projects for the year 2010

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:43:30 -0800

1) Re-instatement of the 52 Weekends Project. I mentioned this to my friend Kelley today and she immediately asked if I didn’t think it was too big a project -- like, maybe I should do 20 weekends and not all 52?? But as I told Kelley, the 52 Weekends Project was one of the few things that ever got me out and exploring on my own on a regular basis and to fairly far-flung places that I never would have visited otherwise. Ambitious it is, certainly, but that’s actually the allure. Can it be done? Last time I only got to 24 or 27, and there may have been some weekends when I stretched the rules to fit a less than stellar project in just to meet the goal. This year, success.
2) Health and Fitness. This likely involves a lot of little things like parking farther away from work and the store and walking an extra 100 feet. And it also involves finally getting on the elliptical so that it is no longer a monument to sloth.
3) Eat better, healthier food. And less of it. I’m going with the mantra to eat more plants and whole grains. I actually very rarely eat processed foods, so that’s not an issue, but I don’t think I eat enough fruits and vegetables -- and I need to cut down on meat and carbohydrates. Trying to talk to anyone about food is like trying to have a conversation about religion or politics. People have unshakeable beliefs and they want you to be a true believer too. I like to think that all food is good food just the way nature made it. I’m not cutting out the cheese, cream, coconut milk, beef, bacon, or eggs. If you have a low-fat mantra, please go verbalize it elsewhere. I’m going to eat good, natural, wholesome foods -- just less of them.
4) Budget, budget, budget. I expect to go FTE this year and that’s going to change my financial landscape pretty dramatically. I don’t want to mess things up. Hopefully no giant emergencies occur.

the annual hibernation

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:58:30 -0800

It became apparent about three years ago that whether I plan to or not I generally keep to myself between January 1st and April 1st. I’ve come to think of it as the annual hibernation, and I use it as a time to get some thoughts in order about goals for the year, clean-up tasks left unfinished from the year before, catch up on sleep, and just generally have some quiet time. Seattle is a good place to hibernate, since the weather usually forces us inside during those months anyway. If we’re not in our own homes, we’re in bookstores, movie theaters, cafés, pubs, and restaurants, riding out the long rainy winter nights.

I’ve spent an entire year telling people that there’s nothing new and exciting going on, “I’ve just been working”. And since I think that’s about the sorriest end-of-year statement ever, I’m going to get busy changing it. This week the company I spend all my time at is closed. I’m working, nonetheless, but on my own schedule for a change. I get to sleep late, go out to lunch, and quit early if I want. I can put in a 12 hr day and then no day at all. I’ve got a number of projects lined up for a January 1st start date and I’m excited about getting busy with them. And yeah, I could start tomorrow, on December 28th, but my own little version of OCD *likes* starting things on the 1st -- especially January 1st. So for the next few days I’ll be working at home and taking care of end of the year errands and tasks. The car will get an oil change; I’ll make a big trip to Costco to re-stock the paper goods, pet foods, and canned goods; I’ll clean and organize and put away the Christmas stuff; I’ll play with the dogs and talk to the chickens; and I’ll get a lot of sleep. Did I mention sleep?

end of summer wrap-up

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 09:44:51 -0700

For the first time since I got the chicks, I am now certain that my New Hampshire Red is a Rooster. He hasn’t started crowing yet, but look at those tail feathers and the beautiful colors on his sides!

It’s been a summer full of maintenance, remodeling, and repair. First up was the removal of the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. I’ve hated that wall since the day I bought the house, and once it was down my only regret was that I hadn’t taken it down sooner.

In preparation for winter, I had a gas fireplace installed. It sits in front of the fireplace and vents up the chimney. It has already taken the chill off a couple of August nights.

The water heater got replaced before it decided to burst. There was no actual sign of trouble, just a continual stream of contractors telling me that it wouldn’t live much longer. Rather than clean up after an inevitable mess, I decided to have it replaced.

And just yesterday I had the gutters replaced. The old ones barely worked at all. Water poured down between the edge of the roof and the gutters, missing the gutters almost entirely, and saturating the ground around the house. It had become so bad that even a mild rainfall would leak directly into my basement.

