April Adventures with an Injured Foot

For months now I have had an injured foot. On my second visit to a foot doctor, I was given some good taping techniques that are finally helping me to heal. Before that, I was sticking REALLY close to home, except when Zach was available to push me on the tricycle. Here are some of the things keeping us busy.

For Baby Claire, born a few weeks ago, I knit a tiny baby chick hat in the softest wool! I hope to have pics of the baby wearing it soon. Hint, Hint, Sunshine!

Boogedy earned a sticker for learning to make his own bed.

A shot of our house gecko before he gets spooked and runs into his hole. Is it a coincidence that this photo has cheerios for scale, or is that why he is here?

Forgetting that mommy is the Red guy and HE is the yellow guy.

The octopus-and-squid-painted stump in my neighborhood.

Watching the man at the softball diamond drive the tractor in ever-widening circles to smooth the red dirt. This activity (includes climbing up and down the bleachers) is good for 15 minutes of entertainment.

A special treat: seaweed salad from Faustos and some pesto tortellini.

New Games to Play

I spotted this game while looking for parking the other night. It was displayed on a table for FREE! This is a product that has been “girl-washed”…a toy that I’ve only ever seen in bright primary colors is now being marketed to the princess set. I found this a little bit gross, but will admit that I LOVE valentines day colors.

Prickly Pile Up is a game we’ve had for a year, but the Boogedy is just now getting enough fine-motor skills to enjoy it.

The game of setting these dice into patterns was good for a full hour of play. He got really upset if I messed this up. So I couldn’t help but make some of these “twos” when he wasn’t looking, just to see if he would notice.  He noticed.

This is not what the health department means when they offer free safety checks for carseat installation.

All of my neices and nephews should recognize this type of two-string pull-toy. Mom and Dad made chunky wooden ones shaped like stars and other fun stuff. This is a light-weight fairy at my friend Miss C’s house!

Last week when I went to the laundromat, I heard an adolescent chicken outside, in a panic….sqeaking for his mama. I found her inside, atop the laundry cart. Was she trying to teach him a lesson about staying close? She flew back out to lead him around a moment after this photo was taken.

Miss P got a package from her mother while I was at her house…a childhood Sunbonnet Sue quilt her late grandmother made. Now it will rest on the bed of one of her adorable girls!

 

 

 

Mid-January

Holy Cow!! I’m knitting lace! I’ve been attempting lace for years, but am just now experiencing success.

Mosca and Weasel

This is how we get our laundry to the laundromat around the corner. Yes, we wear our helmets.

The incredibly cool Island  Bike Shop loaned us this balance bike for a week for the Boogedy to try out. He’s getting better, after biffing it a few times.

The coolest Key West rooster I’ve ever seen. The main post office seems to host the prettiest breeds.

Some giant (18-30-inch-tall) colored glass bottles at ROSS. I wish the purple one would withstand the 3000 mile shipment to my sister in Salt Lake.

Roast Turkey Butt Hat

Zach’s been asking me for a grown-up version of the chicken butt hat I made for the Boogedy. He got it for xmas. ON TIME. I was madly sewing in ends on xmas eve!

Bawk Bawk-Finished Chicken Butt Hat

Photo Credit: Jama Rattigan

Here is an adorable photo of Erica Perl, author of the new children’s book “Chicken Butt!” sporting a very cool hat made my yours truly.

Erica contacted me a few months back and asked me to make a hat modeled on the one I made last year for the Boogedy, but before the plucking.

The body and drumsticks are white cotton, “Luna” by Cascade Yarns. The feet are also Luna, and they’re crocheted around a brown pipe cleaner for stability. The “feathers” are a polyester fluff yarn but I don’t remember the name.

This project was fun every step of the way (ok, the feet were a challenge) and elicited lots of laughs from people who watched me make it on the bus!

Congratulations Erica on a fun book, I’m so glad you trusted me to design your reading hat!

Chicken Butt Book and Hat

A few weeks ago, Erica Perl, a children’s book author, contacted me after seeing this post about a crazy hat I made last year. She has asked me to create something similar for her to wear while she does readings of her soon-to-be-released book, “Chicken Butt!”.

