Headed to Stevenson

Looking forward to seeing all my chicken friends this weekend! :)

PNPA's Northwest Winter Classic

Held at the very very beautiful Skamania County Fairgrounds. If you haven't been, it is well worth the drive. There's LOTS to do, aside from looking at all those gorgeous chickens and catching up with friends. Check out Multnomah Falls... or the Oneonta Tunnel.. actually, the Tunnel is only part of this stunning stop. There are no other signs for seeing the gorge that you will find if you hike a little and follow the Oneonta creek... *warning.. wet and slippery, but OH SO WORTH IT! :)

Oneonta Creek

Brave the log jam, and continue up into the gorge.. I didn't have time, and I had a car full of chickens, so this is as far as the boys and I made it.

Or .. explore any one of the other amazing views.. This area is also the remains of one of my favorite geological events to study.. the Great Lake Missoula Floods that formed the Scablands and Coulee's of Eastern Washington. Did you know that Portland was flooded by the water and the Willamette Valley was also formed by the huge repeated flooding? Pretty awesome stuff. You can just google 'Missoula Floods' and you will find loads of information.

Anyway~Hope to see you at The Show!

ACK! MOLT!

Voltron II has decided his old feathers must go. Unfortunately he was a major part of my entry to the CrossRoads of America Poultry Show in INDIANA~ dang dang dang. I would enter his brother ~ Henry ~ but Henry has been busy messin' around in the dirt and grass, breaking his beautiful foot feathering. I had put Voltron up off the ground on deep shavings (something I really really don't like doing...) in an effort to preserve those delicate feathers for this particular show. This show...It's a Big Deal. aw well.

I do still have a trio of the Calls going anyways.

Look how pretty we are staying!

We are hanging on to OUR feathers, why can't Voltron??

Molt Happens.... at seriously inopportune times.

Summer is done

The colors of Summer have faded..

To be replaced by the colors and tastes of Fall...

Loganberries ripening on a still warm afternoon

Juicy apples waiting to be picked

..and my arch-enemy, lessening in numbers in the garden.. ;)

Champions at Bearfoot Hollow :)

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Voltron II and his sister Aria both did really well at the Puyallup Fair.

He got Best FeatherLeg and Aria got Reserve FeatherLeg. I am really really pleased as this is the best win EVEH! :)

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Our Standard LightBrown Leghorn also did really well.. but she always does--coming from top lines here in the PNW. She is Son's 4H hen, we don't breed this type of chicken but she is always good for a visit to Champion Row for him. :) She is our one and only "big" chicken, so her name is Big Bird.

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I almost forgot to mention that the Butterscotch's did alright too :) One of the Junior girls (I didn't take a coop picture!) got Reserve Variety. So here is a Junior girl.. enjoying some sun. ;)

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It was also the first ever Tabletop Show for the Serama here in the Northwest. It was really fun, controlled chaos, as it was a first for everyone. Once we got going, everything went fabulous... Our Judge --Don Nelson, was very relaxed and super nice. He made it easy to come up to the table with our birds. :) Then, it was just like hanging out playing with our chickens with our chicken friends! Nothing like a little friendly competition amongst your buddies. Our Seramas didn't place, but it was still a great experience and I am looking forward to the Fall show in Stevenson, as that is the next Tabletop competition.

It's almost my turn! eee.. nervous!

Romeo REFUSED to stand on the carpet..he squatted down and wouldn't really move. Judge Don said to make sure to train him on GREEN CARPET! ;) TT's will ALWAYS use the green carpet.

a cute little frizzle--not ours

and a GORGEOUS boy --also not ours. I WISH!

Stop over at our Facebook photo album to see more pictures.. :)

Garlic!

The garlic I planted early this Spring was ready to harvest. I could tell because all of it's leaves had fallen over and were beginning to turn brown at the tips.

So, what to do with it? Braid it of course!

How does it go from this,

freshly picked

to this,

cured for about 3 weeks in the garage

And now

cleaned and ready to braid..

to finished....

It is actually not as intimidating as it looks, if I can do it--so can you! :) Mine is a very simple braid, some people braid colored ribbon and other goodies into it (like hot peppers, etc--you may have seen those at Pike's Place). This was my first attempt, so I kept it easy.

I started by gently cleaning the dirt, loose paper and leaves off, then trimmed the roots to look neat. I also dampened the dried and cured leaves in a moist (not soaking) towel, so they were nice and pliable, not so brittle. Don't soak them, you want them to dry quickly--no mold in your braid! It also helps to use a small bit of string or yarn to tie your very first 3 cloves together to hold them steady.. do this right at the top of the cloves, leaving the rest of the leaves loose for braiding. It will be hidden almost immediately as you start the braid.

Then you just braid! The only difference is that you will be adding a stalk at each OUTSIDE throw of your braid. It's a little like french braiding. When you reach the end of your garlic and want to finish the braid..use a piece of string to tie the braid together. Make a small loop with the string at the back of the braid so you can hang your artistry on the wall :)

I have not found ANY pictures that easily show how a braid is accomplished, but THIS VIDEO does a pretty fine job.

Razz~Ma~Tazz

My favorite echinacea flower :)

waking up

stretching

*poof*!

Butterscotch male in Eclipse molt

I thought it would be fun to show you how much a boy will change during his molt..

This is Lucky in Nuptial plumage:

Here he is again in Eclipse... at this point he would be hard to tell from the females in the group. He will stay like this for about a month or so then start to get his Man colors back.

The females also go through Eclipse, although not as dramatically as the males. The hens here are also molting. They lose their eyeliner and most of their general markings.

It is important to note that during a molt they are flightless. It would be especially important to keep them safe from predators.

There are feathers feathers EVERYwhere in the chicken yard right now, everyone is molting, chickens included. It is because the Fairs and Shows are coming up of course, so some of our best show poultry will be standing out as they get their new shiny feathers in ;)