A Good Day for Chickens

The chickens have been spending a lot of time in the northeast corner of the field lately. That's technically unused space, but I encourage Rick and Isaac to keep any project cars not in current work along the fence row there, as well as other cars which we aren't using right this second. (For example, I parked the truck there today because I don't expect to use it again until farmer's market next week.) And there is a rectangle in the soil where a vehicle was previously parked, baking away the vegetation below it to leave just a few dead wisps of grass and some dust.

As I pulled in, I found several chickens laying in the dust twitching. Don't worry - they were happy and healthy. It's a hot sticky day, and they were taking dust baths, flipping cool freshly scratched soil over themselves and their buddies. If someone didn't know what was going on, it might look worrisome; but as they lay there and contort and twitch and shake, I assure you they're having a wonderful time. To sweeten the deal even more, the mulberry tree above this spot is getting ready to start dropping fruit. I've never cared for mulberries myself, and pretty much ignore this tree. But the birds just love them, and will be gorging themselves over the next few weeks. For a chicken, it really just doesn't get much better than this.

Meanwhile, I took another new baby hat to the market today.


I didn't bother blogging it ahead of time, because y'all have GOT to be getting tired of me and my colorwork baby hats. (Standard recipe, with colorwork lifted from a skull & crossbones shrug featured on the Anticraft website.) But people went nuts over this. I have a request to bring back 4 more cotton ones in adult sizes, and yet another in a toddler size with matching mittens in a more winter-appropriate yarn. (Superwash wool would be my choice, but I'll have to weigh the cost implications.) I knew the skull & crossbones symbol was fashionable, but I didn't expect anything like this.

Okay, trivia question: do you know why the skull & crossbones became a symbol of death? Because in medieval times, it was believed that the soul resided in the large bones of the body - the thigh bones and skull. So it started out as a symbol for the soul. (Yes, I am a geek; thank you for asking.)