An Alternate Reality

That’s the name given to my new podcast.
.

It’s a format where I can give a voice to my observations and ramble a little bit about...oh, you know. Just life

An alternate reality sort of describes the way I’ve chosen to live.  I really don’t fit into the parameters dictated by society, especially for someone my age.

Born under mutable Gemini, I find myself constantly drifting from one expression of reality to another.  It follows me in my daily routine, (what routine??) and allows me to navigate through a sort of platform 9 3/4 on my way to whatever expression of myself I need to be to get the job done, whether I need to be a book-binder, a farmer, an energy worker, a writer, chief cook and bottle washer, accountant and book keeper, and/or just general dog’s body and go-for.

After a few years of living like that, I had sort of moved into a very narrow expression of myself, perhaps in order to move into the confines of each job I was asking myself to do.

“Wait a minute!”  I had to ask myself, “When did that happen??”  Time to let my mind expand again. Time to remember a more fluid way of doing this.  Time to release tightly woven bonds that have crept in...the learned patterns that twine around me like ivy twining round a tree.  Eventually the ivy becomes a parasite that kills its host.

Yeah, so fair warning...If you listen to An Alternate Reality, you may be in for that kind of a ramble.  Also stories, essays, and just plain (or not so plain) observations about life in my little world, and the world beyond.

Spring Chick Progress Report

At three weeks this is the difference between a Cornish Cross chick and a Buff Orpington chick.  The Cornish X are bred for fast growth.  They are a broad breasted meat bird.  The Buff Orpington are heritage birds.  They are good egg layers, good moms (they go broody), and are not bad meat birds, (though I have no personal experience with a Buff Orpington on my table).

I took this photo to illustrate the difference in size since both these birds are three weeks old.

Which is why I had to separate them 10 days after their arrival.

54 chicks started out in this 100 gallon stock tank.

 















I lost 4 of them over the first three days, which left 50 birds.  Or so I thought.  (It turns out when I went to separate them out, that I had an extra bird-hooray!)

By the time they were 2 weeks old, the Cornish X were so much bigger than the Buff Orpington chicks that they seemed packed in like sardines

I had just been waiting until they feathered out a bit to move the Cornish X out to the lean-to on the south side of my house where I keep the brooders.  And after two weeks their wings had feathered out enough for me to feel comfortable about moving them out of the house.

That left a lot more space in the tank for the remaining 15 Buff Orpington chicks plus one unidentified bird (it looks like a Cornish X, but is small like the Buff Orps.  And since they hadn’t feathered out much at all, they are still indoors.

And here they are now at three weeks old.

The red heat lamps make it hard to see them in photographs, but you can see they have a lot more room to move about.

And this is the Cornish X in their brooder at two weeks old.

And here they are a three weeks old for comparison.

You can really see the growth in just one week, the box looks much fuller than in the first photo.  And since there are 35 birds in this 4’ x 4’ brooder, I imagine that they will be ready to move again in a week.

In good weather, the ideal scenario would be to move them outside at 4 weeks, but during this time of the year, with the colder temps, that will depend on them getting more fully feathered out.  They are nearly there, so I may get them outside in a week.

At 5 weeks, I expect to be able to move the Buff Orpington chicks into the brooder, but again-that depends on how far along their feathers are.  Still, I do have three heat lamps and it stays quite toasty in the brooder when I use all three.

After 5 weeks, I will be more than ready to have my dining room back.  Those little guys generate so much dust.  But I must admit, they also generate pure joy in the house.

A Sunny Day

Esmerelda sleeping in the sun.

Hooray!

The taxes are done! The taxes are done!  Now I can go back to living my life again.

Looking forward to building the fence for the new hen yard.

Yesterday, Mike commented on how Ruby was making a lot of racket on the porch, which is unlike her, so I poked my head out to see what she wanted.  She wasn't the only one out of the hen yard.  Two of her offspring were out too.  I heard the cozy low crooning of a contented hen very close as I stood on the porch, and turned to see that one of the Peeps had gone back to the place she was hatched and was building a nest from the old straw that was still left in that spot up against the house.  When she left the nest later, I could see she had laid a big girl egg.  Another hooray!

Raining

We're having a rainy afternoon in the South Puget Sound area.

The cats are snoozing, Mike is reading, and I am working on our income tax return.

Seems like a good day to write instead, but someone's gotta do it.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go...

Here's a page from Hearth & Home vol 1 Summer.  I really do have more of them to release, but this one is the only one that made it to print so far.

