Roosters

We have been talking about getting more Ameraucana chickens, we tried getting more right away but the feed store was out.

We ended up getting 3 Americana chicks and a few buff Orpingtons to round off things, very sweet birds we are happy with the choice 

The Americana ( silver ) chicks all start out looking the same but as soon as the feather up you can see a big difference

This is one of our silver Ameraucana hens 

 This is one of our silver Ameraucana roosters.....

this is our other one....it turns out some of our friends ended up with roosters, they already had as many roosters as they needed....and offered them to us :D 

We meet them a few times as they were growing up....seemed like sweet birds, got along really good with each other.......until they got here...

even though they were from the same batch and have been raised together they are now trying to 

de-feather each other :(

The first night was okay, by mid afternoon the next day we had to separate them....okay no biggie the whole pecking order thing right....it'll work out after they have been here a bit longer.....or at least that was the plan....

While we had them getting used to everything around here I came across a free cycle add offering 2 roosters to a good home, one a buff Orpington  the other was said to be a speckled Sussex....cool both easy going breeds

what could go wrong ...

First off it's not a Sussex it's an Easter egger lol

 We wanted Easter eggers but couldn't find any in the area, so really cool right.....while they get along great with each other....that can not be said about any other bird. They have only been here a few days, so that may still change.... to be fair the Ameraucanas  were the first to attack, never mind the fencing or that the other birds way out size them.....the pecking order again :(   Brent made them their own coop, they seem happy :D

After more than a week of the Ameraucana roosters getting used to the hens, we let them in the garden together....yeah....I put the roosters back in separate areas....not going good at all...very nasty to our barred Rock....looks like they will be staying in separate areas....

Update turns out the guy at the feed store had no clue what kind of rooster he had sold the lady who gave us the buff and other roo.....he's a Russian Orloff, I'm sure he didn't know this when he sold the chick to her. When I had asked if he ever ordered any Russian Orloff's he said no, so guessing it was a mix up at the hatchery....He's a cool rooster now named Orly :D

Pi Pilates

 

I took my camera with me this time to Pi Pilates

Labor Day weekend

 
Our weekend started with helping out a friend.....now we always are willing to do what we can to help out.... 

but when you have a friend who is a great musician "helping" doesn't really come close to what we did..... this guy works so hard, puts in long, long hours.....we come along and move a few things and stand around getting to see a great performance....yeah sure we sell a few cd's here and there...talk about hard listening to all of these people telling you how great your friend is ;) yeah that's some real hard work there.......
André was "working" so hard he had time to sit down and trade pencils with another friend of ours Cecy :D

                                          just a quick sketch but I think they got the feel of Randy ...... Cecy came up with the look she wanted and André worked with that......they both do good work

The next thing we did was go to White Sands for a full moon concert by Randy Granger.....we kicked back in the sand and watched him play...I found a seed bead a few inches deep in the sand...all of this white sand and out pops a blue bead cool :D

What a show...the dunes were full of people as far as you could see....it was so surreal in the moonlight you could see people but not make them out clearly....we were sitting a few feet from the friends we were planning on meeting, but didn't realize until it was almost over........ the music carried so beautifully....you would never have known by the way Randy played that it had been a long day for him already....it was truly magical 


Like a full day of going out and listening to great music the day before wasn't enough for a great weekend as it was.....

This morning we woke up to 2 more eggs, laid by different hens...we now have 3 chickens laying.....
we had thought that one of the reds was laying until a few days ago....then our only barred rock laid one while I was there lol....she tends to lay her eggs in the early afternoons ( and did so today so we got 3 :) )
so the question is who laid these two...one is clearly darker than the other....I have read that reds have darker brown eggs than some chickens......we do have buffs that are sounding really ready to lay as well.......

 

So doing good with eggs and chickens......

and off to "help" at another show of Randy's....... a few of the same people who saw him yesterday came back to hear more.....

This older gentleman comes up and puts a tip in the jar.....than comes back to speak to me

asks me how I know Randy....I say just a great friend I enjoy helping out

He gave me a tip too :D 

                                        a dollar coin...how cool is that :D


Last month we had a reporter from the local paper ask if they could stop in and ask us about reiki....we invited them to a workshop......
the article came out today.....

                   oddly enough we had just about the same clothes on today lol
tonight we are looking to do a bit of work around here...after that find something to put on the grill....


Wishing our best to you and yours


Check out Randy Granger here

Jewelry at Pi

While at Pi Pilates Studio the other day I started to realize how many of my items Ellen is stocking for me..

