Mum, I need this!

In September I went to conference in Sydney. I took the head of the household and he holidayed while I worked and middle child, Melissa, minded house back home. On the last morning as I sitting savoring a cup of tea before the first session, I get a panicked phone call from Mel saying the gate to backyard had blown open in a storm and her hand reared extremely beloved pet chicken Pesto (+ the other chook) were missing. We discussed strategy for finding said chook and she went to work very agitated.

Later that same day whilst waiting for my flight at Sydney Airport, the head of household and I made extremely good use of free airport internet and had a long Facebook enabled conversation  with Melissa. She made her Dad tell her a nonsense story (an excruciatingly slow process when he is a two finger typist). He stirred her unmercifully about her poor chicken sitting skills and she peppered me with pictures of random knitted hats from Etsy with the plea - "Mum, I need this!" During her giant European tour earlier this year, she became a ‘hat’ person, returning with three tres chic felt numbers, a number of new knitted ones and an insatiable appetite for all things hat. When she got to this one, I immediately recognized it. I had the magazine (Knitscene Winter 2012) and it was one of the patterns that made me buy the magazine in the first place. So, I said sure. We debated colours and settled on cream with a mustard band - things I knew we’d be able to find without purchasing new yarn.

The chicken demonstrated immense homing chicken skills with Pesto back in the backyard when Mel got home from work. The other chicken (Nutty, short for Nutmeg) was never seen again.

When I arrived home, we shopped the stash and dug out this Cleckheaton Country naturals in cream and gold. I love Country Naturals - gorgeously soft to knit, it washes like a dream and has this delicious tweediness. I knitted her a hat that very weekend. We cuddled the chicken but it refused to divulge its adventures.

Pattern: Lucy by Carina Spencer from Knitscene, Winter 2012
Needles: 4mm (Those antique jumper length Aeros that I love so much again).
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country naturals 8ply in cream and gold.

Postscript: Unfortunately in mid November, Pesto had her last adventure. Something feral that really wanted a chicken dinner dug a hole under our fence and we awoke to a yard full of feathers and no chicken. We miss Pesto, the chook who loved a selfie, ate chips and bacon rind from your hand, helped me hang the washing by stealing clothes and pegs and occasionally flew onto the washing line but required help to get down and lived to terrorise the cat. You were the best pet chicken a family could have.

An appropriate last picture to be taken of Pesto... She did love selfies. Rest in peace chicken puppy.

E is for Eggs (and the egg laying machines)

E is for eggs

This was my breakfast yesterday morning. Free range egg, bacon, tomato on rye toast. Look at how yellow the yolk is.

 And here's the raw material, today's eggs and the carton out of the fridge.

Notice the birthday egg. We date the eggs when we collect then and it was the boy's 18th birthday this week. It says Happy Birthday from the Chickens

We are the proud owner of two backyard chooks (that's Aussie slang for Chickens). Mel, the middle daughter hand raised our black chicken, Pesto, from practically an egg as part of her first year University Biology studies and I'm sure it thinks it is a puppy. At the very least it is imprinted on humans. You open the gate to go into the backyard and they coming running for a pat, affection and food. Pesto pinches the washing out of the washing basket as you are hanging it up but I think it thinks it is actually helping. It's no wonder, her nickname is Pest.

This is Pesto when she first came home. As you can see she is incredibly inquisitive. "What's that? A camera! Are you taking my photo? Can I eat it?"

We started with two Biology Chooks. The other one is called Slayer. (Yes, a boy named that one!). Slayer was always a follower chook. The temperament never did match the name. When we got her, she was very stressed and required hand feeding and cuddling for the first few days. Unfortunately one evening Slayer disappeared. All we found were some feathers. We suspect a fox. Here they are perched next to the back door trying to guilt people into letting them in the house and occasionally pretending they hate each other.

 

So then we got Pappy at the Sunday market. Pappy is short for Paprika. Can you sense a chook naming theme going on here?

Hiding in the flower garden

Mel hand feeding bread to the chickens

Pappy got sick, wouldn't eat and slowly faded away. Is it possible for a Chicken to get an eating disorder? We miss Pappy. She was always up for a cuddle or a photo opportunity.

So we were back to the Sunday market for a new friend chook for Pesto. Home came Nutmeg, quickly renamed Nutty. Nutty is a Welsummer and they lay the most beautiful brown speckled eggs. She's still a little stand offish.

This was taken on the boy's new birthday phone

Pesto is also the current star of the Marketing Campaign for Science at our Campus of the University. Here's Pesto and Mel on the poster in the corridor at work which I walk past every day. Have you ever tried taking a chicken on a photo shoot? It had a ball and was surprisingly better behaved than the dog which was also having its photo taken.

Chooks should be part of the family.

Chook whisperers