Looking Forward to Market

Orleans Market's Opening Day
Saturday, May 21st
8am-12pm
West side of Congress Square Park, Orleans, Indiana

Angela and I are looking forward to Market!

We will have many crocheted hats, felted bags, hand dyed yarns, mixed flower bouquets, soaps, clay buttons and whatever else we can come up with over the summer.

The Sky is Falling

I awoke to a cool, windy morning following a second night of wicked storms. Looking out my laundry room window I saw a huge green shrub in the center of the backyard where no shrub was planted. Apparently when my lil urban homestead was hit by strong flat-line winds last night it took out part of a Box Elder and sent it across the chicken's run. The girls were not amused. It had narrowly missed their little hutch and brought down most of the hoops and netting that cover the run. Poor girls I bet they thought Chicken Little had it right and the sky was falling!

I made a quick call to work to say I would be late followed by a call to my Daddy/Farmhand/Handyman. After about an hour's work (Daddy sawed and I picked up) we had the tree out of the chicken's space and most of the debris lining the alley awaiting pickup. We still need to redo the hoops that hold up the deer netting cover. This will be the third time we have made these crazy hoops in less than a year.

The girls kept telling me all about their adventure and I kept trying to talk them down as they followed me from one end of the run to the other end. My poor chickens were pretty traumatized by the chainsaw too. Does anyone know a good chicken therapist??

Busy Times

The countdown has begun for Angela and I to be ready, one week from tomorrow, for The Fiber Event. Angela has been crocheting, painting and sewing like mad. I have been dyeing like crazy (48 skeins so far) and have soap, several hats and a few bags to finish.

While off yesterday I cleaned out the chicken run. That's one item crossed off my list of chores for Spring. Next is taking care of the bunny hutch and mulching some plants with what comes out from under the hutch. One good about bunny poo is it can go directly around the plants without being composted.

I began my orchard last fall by planting a semi dwarf Nectarine. I've watched that tree all Spring for signs of life. I was finally rewarded with tight pink buds and pale green leaves that look like hand folded in prayer. With the warmer temps the buds have burst open. The blooms aren't very big and are a very delicate shade of pink. The fragrance reminds me of pear blossoms.

After things settle down I'll be shopping for blueberry bushes and more fruit trees. I'm so excited to finally be growing fruit on my tiny urban homestead.

Disclaimer : While the photo is not my tree they look exactly alike. =)