Monday Stuff and Rant

[helwen]

William got new baby chickens a few days back. Most of them seem to be thriving, although you never know with chickens. Two went down but we're hoping for the best with the rest. They're very funny to watch. Tiny little fuzzballs who occasionally go rocketing across their space. They're currently in a large, long container so the heat lamps don't have to heat too large a space, with cardboard and suchlike across the top.

Went down to visit with them this morning, and then I was going to come back in. But we'd gotten some new flowers for the wood flower buckets at the front of the house and I'd only managed to fill the two that at either side of our entrance. The one on the tree stump is falling apart. So, today I got out a couple of terracotta pots and planted the rest. Marian likes some color, so I got a type of geranium (big pink/white flowers), and two types of Dianthus (pinks!). The geraniums should do well for the summer, and I'm hopeful that the pinks will make it through the winter for next year.

Then I collected a couple of cloth belts off the laundry line, checked out the fruit trees and blueberries in the back, surveyed the garden beds (potatoes are coming up!), and really there are so many weeds in the perennial beds that I had to do some weeding of the lavendar and at least a few of the strawberries.... so, a few minutes with the chickens turned into a couple of hours :D

So, time for lunch and going to the post office, and then more sorting and who knows what this afternoon, before kungfu class. L was sick from Saturday night on and still isn't feeling too chipper, so he may just watch.

***
RANT

Aspiring to be a SCA Peer, or even to just be a good human being? Here are some tips:

- Have kind and encouraging things to say about other people's artwork, embroidery, projects.

- Do not put down other people's work, skills like drawing/painting/carving/singing ability/needlework, etc., just so you can puff up your self-esteem.

- If you say you're going to do something, do it. (and yes, I'm still working on that one myself)

- If there is a group activity that everyone attending is supposed to be contribute to and you've agreed to contribute, do not continually attend and then fail to contribute. One can only depend on the grace of others for so long.

End Rant.

Comments

[embermwe.livejournal.com]

Im having fun with the gardening today too.
Our "fragrant mix" wildflower bed is all a-sprout. and the veggie plantlets are all in their respective flowerboxes. We are also trying upside down tomatoes this year, along with the regular way. We'll see which yields better results. :)

As to your rant, Agreed!
umm. Yeah.. :wonders who inspired that but really doesn't want to know...:

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Yay for flowers and veggies! And for experimenting :)

In my survey of the garden I was surprised to find the parsley didn't survive. Not sure if it was the variety or the weather. Guess I'll have to try with a couple different types this year...

RE: rant, not someone you know, I'm pretty sure. *sighs* Life is not always interesting in the ways we'd like!

[lady-jade-01.livejournal.com]

yay baby chicks!! Must be fun to watch. We have stuff growing in containers in the house, only the mint hasn't popped out of the dirt yet.

And it seems the floor stand will help with some of my embroidery. Copy number one of poem is coming along and I'm playing with ideas that may (or may not) make it into the final piece.

[gardengirl6.livejournal.com]

I got chicks today! I've never raised chickens before. They're SO cute :)

[helwen.livejournal.com]

They are :) Ours are mostly black, with some dark reddish ones (we think they ran out of the black var), plus a few bonuses. Kinda weird, but sometimes they put in a few extras, sort of as packing material... eep. So we have one white one, and two tan and black ones, all of whom are a tad smaller than the black ones, but seem to be accepted by the crowd. The main ones are called Sexlinks (males and females have different color tells, like a marking on the wings).

What kind did you get?

[harpnfiddle.livejournal.com]

I got sexlinks one year. It's nice when they are different colors to tell them apart. We ate the boys and kept the girls (sounds evil, doesn't it?)

[helwen.livejournal.com]

LOL Just a little! And yet it's a fact that too many boys makes for unhappy girls. We'll be keeping our eyes on the unknowns as well -- might be some soup in our future, later in the year....

[harpnfiddle.livejournal.com]

Ah - that would be the "rare exotic chick" that is the bonus chick for a large order (24 or more - IIRC) Ours turned into a NASTY Silver Pencil Hamburg rooster. Now he was evil, even though he was smaller than the Rhode Island Red rooster. We never did eat him - he was just too mean.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

LOL If he ends up being mean, I'll fatten him up so he's too fat to do anything about it ;) Although we'd have to put him in a separate room because that's a different diet than for laying birds.

[gardengirl6.livejournal.com]

I got 5 Araucanas, 8 White Leghorns (I only ordered 4, but they had extras), 4 Golden Comets, 4 Black Australorps, 4 Black Sex Links, aaaaand... rats... (found list) 4 Rhode Island Red. They're awfully cute, and the children just love them.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a lot of variety! Sounds like fun :)

[the1butterfly.livejournal.com]

Chicks are made of squee! I wish I could see them- maybe I could visit the farm this summer?

Putting down people's stuff is not cool- everyone's on a different level, and I can't imagine why someone would think it was okay to dis someone's work (especially someone aspiring to be a peer- someone others look to for help). One thing I love about this barony is that I've gotten so much positive feedback on my beginner efforts.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

We have Bergental Town Meeting this coming Saturday, 11am - 7pm I believe. You guys available? They're very cute and fuzzy right now :)

Re: Rant. Some people need the self-esteem boost but seek it inappropriately. Others think they're being helpful, but don't realize that critique should always come with compliments as well. Most artists seem to naturally focus on the flaws in their work, so they really need to hear that there are good things about their work too.

Glad you've gotten positive feedback on your work :)

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

I like your SCA Rant.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I try not to rant often, but there are some things that... irritate me greatly, shall we say.