Sticking To The Plan

It's a crazy ol' world.  And you can lay all that craziness at the feet of human beings.

Today I went on a quest to find 8 ft T posts so I could finally build the fence to the new chicken yard and thus make the garden safe from poultry.  You'd think I was trying to build a skyscraper from toothpicks or something equally ludicrous.

Finding fence posts...It shouldn't be hard.

But the world has gotten complicated and me, with my take on what it is to be a responsible consumer, well that just makes it that much more complicated.  I know this, but I am also too stubborn to give in merely for the sake of convenience.

I began my quest by traveling across town to the west side.  There is a Habitat for Humanity store, and I wanted to see if they had fence posts.  Nope.  But they did have my sink.  Not the sink of my dreams, but a pretty incredible one and for a great price.  So I bought it.

Then I went next door to the True Value Hardware store, because on line it said they had 8 ft fence posts, but nope.  They only had 6 ft. posts.  but I did buy a scrub brush, because it was a stiff natural bristle brush set in wood.  And with my stubborn resistance to buying plastic, I snapped it up.

Then I went next door to the Good Will store just in case they might possibly have fence posts, which they didn't.  But they did have really cheap enamel pans and I had been looking for cheap water pans for the chickens...again, not plastic.

Yes, lots of great stuff that has been on my list, but no fence posts so far.

I headed home and said a prayer that Mike wouldn't rain on my parade about the sink.  But on the way I checked out Lowe's.  They also only had 6 ft posts.  Pretty wretched Lowe's.

When I got home, I thought I'd quietly haul the sink via wheel barrow into the back yard.  No easy task, since it took two strong men to load it into my car.  (Double cast iron porcelain sink.)  I eased it into the wheel barrow, and got it as far as the back gate, when Mike came outside and gave me a hand.  He thought it was a good deal and a nice sink.  I think he was relieved that I got it at Habitat instead of at an antique store.

After telling him I'd had no luck finding fence posts, he got on line and announced to me that True Value had them.  I told him I'd been to the one on the west side and they didn't have the size I needed. We decided to try the one down town, so I called them.  Yes, they had 8 ft T posts in stock.

Hooray!  Mike and I drove into town, and he helped a young man load the fence posts into our car, while I was inside paying for them.  When I got out to the car, I noticed that the posts were different, but didn't know why.  When we got them home, I realized that they were made in China.

What's the difference? you may be asking.

Let's just say that for reasons of my own, I specifically sought out posts that were made in the US.  The True Value Website shows that the fence posts they carry are made in the US.  It didn't occur to me to check because I believed their website.  It's the ol' bait and switch.  Maybe not intentionally...but maybe?

I was angry.  You know, the kind of angry when you've been led down the garden path.  Nothing to shout about or anything, but it is typical business as usual in corporate America and it makes me mad every time it happens.

I could just keep them, and get on with my project.  But I knew I would never be happy about it.  I also knew that every time I looked at my fence I would get angry.  I told Mike that I was disappointed, frustrated and getting angrier by the minute.  He double checked the website and saw that I was right.  What probably convinced him was the sticker on the post driver that declared the product to contain toxic chemicals known to cause cancer and birth defects...Translated that means that there is lead in that there red paint.  I also wondered about the paint that was already chipping off the posts.

I told Mike I had to take them back, and he helped me load them back into the car.  He often thinks I'm crazy, but he gets this.

When I got back into town, I suddenly felt happy.  That's when I knew I was doing the right thing.

If you know me at all, you probably know that I work to eliminate plastic from my life, and try to reduce waste, and I am an advocate for organic sustainable local food production.  But that isn't all there is to it for me.  I also take my role as a consumer very seriously.  In my life time I have watched local businesses and even whole economies ruined by multinational corporations and I am not okay with that.  And it has shaped my habits and my strategies as a consumer.  It has been the reason I always choose local first, and often go without certain things for long periods of time and sometimes all together, to keep me from betraying my principles.  It is the reason I shop at antique stores and second hand stores, and the reason why if I have to buy from corporate America (which is everywhere), I want to know where the product was made, because it will be one of the deciding factors whether I buy or not.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not against corporations in general...just their practices and ethics.  There's an old saying that may be familiar to certain movie fans, which goes "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."  That about sums it up.

