Road Trip!

 #gettingmorechickens

Yes, she really did lock herself in the neighbor's coup

Yes, she did.  While house sitting and pet sitting, she accidentally locked herself in with the chickens. She was very happy to see me come to the rescue!

Spring is here ~

I think that spring is finally here, as the grass is growing and the trees are budding out. The yarn in the shops are light and airy, and our knitting dreams are filled with Shibui Cloud scarves and linen blend cowls.

What to cast on first, as we need to be aware that if we cast on now we need to knit fast enough to be able to wear these spring and summer items before the autumn weather returns our knitting dreams to wool and alpaca blends.

New Generation of Chicks ~

This is the year to get another generation of wee chickens to add to our egg laying flock. We picked out eight this year, all cute and fuzzy and peeping. They are adorable at this age, and we have such fun holding them and getting them used to their little home on wheels where they will live until they are big enough to fend for themselves with the adult hens.

Since oldest daughter is home from college on spring break, we thought this was a perfect time to get a new generation, since she will be home to get acquainted with them. We haven't named them yet.....

Heels turning ~

While knitting with the chickens, I was able to make progress on these socks.  I turned both heels and felt very good to be working toward the cuffs.

This is the yarn that my daughter fell in love with at Stitch and Pitch last year. Not her usual bright neon colors, but very lovely. I think it would have made a beautiful shawl as well.

Knitting with Chickens ~

A lovely spring day so we decided to let out all the chickens to roam around the yard.  Even this year's youngest chicks, just to see how they would manage their freedom. Just to chaperone, I sat in the front yard and knit, and watched to be sure the young ones did not go crazy and head for the neighbors.

Well, turns out they were more curious about me then they were about their neighbors, as they stayed near me and investigated all things close by... including my toes.... I think they are loving my orange flip flops, as orange is such a great color - and so misunderstood..... in my next post, I will show you the socks I was knitting!

Chicks on the move ~

We added eight lovely chicks to our farm menagerie this spring. So cute and small when we brought them home and put them in their little wagon in the garage. With their heat lamp and straw, they grow to be a bit bigger there until we can move then into their chick condo next to the chicken coup.

The chick condo boasts of shared water facilities with the hens, so they can meet and greet over drinks. They can visit but not go into the other area yet, but just a bit of acclimation for the older hens and the wee chicks.

We had a lovely day this weekend to move the chicks into their condo, and they seem to be getting along with the hens.  The hens are curious about the wee ones, and the wee ones are still running around with boundless energy...Spring is here!

Snowy knitting ~

We have finally received our first snow. Much has fallen, and there are deer hanging out under our cedar trees to keep out of the falling snow. My youngest and I walked to the grocery store, but no driving on our hills, so that is a relief. The chickens have enough food and their water has not frozen. The cat is happily sleeping in her warm bed in the garage. My sweetie said he would "chain up" and drive me to work if the roads are still covered...so nothing to stress about....Just some knitting on this snowy day! P.S. I think I've fixed the two stinkin' dropped stitches, but they don't look perfect...so I'm not showing a picture of the "fix" but I am hoping that it "blocks out", right?

Easter Egg Season ~

I wanted to share this picture, to show what a little sunshine does for our ladies in the coup. It looks like Easter is coming early this year!

P.S. We are thinking about getting another group of chicks this year for Earth Day....they are so cute, and fun... and love those fresh eggs!

From the balcony ~

While I was beginning the knitting on the ribbing of my barfly sweater, I heard some shouts and saw some arms waving. This is the darling site I spied from my balcony.

The girls with Ladybird and Doc.... a lovely site to ponder while knitting a sweater!

New iPhone and camera ~

Today was a super exciting day, as I finally bought an iPhone. While waiting at the Apple Store, I pulled up all my knitting blogs (like this one :) ) on the iPads that we were all playing with, and even went on Ravelry. Very cool computers that interface with knitting!

Since my oldest daughter is better at technology than I am, she immediately wanted to try out the camera so that I'd have a "perfect" screen wallpaper for my new iPhone. So she took a basket of my yarn out to the chicken coup and had a photo shoot.

Of course, Shadow had to get into the fun as well...

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Walk to Library ~

A Monday tradition has become walking to the library as soon as sweetie E comes home from school. We love this chicken that marks the entrance to our City park where the library is located.

