Chicken gossip!

Enough about art, I know you just want to hear about the chickens.

Lots going on in the ol' hencoop lately! The flock is back up to 6 birds as of last wednesday. Here's a photo of the new residents, who are 4-month old adolescent chicks. Left to right, they are Edna (Barred Rock), Florence (Rhode Island Red), and the mysterious as-yet-unnamed Black Rock. I've been debating whether that one is a rooster because of the colorful feathers and larger size...but apparently Black Rocks are sex-linked and the males are a totally different color. So she must just be on her way to being a giant hen. They should start laying in January. It's fun having cute little younger birds, I've been picking them up a lot so they get used to being handled and will hopefully grow up to be friendly hens who hang out with me in the garden like the original flock. I have opened the coop door for them for the first time today, so we'll see if they go out.

As for the older birds, lots has been going on there too. The huge Australorpes (Ida Mae and Pauline) started venturing out and following Clara around, and they started laying again. Last week, however, before the new chicks arrived, one of the neighbor's dogs got loose and chased the girls around....one of the neighbor children handed poor traumatized Pauline to me after getting her away from the dog (she was fine, just scared), Clara came back by dark, and Ida Mae spent a night outside the coop.

Clara (the lone survivor of the original flock) is making up for her time as the low chick on the totem pole. She's definitely turning into the alpha hen. She's putting on some weight, pecking the new girls, and showing the Australorpes how things are done around here.

How to spend your weekend

Just lit the woodstove, and enjoying the thin November sunshine for a few moments before plunging back into work. As I might have mentioned in my last post (but I don't really remember), my business has become more busy-ness lately. 'Tis the season, etc etc.

Let me fill you in on two upcoming events:

First, the Holiday Spirit Store is opening on Friday night! That's tomorrow evening, from 5-7, during Gallery Night downtown. Everyone in the store is scrambling madly around getting their displays and products ready, and Alice and Werner have been complete creative angels is pulling together a cohesive story and look to the place. Alice has a cool photo on her blog. Please come out, it is not just a great place to support local artists and find unique gifts, but almost a theatre experience. You can find more information here, regarding hours and such.

Second, the capoeira group I am part of is hosting an event this weekend in Ithaca! Oh, I am so excited! Three days of capoeira, our group's mestre is coming to visit and play, and there are music and movement workshops all weekend. The exciting part for YOU is that we're having an open roda on Saturday evening, from 5-7 at the the Bethel Grove Community Center...which is free and open to the public. If you're curious what this whole Brazilian martial art / dance thing is that I'm always talking about, please stop in and watch up play, you'll be amazed. More info on our website. I screened some cool t-shirts for the event, which you can get there too.

So now that I've filled your day with lots of links and calendar events, I must be off to cut some more mats and pack up some more cards. I'm looking forward to winter when I can paint again!

Cat eye

Happy Halloween y'all! Here's Nebraska modeling a cool cat mask made by a guy at the Farmers' Market... Speaking of, tomorrow should be a fun day down there, with a parade of cute little costumed kids and vendors all dressed up. Stop down, and get some winter squash and NOTECARDS! And CALENDARS! They are done and I will have them with me at the market for the rest of the year. I'll try to get them up on Etsy next week too, will keep you posted.

My blog entries have fallen off a little, as this past week has been exceptionally busy. I've been printing t-shirts for an upcoming capoeira event (there was a saga involved in getting the screens made, but now is not the time for that), and starting to move into the store on the Commons (which means getting a whole second set of inventory together, and lots of schlepping-of-display-pieces).

And now it's Friday night, and I'm going to stop working for the evening as soon as I hit the "publish post" button. And hey, one of the chickens finally laid an egg today!

Holiday Spirit Store

Good morning everyone! As you might assume from my lack of posts lately, things are ramping up here. It's hard to think about Christmas in the middle of October, but that's what it's like when you're an artist and make cards. One quick announcement if that I'm gearing up to be part of a fantastic store on the Ithaca Commons for the months of November and December! There are about 20 of us, with art and clothing and body care and tasty treats. We'll be in the old Plantations space and the grand opening will be Gallery Night on November 6th.

Please check our website for more info! And come out and SHOP!

Sneak Preview - 2010 calendar!

I just got back from a really fun weekend in Vermont, at a big farm party that involved making lots of apple cider, and contra dancing, and tango in a barn. It was lovely up there, the fall colors were running wild and the sun was shining. Mighty cold for camping though, the only way to stay warm was to dance. Usually contra dancing makes me wickedly dizzy, but this time around it was alright.

So I'm working on my new calendar for 2010, and am pretty excited about how it's turning out. I'm using some of my botanical illustrations, and having fun with the design. It will fit in a cd case, which handily flips open to make a nifty little stand for the pages (same style as last year). Here's a little preview of one of the pages. I expect to have these done in a week or so and available at the farmers' market....eventually on the website too...or just email me if you want one!

Ida Mae

For those who follow this blog primarily for stories about my chickens, here's a photo of Ida Mae, the larger and more cocky (har har) of the two new black australorpes. You can't really see it here, but they're very pretty, with super soft feathers and a nice green sheen over the black. I had to get her picture inside the coop, because she and Pauline are not yet venturing through the door to the outside world. Maybe Clara is filling their pea-sized heads with scary stories about What Happened to the Other Chickens.

The re-purpose-driven notecard

Out comes the big bright SAD lamp! It's been a dreary week here in Ithaca, all that I dread about autumn has been out in full force. 42 and raining, no sun at all for 6 days in a row. I really don't want to complain, but weather like this makes me non-functional.

I was taking a walk in the woods today though, dragged myself out of the cozy woodstove-warmed house, and I felt so much better. And my brain turned back on in the fresh air, and all kinds of ideas started flowing. One idea I acted on right away, and here are the results. I have a few small 2009 calendars left, and have started re-purposing the images...cutting up the pages and looking for ways to make things from the art. Today (and shown here) I made blank cards from sheets of luscious tree-free colorful Nepalese paper, and glued the artwork on the fronts...pack them up with some nice brown envelopes, and voila...cool new fancy-schmancy cards to take with me to the farmers' market tomorrow. I made some journals with these images last week too.

Exciting gossip in the neighborhood is that my housemates' birdfeeder was mangled by a bear! I wonder if bears eat chickens? The new hens now have access to the outdoors, but they are being timid and staying in their coop. Smart.