and I have a dentist appt. at 7 am tomorrow. She will get the kids breakfast and supervise morning chores, and then when I get back, we are attacking the big potato/tomato bed. This is the biggest bed I have, so it should be interesting to see if we actually can get the whole thing done tomorrow.

OK, that's all for gardening. Now to start working on the chicken post.
TTFN,
LB

Cleaning Day

Papa had a commitment last night, at the same time that I had my Classical Ed. meeting, so I dropped the kids off at Gramma's house, then picked the whole lot of them up at 9:30. Papa was already asleep, so I couldn't show him my new haircut (I took a pleasant hour before my meeting to get my hair cut short-short, and have fish and chips while reading the newest Quilting Arts Mag- a delightful and restorative break!). I tucked Gramma into the Young Miss's bed, which she freshly made yesterday, and tucked the YM up onto the couch. The Fine YOung Man was crabby, but I kissed him anyway, and crawled into bed.

I was awakened at 6 this morning by the Dude kissing me goodbye and rubbing my shorn head with a giggle. He is headed to SPokane on a business trip, so I won't see him for a couple of days (but hopefully he is reading this blog, like he promised!). We got up for real at 8, had sausage, eggs (anyone want to buy some fresh eggs? We are inundated with tons of eggs!), and english muffins, and though it isn't noon yet, we have been folding laundry, doing dishes, making beds, etc. Gramma is as I type this, sitting on the Boy's bed foliding lundry and supervising his room cleanup. Amy- Some of the garbage consisted of : 4 dirty glasses, a bowl that was obviously holding sugar at one point, grape stems, desicated orange peels, and 6 shriveled apple cores.
The Fine Young Miss entertained Gramma with her piano practice, and we are getting ready to have homemade cherry pie for lunch (the kids and I made it on Sunday, and it calls to be finished off!).

Sigh. I will try to upload some pics later tonight. Right now, Mama is calling out for more hangers. Gotta clean while the motivator is here! Guess schoolwork can be home economics today, hmmm?
TTFN,
LB

Update: From the Studio Depths

Well, today was another day where I was in the studio as much as I could be, when not doing laundry or looking over schoolwork with the kids. I was organizing some more- kind of the second layer approach. When I first took over this space, I just shoved everything on a shelf or in a cupboard, but there was no rhyme or reason to it. I could never find what I was looking for, and I don't think I have been spending as much time down here due in some part to this lack of organization. I have been reading the book, Organizing Your Craft Space, by Jo Packham, which I happened upon when the kids and I were in the craft store the other day. I had seen the book before, but it didn't have much impact on me, other than to induce drooling over the amazing studio spaces in the photos! But now that I have my own studio space, I found it extremely inspiring.

In the book, they show studios where the artist primarily works on one art, whether it be mosaics, rubber stamping, collaging, or quilting. I got lots of ideas, but what was missing was a section on organizing a studio where you do many arts! I have a small space down here, but am doing my best to keep it organized. I think that may jumpstart some creativity in its own right.

The studio looks much better now, and I am ready for a day of labeling. When I get that part done, I will take pics. I also will have something fun to show you- I have been painting the cement wall today. Just kinda happened. My mom gave me her acrylic paints and brushes- a big box full. That's what started it. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always, always, always wanted to paint a mural. Guess I can finally have my way with a wall. :-)

While I was getting the link for the book above, I found this one too, by the same outhor. Looks like a good read as well.

I have begun to think about a name for the studio. Something with a turtle in the title, as they are significant to me. I'll let you know when I have a couple for you to help me audition.

Ok, just wanted to let you know I was alive and fairly well. Neck is still constantly achey, but I can now function all day and work through it. Maybe later this week, I can get back into the garden.
TTFN,
LB

A Question From the Studio Depths

What kind of adhesive can I use to secure eyelash and other fun yarn to edge of cardstock with a thin sheet of angelina on top? I have been using Aleene's fabric glue, but it isn't sticking to the angelina. Advice?
LB

I'm here!