Erica sent a copy of the book to my son, and it happened to arrive on his birthday last week (the big 2!).  I can’t wait to develop a new fuzzy hat to go with this adorable book. The silly text and great illustrations gave me a preview of our life two years from now when I have a joke-obsessed four-year-old.

Stirrings-Fresh Eggs

No. 3 in my collaboration “Stirrings” with Jen at Painted Fish Studio, wherein we search for signs of spring.

My chickens had very low egg production over the winter. But Spring is in the coop, and they’re all laying now! Perhaps the longer days are responsible for their new fecundity.Despite having had chickens for several years now, I still feel like they’re mostly Zach’s hobby and I don’t know much about their biology and laying habits.

They’re cute, though, when I step out the back door and holler CHEEK-INS! Cheek-ins! Bock bock bock bock! and they run their funny wobbly run to see what treats I brought. Banana is the favorite snack.

I didn’t know chickens could act insulted until I offered them brussels sprout leaves and carrot peals.

Forgive me while I write, once again, about chickens

Each winner of the chicken-naming contest received one of these handmade chicken magnets for their fridge. Meldrick (red), Lady Tremaine (aqua), and Ugly Betty (green).

The chickens are made from home-dyed woolen fabrics and felts, yarn, cotton floss, beads, sequins, and stuffin’. They have strong magnets sewn inside. This was a fun project for waiting in line at the DMV to register the van on April 30th.

Here you can see them together, holding up our household “star chart”. Our 7-year old great-niece lives with us and is such a picky eater; almost as picky as her mom! So we created this start chart so that they both can earn stars for trying new foods. When the chart is full, we have to buy them a prize! Zach and I earn stars for turning down foods that we really shouldn’t be eating (my chart should be full of donuts and breakfast cereal, but so far I haven’t turned down much!!)

The lovely ladies (ok, they could still be gents)

Thanks to everyone who entered the chicken-naming contest! Here are the winners.

My sister Jeaka successfully named our suspected rooster, Meldrick the Magnificent. Meldrick is now practicing his crow, and will be leaving his sisters to live in Sandy as soon as he starts waking up our neighbors.

And these two dames are Lady Tremaine, Evil stepmother in training (on the left, Thanks Kaitlyn!) and Ugly Betty (suggested by Aunt Sue).

Winners, your prizes are in the mail! Sneak Preview:

These Chickens Ain’t Got No Names!

My chicken story. And afterward, a contest!

Last year we started keeping chickens. First came Prudence and Dame Judy, both of whom are no longer with us. Then came four adorable bantams, two black ones (Spooky and Silver-Backed Gorilla); a fluffy-booted, matronly white hen named Hollywood Madam; and our favorite tiny white girl “Heart of a Champion” heehee.

When we went to the hardware store for coop-building materials last summer, I told Zach very firmly that he was not to build a rickety ramshackle piece of crap that would look terrible in our ever-improving backyard. The end result is this $900 Chicken Chalet, with nicer windows than our house. It was a bit of poor communication on my part (I never intended to spent THAT much), but I have to admit it’s the nicest coop I’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately, last autumn before the door was put on, a racoon got in and butchered all the banties. We were heartbroken!

The raccoon did not kill the imposing Kai und Kai, named after a same-named couple we knew in San Francisco. These two hawkish hens lay BIG eggs and are inseparable.

We also had a rooster named Fidel for a while, but he was too loud for the neighborhood (we think he’s the one who announced to the raccoon world Chickens! Chickens to Eat!) so we gave him to a friend with more land in Sandy.

I believe you met Curly Coquinche last week (she lays tiny little eggs!):

The contest part? Here are three fancy pants chickens we received for xmas. It shames me to admit that they have no names!!

If you have ever photographed free-range chickens, you know that they do not stand still. The chickens are unsexed, so may turn out to be roosters, in which case they’ll be looking for homes in less urban environments.

Please use the comment area to enter your names for my chickens. The winners of the naming contest will receive a handmade chicken-item, which I am madly designing now! The deadline is April 21. GO!