We have been having fun as she tells stories and we get our exercise.


And try to figure out what kind of tree this is.... a monkey tree?
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Chicks are here ~

Last Wednesday, April 7, we picked up the next generation of hens. There are 8 little cuties and they are all extremely cute. The theme for names this generation is great cities. The breeds are some favorites and some new ones. There are two Sicilian buttercups (named Paris and Victoria), two Black Australops (Oslo and Quinta), two Rhode Island Reds (named Betty Crocker and....not sure of the other name....sorry....) and two Americauna (named Sedona and....oh dear....I've forgotten another one....whoops!).

They are all cute.....very sweet, indeed....

we are having a lot of fun with them all....

Aren't they cute?!!!

Farewell Dear Julia ~

Our dear Julia Child, Rhode Island Red, from our original flock of chickens died this week. As you may recall, our theme for names of our original flock was "authors" and my husband named her Julia Child, as he likes her books.... it seemed wrong, to me, to name a chicken after a famous chef, but Julia wore the name with almost as much personality as the original Julia Child. She was a darling chicken and such a sweet personality ~ one of our dear favorites. Here we are knitting together... well, I'm knitting and she's keeping track of the rows...

She was such a sweet little friend to have...


She laid the biggest eggs and was a very prolific egg layer too.

We will miss her terribly...

Yarn Yoga chicks ~

They (not sure who "they" are, but they have a lot of influence) sometimes call knitting groups, "Chicks with Sticks" however we call our knitting group meetings, Yarn Yoga. This time, we shared our knitting group with chicks...


but they didn't have sticks - just lots of cute feathers and lots of cheep cheep cheeping!


(aren't they cute!)

Famous Chicks ~

Our girls and chickens were on the radio today - very exciting and very fun!

A great story about raising chickens and saving money for college, and how great these daughters are together!

They are great!

Waiting for Webs ~

I am waiting patiently for the UPS truck to bring my package of yarn from Webs. (Hannah from Chicken News captured my waiting in these great photos - my daughter still rocks)

A package arrived, but it was the wrapping paper from the 75% off sale. So perhaps its time for a nap...*yawn*

Shadow, too, is waiting for Webs....

Hey, there's the UPS truck!

Let's go see!

Tea with Harry Potter ~

Happy New Year to you all! Now that sweetie E's socks are complete, I've been spending time knitting on the Harry Potter colorway socks ~ here I'm having tea out of my new "chicken" tea pot. Note, these special tea cups are actually from Britain...from our sweet neighbor, Judith, in Michigan...

Pretty yarn and pretty socks...Harry, Ron and Hermione would love these...

a cuppa tea with Harry Potter... great way to start a new year!

Losing Jed ~

We had a bit of sadness over Halloween weekend. We lost our sweet banty rooster, Jed. He died from an unknown cause and he is missed by all of us. He'd lived with us for a day short of two years.

We first learned about the possibility of adopting Jed and his hens while we were in Ocean Shores, just before Halloween in 2007. While I was at work, my sweeties picked up Jed and his hens and brought them to our chicken coup on Halloween. Come to think of it, John named him Jed when he first saw him ~ I'm not sure what his name had been before...when I first saw Jed, I thought he was stunning, worthy of a magazine cover. I knew I'd seen him on calendars already ~ he was a beauty with his long shimmering tail feathers of emerald green and his white plumage around his head!


He didn't crow when he first arrived. His previous family said he didn't make any noise at all. Our Richie soon taught him how to crow (above picture), and Jed had a great crowing sound ~ not as loud as Richie, but forceful all the same. He wasn't aggressive like Richie, yet no one seemed to mess with him.


His ladies stayed with him, and yet their flock seemed to blend with the original flock fairly well.


I still look for him when I visit the coup. I miss him, his sweetness and his regal good looks...

Hobby Fair ~

This week is the Hobby Fair for our 6th graders....

Here is our sweet E, enjoying her hobby....

beautiful, colorful and creative....

Hey, where is the knitting in these pictures?

(Oh, you mean that her beautiful, colorful and creative hobby is raising chickens, not knitting? Well then, who knitted that great pink hat out of Samantha Smith Peace Fleece?) um, I guess knitting is my hobby.....let's pencil in a date for another hobby fair, OK?