Of Little Lambs and Fairy Eggs

Even though Ann and her man are still disembodied, I am done counting the sheep on Miss Rayner, thank Heaven, because those little lambs over one were rather tedious on the very tightly woven 40-count linen I am using. But I do love the way they look, don't you? Sigh. I love this sampler. I am s-l-o-w-l-y working my way through my sampler bucket list, and if this one doesn't send me to a rheumatologist for my arm/hand issues, I don't know what will.

Ann Rayner by Threads Through Time
(Mostly) NPI silk on
40-count Vintage Lakeside Linen

Now for the farm report part of this post. One recent afternoon,  I went to gather the eggs, and as they are wont to do, three of my girls had used the same nesting box. However, this time Abigail had produced a teeny tiny egg that was so sweet but certainly a fluke of nature. (This happens from time to time with the egg-laying process.) Upon researching, I learned that these little eggs are sometimes referred to as "fairy eggs." To give a some perspective, the B-52's pretty blue egg and Abby's regular egg are the size of an extra-large, I would say, so you can see just how small Abby the Chicken Fairy's egg is.  I haven't opened it yet to see what is inside, but I'm guessing it is yoke-less.

The Fairy Egg

Last week, I also gave the coop a really good cleaning. As I have such a small flock and I clean up the coop on a daily basis, every two weeks is a good schedule for this. However, I added something a little extra this time ~ Nesting Box Blend from Treats for Chickens, which contains all kinds of fragrant herbs and flowers. Not only is it aromatherapy for the hens, but it helps to ward off any bugs and parasites that can invade the coop. The girls really seemed to like it!

Nesting Box Blend

So that's the news this week from the Garden Gate, where the gardeners are strong, the hens good looking and the eggs are (mostly) above average. Happy weekend everyone!

Pssst. Abby! Does your nest smell funny?

When life gives you lemons . . .

 . . .it is a very good thing!

Lemon paradise

Honestly, I think lemons have gotten a bad rap. Replace the word lemons with liver and onions and now we're talking a bad situation. Nothing good can come of that. But lemons? I use lemons for about a thousand different things for which there is no substitute. And ingesting lemons in one form or another is not the only use for them. I just read instructions somewhere online for using lemon waste (the squeezed-out halves) and tap water for making an enzyme cleaner. Anyway, the reason I am defending lemons is that my tree is now loaded with them, and my week will be spent juicing and zesting as much as my freezer will hold.

So, February was quite the full month. The winter garden provided us with tons of good stuff, but none of it preserved. I spent quite a bit of time researching and then trying about 500 ways to use broccoli, as I do not care for it in frozen form. Also, our heirloom lettuces were a great success, and we have more than enough for us, the neighbors and the girls ~ not necessarily in that order. The last couple of weeks of the month were spent planning and then planting our spring garden and pruning our deciduous fruit trees, which are all blooming. It is glorious!

Blossoming apricot tree

But it was not all work. We took time to stop and smell the roses, too. February is the month when most of my husband's side of the family come to visit. It really is the most beautiful month in our desert, in my opinion. Having family come to visit forces us to remember to slow down and enjoy it with them.

So with everything in bloom right now, I am thinking spring cleaning and getting back to basics. I am trying to figure out where I can incorporate a clothes line into my back yard. I love clothes lines. But I don't want it to look like I just wandered down from the hills. More research needs to be done on this. This week, I am also going to make my own laundry soap, which just makes my little frugal, laundry lovin' heart go pitty pat. (The thoughts of spring cleaning were what led me to discover the lemony enzyme thing.)

Lancaster laundry day

As for stitching, I have started Ann Rayner, but I have been struggling with a nasty episode of tennis elbow, so I have been trying to not over do. Next time, I hope to have a progress photo that won't bore everyone to tears. But in keeping with my "back to basics" theme, I will instead post a little finish from last year: Carriage House Samplings' Hornbook Sampler. Basic at its very best.

Carriage House Samplings
Hornbook Sampler

I will leave you with a photo of the girls in their new playpen, which is an old wheelbarrow filled with compost. Once my arm  heals I am going to paint it a different shade of green. That is, if I can keep them out. I may have to do it under the cloak of darkness when they are all snoozy in their roost to avoid a real mess ~ or in my new parlance, one of those liver and onions moments.

