The new flock

The last time I wrote about my chickens was... when I first got them. Several things have happens since then. But first of all I want to tell you about my old flock.

 The Rooster: Black Dynamite is a Jersey Giant (we think) and is a total sweetheart. When we first got him we named him after the character in the movie Black Dynamite (which I highly recommend). He is the sweetest, and clumsiest rooster I have ever met.

TA DA!

The Girls: Originally there were 5 hens that came with him (all free). Two of these took off when we let them out of the coop never to come back. The other three we named Gloria (after the main squeeze in the movie) Bump (she had a tuft of feathers on the side of her neck), and Snowshoes (she had a few scrawny feathers on her feet). Then for Valentines day my husband got me 5 Barred Rock chicks that happened to be all girls! I couldn't tell them apart, but they were very cute. The flock was integrating well, and they had a new pen.

From L to R that is Snowshoes (white), Gloria (red), and Bump (black). Black Dynamite was standing guard. 

This really was the best Valentines Day gift a girl could ask for!

Mr. Black Dynamite guarding the new ladies

If you notice that I am using the past tense that is for a reason.

A few months back (the very beginning of June) two of one of our neighbors pit bulls got out and attacked our flock. Our rooster was severely injured but was the only survivor. It was heartbreaking. That is really the only word to describe the experience of cleaning up after that massacre.

What happened next I think is all you need to know about me as a person. We took our rooster to a vet. Yes, I took a chicken to an emergency vet. There she cleaned him up, taught us how to reapply an antibiotic cream and bandages, and gave us an oral antibiotic to also give him. We then took him home, set up a small pen in the living room, and changed his bandages and gave him his medication twice a day. He lived in our living room for a month. Yes, he woke me up every morning at 4-5am for a month (and I HATE mornings).

Here he is! He had to wear a t-shirt so he wouldn't peck at his bandages and wound. 

Growing up we had a cockatiel, and one of the tricks I learned was to cover him with a piece of fabric when he was being loud. I think the rational for that, is that the bird thinks it is dark and therefore night, and is quiet. We decided to try something similar with our rooster for the mornings. This did not work as well. We would pick him up and put him in a large (broken) container we had on the farm and cover him with a towel. Soon it was also a yoga mat. It never stopped him from at 4:30am getting up and starting to crow.

Getting ready for bed.

After a month of quality time with our rooster, he earned another name: Mr. Burk. He would comment on everything, and if we thought he had a personality before, now we know. We are now very attached to our goof of a rooster. Around the end of the month we started talking about when he would go back outside, sleep in his coop, and graduate from house chicken. This of course meant we needed to talk about replacing the hens we had lost. Obviously a rooster needs a flock.

Luckily for us there are chickens EVERYWHERE on the farm. We set a trap and after about 2 weeks of trying, we caught 3 juvenile hens. It was hard to listen to mom trying to get them back, and we did try to catch her for the next 2 weeks so they could all be together, but she was too smart for us.

The New Girls

 The new girls and Mr. Burk spent some time in the coop getting to know each other. After 2 more weeks, Mr. Burk was cleared to go outside, and everyone went out. It has been a few weeks now, and everyone is still going back to the coop at night, and hanging out together. We have a new flock!

The girls got names today. They are still skittish being feral chickens, but much less likely to flip out when we are around. They seem to be doing just fine. I will try and get another (better) photo of them, but I caught them through the screen before they ran back up the hill this morning.

Rosie, Rose Bud, and Rose Hip (the Roses)

Apparently the Jersey Giant is supposed to have a "distinctive crow", what do you think? 

(He looks all scruffy due to so many feathers coming in) 

I am totally converted to chickens. They are an awesome pet and it sure is nice to get fresh eggs! 

Is it alive?

I am very bad about remembering to blog. It's not like I have a shortage of things to write about; I live on a coffee farm, I have chickens, I work in a research lab, I travel to far flung places, and I like to randomly try to make things. All of these would be excellent blog topics on their own, however I never manage to write anything. In order to change that I decided to try NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), while my husband at least tries to do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). So, I guess its time to stretch my fingers and start getting some practice. I think part of my problem is that I hate the way I write. So I apologize in advance. Also I am finding typing with nails to be more challenging then I remember. So here goes everything and nothing I guess. Time to start warming up for a month solid of blog posts (with a trip in the middle too).

