So I was doling out the minnows about 4 per day to the chickens. The first two feedings went well. The third was OK, by the fourth day there was very little interest. We couldn’t even get our cats interested in the wiggly things. So we ended up bringing the last four back to the tank. (I promised my youngest she could keep two of the minnows.) All that activity was too much for two of the fish, and they passed on, but my youngest now has four pink minnows in a pink tank. She is thrilled!
When the temperatures drop to a balmy 85 or less, I can again have a lap chicken. The last couple of times it has been Jade jumping up to nestle into the crook of my arm. She even lets me stroke her back feathers if I don’t touch her head. Ah, lap chicken.
I was starting to think that my mealworm setup was flawed. I set it up over two months ago, had beetles over a month ago, and kept checking the egg drawers and nada, nothing. I even threw out a drawer full because I figured it was too early for the beetles to lay eggs. Oops. The hatched mealworms are just TINY. I looked again and actually saw movement! I took a picture, circled the end of a mealworm, then when I put this post together, saw several more in the picture. Tiny. Smaller than a rolled oat. That the lettuce leaf (my darkling beetles like lettuce better than carrots) I had in the drawer now has holes was a good indication too. Ha!
Goodness, the toads are big and friendly this year. Thanks to the nice contributors on the iNaturalist app, I believe these guys and those I’ve found in the chicken coop are Gulf Coast Toads. We have many, many, many tiny variants of toads and frogs around the yard, but these big guys like to hang out by our doors.
I’m half waiting for one to come in the house and ask for tea.
I made myself a new nal for nålbinding; a little longer and with two holes so I can work with longer lengths of yarn. I thought it was interesting that the previous nal darkened so much after just two projects. I made them both from cherry wood, both from scraps from the same plank.
I saw another crafter with a nal that had been hollowed out behind the eyes. I like that this helps the yarn pass through the loops better, so I used a small gouge to do that to my nals as well.
Yes. I took the pictures on my calico. She was handy.