And a chicken in
every wheelbarrow!

Happy week everyone!

War and Peaceable Kingdom

Recently I joined a book club, which was kind of a difficult decision for me. I am very jealous of my reading time, as it is  limited at this point in my life, and I don't want to mess around reading something in which I have no interest. The first two selections I enjoyed and would have read anyway.  However, January's selection, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, was another story altogether. I dreaded reading this book. I knew several people who had read it and reported that while it was a very good read, it was a difficult one due to the subject matter. I was advised not to read it before bedtime. Ack! I read up to a certain point and then put it down, thinking I would just have to wimp out and beg off this month's discussion. However, by the time the brutal part arrived, I found myself not being able to put the book down, even taking it to bed with me to finish. It is an incredible story; and while I rarely recommend books on my blog, this is one that I highly endorse. So far, my book club is three for three and my decision to join has been reinforced.

Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks ca.1834
National Gallery of Art
In the public domain

So that's the "war" part of this post. The"Peaceable Kingdom" refers to one of my favorite motifs in American art as portrayed no less than 61 times by Edward Hicks, one of my favorite artists. The symbols in Hicks' works refer to the prophecy in Isaiah 11:6, which reads, "The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." 

Birds & Beasts Rejoice
by Bittersweet House
for Christmas of Olde
©2001

How happy I am when I can find the peaceable kingdom expressed in needlework! I stitched a sweet little sampler this week with this very theme. I will probably finish it as an ornament rather than framing it, using Vonna's tutorial. The fact that I stitched Birds & Beasts Rejoice the same week I read Unbroken was pure coincidence, but it was a very appropriate bookend to a story about the horrors of war.

As for the news from the Coop de Grace, it is a mixed bag. I have been waging my own little war against red mites, which in spite of my preventive measures, have invaded on the wings of the wild birds. I will spare you any photos. Dolley has started to molt with a vengeance, which means the end of her egg production for awhile, but Abigail has resumed giving us her gorgeous brown eggs. Let all the birds and beasts rejoice over that one!

Until next time have a happy, peaceful week, everyone!

Cleaning House

 It's been a busy January so far at The Garden Gate and the Coop de Grace, but I always enjoy the fresh start of a new year and the motivation that comes with it to organize and indulge my organizational OCD. (The rest of the year I am in recovery, as anyone who takes a really close look at my house will tell you.) And although packing away the Christmas stuff was easy this year, I am still reminded of the woeful lack of storage in this house. With my newly found love of canning, I had to do some serious reallocation of closet space this summer, but it still isn't enough. For example, I would love to have a pantry that looks like this:

Pinterest

As for other "house" cleaning, we are taking advantage of all of our winter greens to try to mitigate the excess of holiday eating. Right now the lettuces are tender and flavorful, and we have been eating a lot of salads. This year I planted some new varieties of heirloom greens, including Little Gem Romaine, Red Romaine, Buttercrunch, Tom Thumb Butterhead, Bronze Mignonette, and arugula. The cilantro I used in a citrus vinaigrette in which I also used our blood oranges. Remarkably, we are still getting grape tomatoes from one of our plants, and they are very good. The girls are also benefiting from the greens in our garden and it is fun to mix up a good salad for them, too.

Green goodness

Coop de Grace special

Stitching has been at a minimum these past two weeks, as there really has been too much to be done both indoors and out, but I shan't leave you without a house-related stitching photo.

"By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
 and by knowledge the rooms are filled
 with all precious and pleasant riches." ~ Proverbs 24:3,4

Have a great week, everyone!

Taking Stock

Gee, I could be holding a chicken

I love this final week of the year. The Christmas is put away, but ideas for next year are already swirling in my head. For me it is a time of reviewing, reorganizing, recommitting and remembering. It's a slower week, a time to enjoy not having to rush to do anything.

But what a year it has been! We have added to our family with the birth of our first grandchild, a beautiful little girl named Cecilia Madeline.  A full year as a chicken wrangler has come and gone, and I am amazed at what I have learned from those girls. We finished two bathroom remodels ~ something years in the making. I have made wonderful new friends, spent cherished time with old ones and have sadly said good bye to others. My community has expanded. I have learned new skills, and I have learned ways to give back that I never would have imagined.

