Chicken News

We now have 21 chickens, but the official count is 17. The rest have homes to go to. This nice looking Lachenvelder (anove) came with our first batch of chickens. He had a great, loud crow. A real Cock-a-doodle-doooo-uh. He was unfortunately the first one to go. We gave him to Dan's grandma Marie, coming through on our gift certificate we gave her at Christmas.

Right now I have a young rooster in front. He was recovering from being picked by the young flock. With him is Red, who came up lame, and two Americana layers (a gold and a gray) to see what color their eggs are. Both blue.
We have an original flock of Red, Wiley, a goldie and a regular americana, a buff, and Ophelia, the female lachenvelder. These were born last spring. We have a second batch of layers (mostly americanas) born in summer (July). The young flock was born Nov. 4. We are thinking about the timing and selection of our next batch of chicks. Here's a shot of Hairy, the another rooster we fond of.

Here are some shots of the younger flock, some who have gone to other homes already. We ordered some naked neck chickens, turkens, or Transylvanian naked necks. We kept two of those.
We have not entirely settled on a name for the egg endeavor. And, rats are tunneling into the coop.

Shoreline dog walks

I am so blessed to be where I am, in so many ways.

Today I went to the new dog park that has opened by the woods I walk in by work. I chatted with a cool woman, and the sky was bright on the cloudy windy rainy day. This is the first dog park in Shoreline, and they limit walkers to 3 dogs each. I always walk in the woods, and in fact, I came here when Mona was a tiny puppy. It feels good to be teaching up at Shoreline again, and the development of the woods and parking lot feels like synchronicity lining up.

The newest house news is that we have 17 chickens inside, and a mama cat with 4 newborn kitties. I hope to maintain this blog a bit more regularly. There is so much going on! My dream of writing How To Scoop and working with dogs has also been renewed and re-inspired by some of the dog-loving students in my chemistry class.

Kayleigh has learned to ride a bike, in one day really, and she also cut her hair to chin length, donating 10" to Locks of Love to make wigs for ill children.

Dan has helped organize the garage, and takes great care of the chickens and kittens. He's been working on coop ideas for the chickens. This spring brings a lot of activity!

Mushroom squick

I am completely grossed out by the variety of mushrooms in my mossy lawn. I have dark brown ones, light brown ones, white ones, red with white spots, individual mushroom stalks, extended networks of continuous fungus, you name it. Step in it and guess what it feels like...? A slippery squish somewhat similar to dog poop.

I like the moss. I try to rake the leaves off gently so the moss stays green and soft. It's the ultimate in low maintenance lawn. Soft to walk on, stays green all winter, needs no mowing.

The crows and squirrels play out their competition by digging in the ground. They create little holes as the they search for items the squirrels hid earlier in the fall. Tearing up my lawn! Shoo, pests!

And, endless raking. I have raked a number of times already and still there is a ton of work to do. I have not even touched the front, which is covered in pine needles. the front has actual grass more than moss, and the ground is very compacted. I began to cut limbs from a pine tree to get more sun, so there are two large piles of tree cuttings as well as the infinite leaves.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Yesterday I went out to put the blackberries I already cut into the yard waste bin. I was so good-- I even changed into pants and wore leather gloves. I suddenly noticed, too, that a holly tree that I cut down in the summer had sprouted about 300 succors (is that how you spell it?) that were shooting about 3 feet toward the sky. Good thing I caught that, before the brambles and stickers surround my house, which I feel like I seldom leave, and turn me into a lonely princess. I mowed them down promptly. Perhaps I will make a holly wreath or two. Send to Bonnie with some fall leaves maybe.

Autumn

I enjoyed the weather today. The evening sky was beautiful, inspiring. Dark clouds giving way to bright clouds, orange and fluffy. Blue sky behind, and the treeline in front. So dramatic. I wish I could catch this on camera but there's nothing like the real thing. The sky is a major source of inspiration for me, and one of the reasons I love Seattle.

I lopped off some blackberries that have been growing thick as they drape up over the trees. I sliced up my hands a bit, and they caught in my skirt, but I am glad I got rid of them when I did. One runner had just sprouted a little ball of white roots, about an inch long. Foiled!

Last night I enjoyed the rain. I was on my way out when I realized it was yard waste day. The yard waste bin was 3/4 full with apples, and probably a fair amount of water. The bin was so heavy I got the dolly out to move it. It was still a struggle up the hill with the bumpy roots and stuff. I didn't dump the whole thing, though. I was glad I had the house to get me outside doing chores in the rain. I decided to go for a walk later that night again, sort of to welcome the fall by enjoying the drizzle.

The apples are big, red, sweet, and crunchy.

Peaceful, easy feeling

I woke up to my alarm, but I didn't need to get up for another hour. I got up anyway. Partly the heat was very warm when I woke up. The sunrise was pretty. I lay back down on my bed later and I felt content and peaceful. It was nice to pay attention and enjoy feeling so tranquil. The sky was pretty. I wasn't sad to be in this house.

After class I took Mona out in the woods behind Shoreline. It is a sunny day, and though the bushes are wet, it was warm and beautiful with the sun filtering through the trees. We walked through the trees to the overflow gravel parking lot. There's a drop and more woods, but we stayed on the easy trails. I even thought about things to include in a dog training book. I don't think I have made note of "staying on the path/trail" and "out of the garden," how those tie together with manicured spaces to trails and basically the concept of an intentional area to walk.

I looked up mercury going direct: Oct 15. Ta Da! We're practically there!

My poor dog has fleas. I finally did see one on her. I think she also scratches the bites, for days after she has them. I'll give her a bath really soon. I hope the flea treatment works. It seems not to work very well anymore.

This past weekend I went to a bachelorette party and got drunk. I also discovered that my ID is gone. First we went roller skating. Then we had a potluck/party, and then we rode a party bus to go club hopping. At the first club, I had no ID. Everyone tried to get me in, but I said, no I understand, it's fine. The music was loud so I just danced there by the door. The bus left to take one person back to pick up her forgotten ID. After awhile, a different door guy was there and I asked him what forms of ID he'd accept. He shuffled me in. It turned out that only one place did not let me in, using this approach. Or, friends would come out and as they went back in, I had to stay outside. The door guy would shoo me inside.

Raccoons

I think it was raccoons that killed the chickies:
"A raccoon typically attacks birds by biting the head or upper neck area. The heads of adult birds are usually bitten off and left some distance from the body. The crop and breast may be torn and chewed and the entrails eaten. Raccoons have been known to mutilate poultry in cages by pulling heads or legs off. Several kills may be made during a single night raid with part of one or more carcasses fed upon. Dead fowl may be at the kill site or dragged several yards away. Raccoons are also serious predators of wild bird populations."
http://www.geocities.com/KelliAnn293/predators.htm#Raccoons

I could not pick up Red because of the wasps, and the following morning, she was gone.

I think I will look into finding more adult hens. The next batch can just stay in the coop and never taste freedom.