Something lost (almost) and something gained

It has been raining a bit here.  We officially have had the rainiest winter on record here in Oregon.   as in Ever! 

I am not from here, and although I have been here almost my entire married life, the rain still gets to me.  Around February, I become a somewhat difficult person to live with.  But then I start to see the daffodils blooming and the crocus and the trees beginning to bud out.  I feel a weight lift and I can breath again.  I am reminded that the sun will shine again.

 

But while it is still torrential down pouring outside, the kids again have pulled out the shape blocks and again amaze me with their creativity.

 



 

 

One benefit of being trapped indoors for months, (I am not a hearty Oregonian who ventures outside no matter what may be coming out of the sky) is that I can be very crafty.  Once the sun starts shining, I venture out to the garden and have difficulty coming back in.  So before the garden completely wakes up I have some projects to finish.  This is a quilt I made for a family who recently adopted a baby boy.  

 

 

This is Anne and Katie's room.  I don't know how to get them to keep it clean.  I have tried everything.  Someday, I hope they will tire of it and clean it up themselves.  I can hope, yes?

 

 

 

As a parent sometimes you find yourself doing strange things.  Like the other night, I found myself pouring a whole jar of sea salt into a sock. . .

 

And then warming the thing up in a skillet.  Why?  Because my daughter was in tears from an ear infection that came on suddenly at the most inopportune time of 9pm.  So I did what any self respecting mom would do, I jumped on pinterest and looked up ear ache relief.  Pintrest promised that this was fail safe.  I figured, I had both sock and salt so what the heck!  Well, pinterest came through for me!  I don't really know if it was the salt or the heat  or both, but it gave her some relief and we reheated that sucker and made it through the night until we could get to the Dr. the next morning.

 

And that leads into the Something lost.  Well, not lost yet, but I am pretty sure it will be by the end of the weekend.

 Yuck!  Loose teeth gross mommy out!

 

 

And Something gained.  Ok, it is somethings.

We adopted 8 full grown hens.  One of Phil's coworkers is retiring and they are downsizing.  So they asked us if we would take in their 8 chickens.  After some discussion we decided we would.

The majority of them are three years old, which is close to the end of their laying term.  One is 8 years old and she should be well past laying, but she is still producing!  You go girl!

 These are three of the ladies.  The two gray speckled ones are Bramahs.  These breeds are heavy weights, at 8 plus pounds.  They are beautiful!  The one in the center is a Faverelle.  Also a beauty, but not quite so large.  We call her Sammy.

 We named the two Bramahs, Penelope and Esther.  Penelope is the darker one.

 

 

 Another feature of the Bramahs is that they have these lovely feathered legs and feet.  I think it makes them look so regal as they walk around the barn yard.

 

 

 This is Big Girl.  She is a Black Sex Link.  She is 8 years old.  She has spurs.  Don't mess with her!

 

 

 This is Brownie, and Americana.  That is Mary next to her.  Mary is camera shy.

 

 

 Another shot of Brownie.

 

 

 Here is another shot of Mary.  Like I told you, camera shy!

There are two others who did not want their picture taken either. They are Miss Feisty, a Barred Rock, and Blackberry another Americana.  Perhaps they will let me take their picture tomorrow.

 

 

 This poor dear is India.  She is one of our first hens, going on her second summer of laying.  She is molting!  Don't worry in a months time she will be back to her beautiful plumage again!

 

 

 Hens checking out the new nesting boxes.  With our chicken count up to 33 we needed a few more laying boxes for the ladies.  Someone said that chickens are the gateway drug to bigger livestock.  We may move to bunnies next. . .A story for another day.

The new arrivals checking out the new digs.  We were really quite happy with how they integrated with our existing flock.  There were only a few dust ups and all seem content with the new arrangement.