Balls. Hanging Christmas Balls.

Well, I guess this post will just be early for next year...

This holiday seasons I wanted a tree... or the suggestion of a tree. I just didn't feel right about buying a tree that had been shipped from the mainland, and I have never liked "fake" Christmas trees.

I decided I wanted something hanging, I wanted a Christmas tree ordainment mobile. Turns out, these things exist! I found directions online here: Christmas tree ornament mobile, how-to 

I had to improvise and used a fruit bowl from Target for the top but other than that (and doing some math of my own) I used her measurements and just went from there! It was easier than I expected, just a little time consuming.

taking it down was also time consuming, but not too bad. Here it all is ready to be put away!

Chickens...

I can tell you (and it is no secret) that I am 100% a city girl. Fishing, farming, and hunting were exotic things that I never did. Oh and chickens. When I was in 5th grade we moved to a different area of the city and someone in the neighborhood HAD CHICKENS! This was a huge deal. Fast forward many years and here we are.

I live on a coffee farm. I have chickens. Not going to lie, when I said "we can get chickens after you fix the coop" to my husband I was totally not expecting him to fix it that day, and go get chickens while I was at work. But he did and we have chickens.

At this point, us and the chickens is already a funny story. We have had them for a little over a week, and already have been having some crazy adventures. First thing you need to know is that here in Hawaii, we have wild chickens. Lots of them. The area I live could give Kauai a run for its money in terms of chickens. The first night we spent in the new place I was about ready to kill the roosters by the time the sun came up. I am sleeping through them better....

The "official" bird of the Island of Kauai!

So chickens. My husband went and picked up a rooster and three hens from an acquaintance. The rooster is beautiful! He is a huge black rooster with iridescent feathers. Being the cheeky late 20 somethings we are... we named him Black Dynamite in the hopes that he would continue to have lots of bitches (hens).

Black Dynamite

Well that first night, two of the hens made a break for it. The next morning? he only had 1 hen. We were sad. But we saw the other ladies hanging around and had high hopes of re-integration once the 3 day forced incarceration in the hen house was over.

Then the wait was over... over strode Black Dynamite followed by his main bitch (a beautiful large red hen) out into the coffee farm to explore. He immediately got in a fight, lost, and his hen followed the other rooster. That night only the one red hen was back, and for the next few days Black Dynamite would wander the farm, alone, but she would be back at night. Then about Wednesday last week she didn't come back. Black Dynamite was SO SAD! He didn't even caw in the morning. So, we got two new small hens!

New hens!

They are all still in the hen house for their 3 day trial. These young ones are spirited, and we have high hopes for them! Also the escaped hens and the large red hen have been hanging around. We hope all will be reunited soon!

I moved to a coffee farm!?

That's right. I moved to a coffee farm!

I really am up for a crazy new experience! My husband and I moved onto a coffee farm this month. We are now the caretakers of the farm house and the irrigation system. It is already been a learning experience!

I will be sure to keep you updated on the craziness around here!

yummy coffee!!!!

DIY handfasting cords

I ended up buying some thicker cord and instead of braiding them together (which would have looked awesome) went with a 6 cord look.

Now I wanted to add beads and knots, I knew that so I went on an internet hunt and found this awesome one: Monkeys Fist

I looked up a few youtube videos and practices a few times and then went to work knotting one of each of my 6 ropes. I then went to bead store and got some bobbles for the ropes. 

I went with one dangly one and one simple one per rope. 

TA DA 

That is 6 ropes and some wonderful Kona Coffee! 

Now in order to keep my ropes nice and happy, and for after the handfasting I bought a nice box to keep them in. So here they are in their forever home! 

I'm happy with the box too, I think its super cute!

Thats all for now!

Oh god....

That is what my mom said when I told her I was making my dress. But never fear! I am almost done! Like I said in the previous post I already for married last year, and this event is more of a reception just a year later.

I got married in a dress I made last year, and so the idea of making another dress is not totally out of left field. It’s just that, I'm super busy... so... this was an crazy idea. I basically took 2 weekends off the calendar and worked. I have 2 more weekends, and I am almost done.

I also purposely went for an easier pattern, and I am happy the way it is turning out. I still need to sew a sash, attach the lining for the skirt, the zipper and hem.

SO CLOSE!

I'm not sure I recommend sewing a dress the month before the event, but it has been calming to just sit down and sew.