Relocating a Rooster to Old Goat (Relocation) Ranch and other misc. ramblings

One of our chicks developed into a rooster despite the sexing tests they did prior to sending the chicks to us.  It is not 100% accurate. The tester will mostly determine the sex of the chick by careful observation of the chick.  Some breeds are easy to test and others are not.  The testers may look at wing feathers, the vent, or the color of the chick to determine the sex of the chick.  This is not the first rooster we received from a purchase of girls chicks and it probably will not be the last.  We have a friend that lives in the country and we re-locate our roosters to his ranch.  In Wichita, we are not allowed to have more than 12 hens and roosters are allowed.  (To have 12 hens, you need a special permit and yes, I have one.)  Roosters do not only crow in the mornings and they can be quite loud!  The kids were asked take pictures of the rooster in his new home environment and show his beauty.  Most of the real pretty chickens are the roosters.  A hen at the ranch just hatched two chicks a few days ago.  A pictures of the chicks are included with the photos.  The mother hen is not in any of the photos.  She must be hiding from us.  LOL  She is a Golden Laced Wyandotte.  The daddy is a Buff Orpington.  One chick is light and one is dark.  It will be interesting to see how they turn out as they develop into big hens or roosters.  Here are pictures of the country and the animals.   

Unfortunately you get to see Daddy Long Legs in the container we used to transport him in.  The next picture shows a sliver of him, but you can't see his true beauty.  The red on the comb is a very vibrant red and the black tail feathers shine with blue and green colors when the light hits them just right.

The girl to the left was raised with the rooster for a couple of months.  I think they will remember each other.

Proud papa.....missing a few tail feathers in a mishap.

Young female cow

3 goats

Dylan and Amanda

I have been trying to develop little ways to use old decorating magazines.  I strip many of the magazines and keep the good idea pages.  What do you do with the rest??? I have decoupaged with cut out photos of flowers, gardens, and other nature from my magazines.  I made little boxes to use as gift boxes with magazine pages.  With the enormous amount of magazines I have, these ideas are not too helpful at eliminating my stacks.  I tried making paper roses and placing glitter on the edges.  This works OK too, but I still need to find more uses for my magazines.  The landfill is not really where I want them to end up.  In my latest attempt, I used scrapbook cutting gadgets and I cut circles with a decorative edge.  I cut 3" circles and placed a 2" circle of another color inside.  Most of the center circles were made from scrapbook paper.  In the center of these two papers, I placed a brad.  I used fancy schmancy brads, but plain or hand painted would work just as well.  Mine were purchased from: http://www.eyeletoutlet.com/.  This is an easy way to decorate a plain sack -- just punch a hole with the brad or use a paper punch and attach the decoration through the hole.

Granny Square Chair.  Do you have a wing that needs a new look due to the uglies or worn upholstery? Try this idea: http://www.novita.fi/public/File/isoaidinnelio_tuoli2.pdf   
You could adapt the idea to fit most any chair. This is not my idea, I found it on the internet.  

I hope you are all having a wonderful week.  Blessings to you and yours!  Dawnie

About This Time of Year...........

About this time of year, businesses bring out pumpkin spice or pumpkin pie flavored ice cream, pumpkin fragranced items, pumpkin pies, pumpkin fabric, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin colored yarn, pumpkin spice everything!  I love it all!!!  If I remember right ladies, it is also a male aphrodisiac.  LOL  I had a skein of salmon colored yarn, so I thought I would make a crocheted pumpkin.  A plain pumpkin would not be enough, it had to have embellishment of some sort.  (I tend to over do, so embellishment is always necessary.)   I also had a skein of brown tweed yarn which had a few flecks of other colors, including orange.  I crocheted the pumpkin, sewed it up on the bottom, stuffed it with wool fiber, added pumpkin spice fragrance to the inside, crocheted the stem and vine, and pulled out some of the wool fibers here and there to add my embellishment.  If you are looking for something different and fun for the fall, you may want to make my crocheted.pumpkin spice fragranced, bobble pumpkin.  

I know this background blends in with the pumpkin, but it just says fall and I HAD TO USE IT.

To make my crocheted.pumpkin spice fragranced, bobble pumpkin, you will need one skein of wool or your desired yarn.  I used 50 g. ball of wool.  I also used size f crochet hook, but use the size that suites you.  For the stem and vine, you should be able to use a smaller amount of the skein, approx. 1/4 of it.   No gauge needed for this project.  Chain 35 stitches. You will crochet in the back of each crochet stitch throughout the project.   Row 1, single crochet into the second stitch from the hook.  (the chain one counts as the first stitch of the row.)  single crochet 5 more stitches, half double crochet 7, double crochet 7, half double crochet 7, single crochet 7, chain 1 and turn your work.  Row 2, single crochet in each stitch, chain one at the end of the row and turn your work.  Repeat these two rows until the desired size you want, or you almost run out of yarn.  End with Row1.  Single crochet on the right side of the pumpkin through the loops of the first and last row together to join the piece, making a ridge down the pumpkin which looks like the prior ridges.  You are probably asking which side is the right side.  There really is not a right or a wrong side.  One side looked more uniform, so I used that as the right side.  Sew up the bottom stitches tightly with a tapestry needle.   Stuff the pumpkin with orange colored wool, or any desired stuffing.  (For alternate materials, try ribbon, paper shreds, fabric strips, or lace)  Line the inside bottom with a small sheet of plastic or aluminum foil if desired.  This would keep any fragrance oil from draining through and getting on furniture.  Stuff the pumpkin with wool.  I used varied shades of orange and coral Cotswold wool, which has long curly locks.  Stuff the pumpkin as full as you desire.  Place one tablespoon pumpkin spice fragrance oil in the center of the pumpkin.  Cover over the oil with wool stuffing.  (You could use spices for an alternate to the fragrance oil.)  Attach the brown tweed yarn to  the top of the pumpkin edge.   (You could use green yarn as and alternate).  Crochet around the top with one stitch in each ridge.  You do not need to be precise.  No pumpkin top and stem is identical or perfect. Every 5 or so stitches, crochet two together.   Once you are down to 6 or 7 stitches, continue for a few rows without crocheting any more together.  You will have a hollow stem and you could stuff it with some of the wool or yarn if you wanted it to appear fuller.  Crochet the last stitches together at the end of the stem.  For the vine, I attached two brown tweed yarn pieces and chained approx. 50 stitches.  Then I twirled the stem so it would wind.  At the bottom of the stem, I attached it to the pumpkin side.  The stems do not lay flat, so let yours coil and let it lift off of the pumpkin.  Trim off any extra threads, if you have any and pull the ends into the pumpkin to make your work neat.  (You are almost done.)  With your crochet hook, pull out little wool bobbles from the lining randomly.  If they get to big for your taste, push part of the bobble back in.  Bobbles are an option and you may prefer your pumpkin without them, don't do this last step. 

If you notice a typo or you have questions, just give me an email.  

On a sad note, Larry's goat, Sassafras Van Goat, passed away yesterday in her pasture of green grass.   She is now in goat heaven and eating apples.  She loved to eat apples. 

Thank you for viewing and may you and yours be truly blessed.                                                        Dawn