The grass needs cutting and the chicken coops need cleaning, but I still don't feel like being outside much right now... so I'll be taking it easy like Lily is in the picture above and visiting my blog friends today.
Happy Wednesday, everyone...
7/27/11
Taking it easy
7/22/11
Friday Farm Funny: Chickie Puberty
Remember these cute, fuzzy little chickies from just a couple of months ago?
Well, that has given way to this:
TEEN-AGED CHICKIE PUNK ROCKERS!
Okay, so maybe it's not that bad....
Happy Friday, everyone!
7/19/11
A finished project (Finally!)
"Rollin', rollin', rollin',
Keep those feed dogs rollin'...."
A few months ago (March, to be exact...) I shared a really cute pattern I found online for a reversible bag. Here is the picture from the website-
(If you missed that post and would like the pattern you can find it here.)
I've tried to stay out of the heat as much as possible lately, so while indoors I got busy sewing and finally finished my bag:
I've tried to stay out of the heat as much as possible lately, so while indoors I got busy sewing and finally finished my bag:
Although it looks navy blue in the picture, it's actually black.
But the lining/ reverse side?
Hang on to your hats:
Here is the close-up:
Is this not the custest fabric you've ever seen?
*squeeeal*
It makes me smile every time I look at it.
As for the plain black side, I dressed it up with some sunny yellow topstitching.
I've always been intimidated by topstitching although I love the way it looks when it's done right... my topstitch seams always wound up crooked and I had to tear them out and redo them 5 or 6 times before I usually just gave up. Last year I bought a topstitch foot with my birthday money... I never knew this beautiful thing existed but I will never attempt to topstitch without it again. Some of you sewers may already have one of these and know how they work- if not, you can see the little stitch guide to one side that actually fits over the edge of the fabric and guides you while you sew.
Whoever thought of this brilliant idea- I love you.
I also put a snap on my bag to close the top.
I can still reverse it, though- the snap doesn't really show up much on the chickie side.
My chickie bag is done!
*********************************
I received some handmade goodies in the mail last week from my good friend Vickie from the blog The Virginia Purl- she made a bunch of knitted dishcloths for me in blue to match my kitchen colors! And they are so soft, too.
Thanks, Vickie- they're perfect!
Wait- Lily has to inspect them.....
They are now "Lily-tested" and "Lily-approved"!
Happy Tuesday, everybody!
7/15/11
7/13/11
7/8/11
Friday Farm Fotos: I love......
Unexpected rainbows....
A tree full of pears.
A hubby that likes to landscape.
Making homemade ice cream.
Tiki lamps!
Old hens......
Nature's surprises- like these corn stalks growing behind the barn.
(Which we didn't plant, but apparently the birds did... indirectly.)
*grin*
BLT's for supper.
(With fried bologna instead of bacon- YUMMY!)
Chicks when they start to get their feathers....
Sheep lookin' for a treat!
The manure spreader my daddy gave me for my birthday last year, because you should "never let good fertilizer go to waste."
A front porch with rocking chairs in the afternoon shade.
Happy Friday, everybody....
What are some things you love?
7/5/11
And she lives to cluck again
If you live off the beaten path and have animals of any kind, predators are simply a part of life. They don't care that your animals have names, or that you raised them from babies... predators have babies of their own to feed and a meal is a meal.
And when you have chickens, this is the last thing you want to see...
Most days I turn my silkies out for a little 20-30 minute "recess" in the afternoon while I sit nearby underneath a shade tree with a book, keeping a watchful eye out for danger.
Friday was different- I had just arrived home from running errands and had a million things to do, so I decided to turn them out for just a few minutes while I unloaded the bags of chicken feed from the back of the car.
Then I heard it.
The awful noise of chickens under attack.... and knowing I wasn't fast enough to run up the hill in time. Smokey, however, is quick like lightning when "his birds" are in trouble, so he ran up the hill and into the woods with me huffing and puffing right behind him. In all the confusion I was trying to sort out if everyone was accounted for- the birds were upset and running for cover- but I knew from the knot in my stomach someone was missing. After doing a head count, I realized it was Pola, one of my splash silkies. Pola is named after the Marilyn Monroe character in "How to Marry a Millionaire" who was always bumping into things because of her terrible eyesight... Pola's feathers completely cover her eyes and she's been known to bump into the door of the coop and walk past the feeder three or four times before she finds it. Apparently, Pola also never saw the danger approaching until it was too late.
I followed the trail of feathers left behind and it looked like she put up a pretty good fight... and a couple of times I thought I heard her still moving around in the thick woods behind the coop, but after almost an hour of searching, Smokey and I turned and sadly walked back down the hill.
Hubby and I had plans for the evening and were gone until almost dark. We pulled up the driveway and something in the headlights caught my attention.... something was moving around the chicken coop.
I could not believe my eyes when we jumped out the car for a better look- it was Pola trying to find a way to get into the coop! She was filthy and very thirsty but seemed to be unharmed, except for a big bald spot where her little fuzzy bottom feathers used to be...*grin*...
Hubby and I both agreed it was Smokey who saved her life- when he ran through the woods it must have scared the predator enough that it dropped her and took off.
Way to go, little buddy. You're our Hero!
That night I started thinking about the conversation that could have been taking place in the chicken coop... the other hens might have noticed Pola's dirty feathers and bald spot and asked,
"what happened to you?"
I could almost imagine Pola telling the others,
"you wouldn't believe what kind of bad hair day this has been...."
Happy Tuesday, everybody!
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