June  25, 2005

I am back home after my 2 big summer trips (I feel like such a world traveler now - snort)

First - Bead & Button show was wonderful as always. I spent too much money of course, but had a great time. And the girls & I discovered "Cosmopolitans" - You know, the pink martini's they drink in Sex and the City. Yummy! 

  (this is for Kate) - Us Farm Girls don't git out much with havin' to milk them goats, so we was a hankerin' for a fancyfied Big City drink on our trip and asked that there bar matron fer a "Big Cityfied Fanciful" drink and she bought us them Cosmos AND LET ME TELL YOU WHAT! Them drinks knocked my friends underware right off! (sorry, I just couldn't resist)

ANYWAY - After Bead & Button, I had my first  lampworking class with Andrea Guarino.  I learned so much! And Andrea is such a good teacher and wonderful person.

I learned why my attempts at cutting windows in beads wasn't working - so look for a few new "window beads" from me in the near future. I learned fuming, and even different ways to add the initial gather of glass to the mandrel and encase.

And I received the highest compliment ever from one of my Andrea beads - my husband said he'd like to keep the "Galaxy" bead for himself. Although I don't know what to really  think because he's never asked to keep one of MY designs for himself....Anyway - HERE'S THE BEADS!

 And then myself, Andrea and best friend Jean - (I am definitely going on a DIET!)

 It was SO HOT in the studio, we ended up with wet, iced towels around our neck. (so that's why I look so fat - you buying that???)

And Andrea making a Sea Garden bead -

 My husband took a couple pictures while I was gone, just to keep me updated with what was happening at home... First, the kitchen......2 days after I left - AAAAHHHHHH!!

 Luckily it was much cleaner when I arrived home...

 Then one morning we had a little visitor inside the chicken coop. Or I guess I should say BIG visitor-

 The chickens were locked inside the coop in the garage so there were fine. What a BAD RACCOON!!!!!!!!!

So this is the excitement I missed at home....(doesn't look like I missed much, huh?!)

Later all!

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June 14, 2005

 Tomorrow I am off to the Bead & Button show in Milwaukee. My yearly shopping spree like no other! So I leave you with some pictures - I'm such a visual person...

Chicken coop heaven. I think it's pretty good for a husband and wife team that have no building skills - I plan on growing grapes over the wire on top.

 Here's their little outdoor house. The old dog house just needs a coat of paint and wa-la! I told my husband the white lattice behind the dog house makes a nice focal point...snort.

The wire cage with the rigged roof is only temporary. And there is a dog door cut into the side of the garage - so we are going to build a nesting/night time coop to lock them up at night. Too many wild animals around here that like to eat chickens! If you look close, you can actually see some chickens too!

- Notice the steps AND handicapped ramp for the chickens to get into the doghouse! (they won't use either yet....nothing short of chasing them down and physically putting them in there while they are squawking their heads off will get them near it.)

 Here's 3 chickens all smooshed in a little 'dirt nest' - plus another one pecking around. Suddenly everyone wanted that small spot of property for some reason....And yes, there is really 3 in there!

 Let's see - what else do I have - OH - Here's where part of my 2 1/2 tons of Black Hills pink limestone went. I still need to fill in the cracks with mulch.

Here's another view - It gives you a better view of how big it is. I just planted the perennials over in this part, so it will be a year or 2 before they fill out. (see the kitty in the left corner.....he just noticed the chickens today....with murder in his eyes no less!) There are ferns and jack in the pulpits bordering the woods.

And then my other perennial garden I started last year with end of the season plants that were dirt cheap - pardon the pun. Not a very attractive picture, but I just love walking through this garden and looking at all the blooms and plants. I planted a few new perennials from seeds this year - like poppies and a couple other things that I can't remember.....It will be a nice surprise later this summer or next year. I had one plant come up this year and I think it's a Red Hot Poker! (I'm so excited about that!) Oh, and as you can see, I'm not quite done with the stepping stones here either.

  And last but not least, a little tree frog that was checking out the new coop!

 Hope this is enough to keep you going until I get back late Sunday!

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June 13, 2005

  OH MY GOD! Michael Jackson is innocent.

First OJ Simpson. Then Robert Blake. Now Michael Jackson. Freaking murders and child molesters.

Yeah, our justice system really works wonders.

Why should I be surprised? This is the verdict I expected all along...........

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June 12, 2005

 Just kidding about the Bir-toad of course. We had a robin building a nest in our gas stove vent so it had to come down.....twice. It only takes a day for that robin to build a nest! It's very intricate if you look at it. It has a base of bigger grasses, a mud layer and then the finely woven nest. It's amazing. (and the toad was quite cooperative!)

