Sunday, October 05, 2008

Sunday: the week in review

I just wanted to use that title so I can appear a lot more organized than I am. In actuality, I have the organizational skills of a 3 year old, but let's keep that our little secret, O.K.?

Mid-week, I actually *gasp* cleared off my work table, so I could work on it! What a novel concept. Usually the table is a receptacle for my random pieces of junk. I'd ask that no one look very closely at the photo because then you can see what a wreck my art/craft/sewing room is.The reason why I cleared off the table was so I could make paper downstairs instead of in the kitchen so I'd not be in dh's way when he got home to make dinner. Food is often the motivator of most of my actions.This was the latest paper - "There's a Tomato Leaf in My Garden" is what I call it. It's tinted green, and is scented with Bramble Berry's Tomato Leaf and Green Garden fragrances. As well, it has petals from a flower I'd picked from our yard. If my brain were here with me instead of being on vacation in the Bahamas, it'd tell me what that flower was, and I could share that information with you.Incidentally, the papers I've been making are tinted with junk papers, just like the rest of the pulp. I don't add my own colorings.

The previous batch of paper I made, which I never took photos of, were red-tinted and scented with Bramble Berry's Romance fragrance oil. I called it "Romancing the Red" (not the most clever name, but it's alliterative, which is good enough for me).

Yesterday, we picked kale, celery, and frisee from our garden and had a really tasty salad with dinner.*Warning: next photo contains meat products!

This morning, we took out two free-loading chickens. Gaia's rooster chick, while a sweet thing at 4 months, was one more rooster than a farmyard really needs, and we already have 25 other chickens of the XY ilk. As uselss as Nick is these days, we promised the friend who gave him to us that we'd keep him until he died of natural causes, so the un-named rooster had to go.

Another one who had to go was Attila who laid about 1 egg every 2-3 weeks. With the price of feed these days (even though we free-range them, we do supplement with store-bought feed), and with chicken housing being at a premium, any chicken not pulling its weight had to go. Besides, she was insane, even for a chicken. Insane and scrawny.And on the topic of chickens, I will close with a great quote from Jacques Pepin - "For most kids now, a chicken is rectangular. It's got plastic on top, and it doesn't have eyes or feet. This is scary. You should never eat something you cannot recognize. A simple principle, but important."

"Happiness depends upon ourselves." ~ Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)