I had no trouble returning the fence posts, but I did have trouble finding something to replace them.  So today I struck out at seven stores.  Even at the big box stores.  So add totally disgusted to the list of emotions experienced in the quest for the simple domestic 8 ft T post.  It's just fence posts for God's sake, not a rare mineral or secret plans or a living coral reef (since we're mentioning hard to find items here).

I returned home totally defeated, and told Mike that I would have to try Lewis County or Mason County next.  Then I suddenly remembered something..."What's the name of that little farm store on highway 99 out by the airport?"

Mike didn't know, but he found it on line.  Kipperts Korner Feed.  I called and this time I asked all the pertinent questions.  "Do you have 8 ft T posts in stock?" "Yes." "Are they the green and white made in the US posts?" "Yes."  "I need a dozen.  Do you have that many in stock?" "We have 500 of them in stock."  Now that's my idea of a farm store.  In response to my enthusiasm, she said "I love it when I give all the right answers!"  I told her she was a blessed angel and that I would be there in the morning.

And Kipperts is local.  Maybe that's why they carry what people need instead of what they want to force us to buy.

Garden Build Day!!

Hooray!  I have my garden beds.  And they're beautiful!

Three people from GRuB arrived at 10:30 am on the dot with a truck load of soil and this beautiful lumber.



Within 2 hours we had these three beds built and filled and the trellis built, too.







They also left me with these lovely plants.

They were such a pleasure to work with.  Fast and efficient and friendly.  It was a wonderful experience.


And they loved the chickens. :)


I feel good right now, but I wonder how I'll feel tomorrow after shifting that much soil.

I can't wait to see food actually growing abundantly on this land.

Later that afternoon...

I went out and walked the beds, pruning any branches away that would interfere with the trellis and putting down straw to make the paths look tidy.

It began raining in the sunshine, so I had to get a picture of that.

The air smelled amazing.  I love that smell of water in the air.

I spent a moment connecting with the spirit of the land.  It approves.

And look...Pachamama is apparently purple.

Zoë and I were sitting on the porch snuggling while we watched it rain, and I suddenly got the impulse to see the sky behind me.

Oh yeah.  Glad I checked it out.

Seems like a good sign to me.

#FeelingBlessed

First Egg??

Yesterday I cleaned out the hen house because I had a fresh bale of straw on hand and 9 chickens make quite a bit more of a mess than 4.

This is the result of my labors.  A tidy little hen house.  And the smell of fresh clean straw!

While I was in there I found 3 eggs, which is two more than usual.  (Ruby is the only layer currently.  Good ol' Ruby!)  And I've been waiting for the peeps to start their careers as egg layers.  It looks like that is beginning to happen now.  They'll be 20 weeks on Sunday, which from what I read is about average.

It's difficult to tell the scale of the eggs in this picture, but the two on the left were found about two weeks ago and are less than an inch and a half long.  I was hoping they were the beginning of one of the peeps egg laying cycle, but as it turns out, I believe it was the end of Tricksy's.  

Tricksy has a cycle.  She laid eggs steadily for four months when she first started, and then she took a long vacation (March through August to be exact), and since that time, she lays eggs for about two to three weeks in the fall and two to three weeks in the early spring.

Why do I keep her?  Because she takes care of Rocky.  When Rocky's wing was hurt, she was his guard during the day, and snuggled up to his injured wing to keep it warm at night and Rocky is now all better, and back to his ol' self.  

Tricksy and Rocky are like a comfortable couple who have been together for years.  I wouldn't break that up for anything.

So getting back to the photo, the egg on the right is the one I collected on Friday, and is still quite small.  I believe that egg to be a real first effort by one of the peeps.  This photo will give you a better idea of scale...

Look what happens when I add Ruby's egg to the photo.  And a tape measure for scale.  Then you get an idea of how small these eggs really are.

But wait--there's more!

Yesterday was April Fool's Day.  And it looks like one of my peeps has a sense of humor, because I did find a third egg in the hen house.  And here it is...

I kid you not.  

I cracked it open and half expected some alien life form to emerge, but no...nothing more than egg white, just as with any under sized egg.

And so the truth is that I still have to continue exercising patience while I wait to find out if my peeps will be egg layers.  Will I get more of these malformed eggs, or is this just an early manifestation that will eventually lead to perfectly formed eggs of normal size?

So tonight when I went out to the hen house, there wasn't an egg to be found.  All of the nesting boxes were empty.  Patience...patience...

