Spring break

Let me give you an update about the baby chicks.

This little one decided to tell us a story back on March 27. 

Those sassy little budgies of mine have been going to new homes, group by group. 

And then we were down to nine babies from I don't remember how many.   I love the perky little tail on the one to the far left.

On Monday this final group went to their new home.  They will have a little girl taking care of them.  She was excited to get them.  She's in 4-H and will be learning how to show poultry at the fairs and such. Before they even left the house she pulled one of them out and was holding it while the adults talked. 

One of the ladies that came to pick them up decided she was in love with the white one in this photo and said she hoped it turned out to be rooster so she could have him. I guess she gets all the Roos and is happy to take them in. The chick right next to it is the one who had the straddle leg.  Look at her/him!  Legs are like nothing was wrong. I love those cheek puffs!

It was sad to see them go off to their new homes.  There are so many different emotions from hatching them out and keeping them for yourself versus hatching them out and sending them off into the world. I feel good about each family that came and picked chicks up.  This helped ease my mind.  One lady sent a photo to us as soon as she got them settled in. I though it was very nice of her.  Her little girls were thrilled to be getting baby chicks.

 

But never fear, we have more babies on the way! Yup, we now have two 'bators. We have 11 more days until the next batch starts hatching out.  *Squee*

Good mail arrived last week. I've been flipping through the encyclopedia a bit and learning all sorts of new things.  I haven't had much time to go through the chicken health book.  I also ordered myself a candler for checking eggs. 

 Last week was spring break for my son.  The weather was not optimal. On Wednesday the wind was going strong enough that we decided to check out the big lake after work.

 It's been many years since I've been out to the point.  My hands were instantly cold and I didn't have gloves on. The waves were baby waves compared to what I've seen in the past.

My son said he LOVED seeing the waves and would love to see them again. 

On Good Friday I had the day off of work.  I took him to the roller rink for the afternoon. He had fun and that's all that matters.  Me, it was too many people.

The epic mural is still there.  This mural is part of my childhood. I think people would have rioted if the owners tried to paint over the wall. I'm pretty sure it's been touched up a bit.  Still just as awesome!

On Saturday we celebrated Easter.  It was a very nice and laid back affair.  It was also great to catch up with family.

And now ... back to work.  Thankfully work has been kind to me.  It's been quiet this week.

On the knitting front ... I completed a few things

Firs thing off the needles was the hat I was making from a pattern by Plucky Knitter, and knitting with double yarn.



It turned out slouchy for me.  I have mixed feelings on it.  I have been assured I look adorable in it.

So far I've been wearing it around the house.  If I was wearing it in the wind I'm not sure it would stay on my head.

The next thing off the needles was a scarf. I used US size 15 needles, cast on 200 stitches and knit, double yarn, until I ran out of yarn.

I just barely made it!  I was playing yarn chicken at the end.  It is LONG.  It's got to be 9 feet long at least.  I can wrap it around my neck several times and it's really cozy.

If I could do it over I'd cast on 150 stitches, so it would be a bit wider.

I do have a small crochet project going on.  It's a cowl. I'm not really feeling it so it may go to the frog pond. I'm still deciding.

On the book front ... I finished "Helena" for book club. 

 

I liked it.  I annotated all over it.  My first time doing so to a book.  Felt a bit odd at first to be writing in a book but after a while I got over it. It was nice throwing my two cents in.

Last week I picked up "Summers at Castle Auburn" from the library and started it this evening. 

One of the book bloggers I follow recommended this book.  I can't remember who it was.  Sorry.

I'm just over a chapter in and I'm hooked.  I'm not sure what it was that piqued my curiosity about this book but so far it's a good read.


Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. Fires in the woodstove.  It was so damp and dreary today.

2. Starting a new book.

3. More baby chicks are on the way.

4. Laundry is all caught up!

5. I didn't have to leave the house today.

First day of spring

Happy spring! Woke up to temps in the teens.

We all decided today was going to be a day for relaxation.  I relaxed by baking and puttering in the kitchen, among other things. 

The last few days have been pretty calm around the homestead.  We've been oohing and awwing over the baby chicks.

I know this is why you come to the blog. 



 And that's okay.

 

I tried to get sharp images of them but they decided to be busy little budgies this evening. Most of the time they've been pretty chillaxed or sleeping. 

In all the times we've had baby chicks I think this is the most relaxed group we've ever had.  They barely make noise.  Whenever I look in the brooder, a few of them are doing the "I'm so content" leg and wing stretch.

We realized on Friday that one of these babies has spraddle leg.  It's our time time experiencing this. I immediately went to The Chicken Chick website and found how to treat spraddle leg. If The Chicken Chick had a book, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I love how informative her blog is.

So our little guy now looks like he's on a chain gang of one.

He looks pretty normal in the picture above. Just yesterday his poor little legs were sprawled out and he could barely move.  It was sad.

Here are his little leg braces.  Almost right away, no kidding, he was standing and walking.  Now he runs all over the brooder and he takes no sass from anyone.  Yesterday the other chicks were running over him and he had to put up with it.  Now, they fear him. As well they should! .

Naturally I have video, cause everyone wants to see these little guys in action.

 

One Saturday we sold 6 chicks to a family that drove a couple hours to our place.  That's determination to have chickens! I wish them lots of luck! It is their first time having chickens and they were quite excited.

Other things that happened this weekend:

We finished the circular woodpile.  I now know this style of wood pile is called a Holz Housen.  It's eight feet across and six feet tall. 

