Eggs, one-half doz.

1/2 dozen homegrown eggs vs. store-bought "large" whites

Once they got rolling, our chickens have laid at least one egg per day among the four of them. Today's running total is seven brown (two broke) and three blue. The brown shells come in a pleasant creamy tone, sometimes lightly speckled. The others are some kind of amazing blue-green Martha Stewart Living color.

After a few days they even learned to use the nesting box, just like the book said they would. In fact I've had a textbook flock so far. I should not be surprised but it is still delightful to follow instructions and see everything come out the way it was promised. This has not been my experience with for example, parenting books, by way of contrast.

I sort of don't want to eat the eggs. The first one tasted great, so I have no reason to hesitate on that front. It's just that they look so beautiful. Maybe I'll do them up all hard-boiled, and admire the shells for just a little bit longer.

Wildlife report

Our French doors have given us a whole new perspective on insect viewing. They seem to be a magnet for bugs. A giant grasshopper hung out there for a long time and I watched its spiracle muscles flexing for respiration. So cool!

Then there's the big fellow above. Jenna found this unicorn-horned caterpillar in the yard on August 15. It was about as long as her index finger, and so colorful. I'm convinced it's a Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth, based on the photos on that page. Any amateur lepidopterists out there can feel free to set me straight.

Moving from insects to larger things, I was driving through a marsh near our house in the early evening, and saw that it was full of egrets! They were everywhere! I have never seen so many together in one place. I guess they were all nesting down for the night. Super cool.

My Pet Chickens

Starbuck

This chicken is the first one I named because she was the most curious. A few days after they arrived, while the others were hiding under the coop, Starbuck was peeking around corners to see what I was up to. I would glance up and there she was, staring right back at me! I love her coloring. It's hard to make out from the photo, but the dark spots on her feathers are actually tinted brown. And the grey legs... so cool! She's like a robot hen.

Lacey

I don't know which bird is at the top of the pecking order, but Lacey is definitely at the bottom. She's the most shy and the other birds will put her in her place. Many nights when I go outside to tuck them in and all the other birds are lined up on the perch inside, Lacey is nesting on top of the roof like an outcast. I'm reasonably certain that she is a Silver Laced Wyandotte (thus the name).

Prinny

Prinny is a Barred Plymouth Rock hen. Before these chickens came up free on Craigslist, I had planned to use this breed for my entire flock. I ended up with a much more interesting assortment but these are still beautiful birds! Rocks are supposedly docile, cold-hardy, dependable layers. I wonder if my first egg came from her?

Cadbury

This lovely brown bird is either a true Araucana/Ameraucana or (more likely) a mixed breed known as "Easter Eggers." That's what I think Starbuck is, too. In any case, they should both lay blue-shelled eggs. Cadbury is my prettiest chicken. Look at that tail! And that neck tuft! I love the color variation on her feathers too. Anyway, that's my whole flock.

"But Andy," I hear you asking, "didn't you say you got SIX chickens? What happened to the other two?"

Well I have good news for you, animal lovers, I didn't turn them into chicken soup. I originally designed the coop for 3-4 hens and there simply wasn't enough room for six to fit comfortably. So I drove them over to my coworker Greg's house where they joined his bigger flock of free-range chickens. They now share a spacious coop building with other happy hens. Here they are on the way to their new home:

Bye bye, birdies.

I got it egg time

Chickens laid my first homegrown egg today! I made it into three tiny crepes. It was delicious.

Anniversary 2010

In between days of MIX events, I took time away from that madhouse and from work to spend time with my lovely wife, for our sixth anniversary. We had a lovely time together. Natalie stayed home with her grandma while we went thrifting and visited Minneapolis. The shopping was fun without a toddler to constantly entertain. I forgot how enjoyable it can be to quietly browse and take my time at something. Jenna scored a sweet wooden play oven for only $6.

We had a late brunch at French Meadow, one half of an omelette each. The weather was perfect for sitting outside and watching the Uptown traffic go by. The less said about our lunch at Melting Pot, the better. Food was okay, service sucked. After dinking around on Nicollet for a while it was time to head back home and relieve our babysitter.

I learned "iron" is the traditional gift for the sixth anniversary, so I started shopping on Etsy a few months ago and found this awesome necklace (as you can see above!). It's a faceted piece of jasper-streaked iron pyrite, surrounded by a hammered sterling silver ring that was patinaed dark and hand polished to resemble the color of the iron in the stone. Very unique, interesting, and beautiful... just like my bride!

MIX 2010

The Minneapolis Indie Xpo was incredible. We got fantastic press coverage for a first year event. Four spots on Fox 9, interviews with me in Vita.mn and the Star Tribune, the Onion A.V. Club, and this great article in the Minneapolis Downtown Journal. Sarah was interviewed on Radio K's Culture Queue. The City Pages promoted us in their annual comics issue (which we helped organize) and put us on their weekly A-List. Most exciting for me, we got Boinged!


The Precious Little Film Fest was a success. A good crowd came out and filled the theatre about halfway. I delivered a welcome speech along with my fellow MC Danno Klonowski, then we sat down and got out of the way. It was fun to see the animations on a big screen and this was the perfect audience for watching Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.


I was the first to arrive at The Soap Factory on Saturday morning, which is just the way I like it. Sarah arrived soon afterward with Brian Heater of the Daily Cross Hatch, who manned the front table as a volunteer. Kevin and my dad helped for most of the day too.

One of the Soap Factory's front desk volunteers was my old pal Cali, who I used to work with when I served on the board of the Sibley Bike Depot. Former board member John showed up too. But the biggest blast from my past was college buddy Becky, who just happened to be visiting Minneapolis with her new husband!


After a mad rush getting everyone set up and settled in I spent most of the day reading awesome comics and making new friends. I met far too many amazing and friendly folks to mention here, but I want to give a special secret shout-out to all the artists who gave me free books! You are the awesomest. Just as the day was starting to drag and the heat of the building was gnawing at me, the show was suddenly over. The artists packed up and I spent an hour stacking tables and chairs until the building was cleaned out.


I joined Sarah, Brian, Will Dinski and Top Shelf's Brett Warnock for a celebratory dinner and two pitchers of Surly Furious. Then we all headed up to Altered Esthetics (after I accidentally took Brian on a brief scenic detour towards St. Paul) for the official after-party. I hung out for a while with some deeply appreciative cartoonists but all too soon it was time to head home.


Time to start planning the Craftstravaganza!!!

THE END?

I got chickens!

I started building a little coop basically the first time I had a free minute at the new house, and I've been working on it scattershot ever since. This Sunday by some miracle I was at home all day long, and I poured all my energy into completing the project. I got really close. On Monday morning the Craigslist post appeared: free, six laying hens. It was a sign!

I took the wire dog kennel from our office warehouse, crammed it into the back seat of the Saturn, and drove down to Cannon Falls to pick them up. Within a minute of arrival, their previous owner was stepping out of his shack with three pairs of chicken legs clutched in each fist and the dazed birds dangling below. Then I was on my way to the farm supply store with a car full of cluckers scattering feathers everywhere and relieving themselves on what I suddenly realized was a small rug and not a solid cage floor.

Natalie was thrilled when I got home and squatted down in front of the kennel to talk at the birds. Lola didn't know what to make of them and started barking and running around so we put her inside where she howled her displeasure. I was outside until 9:00 to put the finishing touches on the coop and Jenna helped me mind the door while I moved my chickens into their new home. Photos and more chicken stories to come!