Project Spectrum: In Bloom

April 4th's installment of Project Spectrum filled me with high hopes that spring had indeed arrived; then, to my astonishment, that same week brought snow and more freezing temperatures. (It's Michigan, I really should have known better.) But now spring PS 2.0 resumes with lots of greens, pinks, and yellows now that spring seems to be here to stay.


Lacy Goodness

In the little garden behind our house.










Daffodil Revival

Despite being hard hit by the snow, I’m happy to say the sunny daffodils have made a complete recovery. These starry-eyed fellows are in our yard.

Some of my mom’s daffodils.


And More Spring Blossoms

It’s proving to be a big year for the hardy Dandy Lion.

My parents’ lilac bush.

Flowering crabapple.

Not pink, but these grape hyacinths are so cute I didn’t want them to feel left out. Happy spring (or fall, if you’re on that half of the globe) to all!

The Tale of the Three Goldilocks

One of the Goldilocks, at left.
We have three hens named Goldilocks. (Not to be undiscerning, but they're all Golden Laced Wyandottes, and they all look pretty much alike).

Last year one of them insisted on sneaking off to the barn each day instead of hanging out with her hen buddies, and after a few days we discovered her in an upended cardboard box in the barn. There wasn't a thing in the box--not a scrap of grass or straw or a single twig--but there she was, with three nice light brown eggs. So my cousin's daughters decided this must be Rebel Goldilocks, since she was determined to stake out her own territory and put her eggs in a safe place, far away from any other meddling birds. (Rachel and Brittany also named Sunny-Side Up and Buffy).

So when one of the Goldilocks went missing about a week or so ago, I figured it must've been Rebel Goldilocks sneaking off once again to hide her eggs. But she wasn't in the cardboard box she liked so much last year. Fortunately the weeds aren't very high yet, so that eliminated a lot of potential nesting spots. Instead I swept through the all my mom's sprouting tiger lilies, checked under the brush piles, in the shrubbery around the hen house, and anywhere else I could imagine a hen might hide.

Yet Rebel Goldilocks was nowhere to be found and I began to fear that perhaps some carnivorous evil-doer snuck up and ate her in the middle of the night, or dropped out of the sky and gobbled her up one sunny day.

Then one afternoon when I went out to the egg cooler she came running around our house towards me. I was fairly certain it was Rebel Goldilocks because she has more tail-feathers than the other two Goldilocks. But by the time I finished whatever it was that I was doing she had disappeared again, and when I locked the other birds up for the night there was again no sign of our rebellious hen.

The egg cooler.
So we set out once again, flashlight in hand, to look for her. I suspected now that perhaps she had set up a nest around our house, and aside from looking under the deck, I hadn't really searched for her there. And about eight feet away from where I set up my egg cooler, in the basement window well, there indeed was Rebel Goldilocks--sitting on ten perfect, light brown eggs. The Prodigal Daughter was home (and right under our kitchen window no less!) all along.

Where's Goldie?

Perfectly camouflaged...

Aha!

The renegade has ten eggs under there. Pretty exciting!

Fiber Adventures Commence

The Spinning Loft and Three Sheeps to the Wind

Look whose eggs (and yes, that's me spinning--er, holding up my bagel--as well) have shown up elsewhere! Yes, I went a'spinning Tuesday night at The Spinning Loft with my mommy (you can see a picture of her there, too) and much fun was had by all. Plus, Beth has a great blog with lots of cool, fibery stuff. And she's very funny. Funny ha-ha, not the Other Kind of Funny (funny-weird, not-safe-to-take-home-to-your-parents-and-small-children kind of funny like me).

The Spinning Loft is brimming with gorgeous fibers and fleeces so don't click unless you really want to be lured into buying something or, at the very least, coveting your neighbors' sheep (which I'm sure would lead you into breaking one of the ten commandments, and I just can't be responsible for that).


McRay Weaving with a Side of Domestic Piracy

In other exciting fibery news, today I visited another place I recently discovered, McRay Weaving. Granted, I haven't ventured down the weaving path yet (as I just told Shadkitty, I need another fiber addiction like a hole in the head). But I went to McRay to find Wild Fibers magazine and discovered an unbelievable array of the most gorgeous yarns I've ever seen under a single roof.

And who should I meet there but Ragnar of Domestic Piracy? She works and teaches at McRay, and was as cool as (if not even cooler than) her blog.

Drop Dead

I want to make a rug like Drop Dead by Alex Carpenter. I think it would be great in the living room. Can't you just picture it adorned with some snoozing pussycats? I love the description:

The shape mimics that of an unfortunate soul which may have come to pass right there on your living room floor with their silhouette remaining as evidence.

It's not a kit or pattern, just a photo of the artwork, but I think it's a brilliant idea. Everybody should have at least one Dead Fred (Dead Daphne, Dead Doornail, or Dead Whomever). Latch-hooks for everyone.

Out to Pasture

The pasture is beginning to turn green. As you can see, besides a few blades of grass, it has llamas (Graty at far left, Llannie at center) and sheep in it. I just had my first sheep feet-trimming experience Sunday, and we all emerged virtually unscathed.

I will not say a good time was had by all, but aside from a weeny cut on my thumb--which hasn't even put a dent in my knitting, so it's scarcely worth mentioning, except that it is evidence of the very minor scathing that prevented the experience from being utterly without incident, since a tiny bit of blood was involved--it all went pretty smoothly.

Next up on the animal husbandry front...it'll be shearing time again, in about two weeks.