Snap Happy

At work. Can't focus. Got the new camera on the brain.

I just order a Canon Rebel and it arrived today...at my office...at 9:00 this morning.

Since this time, I have struggled to stay on task and get actual work done! I'm hyper aware of the 18 megapixel beauty with the telephoto lense sitting in a box under my desk.

Just. Want. To. Play.

Hurry up, 5:00-I've got pictures to take!

Spooooooon!!!

Ah, the rally cry of one of my favorite cartoon characters...The Tick!

What does The Tick have to do with anything?  Well, tick season has begun here (okay yeah, I know, weird segue).  It starts just before black fly season and doesn't end until November (if we're lucky and we get a good freeze that month).  

Unfortunately, tick season means avoiding the snowmobile trail behind my house when walking Sadie, because inevitably, I end up with a tick crawling on me somewhere. Normally, my tick radar is on high alert and I just know when I've got one on me.  But this morning, it wasn't crawling on me...it was EMBEDDED in my knee!  GROSSEST. THING. EVER! I found it when I was taking a shower, thinking it was a scab to a cut that I didn't realize I had.  And god was it sore!  Then I thought I saw the scab move.  Not having my glasses on, I flung myself out of the shower, soaking the bathroom in the process to put on my glasses and see that it was exactly what I feared.  A tick!  

While I was able to pull it out, I don't know if I got the head out.  My mother thinks it may have come out when it bled (I know, too much information), but to keep an eye on it, so it doesn't bullseye. 

Ugh, yuck!  This is the first time I've had a tick IN me, rather than just on me.  Talk about paranoid now.  My tick checks include stripping down and turning my clothing inside out! Thank god the dog is treated against fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and biting flies.  Now if only someone would make a nontoxic, human version that did the same thing!  

Stinky Poo

So my wonderful, sweet dog who NEVER rolls in stinky stuff decided that her first foray into rolling in anything but leaves, clean grass or snow, would be in chicken shit! The perils of free ranging chickens is that their poop is EVERYWHERE!

Sadie and her stuffed chicken

The worst part was that I thought it was me, that I had brushed against it or, worse, gotten it in my hair. I changed my clothes, I checked my boots by the door, but I kept smelling it. I was about to put myself in the shower until I bent down and sniffed her head! Oh, but it was awful! 

I think, even Sadie couldn't stand the smell of herself, because she didn't put up much of a fight when I led her down to the bathroom and put her in the tub.  The dog shampoo that I had did NOT get rid of the smell of chicken poop, no matter how many times I applied it. My own shampoo, though, thankfully did!

Since the incident, I have to keep a close eye on her when she goes down back, near the coop and she wants so desperately to roll.  You can just see it in her face! And apparently rolling on the front lawn is just not as much fun as rolling on the back lawn.

Free Rangers and Digging in the Dirt

My little flock started free ranging yesterday!  They were leery for, oh about 30...maybe 40 seconds and then they were off exploring!
 

They couldn't wait to get out this morning, heading for the spot under the pine tree up by the driveway that they fell in love with yesterday.  It was a sweet spot, until two neighborhood cats started stalking them and the Bantams sent out the warning call that had me flying out the door to find out what was wrong.  Damn cats!  Since then, they've been sticking closer to the coop and digging in my garden.

Ah yes, the garden has been dug and the bean trellis has gone up!  I'm very proud of my bean trellis.  Its an old futon frame that I repurposed.

There's still a lot to be done before I can start planting; like fencing around it so my chickens don't dig up all my seeds!  That kind of defeats the purpose of growing my own food.

On a side note, the chickens are no longer sticking close to the coop as of a moment ago, when I went to check on them. There were two little Bantams hanging out in the coop, one of them sending out a warning squawk (which is why I went out in the first place).  For a moment, I thought I lost them.  Seriously, I couldn't hear them or see them anywhere until I started walking the perimeter of the property and there they were, over to the right of my tenant's driveway, in the brush under the apple tree, happily digging for whatever!  Fearless, I tell ya! So much for keeping them close and within view.

KLFI

Today, I volunteered with the Kennebec Local Food Initiative (KLFI) for the first time...the first of what I hope will be many!

KLFI is an organization promoting local food, local farmers and community.  They have the ultimate goal of bringing a natural, local foods store that houses a cafe and an educational kitchen to our downtown.  This is something I have longed for for a very long time.

I learned out KLFI last year, when I was doing a bit of research on local farmers markets and stumbled upon their website.  They had a sign up for their newsletter and I thought, “What the heck?  They sound like a very worthwhile organization.”  Not long after, a coworker and I were talking about the Co-Op in Belfast (one of my favorite places!) and how we needed something like that around here to give the one little health food store in the area a little healthy competition (no pun intended…no really, I only just realized how lame that sounded as I was rereading this before posting). Then a KLFI newsletter went out with a survey, asking how interested people would be in a healthy foods storefront, how likely we would be to frequent it, etc. etc.  It was like they overheard my conversation.  I knew I needed to be involved somehow, but I just didn’t think I had the time…or rather, I didn’t know if I was willing to make the time.  I’m very much not a joiner, very much a homebody.  But then something clicked last week and I found myself just sending them an email, telling them I wanted to volunteer. Once it was sent, there was no turning back! And I'm glad I sent that email!

Sarah, the director of KFLI, met me at the door of the old bakery downtown and we just got chatting.  I immediately felt welcomed and when I told her about my conversation with my coworker, she started nodding and smiling, because they are looking to base the KLFI storefront on a cross between the Belfast Co-Op and another place in Waterville called Barrels Community Market.  It just seemed like one more nudge telling me I'm supposed to be involved this organization.  The experience was everything I hoped it would be; everyone who showed up was so friendly that I just felt like I was in the right place!

So right now, KLFI is doing an online buying club...kinda like a CSA share, only you choose what local, organic foods you want to purchase from what is available from the Maine farmers and producers that they work with. They offer organic beef, chicken, pork, seasonal fruits  and veggies, raw milk, grains, honey, bread, yogurt, butter...the list is long and everything looked so fresh and yummy! I was really wishing I had signed up for the buying club when it first began.  But better late than never, right?  The next round of ordering is Sunday and I can’t wait to see what awaits me!

Words of Wisdom for the Day

Never give chickens guacamole. The after effects are not pretty...trust me!

More Scenes From a Sewing Room

Yesterday, I had the urge to serge! I really wanted a new top - something springy; something feminine and flattering. Something I could make using the lovely, gauzy, teal floral fabric that I bought for all of $6 two years ago.

I dug through my patterns and found an old one that I'd never used (don't ask me the name or the pattern number, because its sitting at home on my cutting table, while I'm sitting in my truck on my lunch break). I pulled out the instructions and was amazed to find that it used less than a yard and a half of fabric and consisted of four pattern pieces.

Now I've said it before and I'll say it again, I hate pattern instructions. I often don't use them for anything more than a glancing guideline. This was no different...and I know I stitched this top completely different from how the pattern suggested, but you know, it worked just the same!

The only time consuming part was zigzag stitching the raw edges. I should have broke out the serger, but I was lazy and didn't want to set it up. It would have been faster and cleaner if I had, though and I'll know for next time, because this was such a simple shirt and I will definitely be making it again!

I did have one issue...the size. Its about a half size too small in the waist. So I either I need to drop 5 or 6 pounds before I wear it, or I need to add a panel to each side. Panel it is! :-)

Ahhhhh, learning experiences!