The Professional & the Geek....or the Farmers in the Dell?

Well, we were without internet for a while due to a broken modem and transition to a new plan/carrier, but we're back up and running again! As I alluded to in the last blog, we acquired 2 critters. Patrick's coworker was looking for a new home for his chickens and was giving them, the coop he built, and any leftover feed/supplies away for free. So, somewhat whimsically, we invited him over April 13 to drop them off, eager for some homegrown-egg machines!

 

We renamed them: the brown one is Evee (lays light blue eggs, always pristine) and the other Oreo (most of her bumpy brown ones are punctured, soft-shelled or squashed unfortunately, but egg production does lower at their age), and the first several weeks with them was a bit of an adventure for us. After just a few hours of having them in our possession, Evee jumped on the top of the fence which got the neighbors' dogs in a barking fit. She sort of froze, not sure what to do, balancing precariously with a bunch of predators below. Patrick used a wood beam to reach across the fence toward the front of her to motivate her to turn around, then bumped her lightly in the butt to urge her to flutter back in our yard. We were so grateful to not be apologetically cleaning up bird guts and feathers from our neighbors' pool area, who already we've irritated accidentally a few times in the past.

In general they stay in their coop, but we like to let them out while we're in the yard on evenings or weekends periodically. So a week or two following that ordeal, we employed Google for a wing feather clipping lesson. Since chickens are supposedly in a submissive stupor after they've gone to bed, under the cover of dark Patrick grabbed Oreo while I held the scissors. I did a horrible grooming job, with feathers left in an array of different lengths, but she kept pretty still and quiet! Then we switched roles. Evee squirmed enough that one of her wings came loose from my grip, but we needed it out anyway so that worked out fine! Once I had her in a comfortable hold, she acted like an angel and Patrick sheared the feathers in one swift clean swoop. When I set her down, I actually had to push her butt in the coop enough to close the door because she was still as if in a sleepwalk!

They are stupid and stressful sometimes: eating the soft shelled eggs or breaking good ones- always Oreo's though, I don't know why!; kicking dirt and poop in their water; and making noise in the morning on occasion, which of course sets the dogs off (luckily it's not been as bad since we moved their coop to the other side of the yard after a snide remark from the owner that the chickens woke one of the dogs from a nap, even though the chickens were quiet then.) But we've had some fun observing them too. This video shows them dust-bathing (which helps kill parasites/bugs)- it's totally amusing to see them curl up like cats and rub around in the dirt!

 

Once we got a better handle on the chickens, we finally started work in our garden. We still don't have everything planted though- we're so behind- but luckily prep went a lot quicker from borrowing my coworker's giant rototiller. Patrick had all the beds prepped with approximately a cumulative hour of time. We've made room for fun too, brewing beer periodically and joining our friend and his daughter at a reservoir near our house a couple weeks ago to finally give the kayaks some attention!

 

And particularly fun-filled was our night out on the town this past Monday, May 19. We stayed at a boutique hotel in Berkeley and ate at a brewery across the street called Jupiter, then took BART (rail) to Oakland to watch Nickel Creek's performance at Fox Theatre on their reunion tour.

It was an outright amazing show! The opening act- The Secret Sisters - had a great sound, and then I just spent the rest of the night smiling, batting away tears, shaking off goosebumps, and flattening stood-up hair while they wowed us with amazing picking, strumming, voice harmonies, and even a surprise body-drumming song intro and encore tap dance by the bass player. I can't speak praises enough about the performance!!!

We finished up our 24-hour vacation (two half days off) with breakfast on the alley-patio of the The SunnySide Cafe. It was a nice extraction from work which has been particularly busy/stressful this week and last. Luckily we have a 3-day weekend to further rejuvenate us. So far, so good with a trip to the beer supply store, a couple farmers markets, and a nice lunch at Dustbowl Brewing.

I guess I'll go see what Patrick's up to. Last I knew he was boiling some chicken stock..... not with Evee and Oreo though, although we have threatened them a few times to do so! :-)