Hey - It's Monday Again!

Happy Bench Monday!

Chicken Update

Our chicken girls are growing up.  We still haven't finished their coop; it remains half built in the driveway.  I think I'll let the grass grow wild and park a jalopy on the lawn to complete our urban chic visage.  It's all the rage you know.  (Actually I would love to buy an old camping trailer to refurbish ... it'd fit in well with our other front yard decor).

In the meantime the girls remain in the garage.  I've been letting them out for jaunts in our dirt patch future orchard.   They seem to stay in a cluster and don't travel far.  I was hoping they'd earn their keep by picking weeds but they seem more interested in taking dust baths. 

I am starting to notice their differences and can now identify them by name ... Harriet, Gertrude, Gracie and Rose Scooby-Doo (guess who named that one).  So far they all appear female; my fingers are crossed.  

I'm very hopeful we'll complete the coop this weekend and finally transition them to their permanent home. If anyone wants to lend a hand with our coop raising come on over.  I'll make lemonade and sandwiches ... just for putting on a roof.  

Happy Wednesday. 

Earth Day 2009

The weather has been gorgeous and we spent much of the past week in the yard. My husband and I both had time off work giving us an impromptu stay-cation. We elected to tackle overdue garden projects. Of course we’re building our chicken coop (my part of the “we” is a very loose interpretation; I fed the people who were laboring and paused on occasion to snap a photo or two). “We” are also building a pizza oven. The actual pizza oven was purchased in 2006 and proceeded to spend the past three years in our garage. Our cars subsequently spent the past three years in the driveway. It’s about time we got to work.

Me, I’m altering our sprinklers to fit our raised beds (another long overdue project) and am putting soaker hoses in my flower beds. I also bought vegetable seeds to start indoors. In addition I engaged in a battle with the pine tree in the backyard. It’s a game we play ... he drops needles and I pick them up. This week I’m ahead. Next week remains to be seen.

I’m thrilled to see these projects come to fruition. Plus it keeps my mind off other things such as my heart. So long as I’m working my it doesn’t bother me. When I stop I notice the irregular beats. The holter results are still pending. I guess I just need to stay busy until the results come in. Tomorrow it’s back to work ... staying busy ought to be easy.

Happy Earth Day!

Wordless Wednesday

This one's for Maine Momma even though today is Wednesday. 

We interrupt this blog for a touch of bitching and speck of complaining.

When I was a child I assumed grown-ups were grown up. They were the mature rational beings that ran our world (maybe this assumption was made because my parents are such quiet analytical people).

Then I grew up. And to my dismay I found myself living and working among grown ass individuals who still behaved like children. The specifics of my current source of frustration can not be hashed out here in case my colleagues come across this post. But suffice it to say some people are difficult, irrational and just plain childish ... even if they are degreed professionals well into their fifties. Today I could not step back and allow the snarky email comments to slide off me like water on a duck. Apparently I’ve not been preening my feathers well enough because I had to respond. I told this person he was a childish imbecile, via email of course, cced to all other members of the board. Though if I had the opportunity to confront this individual in person I would have said the same thing. Now I get to attend the next board meeting and see him face to face. That will be such a joy.

Generally I am shy person. The quiet one sitting in the corner keeping my thoughts to myself. But with certain people I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut. I am the little girl shouting it out against the good ‘ol boys that have run our society for so long. I’m not sure my response did anything to further my cause. I do, however, feel better having stood up for myself.

And there are other good things to come from this virtual disagreement. I cleaned my kitchen (those who’ve been here before know I clean when frustrated ... you’d think my house would be spotless given my level of frustration with so many things in this world. But you’d be wrong since there are more mess makers than vexed cleaners living in this particular household).

And the other good thing? I have something to write to you-- albeit a complaint but I’m blogging nonetheless.

Mmmm. I feel better. Thanks for listening. And now back to our regularly scheduled program; knitting and chickens ...

It seems I am perfectly content to follow the most popular bloggy trends. After a nearly two-month hiatus I am knitting again. This time I’m making a sweater, just for me. The February Lady Sweater. There are only 4,366 other people on Ravelry knitting this same garment. Mine is a lovely Cascade 220 blue heathers. And I think it is the reason I’ve been so quiet around here. The knitting forces me to think. Like a Sanskrit chant the pattern is a mantra to quiet my mind. Knit one, knit two together, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, slip slip knit, knit one.



Only I'm not knitting today, at least not at this moment for fear my stitches will be too taut. I don’t want a sweater with anger knit in. I don’t want a section of too tight rows, a permanent reminder of temporary frustration. I suspect a few more deep breaths and a little more cleaning and I’ll be able to hit the needles again (that sounds a bit like a drug reference doesn’t it?!! Ah well I’ll leave it for your amusement).

And another bloggy trend ... backyard chickens. I’ve wanted chickens for nearly a year now. This week I finally convinced the husband it was a good idea. Hip hip hooray! We bought coop plans and even picked out our chicken breed -Wyandottes. Wyandottes are hearty, winter ready, brown egg layers, amenable to confinement and docile. Plus they are gorgeous to boot! Once we build our coop I’ll be purchasing the chicks from My Pet Chicken. They ship them in the mail when the chicks are one day old. The only problem is, for our area, the minimum chick order is eight chickens. Legally we can have four chickens in our yard. So our next mission is find someone who wants to split an order of chicks. I really quite excited about this and will likely be blogging about our journey as we go.

And one more bloggerific trend we are participating in ... artist trading cards. My girls created five cards a piece which will be traded with other children their own age (see photo above). They get to participate in an art project and send and receive mail. Such fun! We’re getting these little buggers in the mail today.

Well it seems you are all caught up with the goings on here in my little neck of the woods. I hope you are all well and having a wonderful Wednesday!

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