With a chick, chick, here

We are just a couple of days away from Spring, and enjoying the warmer temps of the 50's. Last week we added two new family members: Goldie and Gloria. They are our new hens! We found a used coop, a knowledgeable breeder, and added two bantam egg laying hens to the yard. They are about 8 months old, with speckled feathers, called Mille Fleur d'Uccle, and have funny personalities. I better understand the phrase "being pecked to death by a chicken" now that I have watched them eat.

We decided against starting with chicks, because of the impossibility of getting ANY school lessons done while they were in the house. They have already provided us with three eggs, which made the yummiest chocolate chip cookies. These two enjoy banana and cantaloupe, don't like grapes, and will enjoy free range of the yard as soon as we're outside gardening more. Due to the predator population around our house (hawks, foxes, raccoons, cats...), they won't be able to forage without us being outside with them. As soon as it is a bit warmer, I plan on stitching outside while enjoying the company of our little clucks. You can definitely tell the dominant one - Goldie! The breeder said they were 'friends', and spent most of their time together, which sold the munchkin on them right away. Our coop will comfortably hold two, and after seeing them in there I immediately wanted more.

Now onto the My Big Toe stuff. A new design!!! BUT, you'll have to wait until it is unveiled at the needlework show next month. I put the final stitches in it over the weekend, and it will head to the framer tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping for a second new release, but my design/stitching time is currently filled with inventory stock up. My line of fobs, needle threaders, marking pins, and thread hoppers are topped off, and the 500 thread pickers are in progress. I had a big bead order come in and spent the morning putting all of the pretties away and thinking of new accessories. So much fun! There will be a couple new froggies joining the family - pink and blue - along with a gorgeous new selection of needle threaders with clasps. I found a frosted glass cat bead that is the perfect size for a clasp needle threader, so look for that April 18th at www.NeedleworkShow.com!