it’s not a golden egg

Yesterday, either Pip or Priscilla laid her first egg – which is also sort of my first (goose) egg. So even if this isn’t golden, it’s pretty darn special. Our geese are Pilgrim geese which are listed in critical status on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and I hope to do my small part in expanding their numbers.

Are you asking why it’s dirty? If you’re going to incubate eggs, you must not wash them first. Waterfowl lay their eggs on the ground without the benefit of making a nest (my ducks will actually bury their eggs in the straw bedding, no matter how dirty it is). Obviously I wash any eggs that we’re going to eat or sell.

I started Hooked Rabbit Pincushion last week and have picked away at it in the evening, but it’s not getting anywhere very fast, as you can see. The swirly fill between the rabbit and the diamond border is to blame. I don’t do swirls very well.

So I’ve set it aside today to pick up Primitive 6 by Dames of the Needle. How’s that for a catchy title? LOL. I picked this little darling up during the sale at Wydham Needleworks. Unfortunately most of the rest of my order wasn’t in stock (ABC Stitch, I love your system and wish all ONS would implement it!). Most sadly, the tiny “America” chart by The Goode Huswife was gone … I really wanted that for Independence day. But this is a cutie and shouldn’t take me too long.

This wrinkly thing is my take-along project. The filling is endless and brainless, so I stuff the project bag into whatever other bag I’m taking when I head off someplace and put in 20 minutes here or there. Eventually, it’ll be done. The colors are much nicer IRL but every picture I’ve taken of this, the colors look flat.

I’ve saved the best for last. On Saturday, the mailman delivered a little surprise for me from BeckySC that I was not expecting. In her card, she said she’d found this at a little shop and thought of me. I LOVE it and it’s hanging in the kitchen near the big poster of a Plymouth Barred Rock rooster. Becky, you’re so sweet. It was wonderful to feel spoiled and special. Thank you!!

And that’s about it from me for today. I’m sorry to neglect blogging a bit, but it’s a busy time of year (as opposed to all the other busy times of year, LOL!) and although I’m not around as much, you can rest assured that I’m having a grand time. I hope you are, too!

so very, very much

It’s busy. But wonderful. Would that make it wonderfully busy, or busily wonderful?

In between helping out at the free tax prep clinics, doing schoolwork, mucking the barn, and lots of other pleasant demands on my time, I’ve been enjoying having the kids home for February vacation this week. Although it seems we haven’t actually seen much of them. Rowen had an overnight at a friend’s house, and my Mom watched the boys while Niek and I had our own taxes prepared (unfortunately, not at the free clinic), and yesterday two of my aunties came down from Bar Harbor & Ellsworth to celebrate everyone’s birthday (sadly, Aunt Kathy and Uncle George couldn’t make it due to ill health).

We had a great time celebrating the kids’ birthdays. As one Aunt put it, “We can’t really make it down for each one, so we thought it would be fun to have one big party” – and that, we did! The kids were spoiled rotten and enjoyed every nanosecond of it.

The aunties love Rigby, so he was right in the thick of things as well – can’t you just feel the love?

We started with a feast, but no one got pictures of that. I did manage better with the blowing out of the candles, though.

And then there were gifts. Huge, wonderful, numerous, glee-inducing gifts.

And the packaging was pretty fabulous, too. Nick fit entirely inside the bag that held his gifts and started a sack race around the dining room.

In amongst all the frivolities, I noticed that our batch of Maran eggs were hatching – early! I bought a dozen eggs from a like-minded FB friend who plans to buy a dozen Barnevelder eggs from me later in the spring. When I warned her of the cold temps here, she attached 40-hour heat packs to the packaging, and clearly labelled the box that I was to be notified when they arrived at the local PO to avoid them being dragged around in the cold while the postman made rounds. Naturally, the PO ignored the labeling. And of course it was a day that I was out of town on business. And so it would follow that he mail carrier simply left them sitting on the front steps … in 22 degree weather. All. Day. Long. I never expected them to hatch but put them in the incubator anyway. About halfway through the incubation cycle, I didn’t see any signs of viable life and was ready to throw them out … but I got busy, and several days passed before I could get to it. When I double checked, just in case, lo & behold, they WERE developing! The first egg hatched last night, and was joined this morning by a brother or sister. There are four more with holes that will hopefully hatch this morning, and then another 4 that I hope will hatch. Two of the bunch were obviously infertile – but given how miraculous this has been, I left them in the incubator anyway! These chicks will join my own flock, enabling me to offer more “chocolate egg layers” next year for sale. Marans are beautiful, very calm birds, which makes them a nice addition to the flock, and the dark brown eggs they lay have become a favorite at the marketplace where I sell eggs.

I’ve even made a start to Hooked Rabbit Pincushion, by The Goode Huswife! I’ll share a picture of that next time. Thanks for visiting!

it feels like it’s been ages

… since I last posted, but I guess it’s just that the days have been so very, very full. If anyone has any hours to spare, please deposit them directly to my time account … I need them!

I have finished Soft as a Bunny. Yesterday afternoon when I should have been typing the umpty-millionth version of my next class paper, I instead finished this design. I have to admit that I like the other ones from the series better – too many pastels in this one. And I goofed and stitched the ribbon in cameo pink instead of cherry wine – but as much frogging as went on with this seemingly simple design, I was not going to change it. Nicky hasn’t seen it yet, but hopefully it will meet with his approval.

And an arty, off-center perspective:

Valentine’s Day was a bust, though I did make a pretty awesome dinner. Dessert eclipsed it entirely though – fresh fruit over vanilla ice cream with homemade lemon syrup and fudge sauce. Mmmmm.