I have had an epiphany: I can still blog even though it isn't on a promised topic. In other words, Kathy Jo and Dy, you will have to wait for the chicken post.
I am at the moment listening to Regina Specktor, boppin' around my studio, puttering and putting away (2nd round of organization planning-got to get this place ready to host an art workshop this summer!), and creating a bit as I go. The Amazing Papa Dude is up in the kitchen with the kiddos, putting dinner together. Gotta create while the opportunity is here!
Will touch base again tonight or tomorrow.
TTFN,
LB

Resting

Well, I am glad you liked the gardening post. I was hoping to add pics of my other garden beds- all weeded and ready to plant, of course, but the universe had other plans for me I guess. My neck went out yesterday, so I have been spending most of my time in bed, on the heating pad, with my body full of vicadin and motrin. It is still sore today, so more resting is on the docket. I will try to post photos soon- I have a whole boatload of chicken photos!

Talk to you soon,
LB

March gardening

I have also been gardening this month. Just started this week, in fact. Last year, after the car accident, I was unable to garden much at all, so it feels so very good to be doing it now, with little or no pain.

Feel free to click on the pics to enlarge them, but if you do, you will see how messy I really am in real life, so I don't want to hear about it, ok? Look at the good stuff in the pics!

Because we only have a half-acre, we have to fit in our garden plots where we can. All of the produce- veggies, herbs, fruit trees, etc. are in the back yard. Here is a view of the plots I have been working in this week. That is the shed, where we keep the straw, tools, pots, etc. Running across the very front of the picture you can see my asparagus beds, newly weeded.On the right, you can see my freshly weeded blueberry bed. On the left, is my yet-to-be-weeded root bed. You probably can't tell, but there are still beets left in the ground from last year, as well as parsnips. I am wondering if they will still be edible. Hopefully if the rain lets up, I will get out there tomorrow and find out. Good thing about how much it has been raining here- weeding is so very easy! I can get all ten inches of the nastiest-looking dandelion roots!!


Here is a pic of a baby asparagus. Isn't it so sweet and cute? I am hoping I get lots this year. I just hope they don't keep coming up one at a time- I need a whole bucketful to make a meal!!

Here is another view of the blueberry bed. I now have 7 bushes. I want about 5 more, but don't know where they will go- 7 in this bed is pushing it. I have several varieties (some early, some large), including one called "Chandler", which I couldn't resist. Last year I had all my greens in this bed, too, but I am not sure where they will go this year. Also in this bed, are two grapes (that's what the white tri-pod is for, for the little grapes to climb up), and a renegade fennel bulb plant I need to find a real home for. Fennel is wonderful roasted.

You can see I placed straw around the bottom of the blueberry bushes. This mulching keeps the water in and the weeds down (if not completely out).

Also in this pic, you can see the platform the Papa Dude built at the base of the birch tree. It is a wonderful place to sit and listen to the chickadees that hang out in the birch, or watch the chickens (more on them later). Papa has made sure there are lots of fun little sitting places in our yard. I will try to post pics of them all.

Here is a pic of the bridge Papa made. It covers a low, perpetually wet spot in the yard. You can see the birch tree at the far left of the pic, and then if you look behind the bridge, you can see my baby pear tree. You can also see how the kids just throw the bikes behind the garage when they are done riding.
Here is a close-up of my pear tree. The first year we were here, the pears were wonderful- prolific ans sweet. 2nd year, I got one pear. Last summer we got some, but not tons like the first summer. I am hoping we get lots this year- because they can well. That is the next-door neighbor's garage behind the tree. The mess under and to the left of the pear tree is my herb garden. If you really look hard, you can see sage and rosemary, but mostly it is dandelions. I still have a ton of work to do!

Dy, here is a close-up of the buds on the pear tree. I wouldn't tell this to the whole world (oh, I guess I would), but sometimes I go out and talk to the blossoms, and encourage them to grow big and strong pears for me. I guess that isn't so wierd if you know me.

Well, that will be all for tonight- no posts for three weeks, then three in one day- go figure!

LB

WonderBoy

Another amazing thing that happened in the month of March was that our Fine Young Man went to the WA State Finals with his high school speech and debate team. He qualified in two events. Due Interpretive (DI), doing a skit with a fellow teammate based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; and then in his best event, Humorous Interpretive (HI). He didn't place in DI, but (insert drum roll please)..........................................................................................................