But I noticed that for the first time, all four of the pullets looked different, so their plumage is changing and they are beginning to look like individuals.  I commented to them and said, "now you will have to tell me your names."  Two of them looked at me like they were trying to oblige, but the sun was setting and I was suddenly very aware of how cold I was getting.  So naming day will have to wait.

I couldn't resist taking this picture though.  They all look so cozy and happy.  Which makes me happy.

Amazing that a little 6' x 6' shed will hold 7 full sized hens and 2 roosters comfortably.

Spring & Outdoor Living

Esmerelda is helping.

It's such a gorgeous day that I'll be darned if I'm going to be stuck indoors even to do my dishes.

So I set up an outdoor dish washing station using this perfect old table my mom found.  Just the right height and size for this job.  It will definitely do until I get a more permanent set up.

And I can keep an eye on the chickens who yearn for adventure and are always trying to get out of their own very large yard.

What??  How did she get up there?

The reason I ran for the camera was because I heard a commotion (Sparky was beside himself and making the dickens of a row!) because there was a chicken on the roof of the hen house.  By the time I got outside with my camera, she was on the clothes line.  Sparky didn't recover until she flew back into the yard.

And look!  I think she laid an egg!!  I saw her sitting next to the nesting box about 20 minutes earlier, and now I see there is an egg there, in it's own little nest in the straw.  She's also busy cleaning up the hen house.  Hmmmm.  I wonder about that.

You can see the little egg in the straw at the bottom of the ladder next to the nesting box.

I think it's time to find out this little girl's name, since she's laying eggs now.  I'm so excited about this.

One more picture and then back to work.

Good job Sparky!  Way to stay on top of things!

Spring Mysteries

Rocky has somehow injured his wing.  

He came flying out of the hen house on Saturday morning like he always does, and landed wrong.  He lay on the ground and I came running over in alarm to see what was wrong.  When he got up his wing was sticking out a bit, and the feathers were disarranged.

I felt my stomach lurch a little and said a quick prayer.  Then began watching him to observe his reactions.  I did some energy work with him, and decided to leave him alone.  I know from experience that it's hard to give your animal space when they are ill or injured, but it really is in their best interest.  I didn't want my over concern intruding on his space.  What do humans know anyway, about the ways of nature.

Later that day I did some more energy work.  And his wing seemed to shift position on his body and look more relaxed.  Also he began preening himself, and his feathers came back into alignment.

I had a full day of work including clients to see for BodyTalk, so I allowed my attention to disengage from him once more.

By evening thanks to the beautiful weather we were having, the temperature dropped and I noticed when I closed the door on the hen house that the hens were snuggled up to him, keeping him warm and he had his head tucked under his good wing--something I've never seen him do.

He's been getting better daily, but there is still a problem with the wing and he has a rough time getting out of the hen house in the morning.  I'm determined to make some modifications in the interior today so he can get up in the mornings without injuring himself further.

With the exception of his wing not getting full extension, he seems nearly normal.  He crows and flaps, chases after hens and eats heartily.  It's a mystery to me how he injured his wing.  Did he do it coming out of the house on Saturday, or was it injured the day before, causing him to crash land on his way out the next morning?  Either way, the sooner I get them moved to their new "pasture" in my little half acre yard, the better I'll feel about the whole thing.  They'll have more cover and more to do.  The space is probably a little smaller, but not by much, and it will be new and interesting.

Animals get bored too and chickens are industrious.  If Ruby is bored, she will find a way to escape and get into a part of the yard, I don't want her in.  As soon as the garden gets planted by mid April, I want to make sure she can't get into it.  And that goes for the cats too, until it's well established.

Spring Weather

The weather has continued to be very fine, with bright sunshine and warmer temps during the day, though bone chilling at night.  Maybe it's just the contrast, because it doesn't seem to be freezing at my place in the night, but I'm reacting more to the cold in the mornings and evenings.  That cold mist that moves in overnight on sunny days.  Brrrrrrr.

But...Stuck Indoors Mostly

Unfortunately, I am mostly stuck indoors right now, though I'd rather be outdoors.  So I realized that I was being a dope!  Yes, I have to work on the income taxes right now, and it takes me a month usually, (because I'm too busy to organize my book keeping while it's happening during the year), but I could perhaps take everything outdoors to work on it??  That is, if I can see my computer screen.  

I must say though, that it has been easier this year, so I must have made some improvements in organization somewhere.

Organization is my biggest challenge at this stage of my life.  I prefer spontaneity to structure, but I am learning a new skill in taking on all these new tasks which require a schedule in order to meet all of my goals.  