I crocheted a hat.  My son decided he wanted it. 

I started it on Friday night and finished it Saturday.  I realized about five rows into it, on Saturday, that I had flipped the hat inside out and started working on it.  I'll call it a design element.

I started a knit hat Saturday night.  I was looking for a pattern that called for using double yarn.  Found a pattern by plucky knitter. I'm about halfway through.

I got the itch to sew a little bit again.  I pulled out a tote bag I had goofed on and put away.  I fixed my issues and got to sewing it.

I used my wonder clips for the first time.  They are nice!

I love this fabric. It's something I found at Wal*Mart way back when.

 

I'm not one hundred percent happy with my finish work on this bag.  I'll be using it as a WIP bag.

When I was sewing I realized I never posted a picture of the skirt I finished back in January.

I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I did cut out the pockets and do a straight seam on the sides.  I messed up placement of the pockets so they didn't mirror each other properly.  I will be making this skirt again as soon as I find some fabric I enjoy. This fabric is jersey fabric I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

Now ... I need cute shoes.

And this might have happened today ...

Yes! More eggs in the 'bator!

**Squee!!**


Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. Getting crafty this weekend

2. Scones and cream.  Yum!

3. Watching the babies. 

4. It's finally spring.

5. It's staying light out later now.  Does so much for the peace of mind.

Baby chicks and a snow storm, oh my!

The first thing my husband said to me this morning was "We got more babies!"  I'd like to say I hopped out of bed and ran over to check them out.  It didn't quite happen like that.  But I did get up and take a look-see. 

Babies! Babies everywhere!  Nine more chicks hatched out during the night.  I let them stay in the brooder until they were dry and fluffed out.  This ended up being a good thing because of some snow storm aftermath by the way of heavy snow hitting the power lines in my area, and causing power outages.  The power kept flickering off and on. At one point our power was out for at least 15 minutes.  This cause me some worry because of the chicks being so fresh and damp.

Thankfully we have power backup so I worked a few things around and the babies were fine. My son kept going and peeking through the viewer holes on the incubator and letting me know when more hatched out.


I took some time this morning to survey the land near the house.  It was a winter wonderland out there.

I am amazed at how much snow stuck to the trees. 

The chicken coop.  I could hear the ladies bustling about in the coop. 

Every so often the wind would knock a bunch of snow off a tree.  It looked like it was snowing but it was just the trees. 

We did have some branches get knocked off the trees. 

View from the road.

My house seems tiny compared to those trees.

I tried to take a video with my digital camera.  I'm not sure where the noise is coming from. It was a bit windy out. 

I know some of my friends have been waiting for first photos of the babies.  Here they are!

We don't have a red light district. We have a blue light district.

Checking out a pine shaving. 

Hanging out at the corner, I guess. 

Solicitation, maybe? 

Still looking at the pine shaving.  "What IS this thing?"

 "I dare you to eat it."

Everyone is chilling.  Breaking out is hard work, guy. 

Snuggle time!

They are so stinking cute!

Baby needs some quiet time. 

All settling in for a nap, I think. 

Yup, out for the count.

This little one was so exhausted from partying so hard, it passed out like a rock star.  Just imagine a little bottle of Jack tucked under it's wing.

Meanwhile, in the incubator ... more are hatching out.  

While I was sitting at my computer I could hear the babies in the incubator cheeping away.  All the babies in the brooder were quiet and happy.  They were running all over and I could hear the pat-pat-pat of their feet on the paper.

Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. So many babies!

2. I made my son happy but loading a bunch of music on his phone.

3. Not having to go out in the snow this morning.

4. Rice packs.

5. Using a real camera, for a change.

We have a baby!

We woke up this morning to a No School notification.  The entire family got to stay home today.

This morning I realized I forgot to put the incubator in lockdown last night. I opened it up and discovered two chicks had pipped their egg shells, and were cheeping up a storm.

Oh my gosh!  It begins!

My husband got the brooder box all set up and ready to go for the babies.  I'm wondering how many will be there tomorrow morning.

Last night I cut up enough material to make eight hen aprons. Today, here and there, I sewed them up and put them on the ladies who needed some extra coverage while their feathers grow back.

I bought this fabric back in October, I believe, at the Hobby Lobby down in Rice Lake. 

I snagged a photo of one of the Wynadottes wearing it.  I'm sure she knows how pretty she looks.

She was acting pretty sassy after the apron was put on her. 

My husband got a hold of Grandma P, when we were in there.  She was feeling chatty today.  

This evening I tried my hand at a Shamrock dishcloth from the Sugar'n Cream website.  It was a quick project.  I made it using acryllic yarn because I plan to use it as a decoration.

I would do the handle part a bit differently next time.

And then ... this evening when I walked back to the craft room I could hear a baby cheeping up a storm.  I took a peek and there it was.  Freshly hatched and wondering what to make of all this.

 

I wish I could have gotten a video but my phone was about ready to die, and the lighting conditions weren't all that great.  Plus, I wanted to make sure all the heat stayed in the 'bator and dried this little one out as soon as possible.

School has already been called for tomorrow.  It snowed all day in my area. About eight inches of heavy snow fell in my area. The "big city" had problems with flooding.

Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. Both of my  boys got to stay home today, and not venture out into the nasty weather.

2. Baby chicks are hatching!

3. I *finally* got the hen aprons done.

4. Cozy fires

5. Popcorn