Hay bale garden

Lyn and I went to the Home and Garden Fair this last weekend and bought herbs and vegetables for the hay bale garden. Lyn carved out 2 troughs in the bales and we planted Saturday evening.



We have eggplant, lettuce, basil, dill, and patty-pan squash. I thought we would be able to plant more, but we have other beds with spinach, kale, tomatoes and beans and pumpkin.

Kristin came home on Sunday and did extremely well. No accidents even with increasing the amount of food and she also was able to go on 5-hour outings into stores. Of course, she had 3 accidents the evening she came home, so I'm back to feeding her one time a day. We have a theory that Kristin will not relieve in a store and so Lyn and I are going to test her this evening to see if this is a sound theory.

I'm motivated again in terms of puppy raising. Kristin is tentatively going back to campus on Fun Day this year. It was such a surprise to get a date! She had such a good weekend and the people who took Kristin had such good things to say about her and I want all the things they said to be true. I really want her to make it! If we could only get the relieving issue resolved!

Living With Chickens

I debated what the title should be for this post; "Chickens in Charge" came to my mind.
But we're still learning how not to have the chickens in charge around here.

For instance, this fence is working, protecting the hellebores, aquilegia, snowdrops, heucheras and primroses.
























On the other hand they've managed to make their way around this fence and have dug the hole on the right and pretty much destroyed the bleeding heart that was here.



Gotta eliminate those fence openings!

















If you're a regular reader of this blog you may be thinking, "Hey, what happened to 'Corraling the Chickens'?"

Well, it worked for a while. Then the girls decided they just couldn't put up with being kept out of the yard and they started flying over the fence. And yes, I know we could clip those wings but Kim and I aren't willing to go there. Not yet.

And yes, we could just keep them in their coop which most people say is more of a chicken castle than a coop. But, they're chickens and they love to roam and we love it when they're happy.


So, enter the fences. We've decided to fence off the most tender and precious plants in the garden and allow the chickens free reign over the rest.



New garden decor?


















No, it's Ginger.











Grass seems to be the most favored treat of our chickens. They LOVE it. They eat, eat, eat the grass. Yet they don't seem to destroy it. If you watch them, you notice they only snip off the tip of each blade, then move on to the next.








Jelly Bean contemplates what to eat next.












So, they're happy eating grass. And in most of the garden they mess around without really destroying anything. I say most because they have dug up two of our newest clematis. Yes, I know, we were sad too, but we're still optimistic that we may see new growth on both plants eventually.

And as you can see from this photo I took just yesterday we do indeed still have a garden. (From the angle I took this it looks as if the back deck is about to fall over backwards. It's just the angle, it's really very level.)





I bought this fence at Fred Meyers. Not working. The chickens fit right through it. I have some extra of this, I may try to just double it up. There are some new hostas and ferns in this area that I would really enjoy seeing this year.




We dug deep into the garden fund and put up this "big guns" fence around the veggie garden.






We moved the original ugly green fence and surrounded the ferns, eremurus, and white daylilies. Seems to be working great. Quite the eyesore though.

But the plants seem happy now.







One place the girls have claimed for their own is under the back deck. We're happy to agree with them. The space is dry and nothing grows there. They hang out under the deck and joyfully roll around taking dust baths to their heart's content.










Tootsie, the head chicken, keeps her eye on everything and everyone.













Our view from the deck;





Sometimes if you look closer you'll see some "wild life".






















And the whole "family" enjoying the nice spring weather we had yesterday.

Having Fun With Yarn

My goal was to dye my own self-striping yarn.

In case you're not a knitter and that sentence didn't make sense to you, these socks were knitted from a single ball (skein) of yarn that has been dyed in a factory somewhere so that the stripes form as you knit.






















Yes, it IS just like magic. Or, as my friend Carol's husband calls it; witchcraft!







Whatever you call it, it's pretty darn cool.

What would be even cooler? Dyeing your own!

So, you start with an undyed skein of yarn. Like this.






Not just "white" yarn, it has to be un-dyed.

Then you DON'T do this with it;




Because now you get to spend the next three days untangling that mess. NOT fun.


OK, you've finally gotten it untangled. Now you need a plan.

I did the fairly obvious. I was knitting a pair of self striping socks with a pattern I liked, so I simply pulled out an entire length of the pattern, measured each color section, and then decided on my own colors for each section. Easy as pie.

I came up with something like this:
(click to enlarge)




It's rough, but it worked.