Hannah Lancaster, unplugged

On the stitching front, my greatest accomplishment was the completion of Hannah Lancaster ~ my All Time Favorite Sampler. This is big stuff for me. I have loved seeing other stitchers' years in review, and I am in unmitigated awe as to what my stitching sisters accomplish. They truly inspire me, and I am busy taking notes as to what I want to do in 2012.

And  while the rest of my family spends New Year's Day  at the Big Lebowski Fest to be held in my living room ~ which thank Heaven has not been turned into a bowling alley ~  I will probably put Hannah in her frame, which has been waiting for her for months. And then I may just decide to abide in my new bathtub, with perhaps a White Russian resting on the little table as just a nod, don't you know. But I do think I need a rug to tie the whole thing together, don't you?

So wherever you may be abiding this weekend, may it be filled with peace, prosperity and friendship. Happy New Year, my friends!

Rainy Day

Christmas coop ~ not a chicken in sight

We have had a large cold front move into our desert, and the last two days have seen nothing but dripping skies (although the sun is trying to peek through this morning). The girls have been confined to the coop, with scurries into the run when the rain temporarily subsides. I have to say I did the same thing, waiting for a pause between drops before trips into the garden for salad greens and to visit the coop to tidy up and freshen the water.

But I love this weather, and what a perfect day to stay cozy inside. I have been taking my time in decorating the house ~ I am keeping it simple, fresh and handmade this year, and it's my belief that simplicity does not hurry. (And in my case, neither does handmade!) We did forgo our large and small artificial trees this year for one small fresh one, which we placed in our keeping room off the kitchen as this is where we spend most of our time and where we gather with our friends and family. In the other rooms, I have placed boughs of cedar and pine, and a little goes a long way.

Over the weekend I gathered some things growing in the gardens to make potpourri and garlands, as well. I have pomegranates (both large and ornamental), which are perfect for placing in bowls with dried oranges from the trees and cinnamon/clove ornaments made with an antique cookie cutter. Today, I will make pomanders with my lemons studded with cloves, and Thursday I will string my garlands. By focusing more on the "let Heaven and nature sing" part of the holiday and less of the "ho, ho, ho," we can enjoy all of these things throughout our winter season and beyond. With only one small tree to pack up and put away, it doesn't get any more simple than that.

I hope you are enjoying this season of Advent. Peace and plenty to all of you!

Home, home on the (free) range

I am still having production problems with the girls. At least the girls who are not molting. This week, Abigail decided it was her turn. This time of year in the Southwest they should be back to the levels of last spring, I would think. (All of the girls have been laying for less than a year.) At that time, we had not yet enclosed a larger run and the girls were making themselves at home all over the back yard and patio.  I took a look at my current coop and run setup and realized that it is now almost completely shaded all day long. Could not enough light be the problem? My husband was skeptical, but he lacks chicken intuitiveness.

The girls and my last eggplant harvest

While getting a pedicure last week,  I happened to quiz one of the nail techs who has a huge flock in a more rural area of town. The first thing he said was, "They aren't getting enough light." Ha! So, with much protestation coming from the no-chicken-keeping-in-the-DNA crowd, I decided to let them free-range once again. Which means watching them like a chicken hawk. We have done some work on our yard since then, and keeping them out of the gardens is a challenge. One of the things we did was remove a small area of lawn (read: ugly Bermuda grass), and began working on a new garden area. As most of our yard is taken up with the cement pond, gardening space is at a premium, and grass just seemed like a tremendous waste of water and real estate. I am now working on a plan to extend the run to replace a problem area in the garden, but one with a lot of sun.

At 2 in the afternoon, not a speck of sunlight

Shaded coop and new garden area

So once again, I have patio chickens;  and on occasion when the weather is nice and I have the door open,  I have kitchen chickens, too. They come for the cat food. Fortunately, Marguerite, the cat, likes only tuna, so Chicken of the Sea is the only chicken on the menu; it is perfectly safe for the girls to eat.

In the meantime, we had a little freeze last night, and my eggplants and basil are toast. We were just about to dig them up anyway, so letting the chickens do some of the digging for us works out really well for everyone.

Making hay in the freeze-damaged eggplant

The jury is still out as far as my egg production goes, although Dolley, my only consistent layer at this point, has stepped it up. I am hoping that the B-52 and Eleanor will soon follow.

A tale of two tushies

The end(s).