Fluff and Stuff

Too bloody hot out there - so glad I'm not out working today. Instead, I'm out at the parents' for the weekend, in the country. Granted, I did go out and weed the dye garden after breakfast, and cut back the madder and the bedstraw - they were flopping all over the path, and the bedstraw was in flower, and I don't want it re-seeding all over the place - but right now, I'm staying in. Even the porch in the shade is on the warm side; I was picking fleece out there, but have given up and moved that in also.

And if you really want a picture that will make you sweat, this morning I finished the alpaca gloves I was working on, and got them blocked. They're nearly dry now.

This year's shipment of chicks arrived last week, including a few of different breeds and colours that will be kept for laying hens.

One of them, a Barred Rock chick, is a little smaller than the others, and she wasn't very lively this morning, and looked like she was panting, so we brought her in to keep an eye on her and keep her from being squashed or trampled. She's perkier now, and is back with the rest (she was feeling lonely, and making plenty of noise to let us know that), but we're keeping an eye on her, since she's still panting and not running about as much as the others. Hopefully she's going to be OK. She's very cute, and has a bit of an owl or a penguin colouring right now, dark on top and a creamy belly.