And that’s about all I can fit into this post-on-the-fly accounting of life at Chateau Chaos! Thanks so much for visiting!

it’s all about the critters

I could regale you with stories about our latest snowstorm, or enchant you with pictures of the winter wonderland that surrounds us … but I’m not going to. Today, it’s all about the critters – those furry family members who get so little attention here despite how much space they take up in my heart.

Last Friday, a neighborhood stray cat who’s been here longer than we have was in obvious distress. He and I have had many a talk during the past two years – he’s always been curious and even shown signs of friendliness so I always chat with him when I encounter him. When I saw that he was in very bad shape on Friday, I decided it was time to capture him. (I should have done this last winter, and I’m ashamed I didn’t. For what it’s worth, I have discussed him with the animal control officer but nothing ever came of it.) Capturing him turned out to be very easy – he came up on the back porch and began to beg at the door. I guess he knew where to go when the going got rough. He walked right into the cat carrier and ate some food; once that was gone, he laid down on a towel and waited for whatever would come next. Our vet squeezed me in and. given the tomcat’s many injuries, we decided to keep him there for observation. Both the vet and I were amazed by how tractable Tom was and by how quickly he began to perk up once his injuries had been addressed, he’d been given antibiotics and pain meds, and had been de-bugged. I picked him up this morning and he’s living in our “spare” goat barn while he continues to heal and recover from many years of rough living as well as whatever trauma landed him in his current critical condition. The vet thinks he’ll be strong enough to put under to be neutered in about 2 weeks, and once that’s done, we’ll move him into the house. He’s a scarred-up old Tom, but what a bundle of love – he just can’t get enough of being petted and talked to. The pictures don’t do him justice – his eyes are permanently damaged from years of fighting (the photo editor “corrected” them in one picture, and I left them washed out from the flash in the other), his neck is wider around than his belly, and even after being cleaned up he doesn’t look like someone you’d want to meet in a dark ally. But we’re glad to have him as the newest part of our family.

Max had the wonderful idea of making Tom a toy – possibly his first toy ever! He collected fresh feathers from the chickens, got a jingle bell from my stash, and did all the design, cutting, and sewing himself. And then … Flip decided it was for him. LOL! Max was a good sport and was glad to have made at least one of the cats happy.

Rowen, not to be outdone, decided she would make a dog toy for Rigby and Lola. She designed it and cut the felt herself, but I blanket stitched the edges. When she presented it to Rigby, I swear he looked humbly grateful for it.

There are also critters in the stitching world, as I stitch and frog and restitch my way through BoaF’s Soft as a Bunny. Since I’m stitching the bunny from the bottom up, I’ll wait till he’s done before sharing a picture – he looks a little strange without a head.

The critters who were not in today’s post all want to say hey to everyone, so consider yourself snuffled, licked, head-butted, jumped-upon, clucked-at and all loved-up in high critter style. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy a wonderful week!

a quick gasp of air

February is insane for us, with Nick and Rowen’s birthdays only 3 days apart. When they were younger, we simply combined them … but of course that doesn’t work out as they become older and want to do things with their own friends that are usually pretty gender-specific. Sigh. This year, Rowen’s party was first because Nick wanted to schedule his later so as not to overlap the birthday celebrations of one of his best friends. Both kids are having slumber parties complete with pizza, popcorn, movies, and … noise. LOL. We survived and enjoyed Rowen’s gaggle of giggly girls, so I suspect the all-boy part will be a cakewalk in comparison.

I was at ‘work’ when Rowen’s friends arrived (in addition to everything else, the free tax program that I volunteer for begins the first Saturday in February) but I heard she greeted them with, “Aha – the gift-givers are finally here!” Nothing like cutting to the chase. She had also printed a sheet of rules that were to be obeyed:

Despite the Attitude (yes, that capital was intended), the girls had a great time. Rowen’s birthday wish was top secret, but involved horses and bacon … leaving me a little curious, I must admit.

The past week was consumed by classes, work preparation, birthdays (even without parties, cake is called for!), and … haircuts! All three of the younger kids had drastically different haircuts (thanks to the amazing talent and patience of Andrea Guerra at Bella Vita Salon!). Unfortunately, my camera was hiding and I didn’t get immediate pics when the kids were looking so freshly-groomed and gorgeous. But here’s Arden at Rowen’s party, after enjoying some chocolate cake (ignore that dirty face, please!).

Although there wasn’t time for stitching during the week, I did manage to finish Curious as a Cat last night. Silly thing would’ve been done last weekend, but I messed up the tail and had to frog it. Groan - I swear there is not a pattern simple enough for me to stitch it flawlessly the first time around! This is for Arden and he is very happy with it. I put the first 50 stitches or so into Soft as a Bunny, which Nicky chose, but it hardly merits a photo.

And I finished the most amazing book this week – The Book of Salt by Monique Truong. It was so good that the moment I finished the last page, I wanted to start it anew. Unfortunately, I borrowed it from a friend and need to return it … but I think I’ll buy a copy, just so I can re-read it!

Whatever your week holds, I hope it makes you happy. Thanks for visiting!

and again – can you imagine this day 8 years ago?

Rowen’s birthday follows right on the heels of Nick’s, making our February very exciting indeed. Rowen’s celebrating with a gaggle of giggly girls who’ve spent the night (so if there are any typos, that’s my excuse). We’ll soon sit down to a breakfast fit for a princess of chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and ice cream. At the risk of going all mushy, I can’t believe our little girl is already eight, and so grown up already in so many ways. Love you, Ro!

 

it’s a birth-day here at chateau chaos

If you see this goofy, handsome, smart, exhausting, fun-loving boy wandering around, make sure you wish him a Happy Birthday!