The Magoo Chicken

We lock the Adventure Chickens in their coop at night. A few nights ago, my nightly count came up two chickens short. The two missing chickens were found, caught and placed in their rightful spots on the roost. However, in all the confusion, I forgot to close their door.

I found this mistake the next morning, but thought it a bit odd that with the door already open that no chickens were outside yet. However, it was a cold morning (heavy frost) and I chalked it up to "cold feet".

That night I was two chickens short. Again. This time I couldn't find them. I looked in all their normal hideouts. I tried to think like a chicken (shut up!) and look for a new hideout. Nothing. I finally gave up and shut the coop door with the hope that they'd be there in the morning.

The next morning, no chickens. And again the rest of the flock did not want to come out. It was not nearly so cold and I could find no reason for their behavior except for thinking the worst. They had been scared by something that had come in and probably grabbed their two missing buddies. Most likely the fox we occasionally see passing through.

I was crushed. I'd left the door open and now two chickens were dead. One of which was one of my favorites, a white hen who's been here for years and has to be at least seven years old. The other, one of the "red" chickens.

That night though, when I did my count, I again had nine chickens (should be ten). I was pretty confident that I had not been miscounting all along, so felt a glimmer of hope that maybe the white hen - the one still missing - might still come home. The next morning? Nothing. I had to admit she was gone.

As I continued with my morning chores, I headed over to the sheep run-in to see if it was needed cleaning. Look what I found!



"I don't have a clue where I am!"

To get over here she had to go down the hill to the creek, crawl under the fence, come back up the hill, past the end of the barn and into the sheep paddock. There is a reason they are called the Adventure Chickens. She's just a little directionally challenged.




She was so hungry she had resorted to eating bits of hay. Doesn't it look like that piece of hay is twisted into a heart? As always, click to biggify.



Happily back with her girlfriends and a full bowl of food.



And water.

And all the crazy chicken ladies (and gentlemen ;-) can rest easy.



So why am I now calling her the Magoo Chicken? Magoo is the name we gave our GPS unit. Now I'll give Magoo credit for getting me a lot of places (I too am directionally challenged), but for some reason Magoo frequently finds himself on I-275, the bypass around Cincinnati, about an hour or so from our house. It's his favorite place in the whole world.

Magoo can be so convinced he's on (or should be) I-275 that we are frequently asked to make a "legal u-turn" to get him back there. When we are in New York. Or Chicago. Green Bay. Or Lexington. We try not to think too hard about it.

The fortune cookie message taped to the top is Magoo's highest achievement. For some unknown reason he took us on a particularly funny detour around and around a cemetery in a small town in New York. We had to actually resort to the old fashion method of calling (with a cell phone ;-) the farm we were (supposed to be) headed to. That fortune cookie message was from the dinner we had that night.

Only Magoo.

Only the Magoo Chicken.

I'm glad you are home safe.

Back Atcha, Eli

"So, how'd you end up today, Eli? Catch anything like this?"



"How about this? What? I can't hear you. Oh, I see..."

Eli, you ought to know better than smack talk about fishing.

Saint Tim was finally able to sneak out for a little river time this afternoon. I met up with him as the sun was setting and as we floated near the railroad trestle, a train came thundering through. Pretty exciting. I grabbed a few pictures and then thought, what would City Boy do if he were here? He'd take a video!





This is the under view of the trestle. I thought it was pretty cool at the time. Now I'm thinking it looks pretty, um, small - yikes!



Even in the fading light...beautiful.

Editor's note: no fish were harmed for this Eli rebuttal. Scared maybe probably, but Saint Tim practices catch and release :-).

Hey Loser!

"Dude, I've been out on the creek for an hour already! What do you mean you have to work?!?"



"What was that? A fish (frog) jumping? Maybe I should go check it out."



"Or maybe I'll just take a little nap."

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Indian Summer weather. And remember, a bad day fishing still beats a good day at the office, Saint Tim ;-).

Me? I think a little "seat time" on my pony.

"Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you." Annie Dillard

Conundrum, Confusion Or Just Plain Crazy?

Spring?



Fall?



Or Christmas?

