Broody Hen

I'm dealing with my first, well and truly, broody hen. Its Miss Mildred, the one named for my grandmother.

At first, I didn't know what was wrong with her. She sat in the nesting box, with her head facing the back of the box, as if to say "Talk to the ass!" But she always got down at treat time (just before they get closed up for the night).  Then she started walking around all puffed up, making chirping sounds and the rooster kept going after her. When she started roosting on the drinker (and subsequently relieving herself into it), I know something was definitely not right.

Being the inexperienced chicken farmer that I am, I naturally thought she was sick. So off to the internet I went to find out what was wrong with my bird. Of course there were a million different sites out there that proceeded to SCARE THE CRAP out of me and make me think she was diseased! Thankfully a lovely little thread of backyard farmers eased my worries and provided some helpful hints to de-broodify her, from placing ice cubes/packs in the nest under her or dunking her underside in cool water to checking her into a suite at the Chicken Hilton (aka the dog crate in my basement).

Separating her may be the way to go. At the very least, it will give everyone else in the coop a break from her cranky squawking! That just may be on the agenda for this evening, before the snow hits.

Perfect Snowy Saturday

Finally, we got a good overnight snowfall, a sunny Saturday and no wind...perfect for snowshoeing!

Sadie and I strapped on the snowshoes and away we went! Well okay, I strapped on the snowshoes, Sadie just plowed ahead of me, happily burrowing in the snow every chance she got. 

I love winter days like this!

Bread and Jam

When I said that I wanted to make jam from the strawberries in my freezer (that I picked last June), a friend suggested I make freezer jam.  I'd never made it before; I'd never even tried it before, but she said it tasted fresher than the tried and true "Boil It, Can It" method that takes half a day.

So I bought freezer jars, thawed two packs of strawberries, mashed them up with pectin and Florida Crystals (in place of processed sugar)...

 and within a half hour I had five and half jars of awesome tasting jam done and in the freezer (save for the half jar which went into the fridge)!

 Of course, to go with my freezer jam, I had to make bread.  Actually, I had to make bread because I was out and had been for about a week.  I know I could have gone and bought bread, but about a month ago I decided that if I needed it, I'd actually bake it.

No preservatives, no weird additives, just homemade bread.

Burn Baby Burn

Since I moved into this house, finding a place to hang stuff has been an issue.  I had two small hooks by the door, but it couldn't accommodate spare keys, flashlights, the remote to the chicken coop light and all the dog stuff.  So I took a piece of wood, did a little wood burning and made a six-hook rack.  

Now everything has a place and I'm not digging for a flashlight when I go to take the dog out, or the key to the mailbox!  And this rack matches my chair that I wood burned in 2010:

I have a big piece of wood out in the shed that is just begging to be wood burned, but I'm not sure what I want to put on it...yet.

Seeds, Glorious Seeds

So I had this brilliant idea to go through the Johnny's catalog and flag everything that I wanted to plant this year...maybe it wasn't such a brilliant idea:

By my calculations, I've spent over $250 on just seeds...well, not really, but I've tagged $250 worth of seeds!  This was a helpful exercise, though, because now I know what I really do want to plant and what is unnecessary...like 5 different types of lettuce, 6 different types of beans.

I never get all of my seeds in one place. I like to check things out wherever I am.  In fact, I found quite a bit of my veggies, and even a few flowers, while shopping the other day.

I will order some of the funkier, unusual things from Johnny's that I really want, like the purple carrots with the orange inside and the blush potatoes.

I'm itching to start planting, now...even though it's only mid February...in Maine. Planting season is still a ways off, so I'll have to resign myself to planning and dreaming!

Scenes from a Sewing Room

This past weekend was an exploration in creativity thanks to extreme procrastination. I didn't want to organize my paperwork to do taxes (because I have to pay in this year), so I played with fabric instead!

Friday night, my creative muse overtook me and had me rethinking my batiks quilt. The tree, that I wasn't convinced I liked, apparently did not belong because the fusible web lifted off in most places. It was practically falling off! So I got rid of it and replaced it with this:

The idea came from this book that I bought myself for Christmas:

I think it was supposed to represent a dahlia, but I spaced mine out a little more and made it more mandala like. 

There's still a lot of space in the center of this quilt...I don't know if I like or if I should add more rounds to the mandala. And the fabric flowers don't really work with it now, so maybe I'll make a couple of matching throw pills and add them to that.

And I don't know what I'm going to back it with, either.  It'll come to me.  It's only taken 8 months for me to figure out what I wanted for the center...I'm sure it won't take long for me to figure out the backing! :^)

Now I wish I was staying home to play with this, rather than heading off to work!  Blah - no creativity there! But, hi ho hi ho...

Cluck cluck

Meet the Mr. and his ladies...

Cogburn the Silkie Rooster

The Bantam Brahma Crosses - Squit, Squat, Spit & Spot

Agnes the Orpington

Josephine the Speckled Sussex

Hilda & Bertha the Ameraucanas

Mildred the Cochin

Last weekend I was able move the Bantams out to the coop with the rest of the big chickens.  They all seem to be getting along well...though I think Squat got her comb a little too close to the chicken wire pen and one of the big girls bit it hard enough to draw blood!  They're still a little territorial, but my hope is that eventually they'll all get used to one another and when spring comes, and everyone is allowed to free-range, the Bantams can be let out of their little pen and the big ones will consider them part of the flock.

Every day is a learning experience when you own chickens!