Beaded bracelets and a few ankle-lets

Beaded necklaces

   Reiki energy wands, made with Jorden's rosewood and charged crystals.....no need to have reiki to use ( all our items are charged with reiki energies )

We have a sale on earrings right now :D 

 and now my latest 

                                              going on sale this week

at Pi

Pi Pilates Studio & New Age Health Shoppe 

2521 Avenida De Mesilla Las Cruces, NM 88001 575-526-0977 

pi pilates web site

just finished.... 

Randy Granger at White Sands Sept. 1

Randy Granger at White Sands
Saturday, September 1, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Randy Granger, Native American Musician
Native American flutist Randy Granger will fill the moonlit night with his unique blend of instruments, interpretation of traditional melodies, and heartfelt music. Join this native New Mexican for a relaxing summer evening.

Native American flutes, Hang pan drum, world percussion and vocals.

http://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/full-moon-nights.htm
$3 admission. Arrive early as the amphitheater is in the middle of the Dunes. Bring chairs or blankets.

Eggs

                                  This is our first egg from one of our Reds

Jorden was very happy to find it. We have been reading a lot about chickens,eggs and all, most said the same thing the first few eggs tend to be a little less than perfect, missing shells or part of them real soft. Not this one.....it's on the small side but that's it :D
This was the main reason we got into raising chickens....EGGS

It all started a few months ago ......we went to our friends house, who had little chicks in a pet carrier....staying inside until they got big enough for the coop....The carrier needed to be cleaned.....so people were taking turns holding the chicks who were loving it.......
Jorden jumped right in, he had been trying to talk me into getting chickens as long as I can recall....we got him the fish, turtle, water dragon, fire belled toads, cats, dogs, gerbils, salamander, snails and any plant he wanted even some that ate bugs.....but no birds....I could NOT handle birds
I know it went back to my earliest years.....years of my older sister doing anything she could to make and keep me afraid of  any type of bird......from throwing the chicken feed on me when I was 2 ( those dang chickens were almost as big as me and I was way out numbered )
It didn't help that every time we went to our other grandparents place their bird would go after me....sister played a part in this as well......to watching The Birds and having her wake me every few minutes asking what was that on the roof......
The bat that almost got caught in my hair didn't help matters any... nor did the cat picking my bedroom rug to eat it's fresh kill...I woke up to my sister's screams her cat picked her pillow so it could have been worse....she rolled face first into the one her kitty gave her... karma lol
after all of that my parents got a bird when a friend of theirs passed......that had to be the meanest bird alive.....we did not hit it off....he did love his new family when my parents found a better ( no cats ) home for him...
So all these years later I find myself at this get together and Jorden just placed a chick in my hands.....that was it, I was hooked....a week later we had 11......to start

Our friends were very helpful, gave us tips on everything from feeding them to making the coop :D but also showed us how much fun it could be....we love having chickens....
We have learned so much in the last few months, some hard lessons.....don't always trust the person selling the chicks to tell you the truth comes to mind....
we also learned that you can get your chickens to listen to you, come when called,  all of ours like to be held....each one has to be pet or they get upset lol they fly up and sit on your shoulder......yep we don't trim their wings.....we put a top on the coop instead.....I never would have dreamed I would willingly let a bird sit on me let alone five or more lol

I keep coming across different numbers on how many eggs each type of bird will lay per week..... thinking it has a lot to do with living conditions, weather and feed.... looking at the lowest numbers we should be getting over 50 eggs per week hopefully more :D sweet

Keeping scraps pays off again

last night the rain was so soft and wonderful the doggies wouldn't come in lol

I made a necklace kind of like this ( no two alike ;) ) a few months back 

          it took a week to make, flipped on me every time I went to add beads....
this time I pinned it to a piece of wood Brent had left over.....working great so far ( knock knock knock ;)  ) no flipping at all, so easy to see where I'm at :D
      

This is why I never bug him to get rid of stuff .... 

you never know when it will come in handy :D
He's been able to do so much to make things better around here with little to no extra cost :D COOL

August

                                       the first full moon of the month

coming up roses

André's shot of the moon

the rose Jorden just gave me...

 Jorden's take

 André's

Cloth # 14

Cloth # 14
Size 8 US needles
Gauge 6 rows by 4.5 stitches per 1 inch
26 yards medium weight yarn ( blue )
30 yards medium weight yarn ( green )
8 by 8 inches

k = knit
p = purl

Cast on 36 stitches using green yarn

1 ) knit

2 ) k1, p1 to end

Switch to blue

Repeat rows 1-2

Switch colors every 2 rows

Repeat for a total of 13 times

Repeat rows 1 and 2 again using green

Bind off. Weave in ends.