collection of random thoughts

I bought a she wee. They say to try it in the shower for the first time, and ew. I don't recommend that.  It's not that hard to use, try it outside or in the toilet to avoid pee splashes on your legs and a gross shower. No wonder men's rooms are so disgusting.

One of the chickens has egg drop syndrome. No wonder, since it's caught from waterfowl and we have plentiful options around here. There is an egret that likes to fish off our dock and crap in the yard, and I bet he's the source. We have had a gross and strange assortment of egg-like things in the coop lately. No doubt it will make its way around to the rest of the hens.

The hip. After years of intermittent pain, it's not going away anymore. Finally saw the doctor. Here's what's wrong. I figure because of that, this year I'll be meeting my insurance deductible, so there's that. I also saw the gyno to get my hormones checked and see if maybe that's the cause of this unrelenting fatigue.

Also lately I've been obsessed with veggie straws, grinding my own coffee, and ginger root supplements in the morning for the cranky belly (and whoa they do help).

Some things I've crocheted:

I have a whole bunch of flowers that I'm going to make into a garland.

This was supposed to be a heart. Fuck a magic circle.

Little bitty baskets to put things in. I played around with techniques to get a rounder basket vs a basket with a straight edge.

The flock

Let's meet the girls.

I got 5 grown hens from the local feed store. I showed up on a Friday morning with 2 large amazon boxes with airholes cut into them, and the guy cracked up at the creativity. They were living in cages packed so tightly, I feel like I rescued them. The first day they rolled around in the dirt like they'd never seen it. And they probably hadn't. 

They are all red star hens, and I couldn't tell them apart so after about a week I put a different color zip tie on their legs. Except for one. She was supposed to be yellow but I couldn't catch her so she's the only one without a bracelet.

Their names:

Clover- supposed to be yellow.
She keeps her distance. Out of respect for me being unable to catch her, she was named after the whole reason they are here.

Coco- Blue. 
Easton named her. 

Micora- Purple.
Lilah named her.

Gertrude- Green.
Named after my Aunt Kate, who for some reason was nicknamed this after a chicken named Gertrude.

Princess Mary Jane O'Kief- Orange.
Named as if she was a racehorse, by some friends who named her after... a favorite hobby. 

They are all pretty mild-tempered. Everyone except Clover will let me pet them, and will eat out of my hand. They love strawberry tops and bananas, but won't touch kale or watermelon.

Here's a shot of the very first egg. What an expensive egg!

chickens

And now, for a little chicken content.

Here is the coop, designed to be cute and easy to clean. It is moveable in the event of a hurricane or severe flooding.

The run, attached to the back of the coop, includes some area under the deck to gain square footage, shade, and use otherwise wasted space. Every opening is secured with hardware cloth.

We ripped out an old rotting firewood stand, put in flower beds, and planted grass to boost our backyard curb appeal.

And, of course, here is the flock.