Blackout fun, perked up garden, separating the boys from girls, chicken prison, I can keep a secret

This is the first quiet Sunday I have had in a while. At least its the first quiet  Sunday with electricity and internet.  The windstorm  last week took away  our electricity, internet and  phones for the weekend.  It was fabulous.  I prepped well for the storm because we live on a swamp,  in the semi country.   I meal planned  for stuff that could be easily done on a gas grill in the rain.  The day of the storm I decided loaded baked potatoes  was the best choice because potatoes can be thrown on the grill  and don't need to be  supervised in the rain.  I invited the neighbors to join us.  I got a great surprise when they  said yes and then said 'bring your potatoes to our house because we have steaks'.  They apologized because there was no salad or vegetables to go with it. Not a problem since I have a garden.  Jimmy and I  put together a bruschetta and dug into the wine closet to find a bottle suitable  for a dark and stormy night.  The one on top was bottle of 1995 salice salentino.  We  packed up our potatoes, bruschetta,wine and  a few extra candles and ran next door .  The neighbors were ready for us. Steaks  on their grill and a lovely mushroom and onion shish kabob AND chocolate cake.  We were delighted when  they brought out the antique  (wind up ) Victrola and started playing  music. It was  the kind of evening that makes me wish we could unplug more often!
And then the storm was over and we had a few days of rain.  Once again a  pleasant surprise... My desiccated garden perked up and began producing again.  It happened fast once  it had an abundant water supply.  The rain also helped my hens. The leghorns started laying this week.   And in answer to the  massive chickens hormones  everywhere, the barred rocks began producing double yolk eggs.
I had to take some desperate chicken action in August. It appeared they had all stop laying.... completely.  I didn't get any eggs for almost two weeks.  I knew the cannibal  was eating some of them but that didn't count  for the complete loss of all egg production.  Jimmy's mom was here during the no eggs time and she wanted to do some cooking so  we BOUGHT  eggs.  The day after we bought the eggs we found the broody hen , behind the barn, sitting on 2  dozen plus eggs.  So, now we know where they all went.  I decided that could no longer be  the benevolently neglectful chicken owner .  Wrangling must be done.  Sarah now Skyler, the transgender youth who keeps my coops clean was called in for extra duty.   Skyler scrubbed  and scraped  both coops  and put a roost in the old one for me.  I love that kid. Skyler  smiles and says ok to whatever I request.   When the cleaning was done and Skyler had skipped happily home  with a pocket full of well earned money, Jimmy and I put new lips on the nesting boxes in the big coop.  After dark we moved the two old reds, one of which is the cannibal, and the  two roosters to the small coop.  All the laying hens and the  two  pullets  were left in the big coop.  That was two weeks ago.   They have all been locked in their respective pens for two weeks.  The first three days of lock up  I got one egg.  I'm pretty sure it was the disruption  of routine that caused it.  This week though I am getting  eggs everyday.    For the last three days Jimmy has been prison advocate.  "When are you going to let them out?" my response?  When they start laying regularly and know where to lay.    His compassion  is making me feel guilty so  later this afternoon , when they have all had a chance to lay,  they can have some yard time.  The hens ,that is, can have some yard time.  The other four will stay penned up until we can make some decisions.  I am really enjoying  NOT being attacked by Arnie every time I go outside. I'm  also enjoying not hearing the hens running and screaming  several times a day because he is trying to take what isn't his.  I hate that chicken.  In case you  haven't heard me say it before. 
Darling Daughter came over for a visit yesterday.  This is a great accomplishment because she is working on something right now  that is pretty amazing and I am very proud of her.  I cant tell you what it is  because I have been sworn to secrecy until she is ready for the big reveal.  Its gonna be worth the wait though.   See DD...I CAN keep a secret !

Research excitement, gardening, winemaking, henna barter.

Most of you know that I have been working on a research project for a one woman show.  Up until now the research has all been computer assisted.  Pretty much anything you want to research is online these days. But now I am to the point in my research where I need documents to prove what I am saying. They are all down at the king county archives...on microfiche.   I'm old enough to remember when microfiche was   a really great tool  that helped speed  the research process .  Now , it is slow and labor intensive.   I realized last week that even  though Jimmy and  I are neo luddites  that we have been spoiled when it comes to getting the information we want. We think any and all information should be at our fingertips just  a second or two away.   Ask a question....get an instant answer.   I made one trip to the king county archives so far. Everything I need is there. I just need to get to it.  The archivists at King County are information badasses!   I walked up to counter on my first visit and  babbled a bunch of disorganized   word salad at the poor guy manning the desk.  He took a few seconds, organized everything I told him ..in his head.... and gave me a place to begin.  He even explained to me how to read the  bureau of land management maps that I have been staring at, for the last two years, with glazed over eyes.  I have a new hero and a random thought crossed my mind  while he was being  both patient and genius... I need to get him and Feral Jane together in the same room.  They would be perfect for each other.  I haven't  tried to match make for FJ since jr. high school  so, this truly was a random thought in the process. I  retrieved enough info from the archive indexes to be able to put together a four page outline.  I read it to  jimmy and he said it sounded like a deposition.  That's a good thing , I think.  Its means the information is there.  Now I just have to build a show around it.  An interesting show.   In the meantime life goes on at Mystic Cedars.   My poor sad garden perked up significantly after  last Fridays deluge.   We may even get a few solid meals out of it before the weather turns cold.  It hasn't all been bad though.   My home canned goods cabinet is getting full. Tons of Jelly and I have my second  huge jar of cucumbers brining right now.  I'm hoping to get at least one more batch of pickling cucumbers  out of the garden before the season ends.
The second planting of the garden is doing so much better than the  first.  The new pole beans I  planted are shooting up and we should get a really good crop from them as long as it doesn't snow in September.  
Here is an FYI for Baby Sis. The Blackberry wine is in the first  ferment and  is bubbling vigorously.  We should be getting a minimum of five gallons out of it. Now I just need to keep it warm.  When I put it in the glass carboy, I am going to put one of the  planting start mats under it.  I used to use classic heating pads, but mine all  burned out and the new ones all have  timers in them now that shut off after two hours.  Useless!
Jimmys Mom is coming in for a few days this week,  so the guest room continues to be a guest room for a while longer.  After she heads back home though it will once again become the  'textile' room.  Sewing machine, rug  frame, giant yarn depository, random baskets full of projects.  I will also be going through my bins of costumes and  rehoming  many of them.  I would love to  keep them all but to do that I would need to rent a  storage  room somewhere. Not going to do that.  And here is something I have been meaning to do.  I stopped using henna on my hair.  I now have a drawer full of henna and henna products in my bathroom that needs to go.  If you want them give me a call.   They are free.  Unless  you are in a bartering mood (cuz some people  are suspicious of free).  In that case, I am looking for  a couple of  good condition,  classic picnic baskets,  more yarn, really big baskets,  plant pots and that sort of thing.