Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Benny's boo-boo and imprisoned picker

Yesterday morning, Benny was missing most of a scur. He might have caught it in the fence, but I suspect he was defending himself against 'ramsome' Barbados. Recently someone contacted me about buying a new flock sire for their flock of polled Shetlands (Yay! Another breeder of polled Shetlands in Oregon!), so Barbados may get to put those hormones to work this fall.

I have a prisoner in the henhouse. At least half of my hens are showing signs of feather-picking – some drastically so (you know it's bad when people think you have Turkens!). One day I caught the culprit, so she's cooling her heels while the others grow feathers. Some are molting, too, as you can see by the feathers on the henhouse floor. I'm still getting 6-7 eggs a day, though.

In other news, Browning's fleece is sold (thanks to a Ravelry ad) and will ship out today. That leaves two reserved fleeces yet to paid for and mailed . . . and all the other bags and boxes of fiber and yarn in my office/wool room. Rick complains occasionally, and the accumulation bothers me, too. There's a bag of long wool roving right at the top of the stairs, so that's the first thing I want to tackle. What to use it for? It is too coarse for garments, and doesn't felt or full. I've used some of it for my homeschool co-op Textiles class, but I'm teaching Yearbook now. Then the perfect use popped into my head – chair pads! We have four wooden chairs in our dining set, and I go through a set of store-bought pads every few years. I'll bet knitted ones would last longer and provide a nice cushion, especially if I knit them out of roving. I plan to start with one, then weigh it and the remaining roving to see if I have enough for four. But first, I need to tackle these:
Yes, it's peach season – Canadian Harmony peaches from an orchard just down the hill from us, to be exact. Yummmm.

That's it for today at . . .

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I think chair pads knitted out of roving would be perfect. I have knitted a vest out of roving, and it's the warmest thing I've ever knit; it has to be a COLDEST days of winter for me to pull it out and wear it. I've also crocheted a cat basket out of roving, and that's thick and cushy. I can't imagine one could wear out knitted chair pads very quickly!!

Susan said...

Linden has scurs that he manages to knock off on a regular basis. I noticed yesterday that they are growing back again. What a great idea - chair pads! I am working on my stash of fleeces and am going to get most of them processed into roving this time. That should hold me for my lifetime and longer!

Sharrie said...

Gee, my young lad lost both his scurs on the same day. I am pretty sure that his accident was a fence problem. Underneath he had substantial looking knobs. I have peach pies in the oven and a few more to use up. Not from a orchard down the road. From NC. Be sure to show us the chair pads. I haven't knit with roving, but I have crocheted small rugs. Chair pads should be great to sit on. The rugs are very cushy.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

those peaches look delicious! I like felting my fleeces, saved some from before giving the flock away in May.

Spinners End Farm said...

Scurs can be such a pain! Our Rum occasionally rips one loose and it looks like such bloodshed. Those are lovely peaches! A peach crumble sounds good right about now....

Mary Ann said...

The peaches looks beautiful... but we are not peach eaters here, isn't that odd???Crossing my fingers that Barbados will find a new home.

Michelle said...

I've never knitting with roving, Nancy Kay, so am glad to hear of your successes.

Susan, follow Nancy Kay's advice and make all the cats and dogs cushy beds when you get your roving! They deserve them, along with that homemade chicken broth.... ;-)

Sharrie, Benny's missing scur revealed a good-sized knob, too. I'm not fond of cooked peaches, but will be making fresh peach pie soon.

I didn't remember reading that you gave away your flock, Sandra. What will you do with the horses?

Sherry, I'd still rather have scurs than horns!

Do you really not like peaches, Mary Ann? I don't like them canned or cooked, but think they are absolutely heavenly eaten out of hand.

farmlady said...

Oh, those fresh peaches. One of the perks of summer. I made a Rustic Peach pie tonight for company. It was wonderful . I still have some left to cut up on cereal tomorrow morning.
Our chickens look bad right now too. I don't know who the culprit is. And... to top it all off, the aren't laying very well. WE HAD TO BUY SOME EGGS AT THE STORE YESTERDAY. What is this world coming to.