I needed the yarn to be in lengths of about 46 feet to complete my pattern. (You don't have to be exact with it, but close). To do that, I placed a kitchen chair at our back door, front door and in the bathroom, then strung the yarn around all three chairs until I ran out of yarn. (I used an old piece of yarn first to measure where to place the chairs.)
































Lucky for me our cat was not interested in this project, and for some reason our dog was scared to death of all this craziness and stayed on the couch.

Now, you have to be sure to tie the yarn at various points to avoid it getting tangled (again). I followed Julie's method.

Then I marked what color each section was to be dyed (with a safety pin and paper). My pattern written on paper came in handy here.



Next comes the "fun" part.

You get to dye the yarn! Yay!

I used Wilton paste food dye and liked it.

So, mix up your chosen colors. Whatever appeals to you. And that's what I went with. I kept hearing advice like, "Just go with it, whatever happens it will probably be a cool looking sock when you knit it up. Don't sweat it too much." Good advice.



I set our roasting pan on the stove top and placed some water inside, then into that water bath I placed my dyeing pots - mason jars and a pyrex dish. You should soak your yarn for 30 minutes in plain water to get it ready to absorb the dye so I simply did that in the mason jars first.



I also marked each jar with the dye color for that section of yarn. Yeah, it takes some coordination to get the yarn into the correct jar. I ended up using two jars for the burgundy color since that was my main color.



There is some overlap between jars so having on plastic gloves is a great idea, and having a few pair is even better. You'll be dipping the overlapped yarn into the proper dye jar to get it to absorb the color.

I used the pyrex dish to do some dots with dye on that part of the yarn. I really liked the way that turned out and I liked it even better when I accidentally dripped some blue dye in there also. So, those happy little accidents can turn out nicely.

Some advice; don't try to dye anything black. It didn't work for me. And try not to add an excessive amount of dye to the jars. When the dye is all absorbed the water eventually clears. And trust me, you've got to rinse the yarn until it runs clear and it will take a lot less time/water if you use only as much dye as you need to achieve your color.

I started with cold water and heated it up slowly. Never boil it! I allowed the dye on the yarn for 20 minutes, then poured in some white vinegar and let that sit for 10 minutes more. You can stir it but do so gently to avoid tangling the yarn. Allow to cool in the jars or carefully remove and cool on towels.

Then you need to pull the yarn out and rinse, rinse, rinse in the sink until the water runs clear. Old bath towels are very helpful here. I strung towels from the stove to the sink and all over the floor. And I managed to not leave any evidence of dye in the kitchen.

Then it needs to dry. I used our spare shower with a sweater drying rack and another towel underneath.

Throughout all of this handling, be very careful not to tangle the yarn. It's tricky but just work carefully, patiently and slowly. Having tied up your yarn earlier with waste yarn really helps keep it from getting tangled.




The next day I spread it all out in the living room and walked around forming it into a ball of yarn. Be sure not to wind it too tightly or you'll stretch out your pretty yarn.

And ta da!

The (nearly) finished result;





I'm very happy with it. Will I do this again? Oh yes, I will!

For more info on dyeing your own self striping yarn:

See Eunny Knit

Beatle Wear

Streets and YOs

Weekend anticipation

I think I'll be attending graduation this weekend as one of the dogs I've enjoyed following through blogdom is graduating on Saturday. I don't know if I'll be bringing Kristin as she is being evaluated or spotted by one of our experienced raisers. I'm not sure how long she will be gone.

I miss her! Both Lyn and I miss her! Yesterday she was following me around and really wanting my attention. When I stopped to see what she wanted she dropped an unmentionable object into my hand. She wanted to eat it so bad, but she knew she needed to get it to me. It was funny and touching at the same time. I praised her. She has so many endearing and cute qualities!

Ardella and Aidan are happy that she's gone. It means the forbidden toys can come down. We have antlers, food balls and felt toys strewn all over the house. Ardella is sleeping in my office. She's full of frozen blueberries. Bliss!

Did anyone see the show Through Dog's Eyes last night? I enjoyed it. I keep wondering why the organization didn't use puppy raisers - it seems like that would make transition to a new home smoother, but I was happy with the training philosophy and loved seeing the matches, etc. I'm looking forward to the book that will be published this fall.

Festival Weekend

This was a busy weekend for me and for Ardella and Kristin. It started Thursday evening at the Foster Care class at the humane society. I am interested in doing this, but may be leaning in a more specialized direction. At any rate, fostering is very demanding but immensely rewarding. There is more a need for dog fostering than cat fostering and I want to do both (of course). Realistically, I might be leaning in a different direction. See below.

