2020 batch of peepers

I just... I love chickens. And I love eating their eggs. And I sell most of my extras to friends/family/clients. And I'm moving to a bigger space soon. So... more chickens it is.

On May 14th, I went to Higby's and picked up a Gold Laced Wyandotte, Cuckoo Maran, and Welsummer. 

Cuckoo Maran

Gold Laced Wyandotte

Welsummer

Sadly a week and a half later, the Wyandotte and Maran were wandering the greater pen and got themselves stuck between two sheets of hardware cloth, and died of exposure in the sun. I didn't want to leave the Welsummer all by herself, so the next morning I returned to Higby's to see what they still had available. I had originally planned to return for 3 more chicks the next month - they had scheduled Russian Spangled Orloffs and Norwegian Jaerhons to arrive on a future date, and I like getting rare breeds. I was shocked to find that the hatchery had changed the order schedule since the last time I checked it, and those two breeds had been rescheduled for the day before! And then for some reason the post office hadn't delivered them yet, so they were expected later that very day! There was a sign up sheet, and I was now at the very bottom, but was only the order of how people were to be contacted - if I showed up right after they called me, I still stood a chance at the rare breeds.

Sure enough, that afternoon I got the call and raced back. I was able to pick up a Spangled Orloff, Jaerhon, Speckled Sussex (one of my favorites; I've had two before but both died young), and Barred Rock. I had room for one more, so I grabbed a second Jaerhon as backup. (The Spangled Orloffs had already been all picked up between my first one and when I decided to get a backup chick!)

Barred Rock

First Norwegian Jaerhon

Second Norwegian Jaerhon

Russian Spangled Orloff

Speckled Sussex

Okay, I have 6 new chicks, of breeds I wanted, I'm all set, right? It's just too bad I ended up not getting any Easter Eggers. I was hoping to add more blue/green eggs to my basket...

Four days later, I have to stop by Western Ranch, and they have a small number of Easter Eggers that are a little older but still small enough to put in with the 6 babies. I brought 2 home. Oops.

2 Easter Eggers

Darker Easter Egger

Lighter Easter Egger

I purposefully picked ones that had very different shading, and it's still easy to tell them apart as pullets.

We haven't had any more incidents and they're all doing well, although some of them are escape artists. Fortunately there are very few predators out here. They'll get a more secure run at the new place.

Knitting/crochet update: Hamilton shawl, seamless cat hat, dog sweater for Frank

 I call this my Whimsically Informed shawl (Hamilton shawl). I was hoping to wear it to a show, but sadly the pandemic cancelled the rest of the San Francisco run before I finished it.

Seamless cat hat needed alternations because the "small" size was made to be less tall, but not smaller in circumference. Came out a little short. But cute.

Perfect Fit Dog Sweater for Frankie needed a TON of alterations as I went, despite measuring and calculating carefully. You can see that it's still a little baggy behind his armpits. I wrote down the final pattern, and a couple more alterations I'd do for next time, so now I can make as many sweaters for Frank as I want. I was REALLY hoping this would be a one-skein-of-Malabrigo-Rasta project, but sadly it was 1.25.

I am mostly done with my very first sweater, the Moyen Age. I had taken a break when I got to the sleeves because I dislike magic loop and DPNs. I do best with tiny circulars. I put off buying the set of ChiaoGoo size 4-8 shorties until I had a little more money, and the right sleeve is in progress now.

In the meantime I started a Criss Cross Top that is one color on the back and split into left and right colors on the front. The back is all done.

Kryptonite Lace Shawl and amigurumi Narwhals are floating around as easy travel projects.

Steampunk shoulder cover, double knit kitten scarf

I crocheted this steampunk shoulder cover years ago, purchased the buttons for it, then left it in the "to be finished" bin because sewing the buttons on was annoying. I finally got the pendants and finished it up. I won't be wearing it until summer but I'm happy with it.

This scarf was my first double knitting project. I need to figure out how to do a better twist along the edges so that the wrong color doesn't wrap around, but it's a surprisingly easy technique that yields a fabulous result. I have multiple other double knit projects in my queue.

Recent chicken photos

Took some chicken glamour shots recently.

Ancona

Black Australorp

Black Australorp

Blue Wyandotte

Buff Orpington

Gold Spangled Hamburg

Light Brahma

Plymouth Rock

Rhode Island Red

Silver Spangled Hamburg

Silver Spangled Hamburg

Silver Laced Wyandotte

Property purchase, rabbit update

Big news! Near the end of 2019, my dream of being a property owner finally came true! I purchased a 2.2 acre property in Vacaville. It is currently raw land, and we're in the early stages of permits, plan approvals, etc. I'll have a manufactured house put on the property, and the tentative completion date is next fall. I have big plans but right now it's all tentative. Once we're further along the process, I plan to look for a permaculture-minded consultant to help me plan everything out. I will definitely have a nice ultra-secure area for the chickens, lots of space for the dogs to run around, a small orchard and produce garden, and lots of decorative plantings.

I dispatched all my rabbits a few months back. In the end, the pros (healthy meat, good compost, fairly easy dispatch and very easy butchering) did not outweight the cons (not particularly tasty meat, pain to clean up after, not enjoyable to watch/hang out with like the chickens). I have a lot of intact rabbits in the freezer right now, so when the weather is nicer, I'll have to defrost them and do a butchering party.

One last adorable baby bunny photo.