My life is an interesting mix of mayhem and magic, which keeps things interesting. 

Having said that...I think I'll go wash my dishes outside now...who knows what might be going on out there.

Addendum

What did I tell you?  Even as I was getting ready to hit the publish button on this post, Ruby came knocking at the back door.  She just wanted to be social.

Spring Balance

I am enjoying this Spring more than I any I can remember.  There is just so much to anticipate right now.  Will the peeps lay eggs?  And if so when will they start?  And I’m looking forward to the garden build coming up in the first week of April.  Having a garden! Hooray!

I’ve taken my meditation practice out doors.  Indoors, there is so much going on that the walls seem to vibrate with thoughts, plans, stratagems, and to do lists all whirling around the house.  It’s too distracting.

Outdoors, I can still my mind easily.

Yesterday morning, I went outdoors as the full moon was hovering low in the sky.  I watched it set among the tree line as the sky brightened to the new day.  It set the tone for my whole day.

This morning the sky was too overcast to see the moon.  Instead the focus was on the morning sounds.  Incredible morning music of geese and birdsong.  Occasionally punctuated by the gravelly crowing of Rocky and the answering toy trumpet crowing of Sparky.   Starting the day this way brings me to center.

It carries me through as I do morning chores.  The sound of the metal buckets when I bring water and food to the hen house.  The slap of my wire gate, as it snaps back in place.  I walk the paths of my soon to be garden, and greet each plant, stone, insect or bird which calls out to my attention.

Once indoors, I can take that calm centered-ness with me.  And I light a candle to remind me to stay grounded today as I take on another busy day.  --To remind me to enjoy it all.  Living this way is a choice.  I either make a conscious decision to enjoy it, whatever I spend my time doing, or I become more bogged down, trying to keep my head above the water, mired in stress.

#StayingInLoveWithMyLife

The Kitchen Garden Project part 3

Pictures

Before

This is the quack grass and chicken scratched lawn that was my back yard.   You can see the large Rosemary bush and what is left of the old herb bed on the right side of the photo.  There are little animal trails still evident in the lawn, a remnant from when Ruby was raising her chicks right outside my back door.

Sod overturned in preparation for raised beds

 Looking the landscape over, I realized that the beds would be on a slope.  The ground here originally had a very gradual declivity sloping away from the patio.  Over time, and with the help of a mole infestation the ground sunk even more in this part of the yard, and became over run with weeds and quack grass.

I wanted the raised beds to be level and decided to get the site ready so on "garden building" day there would be no unexpected challenges.  I leveled the beds by placing sod from the higher side of the beds on the lower side, which evened things out nicely.  This photo shows the spot where two raised beds will go, and also the old herb bed in the back ground.

Originally, I thought I might place the third raised bed on the old herb garden site, but I decided on a different location for it.  I've been burying rotten wood and compost in that old herb bed, and hope to coax it back to productivity now that I've removed the invasive alkanet.

Alkanet growing under my Rosemary bush, looking like a harmless ground cover. If allowed to continue, it will overwhelm the entire site. This alkanet can grow to approximately 2' in diameter in all directions with flower stalks even taller.

While digging the sod, I was careful to take the pieces with quack grass and toss them over the fence to the chickens.  They enjoyed scratching through the clumps for bugs and worms, and ate the grass as well.  I've learned not to turn the quack grass in to compost, because the rhizomes continue to grow and invade the garden site  creating a mesh and chocking out all other plants.  The chickens made short work of it, as well as the large dandelion plants I also dug out.

I'm also taking the opportunity to give my back yard a make over, which is why I was so careful when deciding where the raised beds would go.  Now that I've reinforced the chicken fence, and made it taller, it has (at least for now) stopped the chickens from over running my back yard.  I couldn't blame them for wanting to keep coming back, because the chicks began their lives there.  But I have plans for that part of the yard.

Besides growing food there, I want to create an outdoor kitchen and I want to restore the yard back to a place where the cats can enjoy being outdoors.  With the advent of the chickens, the cats have been all but crowded out of their special, safe, fenced in yard.  And Buddy won't even go outside anymore, because he worries about those strange birds in the yard.  He doesn't trust that they will stay on their side of the fence.

