Archive | Chickens

Knitting, Chickens and Green…

By Linda on October 27, 2012 in Birds, Chickens, Gardening, Knitting

I have really been enjoying knitting on my Color Affection shawl, it’s almost finished and so exceptionally soft! I wasn’t sure about knitting with brushed kid mohair but I’m very happy I did. The feel is comforting and cozy, exactly what I want in a shawl. The size is also wonderful, I knitted the larger shawl because I wanted it to really wrap around me for when I go on walks and then I can just unwrap it as I need to. I am busy with the solid edge at the moment and have about half an inch to go and then it will be finished!

These photos above are of the view from my bedroom windows, I have three large bedroom windows looking out onto our back garden. The first photo is of a sparrow nest, this nest is about 2.5 metres away from my window, I am so excited Mr and Mrs Sparrow decided that this was the right spot to raise a family. We will be able to witness their journey, how precious!

The green photos (I LOVE green) have been taken from the two other windows… I love all the green variegation on the leaves of the ivy and lawn with just a tiny sliver of brown sand…

Our chickens…

Each morning our sweet girls make their way to this spot at the front door and call raucously until we appear and give them a few snacks. They are very inquisitive, forever trying to climb through open windows and see what the humans are up to:)

Erin’s chicken, Bubby having a nap in my planter…

Chicken Diaries and a Camel Test Knit

By Linda on October 1, 2012 in Chickens, Knitting, Mamma4earth

We have a broody chicken, her name is Brenda. We have had broody chickens in the past, they have been broody for a few days and then simply left their nest and carried on with their regular chicken lives, but not Brenda… We are leaving her to her broodiness for now, to experience this process even though there will be no baby chooks as we don’t have a rooster. She defends her nest and collects all the eggs that are layed each morning from her sister chickens and proceeds to growl at us if we go near. We take her food and water and she does venture out onto the grass for short periods of time, puffs herself up, wings outstretched and runs around in a crazy fashion and then returns to her nest…

I would love to hear of your experiences with broody chickens if you have a story to share.

I love this sweet planter right outside my front door.

I knitted this camel a little while ago, he will be going into my African Animals knitting pattern book and I wonder if I could ask here if anyone would be interested in test knitting him for me? I have never asked for a test knit before so I’m not sure if I am going about this the right way, but if there are 3 people who are keen, just let me know and as soon as I have finished putting the pattern and photos into a document, it will be ready to send out:)

Wishing you an inspired week.

Chickens, Rabbits and Gardens

By Linda on July 11, 2012 in Chickens

We love our feathered girls and rabbits tremendously, they range freely through our front garden. There are enclosures where they sleep at night, but during the day we let them out to sand-bath, eat grass and insects and have a wonderful time generally.

The only problem with this is that some of our fruit trees have been planted in the front garden and the chickens really enjoy scratching away all the top soil and compost, looking for little grubs to eat. Our trees started looking a little sad so I decided to try something to prevent them from destroying them further.

We cut some chicken wire big enough to cover the sandy, composted area underneath each tree. Cut in from the outside of the wire to the centre and placed the wire on the ground around each tree. There is still mulch under the wire to hold in moisture, preventing the tree from drying out too much between waterings. We placed bricks in a circle under the wire and then placed another circle of bricks on top of the other, the wire is situated in between both rounds of bricks, holding the mesh firmly.

This has worked beautifully for our fruit trees. Our lemon tree has yielded a bumper crop of lemons this season and the chickens are still quite happy with plenty of other areas in the garden to excavate…

Our Strelitzia is in bloom, so pretty…

Have a wonderful day

Linda

Our Lovely Weekend

By Linda on June 10, 2012 in Birthdays, Chickens, Family, Winter

This has been such a lovely weekend…
Our beautiful Jenna turned 15 years old yesterday, time has flown…

I went for a walk around our garden early this morning after feeding the chickens. It was -1 degree Celsius, really freezing, my hands were burning after taking the ice out of their water, but how lovely to be out there. I looked up at our neighbours tree with the moon in the background and had to go and grab my camera. I do know that this tree is indigenous to Australia and has a thorny bark with the most gorgeous pink flowers, such a sight to see…( if you know its name please could you let us know)

This little pond by our front door is frozen over…(It was 3 degrees inside our home this morning, the fires are blazing now)

Yesterday family and old friends come over to celebrate with Jen, she has had a special time…

Our chickens’ warming themselves among the Lavender bushes in the early morning sunshine…

Frozen water in the chickens enclosure…

Jenna’s birth orchids…
This beautiful orchid was given to me on the day of Jenna’s birth 15 years ago. It was a single orchid in bloom. It was given to me by my wonderful mom-in-law as a gift. Each year around the time of Jenna’s birthday it give us the most beautiful show of flowers. It has become a huge plant with many blooms and I probably should divide the bulbs but it seems so happy on our front veranda, just as it is.

I spotted some Violets flowering in a pot outside, do you see the mesh? This has been placed here to prevent our curious chickens from jumping up into our pots and scratching every piece of greenery out while they search for little grubs to eat.

Here I am squinting into my camera, taking a photo through a window reflecting off a mirror inside our house. I am wearing my Shalom cardi and I must tell you, it is so incredibly warm, I love it!

The Red Hot Pokers are flowering again, their bright colours make me so happy…

Even Jack popped out in the cold for an early morning snack.

Have a lovely week.
Linda

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