And Then There Were None

A little over a week ago, it was my turn to take our dog out first thing in the morning. This is the sight that greeted me.

In case you can't tell what that is, here's a closer look:

Yep, those are feathers. Lots of feathers. Guinea feathers, to be exact. I knew something was very wrong in guinea paradise. 

Upon further inspection, my son and I confirmed my suspicions-- the remaining two guineas had been brutally murdered by some nocturnal beast. I guess, technically, we could be wrong as we never found the bodies (only a few small chunks attached to feathers), but really, what nocturnal beast that drags guineas through a smallish hole in chicken wire would leave the bodies around as evidence?

As violent as this was, it wasn't heartbreaking to our family because these only two who were left were male and driving us crazy by fighting with each other. 

I guess that's the end of our first fowl experiment. We liked the eggs. We did see a decrease in ticks on our bodies; no Lyme disease while we had the guineas. My favorite thing about the guineas was just watching them; they are so funny!

The downsides to guineas? Well, when we wanted to vacation or visit family for a few days, we had to find somebody who was willing to take care of them. Also, they were not good for our garden; they either dusted and killed plants or ate my greens. We also didn't care for the meanness; they weren't mean to us, they were mean to each other.

In the end, we do plan on getting more fowl-- but not until spring probably. We all want different birds-- guineas, chickens, and ducks. I guess you'll have to tune in next spring to see what we settle on.

What Happens When. . . Emu Vs. Guinea?

Next the emu began walking around our house in a counterclockwise direction. However, one of our three remaining guinea fowl began walking around the house in a clockwise direction. What happens when they meet?

Emu decides to investigate guinea.

Guinea decided it doesn't want to be investigated by a much larger bird.

Guinea makes haste to deliver himself.

In the end, the emu wasn't interested enough in the guinea to chase it too far, and the guinea wasn't scared enough of the emu to run too far. While we had fun when the "chase" got a little fast-paced, the entire episode was rather short-lived.

But this emu episode is not over!

To Be Continued. . .

P. S. While learning about the emu online, we learned that this week is considered National Emu Week. What a coincidence!

We've had a little snow lately, so we've been feeding the birds and enjoying their antics.

At first, after we put out our feeders and before it snowed, the only birds we saw were goldfinches. We could see some woodpeckers out in the woods, but only the finches were at the feeder. Then there was a bird that looked like a finch but with a red head. What was it? After much argument, we settled on a house finch.

Then came the snow and the tufted titmice, red-bellied woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, and nuthatches. Juncos (two of which died after a run-in with our double glass doors) and our guineas enjoyed whatever dropped to the ground. And then came the blue jays and bright red cardinals (with their not-so-bright brownish ladies).

My favorite feeder-- made by our dear friend, Lance

Our birdwatching goes beyond the feeders and into the woods and on our roof. My eldest spotted a bluebird on our roof! Several weeks ago, we watched turkeys meandering through the yard and woods. And we've seen turkey vultures and hawks, too. 

This was taken in October, but it is a turkey vulture on our roof.

It's been quite the education and entertainment for us the past several weeks. Meals and lessons are interrupted as our attention is diverted away from the table. Now that we have our addition, we have two angles-- one from the dining room and one from the living room. 

What birds have you enjoyed this winter?

Five on Friday

1. First Egg. We didn't think we'd get any eggs this year since April 15 came and went (that's been when the guineas started laying in years past). But on Tuesday my son found the first egg.

First guinea egg 2018

Since then we've only found 3 eggs, so I still think the hens are slowing down. I still love watching those crazy birds making their rounds about the yard.

2.  Boys' Room.  I asked the boys if I could show pictures of their new bedroom in the addition. They agreed.

Calvin made it in this shot, too.

The green walls and brown carpet make me think of mint-chocolate chip ice cream every time I walk into their room. The room is quite cozy.

3.  Walk Across Maryland.  I've been spending some time this last week organizing an event for homeschoolers to walk across Maryland in Hancock where the distance is only 1.8 miles. If you happen to be a local homeschooler and are interested in taking part, send me a note.

4.  May Listing Challenge.  My oldest son challenged me to list one new item on Etsy for each day of the month of May. Since I am busy with other crafting/mending projects, it looks like all new items will be either craft supply or vintage. So far this month, I've met the challenge.

My favorite I've listed so far this month is this vintage postcard.

Saucy little postcard!

5. More Construction.  I know I posted just on Sunday about the completion of the project, but look what showed up in our backyard this week.

Yesterday the masons showed up to prepare the site for a new concrete pad for the back patio. This morning the concrete truck came and delivered. The masons are now waiting for it to set up to put on the finishing touches. I'm not sure how the rain clouds coming in will help.

