Chicken Blog by Natalie

A Merry Band of Makers, after fifteen hours of Maker Faire awesomeness.
~16 maker, thinkers, tinkerers, artists, engineers
~From Flagstaff, So Cal, Santa Cruz, and San Luis Obispo
~16, 8, and if your brakes fail en route- 24 hours, on the road

This was easily one of our most challenging journeys to get to the The Greatest Show and Tell on Earth, and I cannot deny, there were several times I was ready to turn around and head home. And yeah, when the brakes fail on your RV, you pretty much start making it a plan to get everyone home, safely. But, we had a lot riding on this particular Faire, and so we just kept doing our best, moving forward, and, somehow, it came together.

There we are... absent friends in our hearts, at the end of an amazing day. It was after ten o'clock, and we were still celebrating and feeling the rush of inspiration and energy that comes from sharing STEAM ~Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math~ with tens of thousands of enthused, talented, curious, fun people.

After our very first visit to Maker Faire, in 2010, we knew we had to be a part of the Maker movement, and so we started a Young Makers Club. It fits with our interests in FIRST, and robotics, our love of inventing and creating, our passions for playing and sharing. We are happy that every year since that first visit we have encouraged more people, new people, to come to Maker Faire Bay Area.

This year, Max was a first time presenter at Maker Faire. It was amazing. He was amazing. I cannot wait to share some highlights from his demonstrations. And, our youngest Maker, Maria, returned with new lessons in wool felting. She was patient and dedicated to sharing her interest and skills, and a lot of new wool felting enthusiasts were born, thanks to Maria!

I'll be sharing more... more thoughts and reflections, more pictures. And I would like to add something, here... I want you to feel inspired, and lifted. I admit, sometimes I see amazing, beautiful places and activities on the Internet, and there is a moment of envy, of feeling left out. If you can't come to a Maker Faire, if you missed this time, if you're trying to get to a Maker Faire... I want these posts to include you, to be a sharing experience, and I hope they encourage you, too. Because the Maker movement, the DIY community, FIRST, and STEAM education are growing, and spreading, and you can be a part of it. I hope the fun we had, the experiences we share, motivate you, encourage you, inspire you, because we would love to see you at Maker Faire 2014!

She is Penny.
Lucky Penny.
Henny Penny.
She has a silver tail.
She dashes, quicksilver, through the garden
Tiny Penny, unassuming, last to come for supper,
first to wander off and find her own way.
Dear Penny, you are a darling daring chook.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

:: Inspired by Soule Mama ::

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments, for all to find and see.

If it's early spring, and I've found a fragrant bouquet of sweet peas, I know in my heart that I have found my favorite flowers. However, when I was watering our flower pots in the front yard, I stooped to smell the pert, white carnations, and when I inhaled their floral spice, I declared these are my favorite flowers.
Last summer we planted zinnias, whose colors burst with vibrancy and heat, and they have me recall long ago summers, and the flowers my mother grew, and I feel such an affinity for those, my favorite flowers. Lilacs, pansies, petunias, dahlias, cosmos, poppies, plumeria, daffodils, wisteria, apple blossoms, roses, lupines... peonies. In any given moment, I always seem to know, with absolute certainty, my favorite. Do you have a favorite flower, too?

Not five pounds. Not seven, nine, or ten pounds! Paul, Janece, and Geoff await the crucial results...

We were figuring out how much each section of roof on the Chicken run is weighing, and Geoff picked up a measured and cut roll of the hardware cloth... five pounds, he figured.
No way, I declared. You see, I measure all mass in terms of five pound sacks of flour. New born baby? That's probably about a sack and a half. Healthy cat? Oh, maybe two sacks. It's solid science, I tell ya. Seeing the roll of wire, and having lifted a few in my life, I knew it had to be more than one sack of flour, and I said, it's ten pounds, at least.

Geoff picked it up, and raised his guess to seven pounds. Paul guessed ten pounds, and William chose nine pounds. Decisively, I detected 2.4 sacks of flour, and said twelve pounds! Out came the hanging scale, and a carabiner. Yup. I guessed it right!

The prize? A pair of unders, custom bedazzled, with the _gift_ that came in my Mother's Day Piñata. Which do I explain first, the piñata tradition, or the bedazzler?

