Wednesday, May 14, 2008

What's blooming...




Our yard has rarely looked more beautiful. We have several flowers in full spring bloom. The clementis near the garden is full of buds and has just started to bloom. The old-fashiond lilac is lovely and the Korean lilacs are just a little behind. Our bleeding hearts made it through some cold early spring mornings and we feel fortunate to not have them reduced to piles of wilted greens. It is a beautiful spring!

Mystery solved - we think!


Our starter chickens were sort of a mystery to us. We purchased them at the Tractor Supply Company and knew we likely had three Rhode Island Reds and three bantams of an unknown breed. Last weekend, we found a picture that helped us identify the breed. We are reasonably confident that we have Barred Rock bantams - three of them. Our next mystery is learning if we have hens or roosters!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Chickens graduate to the pen


We finally finished the

chicken coop and got the chickens outside. They have almost all their feathers, so it might be safe to say that our starter chickens are doing well. The big shipment arrives on May 19th!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

I Heart Lucas (Kansas)


This weekend I had the chance to visit Lucas, Kansas to see one of my favorite artists and the Kansas Grassroots Arts Center. Eric Abraham does some amazing ceramic work and his use of the flying pig makes his work extra attractive to me.




Our weekend actually began by staying at the Victorian Inn at Abilene (http://www.abilenesvictorianinn.com/). We had a gift certificate from some of my students and it worked perfect to stay and then proceed on to Minneapolis for Jer's track meet. The house had a lot of character and the breakfast was really amazing - homemade granola in a parfait to begin, a fritata and lots of other good food!




After Jer got started at the track, I went to Rock City outside Minneapolis. It was cold, but still fun to see this amazing natural phenomenon. After I said good bye to the two great volunteers at Rock City, I made my way to Lucas.


Lucas was amazing! Eric was very gracious and welcoming. He showed me around his studio, which doubles as his house. He has fabulous vintage appliances in his kitchen - the stove and fridge were super cool vintage. My purchase was a small pig with wings and I am saving for a larger piece of art from Eric's work.
He encouraged me to go to the Grassroots Arts Center and I had a very thorough tour. My favorite part was the courtyard area where they have been preserving the art incorporated in limestone houses and buildings in our state. As a resident of a limestone school house, I am a huge fan of this type of preservation.

On my next trip, I want to try out the antique store and the old-fashioned meat market. If you want a great day, go to Lucas!