Ump

This was priceless. My daughter and her dad used the sheep fence as the backdrop for practicing softball and J.J. couldn't resist investigating.

It was especially funny because J.J. insisted on standing in the umpire's position. Then every time a pitch came, he'd wince, not realizing there was a fence protecting him.

We actually had sunshine that afternoon/evening, and it helped me get some decent poultry pictures. Here's Calvin the Young Horny Rooster in action. First, he makes a "pip, pip" sound to alert a hen that he's found a worm or other treat.

Once he has her attention, he waits for her to turn her back on him.

Then he makes his move:

But she got away, this time.

"Hey, Baby, I thought we had something special. Where'd you go?"

Actually, Calvin's lucky to get any you-know-what at all. Because big bad Chip is head rooster around here:

He's barely bigger than a pigeon, but he does not tolerate Calvin moving in on his girls. I wonder if that will change when Calvin gets older and more aggressive.

Here's Daisy. She turns FIVE next month:

The peahen:

The turkeys, Lars in front, and in charge:

Last year, Roy was the boss bird, but Lars beat him almost to death and now he is second, or third, in command and hardly dares display when Lars and Ed are around:

But when he's alone, he looks quite impressive:

Some of the hens. One of the three barred rocks:

Our Easter Egger (Araucana), an impostor who lays white eggs instead of the blue or green she's supposed to:

And our New Hampshire (or is it Rhode Island?) red:

Sophie the Border Leicester:

And J.J. again:

Two days ago I got a mystery package that turned out to be from Bulldog Knits. I had forgotten I had won her blog birthday contest a few months ago, and I guess my story of complete humiliation was pretty good, because she sent me all this:

Spooky stitch markers, a birthday-cake measuring tape, glow-in-the-dark sheep, a sheep notepad, a tin of Oregon mints, and a pair of Brittany needles. What a fun surprise!

Meanwhile I continue to spin on my sock yarn, the Sophie/superwash merino blend. I finished the singles two days ago:

I've got almost half plied and it looks pretty fine to me. I mentioned in the last post that I have to knit my Colonial Superwash yarn on size 0s. That's because I'm a super-loose knitter, not because the gauge is so fine. I hope I can get away with 0s on this stuff!

Now I'm off to the shop to finish a little bit of dyeing. If all goes well, you'll be seeing yarn and fiber at A Piece of Vermont before the end of the week.

(And hallelujah, did you hear the angels sing at 7:55 p.m. EST yesterday? At that moment, I had 0 unread posts in my blogroll for the first time in months. I wonder if that will ever happen again.)

Comments

[kate]

Love the poultry and sheepie shots! Hurray from Spring!
Lovely spinning, too.

[Carole]

Great photos today. Looks like spring might come after all!

[Cynthia]

Thanks for all the GREAT animal shots. Love the turkeys...so noble! The spinning shots are inspiring too. I ordered a spindle the other day and can't wait for it to arrive so that I can start learning to spin with the beautiful batts you made.

[Amanda]

What's the typical lifespan of a chicken--without the presence of foxes?
That sock yarn is such a pretty color!

[CindyCindy]

I love the animal shots. I almost didn't miss Milo:) As for the last question? Never. We're headed for planting season, girl.

[Laura]

Aww Miss Daisy I hope you survive the foxes for another year! You must be one Smart Chicken! :)

I think I need to hug Sophie.

I'm spinning sock yarn right now too but it's still in singles and I'm wondering if it won't be more suitable for lace. It's always too thick or too thin - why can't I ever really get spot on with handspun sock yarn? I think it'll be too thick as a 3ply.

[stephanie]

Great animal portraits!

[Bea]

That is SO cool that you get to spin yarn from a sheep you actually own! Do Sophie and JJ let you pet them and give them back scratches? And will they have any baby lambs soon? I eagerly await the next installment of Calvin's chicken sex adventures!

[--Deb]

I always enjoy your lifestock photos!

[Kristen]

The animals all look so happy and healthy in the spring sunshine!

[donna lee]

I have a cat named Calvin (and his brother Hobbes) and before his manhood was taken away, he tried to be suave and woo the ladies. Unfortunately, there are too many male cats around here and he mostly got beat up. It's much calmer since he got, um, fixed.

[Ramona]

It's sounds like your running a high school for poultry with all the raging hormones and fighting.

[Carol]

Wow! Everyone was out, wait, the piggies and calf! I do love the birdies fun. How old do they get to be? I'll be watching the shop, I may have a gift or two ;-)

[missscurious]

Finally, spring! The animal shots are indeed priceless. I guess Chip is like the sensitive pony-tail rooster of the bunch. Chicks always fall for that type. Poor Calvin. Your spinning is beautiful. Sophie is a vision in blue.

[lynne s of oz]

Spring is almost there! heh. Turkeys are silly critters! You've got quite a farm now :-)

[Cathy in Va.]

Sophie's yarn looks beautiful. And what a pretty smile she has, in her photo. :)

[janna]

I feel bad for Roy!

[Jane]

Ah, it's nice to see everyone out enjoying the Spring sunshine!

[JessaLu]

I'm just going to sit over here and be jealous of your chickens. ;op

[Andrea (noricum)]

Oooo! Zero! Once upon a time I routinely had it at zero. (It's currently at 626. These days I'm happy if I can occasionally get it lower than the lowest point from the day before.)