I know this much, I should have held out for a better prize!

After a lovely weekend with friends, of sewing, baking, playing, and adding to the coop and run... I feel grand.

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

by Rose Milligan

Dear Jennifer,
Thank you for sharing this video. Sometimes, I think the things we enjoy the most are those that resonate, that reflect back the truth we believe, the ideals we hold up, admire. I want to say, in a modest, unassuming way... I see the water. I feel it all around me. But I do sometimes forget, or maybe it's that it overwhelms me, and I feel it like a weight, a too expansive realm. I woke up feeling a bit of that heaviness.

The commencement speech, by David Foster Wallace pulled me out of a bit of a spiral. I needed this, Jennifer. Thank you.

And hey, however any of you are feeling today, I hope you will listen to this speech. It's up lifting... not a grand remedy, not a superficial lift, but the kind of truth that simply resonates and lifts your thoughts, and spirit.

We made it into the Make Blog, and it's such a rush! I feel exhilarated!

Do you know about our other blog, Love & Rockets? Thats's where we wave our Geek Flag, where we share all that we imagine, invent, create, tinker, play, and make. It's where we hope to reach out to family and friends and inspire STEAM learning and teaching, between all the curious minds! Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math = STEAM, and those subjects are what we have a passion for. We express that passion through our involvement in the Maker Faire, with FIRST 2102 Team Paradox, with FIRST Robotics, and really, just our daily lives and interests. So, when a rising star needs a shout out, we answer the call. When a high school robotics team wants to build a giant robot, we open our garage. If an inspiring young man needs big room, and some paint, for a big idea, we like to lend a hand.

It means a great deal to us to be welcomed into the Maker community, because one of the nicest things about life is sharing, and Maker Faire, and the Maker Family, share with a generous and inspiring passion.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

:: Inspired by Soule Mama ::

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments, for all to find and see.

Tucked away at the bottom of our property is a purposefully landscaped garden. It was built to help maintain the septic system, by requiring very little water. Xeriscape gardens are desirable, and a practical necessity in dry Southern California. Conserving water is responsible, and in the garden it can be accomplished beautifully. Since I don't need a fussy-manicured garden, there isn't too much to do to keep things looking good here... reduce the Mexican sage, and the potato vine, which each grow profusely, year round. Pull weeds, which grow profusely, year round. And trap gophers, which grow profusely, year round. Easy to care for... and easy to forget.

I have been so preoccupied with the chicken run, and Maker Faire, with laundry, and flossing, and Boggle (Heaven, help me!) that I'd sort of forgotten that we have this meandering path, and lovely plants, until some of you made your kind remarks! Oh, yes, I reflected. Our garden is lovely, the flowers are in full bloom. Thank you. It's so nice to see our garden with this renewed appreciation.

Now, having read The Sunset Western Garden Book, like a romance novel on a tropical beach vacation, voraciously, I can identify some of our plants. Happily, for me, there are a few mysteries. I actually enjoy being stumped. Wondering is a pleasure.

Come into the garden?

Let's begin with a mystery! This shrub, with long bowing branches, has leaves of green and a dusky aubergine. They are soft and supple leaves, and I have no idea what the plant is, besides beautiful!

Another... long, slender, clean stems tipped with a cluster of teeny, dry flowers, which remind of millet seed. In the fall the stems will bear small curls of dried leaves, which are brown with a metallic sheen.

Here is a native species, and a favorite of mine: California Mountain Lilac, or Ceanothus.

I know this plant as Kangaroo Paw. A native of Australia, and lately very popular in So Cal landscaping. It's a real exotic, I think, with those fuzzy red bits, that open with tomato blossom-like flowers.

Do you see what I mean? Maybe it's the yellow star shape that reminds me of tomato flowers.

This is the other fuzzy bloomer, the Mexican Sage, or Salvia Leucantha. It's a member of the mint family. I think it smells a bit... mmmm... pungent, kind of sour. It grows like mad! Naturally, it would be something the goats don't eat!

And the goats do not eat Grandmother's geraniums, and yes, these are the same geraniums Grandmother started at Neptune, brought to El Rancho, and I've cared for ever since. They are happy and settled, and much respected.

Duranta. It's a member of the verbena family! Well, unlike the flowerbed verbena I recall, these are towering shrubs, and their flowers cascade down, almost wisteria-like.

