I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m becoming. I stayed home from work yesterday to make sure the chicks got all settled in and were eating and drinking like they should. This morning they still looked good. I’m starting to see some personalities developing. Like this little chickie (ok, it may not be the exact same one every time, but it’s definitely just the Araucanas), who looks up at me every time I peer over the edge of the washtub:

Look at those fuzzy cheeks! The Araucanas all seem to have them, but none of the other breeds do.

Watching them all is better than television, and I spent most of yesterday sitting on the floor next to them doing just that. Naptime is fun. Some of them cuddle up together while others just sort of sink down wherever they happen to be. More than once did I watch a chick with it’s beak in the waterer slowly collapse at the knees with her little head sliding down the side of the watering platform. It’s so quiet when they all manage to get to sleep at the same time:

I lined the bottom of their washtub with newspaper, and the corners of the paper stick up a little from underneath the wood shavings. This provides them with no end of entertainment. They like to peck at it and grab at it and step on it so that it folds down.

Here is a view of their whole domain:

I’ve got a big box waiting in the wings, because I think the washtub will be a little too small by next week. They’ve emptied their feeder twice already, I think I better go get a giant bag of chick feed this weekend! I think I might have the best and smartest chicks in the whole world!

Yeah, I am becoming crazy chicken lady.

I was getting ready for work this morning, and suddenly the phone rang. It was the post office! So the chickens have arrived, and I’ve spent the day getting them settled in. I wasn’t expecting them until tomorrow at the earliest, so I wasn’t quite as prepared as I had planned, so it was a mad rush setting up the heat lights and getting a newspaper and lining the washtub with paper and shavings. They are all really lively and they’ve been eating and drinking and pooping like nobody’s business. I can’t seem to upload pictures to typepad right now, so go to flickr to see my new babies.

I made a new category for my blog, so I can post things here that I can’t put on my Amazon wishlist. I don’t want to seem greedy, and there are not a lot of things that I really want, but Christmas is coming and whoever has my name this year in our family might want to get some ideas without actually asking me, "Hey, what do you want me to give you for Christmas?" So it’s all for them that I do this. Really, aren’t I so very thoughtful?  Plus, when I have a little extra cash to spend on myself I’ll remember the really cool things that I’ve found on the internet that might be worth parting with some of that hard-earned money.

So, this is something that I think would make a wonderful gift. I know I would enjoy it very much.

I wanted to give some thank you gifts to some very nice people, and finally managed to get it together enough to package them up. I love wrapping presents. I might have mentioned this before, but one of my favorite memories of my Grandma was spending a few days at her house before Christmas as a teenager and helping her wrap her gifts and make her dipped chocolates. She taught me how to get nice, crisp corners in the wrapping paper and how to tie a perfect bow. I’ve branched out a little from the traditional gift-wrapped box and ribbon wrapping since then, but I can still wrap a box just about perfectly :o) There’s a better picture of the package on the left on flickr, but I can’t seem to upload it here. I added a pair of pretty chopsticks to the bow.

So, Friday I went fishing. It was a work activity thing, and it was very very fun. I don’t remember the last time I was on a boat in the ocean, but it was just beautiful on Friday. It was lovely to cruise up the coast to La Jolla and then throw our lines in the water and catch some fish. I didn’t take my camera, unfortunetely. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I didn’t want to risk its getting wet, so you will just have to believe me when I tell you that I caught FOUR fish! They were all just ocean whitefish, probably 12-16 inches each. They cleaned them for us right on the boat, and I took them home and we made fish tacos for dinner. Delicious! I would love to get a whole bunch of friends and family together to go out together and do this again sometime soon. I learned to tie my hook to the fishing line and bait the hook all by myself (with live, wiggling sardines, no less!). I was pretty impressed with myself for not getting all squeamish about it. At least none of them flew out of the tank at me.

I didn’t get to the cupcakes this weekend, sadly. I did manage to work a bit more on the chicken coop. and dogs were given baths, and cleaning was done around the house, but I was not feeling too good due to a very annoying bladder infection (TMI, I know, sorry!). Happily, when I last went to the doctor for bronchitis this winter the doctor gave me a perscription for an antibiotic and added a re-fill just in case I had a relapse. So it’s all good now. I cannot drink any more cranberry juice for a very long time or I may gag. 

I hope this will work:

And that’s all I have for you today.

I know, I know, enough about the chickens already, but I’m really looking forward to getting my little babies. So I thought I’d share a little about the ones I ordered.

They’re all supposed to be good laying chickens. I thought it would be good to try a variety and see which will do well for us. I’ll be getting some Buff Orpingtons (top picture, above), which are quite large and supposedly have a very nice temperament. I think one of our neighbors down the street has a couple of these, and they are so cute. I loved the black and white feathers of the Barred Rocks (middle picture) and Silver-Laced Wyandottes (bottom picture), so I got a few of each of those.  I ordered some Araucanas, just for their pretty blue and green eggs, and the "old guy at the grocery store", as per Mr. Lucy, highly recommended Rhode Island Reds as the best layers out there, so I added a few of those to the order.  I’d better get to painting that chicken coop!

I am having the darndest time taking a good picture of this sock monkey. Out of about 8 shots, this was the best I could do:

I’m not sure if I’m completely done yet. I have some lavender felt, and I might attempt a pair of shoes. What she needs, more than anything, however, is a name. I can’t think of anything, I need some suggestions. Please share your ideas in the comments!

As I’ve been sewing lately, I’ve been trying to get my clubhouse (aka guesthouse, aka former tack shed) cleaned up a bit. Here’s a tiny corner that is all cleaned up and pretty (except for the hideous paint on the walls, I’ll get to that someday):

I like those little Chinese pincushions. They come in such great colors.

I got an e-mail yesterday from someone at Penguin Australia regarding a craft book to be published, and they are interested in including my monster pattern. Did anyone else out there in creative blog-land get a similar e-mail? It looks authentic, I’ll definitely be checking into it further.

Having recovered from the catfish attack, my dad marched in a parade this week.