The Chickens are Moulting!

They are actually nearly done moulting -thankfully - moulting combined with shorter days means not many eggs, but the new feathers are lovely!

 

 

Here you see one chicken mid-moult - actually she is over the hump, should have seen her last week!  

 

The old feathers ready to go are browner - this is the last one to go then everyone will have fresh new feathers!

Chicken Fence!

Well, sent out the Christmas card with the saga of the Chicken Run Fence and did not update the blog with the Saga of the Chicken Run Fence! Here are photos of the completed fence - the big, tall, built and re-built and added to to make taller fence AND solar-powered Christmas lights along the top just for fun!

The coop complete with the new motion-detection flood lights! Next will be Wi-fi and a hot tub..... (That's Ethel in the doorway, and Aggie in the foreground)

Shampoo bars!

I have been loving the shampoo bar I got at whole foods, and have been using the bar with a vinegar and water hair rinse for the last 2 months. I love the way my hair feels, and the bar gives back a bit of texture to my super-uber-straight hair that bobby pins fall out of if I stick them in any other way but from the top down unless I use half a can of hairspray on it. Anyway, I made a batch of soap last month and it came out OK - so I figured I'd make a simple shampoo bar! Searched for a recipe that required no calculations and would make a small batch in case I wrecked it or I hated it (scroll to the bottom)..... Here is what I made:

I used a junk-drawer organizer thing from Target for the mold, and it was the absolutely perfect size for the volume of soap, I lined the container with parchment paper, poured in the sludge i mean soap, let it sit overnight covered with towels so it would cool SLOWLY and not leave an unappetizing white layer on top. This morning I turned it out and cut it into one inch sections - each "bar" weighs in between 2 and 3/4 and 2 and 5/8 ounces. Now it has to sit for 3 or 4 weeks then I can give it a try! Here is the recipe for a one pound chunk of soap. I found it at http://www.colebrothers.com/soap (if you leave off the "/soap" you end up looking at a ton of cool tape and adhesives!) where they have a bunch of smaller volume recipes designed to be made in a blender - I used a hand-held stick blender and it worked great.

Lavender Delight Shampoo Bar:

4 oz Coconut oil

6 oz Olive oil

6 oz Castor oil

2.3 oz Lye

6.5 oz Water

1 tsp. Lavender EO

CHICKENS!

Very busy spring this year - not good for blogging. Here are two videos of the chickens.

Aggie and Ethel take a bath together on a hot June morning:

Bathing Chickens from Lisa Stockebrand on Vimeo.

Lulu, Mavis and Mini discover a new snack...

Jumping Chickens from Lisa Stockebrand on Vimeo.

Next Set of Knitting Videos!

The Joys of Continental Knitting!

Continental Knitting from Lisa Stockebrand on Vimeo.

Knitting Faster from Lisa Stockebrand on Vimeo.

Knitting Backwards from Lisa Stockebrand on Vimeo.

Seeds in the Ground!

Today I am home with laryngitis. Yesterday, I got seeds into the ground! Now I have to figure out how to keep the chickens OUT! Right now the seeds are covered with a cloth which is supposed to let in air, light and water, hope it will discourage the chickens! They tend not to go into the garden if the gate is closed, but it is only a matter of time - if food is involved - until they figure out that they are indeed birds and can actually fly over the fence -- shhhhhh, don't tell them!

I have been scooping the compost out and tossing it onto the beds a little at a time for the last couple of weeks and letting the chickens go at it - you can see in the left-hand bed that they do a pretty good job!

There are new pretty flowers- these are the best tulips! They are super bright, early and last!




Crocuses -


and of course, forsythia-


Can't forget the chickens - here they are in their prison run waiting to be let out

If you are needing a good dose of spring - go check out the Lambcams - yes they now have THREE over at Juniper Moon Fiber Farm. The babies are coming and nothing says spring like baby sheep and goats! Two cams look into nursery pens, the third (cam 2) looks out into the small nursery field. So far there is 1 lamb (bird names) and 4 kids (apple names)

What a Beautiful Weekend it Was!

This was the first line-dried laundry of the season:

My plan was to begin planting, I have planting charts from the Penn State Extension Service, Burpee seeds, maps of my beds, square foot gardening plans...

My first job was to dig out the compost bin that has been sitting all winter and get a pile ready for pole beans, and sprinkle a nice coating on the garden beds etc. As it turns out the only thing happier than a pig in shit is a chicken in compost!

We don't get to see a lot of Ethel, she is a pretty independent hen, but she had just as much fun in the compost as everyone else.

But the day was so lovely I got sidetracked and while I did get the chickens got the compost spread, I lolled about a lot and watched the flowers!

Lenten Rose (hellebores)

Apples

Plums

We are expected to get cold and a "wintry mix" on Wednesday, so planting can wait until next weekend! Spinach, collards, peas, shallots and garlic will be the first to go in!