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Inspired by Stupid Creatures I’ve been thinking about making a few sock creatures. This one I called Zagmund and gave to my friend Michelle for her birthday.

Here’s a polar bear in a miniskirt (click for more pictures). Not too monstery.

ob.chicken:
Squeak after a bath. Her back is all ripped up so she’s still in the house. With hers, 7 eggs today, yay! (6 yesterday, 7 the day before…)

And, of course, Rochester Small Dog Playgroup pictures from yesterday. We had a 10 IG day!

It seems our male birds (Red the rooster and Handlebah the guinea cock) have both taken a romantic interest in little Squeak. Unfortunately, this is causing her comb and head feathers to take a beating (that’s where they grab hold). To help her heal, we’ve taken her into the house every morning.

She was very nervous about this until we got her set up with a little nest box. Now she’s gotten into a routine–we go out in the morning, she flies at my face, I duck, she lands on my shoulder, we walk to the house with her perched like a parrot on my shoulder, we open the crate, she hops down in, drinks water, and happily scratches around or sits in her nest box all day. Of course, she accepts any treats proffered. Today, after a few minutes sitting fluffed with a look of intense concentration and much heavy breathing and even soft grunting, she dropped an egg into the nest box. I think she likes the heated digs, especially since it was about 10 degrees F all day. Just before dark we walk her back to the coop to roost.

One thing about house chickens. The big fibrous poops, you wouldn’t notice. But occasionally she’ll produce a real barn-burner–the kind that you detect within seconds and need to remove from the house immediately, followed by a lot of candle-burning to obliterate the stench.
Once her head heals we’re going to try putting Vicks on it and see how those boys like a beakful of menthol.

It was a banner day for eggs; our first 7-egg day, all chicken hens laying (who knows when the guinea hens will start or if they’ll lay inside). Mahogany must’ve just started; yesterday we found a tan egg and I couldn’t figure out whose it could be; too solid-colored to be from one of the black chickens, too light for Providence. We figured it out today based on who was in the nest when; eggs showed up in 3 batches. In the AM, the small nest had Providence’s (medium brown), Black and Tan’s (extra large brown-pink), and Tenderfoot’s (olive). The larger nest had a single Squeak egg (white). Later I went in and Mahogany and Minty were fighting over the corner nest (sitting on top of each other, trying to push each other out) and I rescued a blue-ish egg, obviously Beardo’s and not theirs. Later there was a pink (Minty’s) and another tan one (must be Mahog’s, then).

Now that I’ve narrowed down whose is whose, I’ve made a wiki about it: the Ro(o)ster.

We’ve been Wii’ed! My mom got me one for my birthday (Thursday) but decided to give it to me today so we could start playing!

She got it at the Target store in Victor (Eastview)…she was in line before 7am and was 16th; they got 33 (?)  in and were sold out before the store opened at 8. Fortunately, they handed out tickets at 7 and told them they could leave and come back–it was in the teens this morning.

My mom rocks. :) She also got us Zelda to go with Sports.

Ice storm pictures…

It’s been very pretty outside; snow on top of ice which hasn’t melted due to the colder temps.

Poor chickens are finally learning the meaning of ‘cooped up’ but are laying like crazy. Even Squeak started up again; yesterday we found 5 eggs (one might’ve been from the previous night) and this morning 3 more. It’s like easter everyday; generally there’s a medium adobe colored one (RIR perhaps), a light pink and a huge brownish pink (the black chickens, which we now think might be Black Stars rather than Giants), and perhaps a greenish blue (Beardo the Ameraucana) and an olive colored egg from Tenderfoot (another Ameraucana). With Squeak laying again there could also be a white/light tan egg. Last night for the first time I made a cheese souffle…I’m not sure it was fully cooked but the edges were getting dark and stuck to the pan. Maybe I’d do better with a real souffle pan rather than a casserole dish…I’m hoping to try a chocolate one next. We’re already up to 9 eggs with maybe a couple more to come today.

Yet another new egg color today–a slightly larger-than-the-others pinkish brown egg. Maybe one of the black hens started laying, unless Mahogany lays eggs that are way lighter than her sister’s. They must be taking turns; we have yet to have more than one egg to pick up on any one day. But at least 4 hens are now capable of laying.

Beardo’s a girl…she laid her first egg today! (the blue-green one in the middle). We knew she was going to because she’s been acting weird–completely burying herself in wood chips or straw and spinning around. I hope the burying stops because the other chickens peck at her when she does that…

So far we think the only brown egg layer is Providence (Rhode Island Red), but the others have got to be close.

Thanks, Beardo! I’ve wanted blue green eggs for a long time!

We’re heading back to work tomorrow after  some vacation time at the end of the year. It hasn’t been all that relaxing for me really, I picked up some kind of evilness a bit over 2 weeks ago. The fallout from that is I really haven’t gotten much more done then fitful sleeping, and coughing to the point of hernia. On the plus and minus side I didn’t do any work during the time off either…

Probably the neatest gift we picked up this year is from my parents. They donated some chickens, bees, 2/5 of a goat, and 2/5 of a pig via Heiffer International. I was a bit giggly weirded out at first, with visions of partial animals filled with chickens and bees being delivered to people I’ve never met. Luckily my brain sharing is pretty much limited to just one other person and not the rest of the planet.

Batman the Animated Series Volume II was also in the mix from epe. I really enjoyed this batch a great deal. Disk 2 was especially good, “The Heart of Steel I&II” were highlighted in one of the special features. I think they best bit about those stories was William Sanderson who played J.F. Sebastion in Blade Runner does the voice of Dr. Karl Rossum. I couldn’t think of a more spooky match to go with the story line.

Oh and before I forget! Sin City burritos!

Have fun at the new job =).

(you’re welcome for all the fish) :)

(yah i forgot to hit return… lol)