Saturday was my volunteer day at the Northwest Pet and Companion Fair and I volunteered with the humane society. Lyn and I went early and took Ardella and I got to visit several booths that were of interest to me in terms of things I'd like to do with Ardella. I checked out several booths having to do with therapy team training including The Delta Society and Dove Lewis. I think most of the therapy animal programs use The Delta Society's curriculum, but Dove Lewis has a couple of ways to get involved that really appeal to me. Ardella is over a year now and is eligible to give blood, if she has the universal blood type for dogs. If she does, she will donate blood while getting a massage and getting pampered with treats while she donates. I was also handed a pamphlet on this conference that is coming up on May 1. It looks really interesting. I also visited the table on Dog Scouts and the Autism Service Dogs of America table.

I worked for about 2 hours walking dogs around for Southwest Washington Humane Society and actually got one dog adopted before it was time to go. That was fun! It was one of the California dogs that the shelter has been taking in and was a Cairn terrier mix named Jitterbug.

I also kept returning to the Dogwise Books table and found a boat load of books I wanted, especially this one on puppy development. There were others including books on games to play with dogs, managing stress and anxiety, positive training methods, etc., etc.

Before I left, I visited some dogs I longed to see but couldn't while I had Ardella, Shiloh Shepherds. I'm starting a puppy fund now. I never thought I'd buy another dog, but these dogs made me change my mind.

Lyn and Kristin picked me up after my shift was over, and we drove fast to the Woodland Tulip Festival where the club was having our monthly outing. We stayed a very short time, but got a few nice pictures.







Alas, Kristin relieved so we had to leave. Which is good, actually, because I was feeling a little faint from hunger.

On Sunday, Lyn took Kristin to Friend's Meeting and First Day School where Kristin happily hung out with Lyn in the Preschool Program. After Meeting, they went to the Pet and Companion Fair and helped at the GDB booth. Oh- no accidents on Sunday.





I spent the afternoon with Karren and we transported a mini-Aussie who had been in our shelter to Mini-Aussie Rescue. We met Leslie at Kit Carson's in Chehalis and talked shop while we were treated to a light supper. We talked guide dogs, positive training methods, dogs, dogs, and more dogs. Leslie told me that she doesn't like to take in puppies because she doesn't have the time to do house training and early puppy socialization, but if I did to let her know. This is a big temptation. I could do this! Leslie says more and more people are requesting dogs that get along with cats and I certainly have cats. It's easier to expose a puppy to cats than an adult dog! So... it's something to think about. She told me to let her know when I was ready.

There are so many interesting ways to volunteer with animals these days. Once again, when talking with Leslie I was struck by my enthusiasm in talking about the humane society versus raising guide dog puppies. Sigh! It's hard to let go! I just have such a conflict with using leash/collar corrections versus using positive training methods. Leslie was telling me that leash corrections are outdated by about 50 years and that the time it takes a dog to learn something with positive training methods (i.e. clicker training) is statistically about 40% faster. I have some reading to do on the matter. I'm not going to make a snap decision.

P.S. I took down Feedjit because they updated and the new Feedjit just gives out too much information on visitors. I miss seeing who visits, but want to respect visitors' privacy.

Farmer's Market, Feed store and yarn therapy

I've had a spirit-lifting weekend. It began yesterday with a trip downtown to Stitchcraft to see Nicholette and to see the new yarn she's been posting about on Facebook. I came away with some Mountain Meadow lace for a small shawl, and some Lorna's Lace sock yarn for the Moonflower socks by Chrissy Gardiner.



The weather was halfway decent yesterday so I was able to take Kristin for a long walk. She's a good walking companion and we didn't have any accidents.

After exercising the dogs, I was able to knit. These are some of the things I have going on my needles.

Butterfly socks - Online sock yarn created some butterfly patterned yarns and I bought the yarn about a year ago. Since the yarn is patterned already, I just knit in the round on 2 circular needles and make a basic sock pattern. I'm approaching the end of sock #2 and will finally complete the socks, hopefully by the end of the weekend.



I'm on my second lacy Baktus scarf that I started on the plane to Florida in March. This one is in Dream in Color Pansy GoLightly colorway. I found a Baktus scarf swap on Ravelry and discovered there are several different versions besides the lacy one - ruffle, lace edge, all garter, all stockinette - at any rate, it's a versatile scarf, and it will be fun to swap scarves with someone else.



I've been on a cowl kick lately and this is one I knitted for my sister's birthday. I finished it in time, but need to block and send it (so it's still late). This is the Noble Cowl made with Rowan cotton-wool.



