A Few Sheep Shy of a Farm

   We’ve had so much going on since I last posted that its hard to even know where to begin! I’m going to start with all the non-knitting content, mostly because those are the photos I’ve been able to load so far . . .

Birthdays!

 We had a birthday party! The little guy is now offically 2 years old! We had family and some friend (we tried to keep it a bit smaller than last year) and made sure there were lots of kids. 

 Here  he is with two of his cousins, Nonna was kind enough to bring the girls over for the party. Marianna is now 5 and Mira Bella is 2.

 And here is the newest little member of the family, my husband’s nephew’s son, Steven Thomas at about a month old.  This is the little guy I knit the original Delicate Beginnings sweater for . . . though it was a little too warm for it at the party.

 Here is the Godfather, Joseph and his wife Linda enjoying some cake . . . we were very glad they were able to make it.

  Here is the Birthday Boy blowing out his candles. Notice the “Lightening McQueen” candle on there for luck?

 Here are the little guests enjoying a piece of cake with the Birthday Boy; YUM!

 And here is the big Birthday gift: His very first Bike! Notice, again with the “Cars” theme, he loves, loves, loves it! Not that he can ride it quite yet, but he loves to sit on it or push it around the yard. 

 While we’re talking about parties:

We also went to Rickie’s Birthday party the day before, though I couldn’t get the camera to work so I don’t have a photo of that . . . and later in the month we went to “Big Rick’s” birthday party . . . and our own little niece, Allison turned one this month.

 The Birthday Girl waiting for her very first piece of cake.

 While we were there the little guy got to go in a “big pool”, as in the over his head kind, for the very first time.  He loved it!

 New arrivals

The same day as Cousin Alli’s party we had to make a quick trip to the central post office in Lynn (it was a Sunday by the way) and look what had arrived!

 Yes, we really did! We’ve got chickens! 27 of them to be exact.  This was them, still in the box they arrived in, at about 1 day old.  Aren’t they adorable? We ordered them about a month ago . . . its something we’ve talked about for a few years now but after reading about them from [Kristen N.] ’s blog and then following the link to McMurray’s I just couldn’t resist.

 The little guy has taken to calling them “cheaps” as we kept making “cheap, cheap” noises at them on the way home.  This was his first time holding one.  He has been very responsible and gentle with them.  He helps to feed them, give them clean water and even clean up after them.  Not bad for 2, huh?

 Here they are again at about 10 days old now. They had to be moved from the 2 bunny cages in the kitchen to a larger encloser out in Daddy’s workshop.  We expect they will stay here until they are between 6 and 8 weeks old, depending on how fast their feathers come in and they get big enough to scare off cats! At the moment, the cats are thinking chicken dinner . . .  and they aren’t entirely wrong as currently 7 of these guys (the ones that look yellow) are destined to become Sunday dinners.  The others we are keeping as a “Laying Flock” and from the estimates I found on the sites about the different kinds, we can expect to wind up with nearly 5 dozen eggs a week.

We got a number of different types of chickens: A Buttercup Rooster (Dom wanted him), Araucanas (which lay blue & green eggs), Black Austolopes, Speckled Sussex, Barred Rocks, Buff Rocks and White Rocks.  We’re planning to give one of the White Rocks to a neighbor who needs a new Rooster (they were “straight run” so we are assuming there will be a rooster to give) and plan to keep 2 White Rock hens so there will be a few white eggs in the basket. 

 Once they are big enough to scare off the cats and don’t need a heated environment anymore they will be moving to their very own coop, as yet to be built.  This is approx. how big the coop will be (8×8) and the run will come toward the side I was standing on when I took this picture and run the length of the garden.  If all goes well, the chickens will have access to falling Mulberries next summer, see:

 This is one of two Mulberry trees in the yard though its the only one that bears fruit (I believe the other is male) and the “chicken run” should end jus under this tree enough for them to get some of the fallen berries.  We also plan to let them loose some of the time so they can chase the bugs out of the rest of the yard and get more exercise. 

Garden

I haven’t really done much with the garden this year . . . everytime I try to get out there I find 6 other things to do instead. 

 Dom did manage to put in a guard rail for my little garden bed inside the play area.  It really need it as “someone” kept running things over with cars and trucks.  Its still waiting for the little front piece that will go outside the posts and create a small bed for some annuals.  And I need to start digging things up a bit at a time and filling it with a good mix of compost, topsoil and peat so that we will wind up with a nice raised bed (and better soil then the dry clay there now).  I’ve had a few flowers this year, despite the neglect.

 This hollyhock plant has come back year after year now and I love the color of the blossoms on it.  I have to try to remember to save some of the seeds and see if I can get a few more of them to grow next year.

I’m going to save the knitting content for a second post, later today if I can or sometime tomorrow. I want to get and organize lots of photos of everything I’ve been working on so I can add them as well.  I’ve got lots of fiber stuff to share and I’m even working on cooking up a contest . . .  so stay tuned!