And the chickens have attracted the neighborhood cats, making them determined to get into the yard, which they do by climbing a nearby tree outside the fence, and jumping onto our roof.  This is causing stress on my cats and I worry about fights.  My new plan of action includes moving the chickens outside of the cat's yard and into their very own overgrown part of the yard with more cover.  That part of my yard is very wild, so it will require new sturdy fencing and I will have to move the chicken house.  In it's place, I dream of constructing a small green house where I can start garden plants in the winter, but that may be a ways off.

The outdoor kitchen takes precedence because starting this time of year, I almost can't stand to be indoors.  Last summer, the only way I could get my dishes washed was to set up a dish washing station on the patio so I could be outdoors.  I want to have something more permanent and primitive/cute/rustic in design but very functional.  Instead of plastic tubs on the table, I want something more like this...





Preferably with a dual compartment sink.  These are just too cute.  If I had something like this in my yard, I'd love doing dishes.

For now, this is my yard.  Make over on the horizon.

The Kitchen Garden Project part 2

After the pre season orientation for the Kitchen Garden Project, we got into a pretty stormy patch of weather.  So I took the opportunity to go through my Growing Guide provided by GRuB to help get people started.

I made a list of all the vegetables I want to grow.  I made my planting schedule and then I made the garden map.

Today we had some really good weather, so I went outdoors and sort of prepped the area where the raised beds will be.

Because I want to put them on a spot that slopes, I wanted to make sure that the beds would be level.  I dug the grass out in some spots and filled it in at the bottom of the slope to make it level.

During this process, I got a call from the electrical inspector telling me he would be at my house in about 30 minutes, so I set the timer and kept working outside.  I was out back and listening for someone driving in, just in case he was early.

I didn't hear him drive in, but Rocky did.  The best watch dog in the world is my Rooster.  He always tells me when someone drives in.  He uses the same voice to alert me as he uses when a hawk flies through the neighborhood.  Fed Ex,, a contractor, or anyone else, if I'm out in the back yard, I can always tell that I need to go answer my door when he makes that sound.

After the electric inspector left, Mike came outside and took one look at the bed I had just prepped (a 4' x 8' patch of freshly dug earth), and wanted to know what the heck I was doing.  He was suspicious of the dimensions coupled with the fact that he's been kind of a pain lately.

By the end of the day, I had 2 spots ready for raised beds, and a third spot mostly ready.  I just need to transplant some irises and I'll be finished.  It's strange about the irises.  They've never bloomed here.  They used to bloom profusely before I moved them to this location.  This is one of the reasons why getting raised beds with good soil is so important to me.  Plants don't really thrive here.

I also pulled out all of the alkanet which grows like a noxious weed in my yard.  And here's the story about that.

I used to have tons of foxglove in my yard.  I also used to have lots of borage.  And I've grown comfrey in the distant past.  Alkanet fooled me into thinking it was one of these three plants, and so managed to get established on my land.

One year a plant came up in my yard under the birch tree, where the foxglove used to grow, and I was thrilled.  Hooray! I hadn't seen foxglove in my yard for a couple of years.  I was very careful not to mow it, and encouraged it when it began springing up in other places, including my herb bed.

Yikes! This plant was Alkanet.  (Not the purple dye Alkanet, but plain ol' Alkanet).  It gets gigantic, and spreads everywhere!  You should see the root on this thing.  And it choked out many of my smaller herbs.  I didn't think you could kill lemon balm or catnip, but this thing decimated those established herbs and put an end to my alpine strawberries too.  Only my violets moved out of the herb bed, and survived by finding new ground.  They even threatened to overwhelm the huge rosemary bush.

Last year I began removing the largest alkanet plants and it was no easy task, but I needed space for my potatoes, and since my herb bed was destroyed I decided to plant them there.  I have a feeling potatoes don't like ground where alkanet has grown, because they didn't do very well.

Another thing that fooled me, was that I let some small plants come up because I thought it was borage.  Yay! Borage!!  Well, alkanet is in the borage family, so it looks like borage seedlings when it first comes up.

It took me two years to figure out that this wasn't going to be foxglove, comfrey, or borage coming up in my yard, but by the time I identified this intruder, it was taking over.

Anyhoo, Now that I know it, I'll pull it as soon as I see it, while the tap root is still small.  I got most of it today, but I need to check the rest of the yard.  (I also need to check for scotch broom.  That stuff can really get out of hand!)

Back to the Garden Project though...I couldn't seem to stop.  After my weeding frenzy, I dug out a spot for the compost too.

