January 28, 2021
Hello dear friends,
It has been far too long since I last wrote you. I send my sincerest apologies for this. 2020 seemed to take the wind out of my creative sails and found me spending an inordinate amount of time just scrolling through Instagram and Facebook- paying heed to the noise of the world more than I ought to have. I made the decision to take a hiatus from excess social media platforms to focus more time and energy to this blog and my channel over on YouTube. I do hope you will join me.
Seeing as it has been a while, I will update you a bit on the main events of 2020. I will not mention beyond this point the Covid-19 Pandemic or the lockdowns, as we have all been affected by it. My Gran and I have stayed home as we need, seldom venturing out unless necessary. Much of what I will report is due to staying home and the many cancellations that have occurred this past year.
Gran purchased a small chicken coop for the geriatric birds in my flock around the end of the summer. Finding this proved to be a challenge since it seemed that sourdough bread and raising backyard chickens suddenly became everyone’s past time. We managed to find the last our local store had in stock. It was quite a bit of fun to build and allowed us to spend some good quality time in each other’s company. The only glitch we found was what to call it. We have always referred to the existing structure as “the coop.” After some time had passed, we were re-watching a favourite film of ours, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” which is about a home for the elderly in India. That was it! The smaller coop has thus been dubbed “The Marigold” and is now a home for aged birds. I plan to find some stencils this Spring/Summer that will lend an Indian flare to the rather drab exterior.
The Marigold came into existence due to a need for more space for my other flock. They had previously been residing in the greenhouse. When Snugs- aka Maxene- went broody and became determined to set a clutch of eggs, it was decided that they needed more room as they were about to get a few new members. They would move to the existing coop and we would build the smaller coop for the older girls and Bertram, who had been previously residing in the main coop. In the early part of July, Snugs hatched 9 chicks, one of which did not survive. I purchased an additional 6 chicks from our feed and tack store. The Coop now has a fine family of 21 living within its walls. They have remained snug through the winter months. Now that the days are beginning to lengthen. They have begun laying and provide a rainbow of eggs each day.
With new housing for the birds, the greenhouse was now unoccupied which meant we could clean it out and use it to house our plants over the winter months along with one little bird who needed a little R&R before meeting her new family. I have enjoyed going out every morning to water the plants and harvest what is still going. I have begun formulating my plans to have a proper garden this year and will be starting seeds in the greenhouse here shortly. More on that to come.
The sewing room has been a mess due to the lack of use. I am currently working to remedy that situation. I did add a new friend0 her name is Florence. She is a hand crank sewing machine that I purchased from a friend of mine. She in need of some repair and I am in the hope that she can be used. I will be doing a more in-depth introduction of her at some point in the future.
As I said at the beginning, this year was not at all creative in the way I had hoped that it would be. I am looking forward to 2021, as I feel the creativity has returned and the wind will once again begin to fill my sails. I have some sewing projects in the works, as well as gardening, cooking, etc. I hope to be more engaged with you all here as well as on my channel.
Yours Truly,
Ms. Rebecca