Does anyone know its common name? It's too romantic looking to be just "Duranta."

Sweetbroom is romantic. Scientifically? Genista stenopetala, a native of the Canary Islands. I'll remember this because they are as yellow as a canary bird!

These Alstroemeria are often seen as cut flowers, in bouquets. Ours don't ever grow long, florist shop stems. That's okay.

When it comes to flowers, I cannot help being frank. Geraniums smell not good, and bird of paradise? Yawn. Is that awful? I mean look at it! It's beautiful, and unique. The colors are saturated with tropical intensity. You see, the thing is, they are everywhere, in So Cal, and they need lots of cleaning up, and snails use them like cheap motels. Having seen too, too many in rental palaces, and strip mall beds, I forget to see them, to really appreciate them.

Another Kangaroo Paw, this time in golden hues, with red stems... like the gradient colors of a sunset.

I do not plant poisonous plants, which is why I am wary of this Lantana: "The Lantana berries are edible when ripe, though like many fruit are mildly poisonous if eaten while still green." Thank you, Wikipedia! Happily, the goats do not touch it. It makes pretty flowers, needs no irrigation, and is hearty... but I wouldn't mind replacing it with something like a guacamole tree!

The chicas have always been admiring and appreciative of their garden. Such smart ladies.

This man was not just a great stop-motion pioneer. Harryhausen was an animation auteur, someone who helped to prove that special effects and animation are an art form through which the craftsman's unique vision can easily match the technical aptitude utilized therein. His fantastic and beautiful monsters could be as appropriately horrible and grotesque as a story demanded, and yet, when they are slain, they so often have the sympathy of the audience. THAT is Ray Harryhausen. He literally LOVED his creations.

It is a fact that, with all due respect to the undoubtably talented directors/writers who officially headed the films that he worked on, Harryhausen was, deservedly, the de-facto embodiment of high-adventure-fantasy cinema; "Argonauts" and "Sinbad" were and always will be Harryhausen films. And all of this gorgeous movie artistry was more or less something that he did all on his own. It would be like if the late great Stan Winston personally modeled, animated and/or physically crafted every dinosaur in Jurassic Park! Of course, he wasn't trying to prove anything. That was just the way he liked to work.

So, (I have to reiterate) when you see the giant statue of Talos clutching his throat and writhing slowly to the ground in "Argonauts", or when the vicious dragon guardian is killed by the sailors in "7th Voyage" and you actually feel sad for these monsters, you know that that is Ray Harryhausen's personal touch--his stroke of true love and sympathy for the things that he made--that is shining through. I hope, beyond words, that this person is remembered. Even if it's only by the animators, prop fabricators, and SFX artists of today who love what they do and who knowingly preserve Ray's legacy and the fantastic things that he created for us, then I know that Harryhausen will live forever.

William, on the legacy of Ray Harryhausen

Finally! For better, or mediocre, I finished one of my writing assignments, and even managed to complete some related paperwork for Maker Faire 2013! Are we going to make it!? The day is drawing nigh, and we still have so much to accomplish!

Jennifer, in Calfornia, sent me a pep-email, it was like a nice, bright beacon at the end of this tunnel! Thank you, Jennifer!

Before I jump into the next urgent item on the long list, I'll just spend a moment or two revisiting awesome Maker Faire memories, and I hope you enjoy highlights, too! Recalling the inspiration and creativity that awaits us refuels my determination to get everything moving forward!

Our Shebot gave me the impression she was going broody. I kept finding her in one nest, or another. But, no. She left the nesting business and went on to scratching, pecking, and cruising. Maybe she was trying to stake her claim, seeing that everything was getting picked up and moved around.

In anticipation of the completion of the Compound (?) Sorority Row (?) Camp Bird House (?)... the Chicken Run, I was moving everything (better name coming soon!) Anyways, I wanted to start sorting out the detritus and debris around the current coop and old bunny hutch, so the chickens were witnessing a lot of upheaval and hauling around. Can you tell I crush on galvanized steel? Oh, yes, I do.

We had the pleasure, again, of extra hands, when Paul and Janece came by. And thank goodness, because managing 85' of hardware cloth takes many hands when it comes to measuring, cutting, moving and placing. In the midst of work, we enjoyed goat antics, metal detecting, and funny weather.

