Back to the Blog

Hi.

It is February 1st and I really haven't "blogged" in a while, but that's ok. It happens.

We have been enjoying, and sometimes not enjoying, the ups and downs of the North Texas winter. 70's one day and 30's the next will drive anyone's nose to drip at an alarming rate. We have chickens. We love them. Really, they are awesome and you should get some too.




Our girls love them. And they lay eggs... giant eggs. Did I mention that the girls love them?




We made cards for Thanksgiving.



I spun some yarn... dyed by the lovely Dawn of Daybreak Dyeworks.



The girls colored pictures of chickens.




I spun some more.... Daybreak :)



And I bought some fiber... from Daybreak Dyeworks!



I cut up a quilt.



The girls busted out their water colors.

And I spun more Daybreak - surprise!



I washed a fleece.



Crocheted one of these crazy hats.





Made Helen cry by trying to take a picture of her new sweater... a Bulle.



And some other stuff... including...

Starting to read a couple books.

The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart of Eternity by Sally Clarkson

and 

Our Lady of Fatima by William T. Walsh

Ordering a bunch of seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, so that we can pretend to be real farmers.

I also roasted a pretty darn good chicken last week (from the store, not the backyard)!

That is about it, welcome February!

September Garden & Chicken Update

September was all about our garden (though I knit quite a bit too!).

This month we did some major plantings, tended some seedlings, and started construction of our much anticipated chicken coop. Garden work is not cheap, but it is very rewarding!

I am attempting to cultivate my "green thumb" which for the most part has been pretty black in the past. I think I have had issues with a few of the realities of gardening...

1. you have to garden outside, it is dirty, there are bugs, and you can't knit while gardening.
2. you have to actually water your plants... this is a big one for me.



So, rather than tilling up a patch of soil, I am keeping it small and close to the backdoor where my little seedlings are easily watched and watered. This is a collection of purple pole beans, kale, and cabbage.



We also planted Swiss chard in the flower bed! It is doing well :)



On a larger scale, we are adding to our "orchard" with three blackberry bushes and two fig trees.



This fig tree over looks the chicken coop, and the second fig tree is planted in the chicken yard. I hear chickens go crazy for figs :)

Here is a look at the progress on our coop. With the help of our next door neighboor we were able to get all this done in just a couple of hours!











The coop is a "hoop-coop" style inspired by a lot of internet searches! Primarily this Egg Shaped Hoop Coop and this very serious Permanent Hoop Coop. We chose this style because in the Texas Heat we knew our chickens would need a lot of ventilation, it is also a fairly reasonably priced coop for the number of chickens it can house comfortably. We plan to start our flock with twelve birds.