What a hoot!

Just some owly love for some gifts. T., the great bird lover among our group of friends received this set... the pattern is from moonstitches (http://moonstitches.typepad.com/photos/tutowlrial/index.html) and is quick and easy to do! Such fun!

Chicken stats

Well, it's been one year since we welcomed three chickens into our backyard. We got them as pullets about 8 weeks, built a lovely little portable chicken tractor and got going. Being a scientist, I have a slight counting compulsion, so here are our numbers (I'll spare you the graphs :)...

Barbara: Barred Rock, typically lays the largest and darkest eggs (though the difference between hers and Goldie's these days is slight). She started out the most regular, but has become an every two-three day-er. Her grand total of eggs thus far is 205.
Goldie: Golden Sex-linked, medium to small light brown eggs, has emerged as the friendliest of the bunch has laid 200 eggs for us. Both Goldie and Barbara started laying early July. Egg production took a predictable dip in Jan-early April.Tallulah: Easter-egger, beautiful light blue eggs, small to medium, has become very regular this year, compared to a spotty and late start (mid Sept) last year... about an egg a day recently. She has generously provided us with 164 of my son's favorite eggs.
That makes 621 total, 248 since January 2009. I know the numbers don't quite add-up, but I didn't count individual chickens the first few weeks or so. Including our coop and start-up
materials ($320) and feed we are down to $0.69 per egg! This calculation does NOT include things hard to put a price on: entertainment value, weed control, extra fence and yard material and maintenance (they are hard on the yard... the only
major negative... that and having to watch the dog eat their poop...ew), fertilizer they have provided, the joy of a fresh, poached egg in the morning, or the glee every time our 3-year old finds an egg (or three) in the box and thanks the chickens. All in all, not bad.... Thank you chickens!

Spring...

in this kitchen means awesome farmers market hauls, lots of fresh eggs from our gals out back and our best frittata yet... this morel, asparagus and zucchini frittata was delish! The intention was to make something more like a spanish tortilla, but there was no way I was flipping this bad boy, plus it was stickin' a bit, so into the oven for a few minutes to firm up the top and melt some goat cheese on top and voila... spring.I also made a boxy pouch (http://threebears.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/little-boxy-pouch-tutorial/) upsized a bit from the description, and added a lining and a hangy loop. One fat quarter (cut into quarters...two for the outside, two for the inside) made this little sweet Mother's day gift for Mom! I hope she likes it, she's always on the hunt for a new travel case, maybe this will suit, if not, it's still cute! It was my first zipper ever, turned out okay, felt secure enough and the tutorial was pretty clear.

Listings

I'm going to try to keep a list of things Owen says, may not quite fit into his blog, but sill, stunningly youthful and often funny.

This weekend in the middle of a(n hour long) tantrum after asking for a glass of milk "I want nei nei to throw on the ground!" hmm, at least he was honest

got the sewing machine out

Well, I haven't brought the sewing machine out for a bit, but again, I borrowed inspiration from Etsy and from Angry Chicken. I saw these cute crowns on dreamchildstudio on etsy, and as a last minute inspiration for two princess themed birthday parties this weekend, and one for Owen. I think they are super cute. Alas, they had mostly autumnal colors at the fabric store, I think for 3-year olds, the pastels may have been a bit better, but I really like how these turned out. It's three layers of felt stitched together, Brian thinks more jewels. I forget how big Owen's head can be, and knocked about 4cm off the circumference of his head, and I think it was still a loose fit for Sophia, and imagine tiny Kennedy will also find hers a bit on the roomy side. I also was weirdly inspired, after looking at my shopping cart for a Mary Green underwear order and got a little bit of sticker shock. Angry Chicken's blog has been showing off some cute underwear she has made, with the sage advice of "take your favorite pair and copy it", anyhow, with an old pair of MGs in hand, I fashioned these, and love them! I tried briefly for some fold-over elastic, but really the stretch lace is the way to go. Just so I remember how to prep and assemble: Got the fabric and lace at Mills end, about a quarter of a yard of fabric and two yards of the lace for my medium sized booty (size 6-8ish). (1) cut out the pattern pieces and the cotton, I used a really soft organic cotton from mill ends. (2) sew the lace on the legs first, (3)sew up the main seams (4) sew the crotch together (5) add the gusset (6) sew on the top lace... next time with the seam in the back. Don't ask me how I know, but check and double check when placing the lace on the legs to make sure that you sew it on the OUTSIDE of both leg sides. (7) Finally, carefully trim away excess material close to the seam. This would have been very quick if I didn't make several mistakes along the way, and if I could figure out the tension on my machine so it wouldn't "hiccup" and get top-threads spinning out.

Toasty

I finished something! Made these "Toasty" mitts (http://a-friend-to-knit-with.blogspot.com/2008/09/toasttoasty.html). I have a pair out of cotton jersey, but wanted to try knitting a set. I got this awesome wool, I think it was peruvia but can't find the label, from a trip to the coast and wanted to do something for myself out of it. Not bad, about a four evening affair. Now I have to refocus on that afagan. The progress isn't as evident, so has been hard to motivate to do, but now that I've actually completed something, I think I can refocus... for a little bit. I had enough from one skein left to make a bowl to felt... it's in the washing machine now, if it turns out I'll show that one off too!

copycat

Well, my friend Robyn pointed me to this awesome designer on Etsy ( Helicopter studios: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5986255) who makes adorable play mats. However, the price tag was a bit hefty for our tight budget and I figured I could give it a shot for Owen. Perfect a one (okay two) evening project. Although not nearly as sweet as the professional version, it was fun to make, and Owen seems to like it. Tonight we had his animals swimming in the river and climbing "my mountain Hood" and knocking down trees.... with great sound effects. It pulls all together into a tidy bundle... Outside is blue corduroy I had from Knittin Kitten, though this is where my sewing machine started making clanking noises and I gave up on any sweet trim... this is a pretty functional piece and definitely looks so from the outside. I really would like to try the campfire (because Owen seems to like the idea of roasting marshmallows... though we've only done it once about 9 months ago) or the racecar track looks strait forward, well, except I hate sewing in circles.