It's nice to get some knitting mojo back. Kristin is getting practice sleeping on her bed in my yarn room and not playing with yarn. She does well with this so I can start knitting more. I don't have to have her on tie-down - she'll just lie on her bed and chew on a nylabone.

This morning we went to the Vancouver Farmer's Market to order a cat scratching post from Woodin You, a business owned by one of my puppy club's members. My indoor cats are shredding my doors and since this post is made from a wooden log, I have hopes that this cat activity will cease! We also picked up some Advantage for Kristin there and had a Gelato at El Dolce (they had the chocolate-orange today).

From the Farmer's Market, we went to one of my favorite Vancouver stores, Orchards Feed Mill and got 2 straw bales!! I love this store and I want to go back and visit. The idea of urban chicken farming is appealing to me, too, and they sell chickens there. They also have an awesome selection of dog food and I came home with some samples for Aidan and Ardella (Wellness Core - about 34% protein).

We put the straw bales in the new raised bed area Lyn was creating earlier this spring. We're hoping the compost from the bales will provide some good soil for this bed in the next 2 years or so. They're set in place and we'll just water them for the next 3 or 4 days and then start adding a source of nitrogen. I hope they'll be ready to plant around the first of May.





Keri called and I'll be puppy sitting Gizmo a few days next week. That's going to create an interesting situation in our house, but I know Ardella will be ecstatic!

I still have a few hours left in the day, so I'm taking Kristin upstairs to the knitting room.

Aww! Puppy Love

Saw this on Facebook today and it made me smile:



I love the idea of Straw bale gardening This is on my list of things to do this spring. I just need to find some straw bales.

My birthday is coming up, and family, I want some of this Cherry Chipotle jelly My sister-in-law had it with cream cheese and crackers at the family Easter dinner on Sunday. It's addicting!

Today is find links and post them in the blog day. I think this is my last one. I want to go through this program. I think I may have to win the lottery first though - it's not cheap!

Ennui

Color is returning to the northwest, though sometimes it doesn't feel like it!

I haven't had much to say recently. Kristin is still struggling with relieving whether she's eating 1 time a day or 10, and I've reached a level of ennui. Sirens of change are beckoning and I want to be able to do what I want to do. Where a month ago I was going to fight to keep a schedule where I could continue raising forever, today I'm not sure I want to do this again.

A few weeks ago I was informed that I couldn't raise for GDB and work at the humane society. I suspended my humane society activities and missed them more than I anticipated. My sister wrote me and said that it was her observation that I was animated and enthusiastic when describing my humane society activities and that I only talked about problems when describing guide dog puppy raising. That was an eye opener. Then, I got some notices from the humane society for volunteer activities that sounded really attractive to me - fostering, taking an animal home for an evening to give it some extra TLC and relief from the kennel setting, bathing dogs, etc. So many possibilities and I absolutely love our shelter and love to promote their mission to others. Sometimes I think I'm in constant trouble with guide dogs for something like deer antlers (given to Ardella who is career changed) and that the rules and regulations have become so rigid that I feel frozen sometimes, especially when under scrutiny at guide dog events or club meetings. I'm getting performance anxiety!

I don't know where these feelings will lead me, but after Kristin I may be taking some time off from puppy raising and will up my activities at the shelter. The weather has been horrendous - rainy, windy, and cold - and when the sun comes out again I might have a different feeling about everything. I'm just open about a lot of things and I'm sure I'm not the only one questioning my feelings about puppy raising. I have a hard time thinking that I wouldn't go to club meetings or be part of the guide dog community - I also still obsessively check the litter list for new litters, so who knows. I just keep getting overjoyed at the idea of fostering puppies, being exposed to more dog breeds, socializing people with a potential pet, using positive reinforcement to train dogs, letting my dogs have freedom in the house and letting them play with toys, continuing Ardella's training with the goal of her being a therapy dog (perhaps even through the shelter's program), and just feeling like I'm doing something right instead of something wrong all the time! I'm definitely feeling conflicted!

I'm on a reading binge. Through Amazon I discovered the 2010 Edgar award nominees and I'm out to read all of them. I read The Last Child this weekend and couldn't put it down. I've never considered myself a mystery reader, but I think now that maybe I am since I own a lot of the books on the list! A Beautiful Place to Die was one of my favorite reads last year.

I'll leave with an amusing image - Lyn caught Theo and Willow napping with me last week.



I think this one looks like a two-headed cat:



P.S. I really do not feed Kristin 10 times a day - only once, I promise!