Sunday Stills - The Letter C

Hmmm - cold, cats, carriages, cookies, Cotswolds...Colored Cotswolds!



I've had a couple questions about why we sheared several sheep this fall. Also a question about the steps from sheep to spinning. Rebecca Boone, a recently shorn Colored Cotswold sheep, is happy to help answer these inquiries and also try for some Sunday Stills shots.

The Cotswolds, Border Leicesters, Wensleydales, Lincolns and several other breeds are considered "long wools". Their wool grows so fast that they are traditionally sheared twice a year, in the spring and once again in the fall. Buddy, Woolliam, Rebecca Boone, Miss Ewenice and Keebler fall into this catagory.

While my average non-long wool sheep produces a staple length of approximately four to six inches per year, the long wools could easily go 12 inches. Wool that long is not only very hot for the sheep, but is also, at that length, no longer very usable.

And while I would have prefered to have had them all sheared by the last part of September, everyone has already started growing back plenty of wool to get them comfortably through the winter. I've been told they only need 36 hours to reacclimate, but I'm not happy until they start looking fuzzy and insulated. Keebler's hair is already an inch and a half long.



Colorful Curls



Washed and ready to run through the Triple Picker. I could do a whole series of shots on the Patrick Green Triple Picker, but that would be a better Halloween post. This shot is pretty tame!



From the picker to the (hand crank) carder, which "brushes or combs" the curls.



Ready to spin. Note, I had so much fun using my new wheel that I completely forgot to take pictures of the spinning process. You'll just have to use your imagination.



Spun, plied, washed and ready to knit.



I wasn't happy with last night's inside lighting, so just took and added a natural light shot. Still not great, but good practice.

From sheep to swatch.

To "C" more Sunday Stills...

C Is For...Cold

The Sunday Stills challenge for this week is the letter "C". The Cats are getting a head start by Complaining about the Cold.



Could Eli look any Colder, Crouched on the arm of the Chair?



Here I've added one of the heated pads and a Comforter and brought down the small insulated Cat box and set it on the swing. I'm not quite ready to slum up the porch with the lovely plastic and Boo's Cat Condo as it's supposed to be back in the upper 60's next week. I mean, they Could go up to the barn and snuggle into a Couple bales of hay.



In the meantime, I'm headed to the wool house to work on my actual "C" Challenge - Cotswolds. However, even though we finally have the ladder, we are still lacking the Cast iron Ceramic stove which should be in place behind it. It's been ordered and up until the Cold snap of the last Couple of days, the little electric heater has been just fine.

We'll "C". If it's too Cold, I may have to Come back to the house and Curl up on the Couch.

A New Sheep In The Wool House

While I realize that could easily mean a real live sheep around here, don't worry, the carpet is safe.



I have been wanting a more portable wheel and the Schacht Ladybug has been catching my eye. I tend to research stuff pretty heavily online and was pretty convinced that's what I wanted. Everyone seems to love it, it's lightweight (even though it doesn't actually fold up), spins nicely, sturdy...and comes with a ladybug hidden somewhere. In my little kid mind, you just. can't. beat. that.

Until I sat down with both that wheel and my second choice, the Ashford Joy.

Honestly, I really liked both wheels. I don't think I could have gone wrong with either one. In the end though, the Joy edged the Ladybug ever so slightly. It felt more like "me" spinning with it. It does fold up. It has a handy handle on the top. A built in lazy kate.



No hidden ladybug :-(.



But look what I found up at the checkout counter! A Gita Maria threading hook. I fell in love with her neat things at Rhinebeck last year. Since we (sadly) decided to sit this one out mostly due to the tropical weather forecast for that part of the country, I treated myself - retail therapy - and hung it on the new wheel.

Even better than a bug!

Thanks, Nancy, for staying late to help me make up my mind. I love having The Woolery so close. I had planned to try both wheels in New York this weekend, but it actually worked much better to be able to sit down with both wheels side by side in a relaxed, unhurried...and un-snowy environment.

Everyone stay warm out east! And have lots of fun for me. Even in bad weather the New York Sheep and Wool Festival is a blast.