It's been nest building week here. I also found a hornets nest. They had just started building it in a branch right over our front steps so it had to go. An interesting tid-bit - since we had built a wooden fence a few years ago, every summer the hornets have been stripping wood from this fence to build their nests. It's interesting to watch them.

This one is working on the 2nd tier. Spitting out a mixture of our fence and saliva (or something that makes it gooey) and shaping it as he goes in a circle around the nest.

And FINALLY a chicken picture. Let's see, the last 2 days have been spent alternately working on their coop and moving a ton of flagstones for a perennial garden. It's been in the 90's and horribly humid. It's like working in hell - literally. Now today we have to put a screened roof over the coop. I can hardly wait.....TILL IT'S DONE!!!!!!!!

 I think they have grown on all the daddy long legs and june bugs they have been getting!

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June 11, 2005

 Ahhhhhhhh, And today we have a picture of the elusive Bir-toad! Notice the intricate weave of the nest. By the size of this Bir-toad, I believe she is getting ready to set on a nest full of eggs ........A rare find indeed....

June 9, 2005

 And I thought taking pictures of beads is difficult! Try taking pictures of 6 squirming chickens! They are in constant motion!

So last night the boys and I snuck out after dark to check on our "flock" - snort - that sounds so funny to write! - So we took a flashlight and they made all these little cooing noises. So sweet! All curled together in a ball of fluff.

Well today I found out they aren't being quite so sweet to each other! The big ones are picking on the little one. Poor guy. I don't think there's alot I can do except hope he hangs in there. If I would separate him, the flock would pick on him more if I tried to put him back in eventually. So nature has to take it's course in this one...

Today has been alot of watching these creatures. And throwing in all sorts of food to see what they will eat. So far they like grass way better than clover. (a surprise for me) And the apples that I put out there were pretty much ignored. I decided to try a few bugs. After rounding up the boys and a friend - I hand them all containers and say, "Catch Bugs!" And the bugs, they shall come!

I have one word for you chicken people out there.....

DADDY LONG LEGS!

Oh my gosh! Those chickens went ABSOLUTELY NUTS over daddy long legs. They completely forgot their fear of humans to run after these spiders and gobble them up!

But the poor little guy wasn't getting any. So we decided to "hand feed" him. Hunter was afraid of hurting him so he would squirm out of his hands. So I was relegated to hold the chicken and the boys would feed it the spiders.

So I'm holding this chicken. And I'm sure you can see what's coming......I mean, I have seen those boys pick up REAL spiders, so I didn't think twice about telling Chase to grab a daddy long leg and try to feed the chick. (If you don't see what's coming by now, you need glasses!)

Chase ends up THROWING THE SPIDER ON ME! I try to suppress a scream and jump back and yell, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DON'T THROW SPIDERS ON ME!" 

The boys think this is pretty funny and I decide this little chicken will just have to fend for himself!

I TRIED to get pictures. But all I got was blurry fuzz balls.

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June 8, 2005

 Boy, Do I have a surprise for all of you!

Stay tuned...

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Okay - everybody ready?!

I didn't have alot going on this week. Nothing too interesting, just some big fungus thing growing in the yard to show you -

 When low and behold - a SIGN!

No, not a sign from above........

A sign from the farm across the road.

FREE SILKY BANTAMS!

For those of you not versed in farm-speak - That thars sum FANCY Chickens for ya!

Chickens that look like they are wearing little angora sweaters.

So check out my new flock - 6 little beauties! 5 are around 3 months old and 1 little 6 week old. All different colors.

More on this latest development tomorrow....stay tuned.

Same Bat Channel....Same Bat Time!

Night all - I am WAY tired....

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June 4, 2005

 Okay - a confession.

Yes, I did poke that tick with a stick a few weeks ago to see if I could "help the labor along"..........Well, OKAY - just to see if eggs would spew from it's mouth faster. Nope. Didn't work.

Me sick? Un-uh! - I know a few of you out there were thinking the same thing!

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June 4, 2005

 Yesterday I decided to try my hand at some off mandrel boro pendants. I had tried a couple other times, but gave up immediately (basically because the end result sucked and it took me forever!) So last night I went into this with a do or die attitude. I was going to master this technique and not give up after 1 disaster. Actually, I think things went quite well! Check out my "plate-o-beads"

 Below is my first attempt. Pretty cool I think:

 Second attempt (a little lopsided, but still nice):

 Third attempt with a little dichroic:

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 TICK UPDATE

 And for those of you (my kind of girls!) that are looking for a tick update.......scroll to the bottom again! But be forewarned.....my kids won't even look at this mess anymore because the last time they did they all started gagging! And YES, that tick is STILL laying eggs...

June 3, 2005

 Just a couple pictures today. Here's an iris that just barely managed to claw it's way out of the ground. (some days I feel like that!)

  And I'm not sure where this kitty begins or ends.

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