Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Too Busy to Blog



Baptisia australis
Well, really, I have been awfully busy and blogging just hasn't been happening.  I have been working on many fiber projects as it has been a bit rainy here.  But before the rains came I ran around and snapped a few photos of things in bloom.

Roses and clematis

The shawl I have been weaving from an old sweater that I unraveled has finally made it to the shop.

Old sweater, reborn


Mama Hen also has been busy.  She started to go broody May 24 and I was Not Happy as the timing is all wrong.  So I took her egg out from under her, took her off the nest, and figured we were done.  Oh no.  After I spent all day Friday and Saturday removing her multiple times without her showing any sign of staying off, I capitulated.  On Sunday I put an egg from one of the other ladies underneath her,  counting the 21 days to hatching as being the Sunday I get home from a visit to my brother in Pennsylvania ( the same trip I tried to take in March with sad results).  Now here is the funny part.  My husband thought that she should have more than one egg to set on, so he went up to our neighbor's farm to see if he had any eggs laid that day to buy for Mama.  It turned out that three of his hens were broody.  He sells his eggs, and since a broody hen doesn't lay, that is the last thing he wants.  So Jeff returned with seven eggs, still warm from the hens.  We slipped them under Mama, and she has been happily setting on them ever since.  Whether any of them are fertile remains to be seen, as the neighbor's rooster to hen ratio is very high.  But our egg is fertile, so we should get one chick at least.


Fierce Mama Hen
The other fiber thing that I have been working on is a shawl that I am knitting.   The yarn is a lovely soft alpaca blended with some merino/silk roving that I had.  I am designing it in a triangular shape with all over open work.  That and the bats for the library fill my evenings and car rides.  But now I have another idea percolating that concerns some black alpaca and the loom, so stay tuned!

3 comments:

  1. The roses are so beautiful on your arbor, I am jealous! Have to say that shawl pin is awesome, very very pretty (as is the shawl you wove). The chicken Mama of course made my day. My little chicks are on week 3 and have started to grow real feathers, I love to watch their antics.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The roses are about 10 years old now--just think what yours will look like in that time! I love that shawl pin, too. Do you think I have to state that it isn't included with the shawl? I hoped people would know it was a prop. Now do you see why I say "if you are feeling down, go watch the chickens'?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you should probably state that the shawl pin is not for sale that way there are no problems. This morning I figured out why my right thumb has all these cuts on it - the silly chicken feeder. Every time I slide the top off to fill it I have been cutting the tip of my thumb not deeply so I did not feel it - now I have a deep cut and let me tell you it hurts! Lots of disinfectant, some instant skin and a bandage or two and I am back in business. Yes, now I realize why you told me to go and watch the chickens - they are an entertaining bunch of girls.

    ReplyDelete