One Less Hen :(

We lost one of our girls today. Still have no idea why. Just noticed this morning all is well and this afternoon she was sleeping in one of the nest boxes...floppy comb and listless.

I separated her form the others as chickens are notoriously mean to an ill mate, plus I didn't know if she was contagious. So she sat in a little cat crate while I did an exhaustive search on line about what might be wrong with her.

Brian got home and we stacked another rik of wood which takes about 45 minutes. When we finished she was already dead, stiff and cooling....poor little thing.

The others seem perfectly fine. But so did she yesterday!
I'm still trying to find out what happened. I'll post a comment when I have an answer from the Backyard Chicken Forum.

In the meantime, I'm digging an enormous hole in the compost area--off limits to the other chickens. Plus she'll have all winter to decompose before using any compost on the garden.

Sadly,
Sarah

Which Came First?

Chickens and Eggs:

If you are in Indianapolis and are interested, we have a couple of offerings.

1) We are selling our eggies (lovely little brown free-range, cage-free, organic yummies) for $1.50/half dozen or $3.00/dozen -- just to pay for organic chicken feed. Our girls are always hungry! They are still about a Grade A medium to large size. But they are getting bigger by the week!

2) Our Amish co-op is placing its quarterly fresh chicken order. You order whole or parts from me and I deliver it fresh same day it's processed. Processor is Miller. Good stuff, far less expensive than nasty grocery store chicken and it's CLEAN! Let me know this weekend.

Sarah

The stack

Encroachment of wood...that's what we have on the porch this time of year. We are in the thick of the wood stack.

We heat with wood (almost) exclusively, save a little in furnace in the basement, when the mercury dips to the single digits, to keep the wood floors a bit warmer. So we stack between 3 cords (stinks, not enough) to 4 cords (more work, and have wood for outdoor fires). This year it's one rik (3 riks = 1 cord) at a time in a giant bag. Think Polar Express ginormous Santa bag. Twelve riks. That's a lotsa stacking, but doing only a rik at a time, it's much easier on our aging backs.
We still stubbornly hang on to the summer porch though! Even as we only barely have room for a smaller table, two chairs and our loungers, we still insist on it! After all, it's 80-some degrees out today! Sarah

The Card

I used to violently rip up and destroy the mailings Brian got a decade or so ago. After all, I was in my mid-thirties. I didn't have a boyfriend deserving of an AARP mailing! He wasn't even 50 yet! SHEESH!

And last week, it happened.
I got the envelope--with MY name on it. I'm not 50 yet either. But this time I'm thinking...

...well, there is a 10% discount, right?

Sarah

Thanks Pop!

This is the Really Big Painting. Thanks for all your help stretching and framing, to my Pop, Roger Adams!

Sarah

Framing, Farming and Fate: That's a Really BIG Canvas!

http://avframinggallery.com/home.html

That's a Really BIG Canvas!

I'm working on the largest piece ever--at least in my shop.
Abstract acrylic painting on canvas my Sandoval of Cincinnati for a couple of clients.

I put 3 work tables together to get enough surface area to stretch it. This thing measures 77.5" x 106.25" (that's 6.5' x nearly 9' for those of you who don't want to do your own math)!

I'm building the frame right now. Need to rotate it to glue up the last corner, but I need 3 handy volunteers, one on each corner! Anyone free downtown?

Sarah