Design Wall July 16, 2012

Well it's not my design wall but my sewing cabinet.  I'm on Hour 8 of Judy's quilt a-long of Nicoles Sofa Quilt.  I'm getting there.  I will have lots of company next week for two weeks and this week will be spent on cleaning and spiffing up the house, grocery shopping, etc. 

 My quilt is coming along.  Now just to find some time to get that stack sewn together.

This post is being shared with Judy's Design Wall.

Saturday at My Place

Last week gave us 4 new chicks.  Mom and the chickies are doing great.  She's teaching them how to scratch for food.  She's very protective of them and when she and the little ones are in the coop, no one dares enter.  That makes for 15 other hungry chickens.  So we've been letting them out of the coop so everyone can have a bite.

I've been saving my feed bags or rather retrieving them from the trash.  Doug thinks I'm a real hick to keep them.  Well I've made one tote bag (tutorial) so far.  I even used it at the grocery yesterday and it held up.  I have a few more to make.

It's not fantastic, but I like it.  I did notice while the clerk was bagging yesterday that I did put my handles on wrong.  Not a big enough mistake for me to fix.  I'll just remember on my next bag.

Flowers: rather Hydrangeas.  One of my all time favorites.  My daughter got me a Hydrangea potted plant one year for Mother's Day.  I fell in love.

Since then, I put them in every garden I have.  Take a look

I love the colors!

This post is being linked to Homestead Revival Barn Hop

Chick Celebration!

After having one year old hen go broody and not hatch a single egg, we didn't know if we wanted the hens to go through the ordeal.  But Cleo has hatched a batch before.  Actually it was exactly a year ago.  Are their internal clocks timed like that or was it a fluke?  Anyway, we put 8 eggs under her in two batches.  Her first 4 eggs hatched yesterday and the rest should hatch today.  Here's one of them...

 Cleo is adamant about nesting way above ground and last year when they first started hatching, we moved the nest box to the ground, so the little ones wouldn't fall out.  Well, when we did that she abandoned the rest of the eggs and concentrated on the hatched chicks.  This year we decided not to move the nest box until tomorrow.  That way all the eggs will have had a chance to hatch.  So we put up a "playpen" around her box.  That way the lttle ones can't fall out.  There is Start N Grow in the metal pan and water in the plastic container...

It was interesting to see how Mama got the little ones to start drinking water.  She would scoop some up in her beak and let it dribble down her crop.  The little ones would catch the water drips off her crop.  Very interesting. In the picture below there are three showing. 

We got away for the 4th and had the neighbor boy feed and look after our place while we were gone.  On Thursday he said PJ (Plain Jane) (below) started to sit in this nestbox.  He said that she pecked at him trying to gather eggs.  So we have another broody hen.  This one is a year old also, we aren't sure of how she'll hatch.  But boy is she fiesty.  Doug is trying to see how many eggs are underneath her.  She must have pecked him 4-5 times.  He said she was serious, she was pecking him hard.  He only had time to feel 3 eggs.  Maybe tonight, I don some gloves and see if I what I count.  These will be due on July 27th.

Thanks for listening to me.  I have had my chickens for a year and half and they are so much work, fun, and entertainment.  But we don't have any domestic animals. No dogs, birds or cats. 

This post is being linked to Homestead Revival

My Design Wall 7-1-2012

Judy at Patchwork Times is having a Quilt Along.  The quilt we are making is Nicole's Sofa Quilt.  So far I am all caught up with the instructions.  We are going out of town for the 4th Holiday so I'll have to catch up when we get back.  This is what is on My Design Wall this week.

Last week I showed you a Robin's nest just outside our front door.  They've all hatched and now they just have a bit of fluff.  I think my Bird Book says they'll fledge anywhere from 14-16 days. 

Sorry for the short post but it's been busy around here with work, garden, chickens and plain life.  More to come when we get back to town.

Happy 4th everyone!
This has been linked to Patchwork Times