He took fourth in HI!!!!!!!!!!!! This is phenomenal for a 9th grader. It was very cool. Just very cool.

Here he is with his medal. It is very important that we got a picture of him with it, because it now will reside in the trophy cabinet in the hallway outside of the speech and debate room.

I guess it must be okay for me to brag my kids up- it is my blog after all. :-)

LB

Piano Girl

March is Adjudication time in our neck of the wooods. The Piano Girl attended the Simon Fisse' (not sure of the spelling on that) Piano Competition as a guest, and participated in two adjudications this Spring, one put on by the Seattle Music Teachers Assoc. (SMTA), and the other, the Seattle Young Artists Music Festival (SYAMF) , which was held on the UW campus while the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

Young Miss had two fine adjudicators. One of them used metoaphors, such as "picture your notes flowing like a caramel carpet", the other was jumping around the room, gestering and geting the whole audience involved in the joy of the music.

Her pieces this year were The Raindrop Prelude (Prelude 15 by Chopin), and and the first movement of a Hadyn Sonata (Hob. XVI: 35). I tell you, I am so in love with Chopin, and this prelude happens to be my ultimate fave. Can you imagine the utter peace and joy I have experienced the last few months, as the Young Miss was practicing this piece day in and day out?!

The other piece of fabulous news is that the Piano Girl has been accepted into the Piano summer Camp, girls division at Interlochen Center for the Arts! She also will receive a merit scholership of $800. which means we only have to come up with about $3000. before the end of June! She is so excited about this, and we are for her, though the thought of my baby girl being gone for two weeks is still a tad hard for me to swallow.

The pieces she submitted on the audition tape for Interlochen were Vals Sentimental from Valses Poeticos by Enrique Granados, and Invention #8 by J.S. Bach.

In other Piano Girl news, the Young Miss has a recital coming up in May. I will post exact date soon. She is not sure what she will be playing yet, maybe another Bach invention.

It was pouring down rain the day of the SYAMF, so I don't have any cute pics of the Young Miss under cherry blossoms, but here is one I took just after we got home- of course the first thing she did as we walked in the door was head for the piano. Oh, to be that driven and in love!

LB

Encouraging post

Read this over at Donna's this morning:


And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.


~Martin Luther King Jr.


The Drum Major Instinct


After you read that, read what MFS said in the comments.

Thanks for the encouragement, you two. This really struck a chord with me this day. Can't possibly say it any better.
LB

Happy Birthday to me

Wow! I share a date of arrival with a slew of interesting folks! Many people are aware that today is also the birthday of one of the most creative literary talents ever to grace this earth with his presence, Dr. Seuss (did you know we love him so much there is a national memorial?), but did you also know I share this day with Mikhail Gorbachev, Desi Arnaz, and Karen Carpenter? Oh, and I cannot forget to include Jon Bon Jovi, though I am snorting a bit about that one. Ya know, I was supposed to be born at the end of May, beginning of June. I wonder with whom I woulda shared a birthday then? Probably not near as interesting as Gorby and Theodore, hmmm?



My Papa Dude called me at 4 this am, to wish me a good day, he is so sweet. And by the way, why is it hard to sleep when I am not sharing my bed with a cover-hogging, snoring, hulk of a creature that regularly slashes my legs with his un-clipped toenails? Huh? Who woulda thunk it? I maybe got 4 hours today- that is about I have managed any night this week.


Okay, off to wake the kids. Oh, the places we will go. We get to go have lunch with the Godparents, and then we will spot by my mom's for a bit, then who knows what will happen? I am thinking maybe we will go see if Eregon is still playing at the local cheap(er) theatre.


LB, aka the birthday girl.

What? Were ya born in a barn?

The Fine Young Man had a concert tonight. Kids were hungry so we stopped at the Dread Meyer to pick up lunch meat. We came home. I unlocked the door, headed in, and asked the kids to bring the stuff in from the car. Kids brought in groceries, fixed and ate 2 sandwhiches each, watched 2 episodes of Third Rock From the Sun, got in their jammies, and brushed their teeth before I noticed that they had left the front door open. Sigh. It's 30 degrees outside, not to mention the "let's just invite the meany nutballs into the house while your father is away" angle. Sigh.

