This-n-That

This is one of those no-real-purpose posts.

We've finally had consistent good weather.

Which means I have not finished my quilt.

I did actually quilt some on it.

I have one square done.

I just can't bring myself to quilt when it's so nice outside.

(Although I really want to finish it.)

This week we've relocated the duck pond to the cow run behind the house.

In the mornings we walk the ducks through the gate to spend the day inside the yard.

We have two reasons for moving them.

One, the duck mess is contained in an out of the way place.

No one is going to care if they make their mess there.

Two, the ducks have been bossing the chickens around.

This gives each of them their own space.

We're hoping it's a win-win.

The ducks grumbled at first but now they're warming up to the new area.

We've worked with Pepper on leaving our animals alone.

So far, she's behaved herself.

Truthfully, I don't think she cares.

Nolan preparing for a science activity that involved an exploding two liter bottle...

OK, it didn't explode, just shot a clay stopper off.

Still fun though.

Dwayne was home sick last week.

One morning I came to the living room to corral my missing students and found this.

It's our version of socializing the animals.

(I joined them after taking some pictures.)

Taming the wild beasts is hard work.

The ducklings so stinking cute.

We can't have a post without some silly Pepper pics.

She sits/stands/lounges all the time with her head between the spindles.

I would love to get a shot from the outside but can't seem to sneak up on her.

This is the best one I could get so far... by sticking my hand through the rails.

Silly dog.

Splish Splash!

I've been trying to take photos of bath time.

It's quite an adventure.

We use an old turtle shaped sandbox for their "pond".

They don't need it, it's a luxury.

Besides, it's fun to watch.

I dumped the old muddy water and started filling it again.

We don't do this every day.

The ducks are quite messy.

The water stays clean for about ten minutes.

This is one of the reasons we don't do fresh baths every day.

The duck digging.

A joint effort here.

This is what's left after they've dug with their bills.

They'll do this in mud puddles after it rains too.

I think we need a better place for them to bathe... one with less mud around.

This is one of our drakes.

He's splashin' water everywhere!

There have been times when all seven ducks are in the pond at one time.

It gets a little crowded!

The will dive and swim under the water too.

Preening time!

They're quite flexible.

Oh Look!

We got more ducks and chickens!

We're beginning to joke about our "weakness" for feathered friends.

This time, however, it was not my fault. :)

This adventure actually started a few weeks ago.

A friend of ours had too many roosters.

So we committed to getting one.

We got him Sunday.

On our way home we got to thinking (I know, that's dangerous) that this guy needs a companion.

We stopped at the farm store to get bedding and decided to get a couple of ducks.

I know, I know, we already have seven.

But they're so cute!!!!

Seriously, we (I'm talking about Dwayne here) wanted to get some Khaki Campbells.

We did actually research this so it wasn't a complete spontaneous purchase...

although the thought was to get them next year.

And while we were at the store with all those cute little chicks in bins

just waiting to be purchased, we let Connor get a Barred Rock pullet.

He's been begging for one, and like good parents we caved allowed him get one.

So now our flock stands at nine ducks and seven chickens.

That's at least nine hens.

We should start getting eggs in August from our older ducks.

The newest batch will start a couple of months later.

(FYI: Hens start laying eggs when they're six months old.)

Here's all four of our newest critters.

The yellow one is our Buff Orpington rooster.

The little black chick is Connor's Barred Rock.

And in the middle are the Khaki Campbell ducks.

These ducks are very fast.

You have to be quick to catch one!

Khaki Campbells are a mix of three duck breeds: Indian Runner, Mallard, and Rouen.

They are supposed to be great egg producers.

They have different markings on their bills.

We're hoping that means we have a hen and a drake.

Only time will tell.

Closer to Quilting

I have managed to baste my quilt sandwich.

Now I'm ready to start quilting.

I think I've learned that there are two processes I don't like about quilting.

One is pressing fabric after I wash it and before it's cut to use.

It takes too long and I just want to start using it.

I've learned that most of quilting is using the technique that works best for you.

For me, pre-washing is a necessary step.

I'm so glad I did this time.

My backing fabric bled a little so I washed it twice!

A close up of the backing fabric.

The second thing I don't like about quilting is deciding how to quilt it once I'm done piecing the top.

I'm sure that as I gain experience, this will become easier.

There's so many options.

I'm afraid of messing it up.

I do have a couple of ideas for this quilt.

We'll see how they turn out.

There's always the good ol' seam ripper if I don't like it!

Somebody Had a Birthday

So this somebody turned 11.

How is that possible?

Per our birthday tradition around this homeschool, we took the day off.

It rained the entire day.

I let the boys play video games most of the day.

It's OK to do that once in a while.

Dwayne's parents took us out to lunch at Burger King.

(In case the crown didn't give that away.)

I made a devil's food cake from frozen duck egg batter.

It turned out fine... I was a little concerned.

I had never frozen cake batter before.

It was Nolan's idea to spread the candles out so Connor

would have a hard time blowing them all out at once.

That's what brothers are for.

(Nolan's plan worked, Connor had to try a second time.)

Nutty as a Fruitcake

This picture doesn't really go with the "crazy" theme of this post, but I had to show it anyway.

We're proud of the tag-team job from Nolan and Pepper.

She brought the "dead" possum up to Nolan.

It's funny how they play dead to protect themselves.

Didn't help this guy at all.

In fact, it made it easier for the dog to pick him up.

The possum's not playing dead anymore.

That's one less chicken/duck predator.

We really don't want to lose anymore chickens or ducks.

Our chicks are four weeks old.

They're getting closer to having all of their feathers

and being shipped to live outside.

We would have moved them out this week but the weather isn't cooperating.

(Why does it need to snow in April?)

We'll see how it is this weekend.

In the meantime, they're wanting to roost on things.

We don't have anything set up in their horse tank for them to roost on.

The chicks will occasionally sit on the waterer.

Goofy things.

Connor does all he can to tame the chicks, including

swaddling them (because we don't have a chicken diaper).

He will sit on the floor with a chick on a towel in the

living room while we watch a movie.

The silly birds just sit there with him.

He even had one fall asleep in his lap the other day.

We don't call him the chicken whisperer for nothing.

He apparently needed a chicken to help him with his typing lesson.

It looks like she's watching!

I think we live on the funny farm.

Comfy?