Thursday, January 26, 2012

Hump-dili-icious, Hash is fine, bored, setting the house on fire

HashTag is officially off the  "worried about him" list.  He's just fine. He's doing so fine that he has an early case of spring fever going on.   I almost feel like I need to cover my eyes when I go out in the back yard....   He starts by doing a little whirling dance in front of whichever of the  girls  he's decided needs his  attention.  When he  has her fully  hypnotised by the whirling,  without breaking rhythm he whirls right on top of his chosen love.  By the time she figures out whats going on..... its over!    As soon as we  are settled in the new place ( or  know for a fact that we are staying here for a while)  I am going to try and incubate  the, obviously, fertilised eggs.  Yes, I know,  the results will be mad max looking  chickens.  They should have good temperaments like Hash , lay decent eggs and be broody.   Most of your modern laying hens have had brooding bred out of them. It interferes with egg production since the hens don't lay  for two months while they are setting and then mothering. 
Sadness, sort of ,this week.  The last of the winter garden was officially eaten this week.   I know its only  January and I have another month to go before I can start any gardening.... But I am really itching to get my fingers in the dirt.    I'm pretty twitchy right now with this house thing going on.  I cant start any projects,  cant work on anything that takes any time or space. Oil paints  take forever to dry so I  cant do anything in the studio and the mortgage Gods have proclaimed 'spend no money' until this process is over.  This  'process' started the week before  Thanksgiving.  I am so bored!  Pay attention because it is likely you will never hear those words from me again.  Yes I have the fabric paints and I can crochet or  sew or work on my weaving, but really there are only so many tea towels and pot holders one can make!  Textile work is fun and rewarding and its great when you are snowed in but,  relying on it to keep me busy AND engaged for 2 months is asking a lot.  In an attempt to try some new things that don't cost money and can be completed in a short period of time..... I almost set the house on fire.   I have been intending for some time now to learn how to render fat both for soap making and cooking.  My 'country living skills'  book  has a nice page on how to clean your cooking oil so it can be reused instead of thrown out.  A couple of things here :  #1. It boils over like milk (fire hazard...guess what I did!)  #2. It stinks to high heaven!  I will never do this in the kitchen again.  This, like soap making, falls into the  outside activity only category.   After that  almost disaster, I broke into my cash stash (which has dwindled to almost nothing) and  went over to goodwill and bought a bunch of cheesy, historical bodice rippers.  I calculate I have  about 10 days of  reading fodder.  That should take us up to the deadline. 
Before I end this blog entry I would like to thank everyone who has invited me to do things over the last few weeks.  Please don't forget about me. I will be allowed out  of this mortgage imposed Guantanamo .....eventually. 

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