Oh, What a Beautiful Day!

Easter weekend at the parents'. You know, I can't think of a better way to spend a day than this. It's been warm and sunny all day - I did laundry and hung everything out on the clothesline for the first time this year, and it all dried beautifully, and smells of fresh air.

The chickens are strolling around the yard, clucking contentedly, picking at the leavings under the bird feeders, and taking dustbaths in the sun.

Mom had a few things she wanted dyed, so I fired up the first dye bath of the season. Black walnut hulls dried last fall, adding a lovely brown to some yarn she found at the 2nd-hand store, and some towels that had faded.

Now there's a chicken in the oven, and sausages defrosting in the fridge - there will be barbecue for supper! Hot cross bun dough is rising, getting ready for tomorrow's breakfast buns. And an Easter dinner to look forward to with ham from my cousin's pigs, and pie from berries we picked last summer. Life is definitely good!

Introducing Toby

Having had a week of gorgeous summery weather, I was expecting Saturday to be decent for the Great Washing of the Fleeces (all those lovely samples from Rare Breeds Canada). So far from it, that it was overcast and windy and rainy all day, and the rain even turned to something like ice pellets. But the fleece had to get washed, so outside I went with my tubs. Began before breakfast, and all day it seems I was up and down stairs and in and out of water, as I was doing the laundry as well. Thankfully none of my clothes were anywhere near as dirty as fleece often is.

I borrowed the door to the old chicken coop to drain the fleeces on. It would have worked much better on a sunny day, but with the rain...well, everything came in before supper, and draped the upstairs bannisters, and clothes-drying racks beside the stove. I'm sure the door will come in handy another time. The chickens won't need it. Dad is converting the old barn/coop to a garage for his car, and there will be a new coop built a little ways off.

Right now, however, they are still in the barn at night, and getting let out during the day to pick around in the yard. Saturday they also had a little excitement. Since we lost Leroy to the dogs that came around, Mom's been inquiring around for another rooster. Turns out one of my cousins had a rooster to spare, and he was looking for a door for some project. Mom had three old doors in storage in the shed loft. And voila, the good old-fashioned barter system strikes again. Saturday morning saw my cousin and the family and the rooster driving up the lane. Rooster duly introduced to hens, a door selected in exchange, and everyone was happy. Especially the rooster - he was crowing very happily, and when Mom went to check a bit later how he was getting on, she found him on the roost snuggled up with four or five hens. I tried to get a picture of him later, but he's a bit camera-shy.

Still, if you can't tell from the photo, he's a lovely rooster. White and cinnamon and black, glossy and plump. It took very little time for him to be christened Toby, after the singer, Toby Keith. He's got the right figure, and a black mark under his chin that looks like a beard - and exactly the same swagger around the chicks as his namesake in his music videos.

What’s Next

Started at the new job this week. We have training for the first week or two, so it was back to class for me. Two whole binders' worth of reading for homework, talks on expectations, confidentiality, and harassment, forms galore, new people, new building…The job posting didn’t sound like call center, but it appears that’s what it is. Not my favorite pastime, but it will definitely expand the resume, and at least the people I talk to will be farmers. And most of the people in my group have some farm/rural background or interest, which is great - it's nice to have people who speak my language! Plus I'm listed as bilingual, and on night shift, and both of those give extra pay. That will justify getting internet chez moi - a necessity since I discovered that I can't upload on the library computers, and the nearest one to work is a 10 minute walk and busy enough in the afternoon to mean I waited 30 minutes for a 15 minute slot.

I was hoping that there would be something else new to report this week. I was out at the parents’last weekend, and one of the hens, Amy, is sitting on some eggs - our first broody hen. She’s been sitting for at least a couple weeks already, and they could hatch any time. We’re hoping the eggs are fertile and the rooster’s not shooting blanks. If effort counts, he shouldn’t be! Amy’s so funny, takes it so seriously. She sits on her nest very flat, trying to cover as much area as possible. If you talk to her she makes funny noises, and she won’t look at any treats you give her (although they do seem to get eaten later). And every day she gets up for a little while to stretch her legs, and goes and stands on the fence and talks to the other hens, giving them the daily report I guess. I think she’d be such a cute mother hen.

Anyway, things overall are going well (it's just the transition that's a bit wobbly), and it's Canada Day. I slipped over to the lab to do my internet stuff, but will not be pausing downtown on the way back, even though I now have a bus pass. Much as I'd like to see the Royal visitors and the concerts and the Snowbirds and all, it's a hot day and crowded on the Hill, and I really ought to plant a few neglected things and otherwise catch up on everything at home I haven't been doing this week. And warm up for the Tour de Fleece starting tomorrow!