Tag: I’m a Luddite

The Tragedy of the Chickens

On By Jennifer Mugrage9 Comments

So it was my fault.

Now that I no longer have to get up early to teach, I like to sleep in a little bit in the mornings. In the summertime, this means that I am getting up well after it is light outside.

I didn’t want the chickens to be trapped in their tiny run for two hours between 6 and 8 when I finally got out there.

I thought they would be overcrowded and start pecking each other.

So I left the door to the run open, allowing them to let themselves out in the morning.

*deep sigh*

That worked great for a few weeks. Then, disaster struck! A raccoon, a raider, a being of violence, came in the dark of the night, in the wee hours of the morning, probably around 5 a.m. He slaughtered my poor girls in their beds. I feel the worst about my three sweet silky bantams. Their heads were bitten off literally in the coop where they sleep. They were the only ones who had started laying, and who would crouch down when they saw a human, in case the human wanted to pick them up.

The Barred Rocks put up a fight. One, either Ginny Cash or Andrea, was dragged away without a trace (possibly she had been taken the day before). Another was found, partially eaten, near the lilac bushes.

But the rooster — ah, the rooster. Meriadoc Brandybuck. He seems to have fought the predator. His carcass was found, mostly eaten, in the small tunnel-like pass-through between house and garage. Damp raccoon tracks led away from it towards the front of the house. And … still alive, hiding under the lilac bushes, was the smallest of the Barred Rocks, Jane Wayne.

We don’t know, but we imagine that he gave his life for her. “You go! I’ll hold him off!” he cried, dashing into the gap while Jane, clucking and shedding feathers, fled. Merry, as we call him, had previously shown signs of behaving like a rooster in the sense of pushing the hens around a bit and being selfish about the food, but he had never yet displayed any protective behavior. But in the darkest hour, Meriadoc rose to the occasion – so we imagine – and showed his quality: the very best.

Tears were shed. Carcasses were gathered up. Blood was cleaned from the inside of the coop, which looked like a crime scene, which in fact it was. Certain members of the family wanted to give the chickens a “Viking” funeral, where we would put them on a small, flammable boat, push it out into the irrigation canal, and then shoot an arrow (this step was unclear) to set the boat on fire. This was felt to be impractical, so we settled for a pyre in the burn barrel that involved firewood and a little bit of gasoline. A funeral was held. Prayers were said. The brave deeds of Meriadoc were recited (this is how stories help us make sense of tragedy). We also recalled the endearing little habits of the dead, particularly Jasmine, the black bantam silky, who was our sweetest, the most reliable layer, and will always remain “the bestest of chaekens.”

And, lesson learned. Just because a predator hasn’t come so far, does not mean that one never will. I will make the coop more secure, and will lock it in the future.

I’m a Luddite, all right. A really, really bad one.

Guilty Pleasure: Stoneware

On By Jennifer MugrageLeave a comment

I got this fantastic mug at university. I bought it from a sale the Art Dept students were having. Back then, buying anything at all was a big decision that I had to justify. When my Japanese roommate saw it, she got all excited and said the mug looked Japanese. I probably should have given it to her (sorry, Makiko!), but I didn’t. I am still treasuring it all these years later.

Faithful OOB readers have seen this mug before, in my “I Like Bears” post. I think my husband got it for me during a trip to Yellowstone years ago, then it spent several years in storage, then I re-discovered it, with new appreciation, after our most recent move. I use it now because my book The Strange Land features a Bear of Justice.

This lovely thing was purchased at the Fantasy Faire, from a stonewear booth (advertising slogan: “Get Stoned”). I asked the potter, an older lady, about her process, and she said, “I take some clay. I throw it on the wheel. I make a cup. I glaze it, and then I fire it.”

Do you like stonewear?

Preparing for the Fantasy Faire

On By Jennifer Mugrage6 Comments
  1. Set up modern tent, measure proportions

2) Measure and cut four panels of black felt. (Three can be cut whole out of the fabric we purchased; one needs to be pieced together from two end pieces.)

As I worked in the yard, the chickens kept coming up and I had to chase them away from the felt. The rooster tried to eat one of my pins.

3) Join panels together with a whip stitch, using yarn in a contrasting color. Besides making the tent look sort of cool, this will allow us to locate the corners of the felt cover more easily.

(This is the biggest sewing project I have ever worked on. It’s very physical handling these big pieces of cloth. Still, the pressure is less than when making tailored clothes. The biggest mistake I have made so far was I began to join one of the panels with the wrong side facing out. I had to pull out the whip stitch and turn the panel over.

The felt has a pleasant odor. I’ve always like fiber smells. Unfortunately, I don’t know whether this odor is a property of felt itself, or whether it comes from chemicals perhaps used in the modern but not the ancient felt-making process.)

4) Put the cover over the modern tent to see whether it fits.

When we got the tent out this time, we were confronted with a problem. Two screws from the frame had fallen out. I was able to locate & replace one. Looks like the other will have to be a substitute screw from our junk drawer. We suspect a chicken ate it.

Yay! The cover fits! And is even a little roomy. Now, to patch pieces of felt to complete the peak.

5) Put the cover back on again. It looks okay

The tops of the pieces don’t join in a perfect cone, but it’s got a nice witch hat/smoke hole look, so I think I’m going to leave it. Fixing it won’t be worth the extra time, when there is so much more prep to do.

6) Pin star fabric to corners to make sure you have enough.

7) Sew large washers to the sides of the canopy to hold it down in windy conditions.

8) LEDs

9) Set everything up exactly as it is going to look the next day.

The Final Chicken Update

On By Jennifer Mugrage3 Comments

Tom, you won’t be able to see this, because it’s a gif and you can never view those. It’s a short video of a man holding at bay three velociraptors … which is exactly what it now looks like when I feed my chickens.

I now wonder whether a chicken owner was behind the animatronic dinos in the Jurassic Park franchise.

Bonnet Mania

On By Jennifer MugrageLeave a comment

Here are three “fairy bonnets” that I made using a pattern I bought off Etsy. It’s a very simple, easy pattern. The bonnet is worked flat and then sewed up the back. You can do it with one ball of yarn if you are making a child’s size. In this case, I used cotton because these were meant to be spring bonnets for some little girls I know.

It’s not good to post picture of kids’ faces, so this Styrofoam model will have to do. As you can see, the corner where the bonnet was sewed becomes an adorable point on the wearer’s head. The wavy, tipsy effect is achieved as follows. On one row, a bunch of extra stitches are added. Two rows later, these stitches are reduced, alternately using Knit Two Together (which tends to lean right), and Slip-Slip-Knit (which tends to lean left).

I later made a navy-blue version of this same bonnet, and then completed one with a varicolored ball of yarn. They knit up quickly and make good gifts. (At least, I think they are good gifts!)

I am experimenting with adding a large button on one side and a crocheted loop on the other, rather than the long knitted tie strings, which look cool but might be inconvenient. I’ve had good luck with the button/loop arrangement on bonnets I’ve made for myself. The loop is less obtrusive than a string or a tassel when the bonnet is not fastened, and you can pull the loop across and hook it around the button one-handed if you need to.