When do they get it? Will someone please tell me they are gonna get it? When will I be able to know I have raised two responsible kids? How long till I don't have to remind them to brush their teeth, let alone to clean out the lint screen when they load the dryer. How long till they load the dryer without being told in the first place? Sigh. I'm not complaining, much. I guess maybe it's just the stress of single parenting. Makes me glad and thankful that I have a partner.

We had a fab time at the aquarium today, celebrating my birthday (tomorrow) with the nature study group. Great fun. I will try to post pics soon. I am off to try to sleep now.
LB

Update

Hey all (four of you),
Sorry I haven't blogges since Saturday. I actually did, but it got eaten up in the blogosphere, and then I ran out of time to retype it. I am such a computer nerd.
Just an quick update- I promise a big post with pics tomorrow (later today, actually).

Papa spent Sunday night at the D.C. airport, because of the slush storm, but finally made it to Florida. He is lonely without us, but doing well.

Yesterday was a parenting day from hell, but today went much better. We had a piano lesson, did English, history, some parsing in the latin reader, read out loud, ate Chinese takeout, and watched a few episodes of That 70's show. I know, I know, it isn't super appropriate, but honestly, most of the inappropriate references go right over their heads.

More tomorrow, I finally feel tired. Hopefully I will rest tonight- you think I'd sleep better with a whole queen-size bed to myself, and no snoring, wouldn't you? Go figure.
Later,
LB

Photo of the Day #4

The Family Homestead. Here is our home, taken from the front yard. More later, I am off to drop Papa off at his seminar, fetch Gramma, take her shopping, then back here for a laudry-folding party. We have to get all of Papa's clothes washed, ironed, and packed so he has clothes on his trip to Florida. He leaves tomorrow.
LB

What do you think of my new paintsticks?

I have been down in the studio today, experimenting with my new Shiva Paintsticks. What do you think of this?














As opposed to the lighter touch of the colored pencils? I haven't colored the face in yet, but other than that.....

Better? Different? Makes you wanna puke? Smile? Or are you indifferent? Is one image more pleasing than the other? I value your thoughts. Be honest and specific, ok?
LB

Just when you thought you had everything

I was cruising some art/quilting blogs when I found this post.
I don't know where Karen found it, but it is hilarious. The rest of her blog is fun, too.
LB

Relaxed Friday

This is the first day all week I haven't had to be out of the house early squirrelly. I let the kids sleep in till 9:30, and they are slowly starting to function. Other than 2 scheduled coaching calls, I really have no plans, other than to keep the laundry going so the Papa Dude has clothes to pack. He is off to FLorida for training for his new job. He will be gone two weeks, and will be gone for my birthday. I am hoping I can convince him to take me out to lunch today, but we shall see.

Nothing else new here, gotta go put a load in the wash, cook up some bacon and eggs, and see if we can at least get a bit of school in today- for the first time this week- so much for getting tons done while public school was out, sigh.
LB

Picture of the day #3

Shells.
We love shells around here. We have a huge collection, and add to id often. Here are just a few that the Fine Young Man arranged and then shot.

I need to take my camera out with me today, and start shooting some more pics! I have shown you everything I was behind on showing you. Yay for me!
LB

UFO's

Monet's Bridge, circa 2004
Just the top, not quilted. This was one of a series of 3 exercises I did from a book a few years ago, the title of which I can no longer remember. THis one is my faves I would like to do more- a series of abstract bridges, or water elements. I can tell it is done by a beginner in the abstract world, but I still like it.





















This one is my least favorite of the three. It was a color exercise, focused on red, but some parts of it just don't work. But, I plan on showing stuff to you that I am not happy with, as well as stuff I love, or else how will I grow as an artist?!














This one is nice, but didn't really stretch me much. THe colors are pretty, the piecing was not tricky, and the colors are those I am already in love with.









These works are a couple of years old, the stuff I did just before my huge block set in. My thoughts have been to abandon this kind of quilt-making, in favor of more collage-y styles. But looking at them now, I almost want to go back and finish them. I didn't post their sizes, they are all on the small size from 12" square, to aprrox. 15" x 30".

So, I was brave enough to post these, now I am curious to hear what you think!
LB