About that weather... it was warm, almost hot, and what a wind we had blowing... not from the east, like the Santa Ana's hampering the California wild fires. For heaven's sake, this is an awfully early start to our most awful season... wild fire season. I doubt I will ever feel at ease during this 'season.' Apart from thoughts about our neighbors to the north, our own weather was warm, then windy and chilling... funny and mixed up, and fun.

I am saying cool, damp, prayers for our fellow Californios.

I cannot believe I am posting this graphic image. Again! But if you don't know how far we've come, you can scarcely imagine the gratitude and joy I am feeling as I see our chicken run and coop come to life.

It was three years ago when my makeshift farm was at its height of pathetic. We were new to our Bird House, unpacking, making fixes, settling in. Geoff was in crunch mode, robotics was in full swing, life! The daily stuff takes time. The big projects take time, and the big dreams? The big dreams take time, too. And sometimes dreams really do come true, but maybe it happens gradually...

My picnic table converted to a coop, and under a sun tattered shelter had to go! The wind took most of it, and about a year later we put up what we affectionately call the shark cage. Sturdy. Practical. Ugly. Sturdy, but not safe. We've had some hard hits from the wild kingdom.

Now, there are goats in the shark cage, and the chickens are living in a raised vegetable bed capped with our old picnic table-turned-chicken-coop... I tell ya, I take the prize for make-do ingenuity!

The set up we have now works. It's not ideal, because the chicas have little space, except when we let them free-range. But we lost Puff to a hawk, and thee ladies make a poop deck of our porch... so, yeah, it's not great. I'll tell you what's great... a secure enclosure, with room for goats, chickens and rabbits, with water on hand, and walk-in accessibility. An interior fence to keep goats out of chicken land... gradually, before my very eyes, my dream is coming true!

Actually, things don't seem so gradual any more. We're really picking up steam! The one inch by half inch hardware cloth is going on. Geoff + Compressor + Pneumatic Stapler = IronMan Awesome!

I white washed the inside of what will be le coop. Our cedar playhouse mania (one for chickens, one for goats, and finally, one for our children) has been like a mad Monopoly shopping spree, but trust me: economically, these are a, mild climate, farmer's blessing. They are affordable, sturdy, ample, and loaded with charm. Look again at the first photo and agree, we are long over due for something loaded with charm!

I'll be thankful for the glossy paint when it comes time to scrub and hose the chicken blogs off everything. Next come roosts, and some curtains, CAT 5 wiring, and maybe a mini-fridge? Too much?

This is where fancy photo software would come in handy... so I could write in things like "fence here," "roof here," "satellite dish there." It will be goats on the left, and chickens on the right, with a picket fence between. Chickens can pass through goat land, but goats have to show a passport at the border. The two PVC pipes in the foreground are waiting for the automatic refilling waterers. This means I get to sweat copper! Very exciting. (Does that sound facetious? I really am excited.) Geoff is buying metal so he can make custom roof ties... this guy. (Excuse me while I close my eyes and smile blissfully, in love.)

Hmmmm... this one is harder to explain. At a local nursery, I saw an awesome aviary, with this massive tree inside. The tree had died, but they secured it, and use the dried tree for the birds... it's basically just really cool, and I wanted to give our run something of that aesthetic. So. I stalked the tree trimmers, until I found a tree that was being removed, and I asked the trimmers could I please have a ginourmous limb for my goats and chickens? And I even drew a stick figure me standing with a tree limb, a chicken, and a goat. Guess what? It worked, and the next day they dropped off four hunks of a pine tree in our driveway! Now two of those "trees" are planted in concrete and giving the chicken run a little visual interest. (Not going to show you what inspired me, because the comparison might be embarrassing. Not for the nursery, for me... but hey! I like our piney forest.)

Is this post too long? I'm rambling, maybe. I might have taken two ibuprofen to ease my inexplicable pain, and it might be that it relaxes my muscles, and my brains. Hence the rambling.

This view! The dream coming true! I am very excited, and thankful, and excited. And thankful.

Soon the chicas and the goats, the bunnies, too, will be living in harmony, in safety, and out of our house. And we'll have some sweet conveniences, and peace of mind. And then... then we can get back to other serious matters, like finishing the Sugar-crab, our giant, walking, robotic crustacean!