Have a lovely weekend.

Coop Addition

We've had a growing problem with our guinea coop. The original design had water dripping down on the walls, and the walls weren't the best building material. It resulted in rotting walls with holes.

Rotten old holes!

We decided to plan our coop renovation to coincide with a visit from my in-laws because my father-in-law is handy-dandy at building things. So the demolition and building commenced.

Look, Ma, no walls!

Legs and ladders

Framing almost done

Look at that nail!

You might wonder what's so special about that nail. Well, when I went outside once to check on progress, my son had to show it to me because he hammered in THAT nail. That's why it's a special nail.

Just about done

So, after lots of nails and ladders (and boys feeling big on ladders), the coop is bigger and better. It isn't yet complete. It needs to be painted, and my husband wants to fix the roosts on the inside. But now it has a shiny, new roof and more ventilation. 

It can be our retirement home one day!

Five on Friday

I've had so much going on lately that I have way too much for just one post! I'll just have to break things up over several posts.

1.  Outside Tunes. We used our Sam's Club points to buy this outdoor speaker about a month ago, and we are pleased. It made some hard work a little easier and a fire pit cookout a little more relaxing. If you're wondering what we listen to, my current favorite is a CD called Southern Family.

Outdoor speaker + iPod= Good times

2. Guineas. These guineas, delicious as their fresh eggs are, are the source of much work lately-- fixing their coop, attempting to barricade growing things from their attack, chasing them out of the garden. . . 

You talkin' to me?

. . . but they have now also become a source of a small amount of income. All the guinea feathers I had listed on my Etsy shop have sold out. I have more feathers to list, but I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet. Just to make things clear, the small amount of income does not even approach the amount we've put into taking care of them.

All the same, I'd do it again. I really enjoy watching those loud, funny-looking squawkers.

3.  Orange Sticks. What in the world are those kids up to now? Why would I allow them to put sticks in the backyard and spray paint them orange?!

Stick in the ground

Well, it turns out the kids didn't do it. The fellows who will be building a new addition onto the parsonage (if the permit stuff with the county ever works out!) measured and plotted out the limits of what will become some new space in our home. There are bumps right now in the permit process, so plans are going to change a bit. I'm sure there will be plenty of updates here in the next year.

4.  Toilet Paper Tubes. Yes. I did list toilet paper tubes on my Etsy shop. Can you believe people buy them? Well, they do, and it makes sense, especially if you consider classroom teachers (art teachers) needing hundreds of them all at once. 

Do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph a big pile of inviting toilet paper tubes without having a 3-year-old boy in the picture? I finally managed to get a few shots. Barely.

Brown cardboard tubes, tied up with string. . . 

5. Children in Church. I appreciated the article, "Children, Too, are Part of the Church," which can be found at Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife. It underscores what I have learned about children in church since I've had my own children.

SaveSave

New Adventure

Last week we opened up an Etsy shop. To be honest, I like the idea of making a little extra money. I want to save up for a trip "out west" for our family. So I took the plunge.  I don't have everything listed yet because there's a learning curve for me with all the photography and computer-y stuff. I'm just not a natural.

But if you're interested, our shop, SidelingViewCrafts is open for business. I'm listing (for now) a crochet pattern, already-made hats from said pattern, other crocheted items made by me or my eldest, and items from nature that people like for crafts and decorating (feathers, acorns, etc.).

Hat/bonnet pattern

Bonnets for sale!

This basket reminded me of Dr. Seuss.

Lots of acorns around here

Feathers from our guineas

In an effort to somehow promote the shop, I signed up for Pinterest. Really, my effort is laughable because I can't really figure it all out the way I think other people have it figured out. I think I mentioned that I am not tech-savvy. At least I'm enjoying searching for ideas for birthday cakes and pretty quilts.

If you do have the means and know-how to promote this new endeavor, I won't be upset if you do whatever it is people do on the other social media sites 😊.

Easter, Most Egg-cellent!

He is risen!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

I love that part of Easter- the very best part!

Around here we also dye Easter eggs. Yesterday our dining room table looked like this:

Some notable eggs:

With a Dr. Who marathon on TV, I suppose this TARDIS was inevitable.

Pretty two-tone

Pretty two-tone with "Love"

Have you ever noticed that "Mom". . . 

. . . is "Wow" upside-down?

And in unrelated-to-Easter egg news, we found the first guinea egg of the year on Friday, April 14th. If you dig back in the archives (and I'm sure you won't), you will notice that we've found the first egg of the year always on April 14th or April 15th. What an amazing internal calendar! Unfortunately, we didn't find any eggs yesterday, so we need to be on the lookout.