The chickens loved the activity.  I threw the dandelion plants dug from the garden beds, over the fence to them.  And also large patches of quack grass that I didn't want in the compost.  Maybe when it gets hotter, but in its current state the rhizomes would probably grow in the compost pile.

Okay, I guess I have to stop writing because my computer is acting like it's possessed and doing all kinds of things I don't want it to, making it too distracting to enjoy writing.

Oh well.

House & Home

We had a new circuit breaker panel installed today.

Back in November when we were getting our home weatherized, it sort of came up in conversation (over and over) as we were getting the work done.

Not that anyone wants to make recommendations, but when people keep remarking on your electrical panel, you sort of make it a priority to deal with it.

Our Guardian Angel must be on the job.

Now we have a new panel, and it was remarkably painless.  We spent the day in front of the fireplace, because we were without electricity all day.

Last night, while we still had power, I cooked food for today.  This morning around 11 am after I got the fireplace good and hot, I reheated cornbread and baked potatoes and chicken all in the fireplace.  I meant to throw some veg into the chicken pot too, but got side tracked, so we had fruit instead.

We were only without power about 6 or 7 hours, but it really forced us to relax.  I had the added incentive to take it easy, because last night I injured my dominant hand trying to do too much to get ready for today, and I was kind of worried that it might affect my ability to bind books.  So I've been trying to watch it.

Still, it really limited my ability to get any real priority work done.  Cutting the inserts in boards before covering them with cloth to become a case binding, was definitely out.  So was any digging in the garden. I couldn't work on the taxes because my computer battery won't hold a charge, and I didn't really want to go all the way into town just to use my computer.  I had a really hard time sitting still.  Dishes were done.  Couldn't do laundry with the power out.  Couldn't vacuum.

I had a roaring fire going, with lunch heating.  There was nothing else to do, until I realized that it would be the perfect time to map out my new raised beds.

I had started it a few days ago, but hadn't gotten very far.  And the garden map is on paper...old school, so I didn't need my computer.  I spent the next two hours putting together an imaginary puzzle on graph paper, which finally became my planting map.  I had to coax my mind to remember how to think that way.  I used to "garden on paper" all the time, but it's been awhile now.

I am grateful that my injury and the day spent without power, forced me to sit in front of the fire and plan my coming garden.  It was so peaceful, for once.  Mike sat across from me reading, with Zoë on his lap.  And I had Esmerelda with me while I consulted my growing guide and mapped out the raised beds, taking occasional breaks to stoke the fire, and rearrange the foil wrapped potatoes, or turn the skillet.  (Buddy was in hiding.  He hates it when there are people working on the house and he reappeared the moment the electrician drove away.)

By 4 pm we had power back on and the house to ourselves once more.  Mike's first priority was to make coffee and mine was to pick up the newspaper we'd laid down and vacuum the carpets.  And I must add, the electrician was so clean, there was hardly a mark on the paper, and he cleaned up after himself so well we almost wouldn't have known any work had been done.  Friendly and professional.  It was such a relief to have a good experience.

Now it's the end of the day.  The cats have been fed, the chickens are tucked in.  Mike is snoozin' with the ball game on the radio (Mariners spring training schedule).  I'm winding down my day too...It's been a good one.

Buddy asleep on his face.  How does he breath??

Springy

It's been a dark sunny day today in the maritime northwest.  Spring has displayed her ability to paint a rainbow against a dark sky.  Sun-drenched trees dazzle, encrusted with glittering raindrops reflecting their prism colors as they cling to bare twigs.

Today was a day spent noticing things.  I will never take that aspect of my character for granted again.  After months spent being too busy to be present with my environment on a daily basis...I am seeing the magic again.  I have missed it.

Where did this face come from?  As soon as I ask the question, the answer comes to me.  A sprite uses the water droplets for a looking glass.  And what made me magnify this photo to even look for it?  The beaming visage invites me to open my awareness.  I've been missing too much.

Stories have been trying to get my attention today.

It's been over a year since I've written.  Life should never become too filled up doing things you do just to get by.

Since I had the camera in my hand I meandered through the yard, taking random photos.

The first thing that caught my attention was the forsythia in full bloom.  My mom had just asked me about it the other day during a phone conversation.  I could only remember seeing one sprig trying bravely to bloom.  I just assumed last summer's drought had taken it's toll on it, as it had so many other plants.  But here it is blooming magnificently.

Magic!

Tulip bulbs and Hyacinth will not survive here.  The furry ones that live under ground love those things.  I might as well be passing out candy to children.  But the daffodils...