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

:: Inspired by Soule Mama ::

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments, for all to find and see.

I looked up innocuous to be sure it means what I think it means, because I have reached a milestone in my life: Old Enough. I am old enough to do something seemingly innocuous and suddenly have my lower back seize up (mothers think: back labor). It is excruciating, and confounding.

in·noc·u·ous
/iˈnäkyo͞oəs/
Adjective
Not harmful or offensive.
Synonyms
innoxious - harmless - inoffensive - innocent

I am in the phase where I could bleat incessantly, and pitifully, like a goat, and I am indignant, because I have too-much-to-do to be sidelined by random, inexplicable pain. It radiates!

In other news, I am really happy The Fez chose Warren for the book giveaway. I was a teeny bit concerned about pulling out the name of a person less inclined to consider making a home for chickens. But Warren and Emily, and their two children, are DIY inspiration extraordinaire! Surprisingly, they don't have chickens, yet. They do keep bees, use a cider press, grow mushrooms, and are building a small cabin! Chickens would be happy living in the hills with this family! Looked up "extraordinaire," too. It's the right word.

ex·tra·or·di·naire
/ˌekstrəˌôrdnˈer/
Adjective
Outstanding or remarkable in a particular capacity: "memories of a gardener extraordinaire".

Now, I am going to shuffle around and try to make myself useful. I'll try not to do anything seemingly innocuous.

Your names went into the Fez of Random Name Selection, to decide who will receive Murray McMurray Hatchery's new book, Chickens in Five Minutes A Day! I want to thank everyone who dropped by Chickenblog and played along.

Warren! How 'bout a few fat hens running around your hills and bringing you fresh eggs to go with your honey, garden harvests, and violet blossom jelly? Warren, you and your family are the winners of Chickens in Five Minutes A Day, and honestly, in your capable hands I think this could be the start of something pretty awesome!

I cannot decide if my post title is a hearty exaltation for the month of May, or simply a public service announcement for friends in parts of the world where the snow is obscuring all hints of mid-spring.

I feel rather giddy about this new month. This is the month of Mother's Day, and Lady Betty Oprpington's fifth birthday! May is the anniversary month of Chickenblog :: Eleven years of deep thoughts and other musings! May is our Maker Month, when we prepare for and make our annual trek to the Bay Area Maker Faire! This month holds so much in store for us!

Does anyone else remember May Day Baskets? Heather Bullard's recent post, with basket ideas, brought up a fond memory. When I was in first grade, living in Ramona, our teacher had us make little May Day Baskets... probably out of paper, probably with flowers. I guess I don't have a perfect memory of the object, but the feeling of anticipation and delight for the concept remains to this day. She told us the baskets were meant to be gifts that we would leave at the door of a neighbor, a friend. And I recall depictions of dancing around May poles... the flowers, the skirts twirling, the bright ribbons. I would swoon with a wishful longing for the pastoral romance and ceremony. And for all these years, many, I have held May Day Baskets dear to my heart.

Dear to my heart... but nothing I have ever acted on. Is there a lesson here, for me? Heavens! This amounts to forty years of being heart-touched and swoony for a tradition and loveliness that I have held in high regard, and have felt inclined to honor, every year, but then have regretfully postponed every year! I will pardon this trespass, this procrastination, and honor the pleasure I have enjoyed of imagining May Day, baskets, and ribbons and gaiety. The visions have been happy companions all these years. And thank you, Heather Bullard, for refreshing my memories with your lovely post.

Maybe my stacks of happy scraps are my May Day nod to pastoral romance! I picked up two shades of jute, and some white cotton twine, so I could make some mini-bunting. The garden green jute compelled me to start with the cheery yellows and spring green scraps from my stash, and I whipped up my first Mini May Day Bunting.

I cut about a yard and a half of the jute twine... enough for a small strand and extra for tying. My scraps were already pressed, and cut, in varying sizes. Each strip was then folded in half... to give it some weight, and so it would be pretty from either side.

Then I slipped the scrap over the jute, fitting the twine snuggly in the fold, and made a tiny zig-zag stitch, tightly against the twine, to secure the fabric strip in place. In little time, my merry bunting was done and hanging in the Chicken run. And in less time... Ada Goat spied it and started nibbling at it! Goats!