And since the gutters were going in, I decided to purchase rain barrels. I didn’t want to have to Mickey Mouse them into place later.

I started a “Window Quilt” early in the summer and I’m still working on it. The idea is to hang a patchwork of old windows around the perimeter of the front porch, thereby mostly enclosing it. I started painting two more windows today, and likely need another 6 or 8 to finish, but I love the way it’s working out so far.

I added another dog to the menagerie about 6 weeks ago. Molé was a stray, lost or abandoned in Bothell, and made her way to join George and Smelly and me in the bungalow by way of a friend’s Facebook posting. She’s strong and fast and a little too rambunctious at times, but she’s proving to be a great dog and a big help to George, who has gone completely deaf. Molé keeps him aware of what’s going on and alerts him to danger, prowlers, and to the super exciting fact that I’m home everyday.

I had some early success in the garden and that was it.

quiet days and nights

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:40:42 -0700

I haven’t written a thing in over a month because, really, I have nothing of any importance to say. The weekdays are full of work and dog walking, chicken feeding, house-tending, and occasional outings with friends. The weekends full of the same, minus the work (mostly) and with additional errands and chores thrown in. It’s calm and peaceful. Sometimes it starts to feel lonely and boring, and then I just remind myself that there is no drama, and I’m happy for the deliberate pace and the consistency in schedules and activities.

The garden has gone from emerging, to lush, and now into starting-to-be-ragged. If it were April or May, I’d do something about it, but in July I want to do other things.

The chicks have grown tall and leggy. They look just like 1/2-sized hens now. There’s no “baby” about them anymore, except that they still emit light cheepy-chirpy noises. I’m still unsure that they’re all female and waiting for something to happen to make me certain, one way or the other.

The weather has been gorgeous and at times too hot. I try not to complain, lest Mother Nature decides to take away all her blessings in retaliation for one half-serious and ill-timed remark.

It’s been a year since I started the 52 Weekends project, and months since I abandoned it. I’m feeling the same way I did when I started it -- that the summer was passing me by and I was experiencing none of it. I may not actually revive the project, but I do think I need to get out and have a few adventures again before autumn.

rooster?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:06:20 -0700

I’m worried that this chick is a rooster. He or she has a much more pronounced comb than the other chicks. Is it a species difference? Is this chick just older than the others?

lessons and victories

Thu, 21 May 2009 20:07:27 -0700

I gave Miss Jane Broody her own roosting box -- a 5 gallon rectangular bucket -- when I locked her out this morning. I’d no idea how she would take to this idea of being on the other side of the glass from the rest of the chickens, but she seems to have done fine. She even laid an egg inside the bucket, as I’d hoped she would. So that was a success.

Ginger and the chicks passed the day in peace and quiet on the other side of the glass. Ever since the chicks arrived, the roosting box has been quite stinky, so I have to clean it nearly daily. But that’s okay. It only takes a few minutes. Ginger and the babes seem to respect the process and stay out of the way. I think they’re going to be stuck in there for weeks on end, until the chicks are able to fend for themselves, so I want them clean and healthy.

The chicks are getting taller every day. They eat a ton of food and chirp incessantly. Every day they wander a little farther from Ginger and for longer periods of time, then need to be wrangled. It’s a wonder Ginger has the energy and patience.

The garden looks fabulous and the vegetables are growing like crazy. I have a hard time thinking of them as food though, and mostly ignore them, beyond weeding and watering and feeding them to the chickens. I’ve developed no enthusiasm for this process at all, beyond patting myself on the back for getting them to grow. Maybe I ought to stick with flowers and herbs?

more lessons in chick raising

Wed, 20 May 2009 22:08:14 -0700

This morning I went outside to go to the basement and noticed that Ginger was out in the coop instead of in with the chicks. My heart skipped a beat in excitement that maybe the chicks were outside already. But no. There were two yellow chicks inside. Where was brown chick?

Turns out brown chick had escaped the confines of the roosting box and poor Ginger was trying to protect him from Miss Jane Broody and lead him back inside. This effort looked pretty hopeless. I intervened and scooped brown chick up and back into the roosting box. At the same time, Ginger flew up and into the roosting box and angrily pecked at me for my efforts. Ungrateful bird.