They just keep coming.

 In fact, they're starting to spread out.

And speaking of spreading out...

Here's a flower that spreads where ever I plant it.  A welcome invasion.

I was noticing how much my front yard looks like a forest floor.  I'm sure my neighbors are horrified, but I'm very proud of it.  This is my lawn.

However, I have planted some "mistakes".  Apologies to the Hellebore plants for calling them a mistake, but they spread like a noxious weed, and I need to hone my gardening chops  if I'm going to keep them in check.  They have taken over, where there used to be alpine strawberry.  I really miss those little guys.

And another plant I rescued, struggling for life at the side of the road, was the money plant, or silver dollar as we called it when I was growing up.  I put it in my yard...it seemed like a good idea at the time.  If only my US currency would multiply as fast as the silver dollar plant.  One plant has become hundreds, and not very pretty at that.  

I have no one to blame but myself for that.

I'm afraid they choked out the native yellow wood violet that I planted there from my parent's woods before they moved.  I looked, but couldn't find any sign of that beautiful little plant.  Maybe my friend Rebbeckah has them in her woods...viola glabella.

Next, I visited the Oregon Grape.  It grows throughout my place, and I love it.  

And this showed up all over too--Indian Plum--in bloom at the moment.

Here's one I planted.  Pussy Willow given to me by my sister.  A start from my gramma's yard.  It's gotten so big, I can't even reach those little fuzzy guys.

See that?  I nearly missed seeing them.  They love this part of my yard.  The front is East facing, and dominated by a large old oak.  It's very foresty here.  The back is mostly like a field.  But the trees are moving in there too.  Cherry and little fir trees are popping up.  The trees that were already there when I moved here 15 years ago--the birch, and fruit trees--are old and kind of sickly, but as they are winding down, the little ones come in to replace them.  Lilac is being replaced by Hazel and the pink ornamental Cherry trees that were planted 20 years ago or more, are being replaced by the Bing Cherry trees that have grown wild in this neighborhood for decades.  

And it's all Nature.  I gave up trying to plant trees around here.  Only the trees that belong here can survive.  I have a row of dying arbor vitae, which were green and healthy before last summer's drought.

Having wandered around the front yard, I decided to visit the chickens.  I see them everyday, but I wanted to take pictures.

Here's Rocky.

He takes care of the flock.  Every night when I close the door to the hen house, I thank him for the Peeps and for watching the flock.  I count heads -5 peeps, 3 hens, and Rocky- and I am grateful that we got through another day without any losses, and that there are eggs in the box.

Yes, I really am that close to him.  But I'm not crazy enough to stand eyeball to eyeball with him without a fence between us.  In order to get a full picture of him, I had to stand back because whenever I get near enough to the fence to avoid having the wire in the photo, he has to be right there checking me out.  

See, even in this picture he's got his eye on me.

But what have we here?  

One of the Peeps is a Cockerel!  This is Sparky.  So far this is working out, but I don't know for how long.  My place is too small to support 2 flocks.  I love this little guy.  And he's not so little.  He's 16 weeks old today, and nearly the same size as his mom Ruby.  Of course, they all look small next to Rocky, who is twice as big as my full grown hens.  

Oh well, maybe I can manage two flocks if I have to.

But let's face it, I'd rather not.  Maybe by some miracle, Rocky will tolerate him somewhat.  Just sayin'.  Just prayin'...

Two full grown hens and two 16 week old Peeps.  Sparky and Ruby face to face.

Okay, just two more chicken pics.

Tricksy with Daffodils.  Yes, I know daffodils are poisonous.  Apparently chickens know that too, because I've never seen them eat one. 

All five Peeps are rarely together.  I'm constantly asking, "Where's number 5?" And then I see her with the hens or with Rocky.  There's always one isn't there?  The kid that just wants to hang out with the adults instead of with the other kids.  I put this picture in because I wanted to show how Sparky stands out from the others even though their coloring is almost identical.  He's had his red comb since he was about 5 weeks old.  They grow so fast.

This is Sparky back in December, leading the flock in the great escape.  They figured out how to jump up on this pallet and then how to fly over the fence--usually landing on me as I came out the back door.  You can see his red comb and even at 5 weeks, he stands out.

It'a been a really nice day today.  I didn't get ANY work done.  I need to have more days like that.  (feeding the animals doesn't really count as work, it's like feeding a myself or a family member)