First guinea egg of the year

May your entire Easter season be joyous and egg-cellent!

It's Summer 'Round Here

Summer around here means projects and gardens and a few extra things.

A big project 'round here has been painting and getting new carpet into the girls' room. While I don't have a picture of that yet, the walls are now a pretty pink and the light blue carpet is comfy to the feet. 

While my husband was getting ready to prep the walls, my oldest son cleverly noticed this:

Dr. Spackle and Mr. Hyde

Now on to the garden. I have many more pictures, but for now (because we only get free downloads and uploads before 8 a. m.), here's a picture of one of our season's experiments-- ground cherries. They're getting off to a slow start because we didn't start them inside. 

Ground cherries supposedly make good preserves.

The "few extra things" going on around here?  Basically guinea drama. Edgar's getting the snot pecked out of him. Fat Toe is sometimes getting the snot pecked out of him. We've been trying to keep them separate from the aggressors (Big Boss, Big Boss 2.0, and Little Pepper), but I'm thinking we need to cull some of the flock.

Especially because. . . 

EGGS! Not that we haven't had eggs before, but a hen finally decided to go broody in a safe spot. There are more than just a few eggs in there-- more than she can sit on by herself, so she's had helpers nearly constantly. There's about 30 or so in there. We'll see what happens, but if they hatch, it'll be this week or next by my figuring.

That's all for now because pancakes need to be flipped!

Notables for a Spring Week

I haven't been posting much lately, but not because nothing's going on. In fact, it seems like the more things going on in life, the less I post. It's a time thing.

Anyway, this week the girls and I celebrated Pink Croc Day with a date.

See, we each have pink Crocs.

Don't worry if you've never heard of the day. We made it up. And we didn't want the littlest girl who doesn't wear shoes yet to be left out, so. . . 

pink socks!

We went here for some fun and a picnic.

The park our middle daughter had never been to but drooled over each time we passed.

Then we walked across the street for some shopping fun.

Great prices!

It was a good girl date, but the week wasn't over!


Today was busy with school, the boys' first soccer game, and the first guinea egg of the year.

Kind of little, isn't it?

And Daddy and his helpers began improvements on one of the raised beds.

Lots of little holes for marigolds, or so we hope.

Life's never dull around here, but it seems spring time makes life so much more exciting and fun and fresh. And sick. We've been sick/enjoying allergies. Yay, spring!

On the Lookout

Last week our guinea hens started laying eggs. It's been better than an Easter egg hunt. So far we've only found eggs in the coop and right outside of it. Of course, guineas are notorious for making nests in great hiding places, and while we've looked around quite a bit, we've not found a hidden stash.

We don't really know how many hens we have, but we started out finding 2 eggs a day. Now we're up to four or five.

In case you're curious, this is what they look like.

See the variation of pretty colors and patterns?

On the left, a guinea egg. On the right, a store-bought chicken egg.

When it was time to enjoy them for breakfast, my husband found what we'd read on the internet to be quite true-- the shells are really tough! He had to whack the eggs several times with a force that would make a chicken egg into a puddle of shell and slime. The taste, however, wasn't so different from a farm-fresh chicken egg.

Foggy and (Guinea) Fowl

There was a morning last week that was sort of rainy. It tapered off to just foggy and misty.

Foggy and misty

Normally, we can only let out about half of the guinea fowl. Otherwise, the ones who are out of the enclosure wander off. Way off. Off of our property.

I was just certain on this foggy, misty morning that because of the dreariness of the day, I could let them all out, and they would stick around the coop.

I was wrong. Those birds wandered off. Way off. Off of our property.

This is where I found them pecking away at what I hope was nasty bugs, especially ticks. On this foggy, misty morning in this grove of trees, it was just so beautiful I had to take a picture.

Guineas in a grove of trees, pecking away

I shook my container of millet and called out, "Millet, millet!" That's how we attempt to lure them back to their home on our property.

"Hey, guys, we can get millet before bedtime! C'mon!"

So they slowly found their way back home where I promptly shut about half of them in their enclosure (half of 13 is a hard thing when working with live guinea fowl).

I pretended to be upset with them, but I was secretly happy because the morning was so beautiful. I wouldn't have had the chance to enjoy it so much if it weren't for those straying birds.

By the way, as I look at these pictures, I realize I didn't capture the beauty of the morning, the mist and fog and the moisture all gathered in the new, spring grass.  The air was so fresh and earthy, and it tickled my skin. I'm sorry; I wish you could have seen it.