That seemed to take care of the problem though. Ginger scolded the chicks and they stayed close by for the rest of the morning, at least until I left for work. But when I came home, Ginger was back in the coop chasing a yellow chick around and mad as hell. The second I stepped in to try to scoop and protect, she flew at my face, claws out and screeching. Wow. That’s kind of scary.

I couldn’t get close to the chick to scoop and return until I used a garbage can cover as a shield and forced Ginger into the roosting box without the chick. There was a minute afterwards when I thought I’d been too slow and Miss Jane was going to kill the chick, but I got it scooped and back into the nest. No display of gratitude from Ginger, mind you.

I had to lock Miss Jane out until sunset so that the chicks could not escape again. Seems I’m going to have to closely regulate door opening and closing for a few weeks until the chicks are big enough and bright enough to find their way back in.

Damned chickens.

3 chicks

Fri, 15 May 2009 22:18:47 -0700

Well, we had some sort of crushing accident between Tuesday and Wednesday, and lost a chick. I bought two more and as far as I can tell, all three remaining are still alive this evening. Two came out to greet me today and I’m pretty certain I saw the third burrowing farther under Ginger. I’m trying not to disturb them too frequently, but Miss Jane Broody lays an egg in the same roosting box almost daily, so I have to move Ginger when I get home to get the egg out. I’m trying not to be any more nosey or disruptive than that. I’m so excited to see one chick make it to 4 days and the other 2 chicks two days so far. I imagine that every day that passes increases their survival chances exponentially. I’m looking forward to the day they start venturing out on their own. I haven’t found out when that will be... a couple of weeks? More?

It was a busy week with party prep and then party recovery and I don’t think I’m quite over it all yet. Tomorrow the Mad Scientist is coming with me to look at a piece of property in Poulsbo. I don’t have good feelings about this listing working out, but I do think it’ll get me started in learning about rural properties and what to look for or avoid. I really want to move out of the city.

broody hen gets chicks!

Mon, 11 May 2009 19:46:46 -0700

Ginger went broody again on me the other day. Sheesh, we’d just gotten done with that and here we go again. And since broodiness stops all egg-laying, I’m down to one egg a day again. Chickens!

I had to go to the feed store today for more shavings and when I went inside there were dozens and dozens of adorable fuzzy baby chicks for sale. I asked the young woman working there if I could make Ginger’s dreams come true by buying some chicks and she said “absolutely!”. And so I drove home with the heat in the car set to stun and little chirpy birds in a box. So sweet. I wish I could have spent more time with them, but they really needed to get underneath the cover of Ginger’s feathers, so that’s where they are now. I don’t think Ginger has figured this out yet. I read up a little and the information I found said it will take her a few hours, but that she should be leading them out to food and water within 18 hours. I hope this works. I don’t want to be the cause of chick death.

I bought a New Hampshire Red and a Welsummer. They’re supposed to be 90% females and 10% males, so there’s a small chance I’ve picked up roosters, and that’s just not going to fly around here. I sure hope they’re females. If they survive long enough, they’ll both lay brown eggs, but the Welsummer will lay dark brown eggs. Very cool.

weekends are not

Sat, 2 May 2009 07:12:06 -0700

So much to do. I’m covered with scratches, bruises, broken nails, and bug bites. Thankfully I forget, from June through March, just how much work the garden is in April and May. Aside from planting a bunch more buckets of vegetables, I think I’m mostly done with the big stuff. I took down 7 more Arborvitae yesterday. They were lining the western edge of the back yard and I have always hated them. They were ugly and scruffy and shaded the yard all afternoon. Now I have a bare fence-front there and a new view of my neighbor’s rooflines from the back step. The view was definitely better when it was just evergreen foliage, but there’s so much more light in my yard with the trees gone that I can’t complain too much about the negative change in view. My plants will be much happier with all the additional light. I’ll figure out something to pretty it up. Sometimes you have to just tear things down with no plans for what will replace them before you can come up with the ideas for the next phase.