Enjoy a Merry May, friends!

Not quite move-in ready, but certainly a great deal of charm and curb appeal, don't you agree?

The foundation is set, the house is constructed... do note the bay window, the flower boxes. This is Chez Chèvre, a cedar cottage for Tasha Tudor Goat and Ada Lovelace Goat. The lucky darlings will have shade, and shelter, and chicken neighbors. As for the gentle ribbing about "plumbing..." I should have elaborated. We buried some PVC, so we can have basic water hook ups. A spigot, and two water bowls that refill. No water closets, or hot water heaters, no bidet for the chicas, not even an energy efficient dishwasher! Yeah, yeah... I know, they're really roughin' it!

Just a quick update, because I need to get back to painting the chica's cottage... just a little white wash for easier maintenance. Carpeting comes later... hahahaha.

It's Monday morning. Geoff and I are sharing a little toast and jam, before he leaves for his office. In front of me is my basket of sorted, pressed, cut, folded, and stacked fabrics from my stash. I gaze at them. I drink them in like a mellowing cup of tea, and they calm me. Soothing colors, and prints, comforting little stacks of success and potential. Geoff sees my content and peaceful state, and knows I am in a happy place...

Last week I got a wild~rebellious notion to play... to skip laundry, to forgo sweeping, to swim away from the riptide of Internet surfing. I grabbed a box (just one of my scrap stashes), and pinking shears, and made my way to the barn. The chickens were about, the goats were curious, the bunnies were lounging, and I had some time all to myself to do nothing or anything... to play.

I thought about making a really simple, minimal effort rag-tie bunting. Just strips of color tied on twine to festively hang in the chicken run, or around the barn. Then I started pulling out the colors and prints that were most appealing, and when I realized that I have more, much, much more, than I will ever need, or want, I began a new sorting theme: Mine and Their's. I filled two bags with prints and scraps that I can let go of, that I would like to share. My thoughts were accompanied by the chickens making their curious clucking and cooing sounds. I imagined having a Make gathering, inviting friends to come by with their own pinking shears, and an extra sewing machine, or two, and we could plow through the colors and prints and make all sorts of little things with fabric!

So, I've been daydreaming about all the sorts of little sewing things that would be fun to share, like yo-yos, and bunting. Bunting are those festive fabric decorations, like the ones I made for Halloween or have hanging around the house. We could sew fabric trees, blocks, and scarves. I like having fabric snack bags around, and those are small and easy to make. Anyway, you know how daydreaming can go... one flitting thought leading to another. Lovely.

And while Geoff and William continued the Chicken Run work they started Saturday, Maria had an al fresco ironing lesson.

"Do you like ironing, mommy?" she asked. I remember when I loved it. When I was young, like her, and pressing little somethings. I thought it was a marvel to see the fabric relax, to be doing something grown-up. Of course it's lost some luster over the years. I do still enjoy ironing when there is no deadline, when the point is preparing for some pleasant sewing. "I like it," I replied, "when I don't have to iron, and there's no hurry." She understood.

She was excited to learn, to be big enough to manage the hot tool, the buttons, and steam. I was happy to share time this way. We talked about the colors, the long pieces and scraps, the pieces she recognized from her dresses, skirts. We marveled at the power of the iron to smooth everything out, as it let out a steamy sigh.

When we had a great number of contenders all sorted and pressed, I invited her to plow through the stash of fabric scraps and choose her own favorites. This was another hour of happy engagement. She was dividing and sorting, debating and delighting, while I began cutting the pieces I chose.

Lovely choices. Some leftover from sewing projects. Many from the big bathtub at Starry Night Hollow, where Maria had often been invited to fill a bag for herself.

Like a mellowing cup of tea.

Geoff and William added to the framing of the Chicken Run, the chicas milled around me and Maria. Alex and Bambi were enjoying their time together. Max read The Odyssey. Maria sorted and played with the scraps in the box, and I began cutting random lengths of strips, then folding them in halves.

Cutting, and folding, and arranging them by colors, and prints, and daydreaming.

I can see another long and festive length of bunting, mini-sized. Bright and cheery, like summer. Like beach days, and slow dinners on the porch... content and peaceful.

And just gazing at them brings me to a happy place.