Feathers Falling Autumn Calling

It's the time of year when the weather turns windy, cold and rainy sending all of our leaves and pine needles falling to the ground and (much to Paul's dismay) into our gutters. Curiously, our hens (a.k.a. - the girls) also choose this inclement time to molt. It's autumn, and the floor of the hen house and yard looks as if a pillow fight broke our overnight. Molting is the shedding of old feathers and growth of new ones. Chickens typically stop laying at this time and build up their nutrient reserves. We like to think they are changing out their wardrobe before taking a well earned vacation.

"Miss Red" in the midst of molting.

"Blondie" all dressed and ready to go.

But wait, you say, there are eggs in the stores year round. How can this be with all of those chickens purging their feathers and then heading out on Caribbean cruises? Well, the truth is, most chickens work year round like the rest of us. There is a little cheat that makes this possible. Darkness is the main reason egg production slows in the late fall. It is those shorter days that are the culprits. Chickens lay best when they receive 15 hours of daylight. Simply hang a nine-watt compact fluorescent bulb at the top of your coop to spread the light. Plug the light into a timer and have it come on early enough in the morning to give the girls 15 hours of daylight, and egg production will continue through the shorter days of winter.

But in our little corner of the world, we like to give the girls a break. Paul and I (mostly Paul) eat eggs like crazy the rest of the year. Its a challenge to keep up with the girls when they really get rolling with their egg production. So I guess the break is nice for all of us. Plus, I like to think of the girls sitting out in their warm little coop, possibly knitting or playing Bunko enjoying a cup of Darjeeling tea awaiting the warmer days of Spring. Egg laying time will come soon enough and when it does our girls will be dressed and ready.

LEE FARM BARN

7x5 inches, oil on linen canvas, 2015

THIS PAINTING IS CURRENTLY AT AUCTION

Lee Farm Barn - auction ends on Sunday, November 1st at 9:00am PST. Click on this link to bid: http://ebay.to/1GkcXfG

My husband Paul and I were enjoying a Sunday drive a while back when we came across a farmstead located north of Oak Harbor on Whidbey island. We drove up the driveway and knocked on the door of a small house. The owner, a very gracious woman, opened the door and consented to our request to walk around her property so I could take reference images of her barn. While, I was photographing, an extremely elderly, grey horse followed me around occasionally obscuring the image through my view finder with it’s nose. When I returned, Paul had learned that we were on the Lee Farm which had been in this location and in the same family for over 100 years. And the barn was beautiful! 

Scarecrow Diaries

This past Saturday, Paul and I ventured into our hometown of Coupeville to visit the last Farmer's Market of the season. It had been raining pretty hard all morning and we waited until the clouds took a break before heading out. The Farmer's Market ended at 2pm and we left the house at 1pm figuring we'd have plenty of time to take in all of the festivities after all we only lived 5 minutes away. But by the time we arrived all of the vendors were packing up. They had had enough of the rain and were soggy and cold to boot. We didn't blame them. We did get to see the winning entry in the giant pumpkin contest, which weighed in at 978 pounds. Now that's a big pumpkin! But truth be told, it really resembled a giant deflated basketball. Still, I really admire anyone who can grow a vegetable that big.

Since our day's entertainment had been cut short, we decided to check out the entries in the scarecrow contest that lined Main and Front Streets. This years's contest must have had a musical theme because we spotted Elvis and Elton John scarecrows as well as a few others clutching guitars. It's a tough competition because the scarecrows have to be up for the month of October. They need to survive our harsh northwest weather and if damaged they need to be repaired to keep them looking presentable.

I know all of this because we once participated in the contest. I thought it would be a fun-filled family event. The boys, who were in grade school at the time, were enthusiastic. Paul was more skeptical. We were busy with soccer, school projects, cub scouts and all manner of things in which young families are involved. Never the less, I obtained an entry form and we charged ahead with the project. At that time, there was no theme for the entries. You just had to build a sturdy scarecrow and keep it looking nice for the month of the competition. I really wanted our scarecrow to be different, to stand out among the other scarecrow entries and I racked my brain for an idea. The boys were really into superheros, so I thought "Why not make a superhero scarecrow?" and "Crowman" was born. He was kind of a cheesy interpretation of Superman. Fortunately, I love cheesy interpretations of anything, just ask Paul.

All entries to the scarecrow contest were assigned a location on either Main Street or Front Street. Our spot was on the corner of Main Street and State Route 20. It was a prime spot, situated at the principle entrance to the town. There was even a stop light so people would have to pause when admiring our entry. But the best attribute of our spot was that it was located right next to a sturdy 6 foot chain link fence and there was nothing in the rule book that said we couldn't use the fence to help anchor our scarecrow. As soon as I saw that spot, I knew how we would display Crowman. We would make him fly!

With our plan in place, we commenced with construction. Crowman would fly with arms stretched overhead "Superman-style." To achieve this illusion we would need a rigid, wood armature. Paul and the boys started on the framework while I went to the thrift store to purchase scarecrow, superhero clothes (overalls and a flannel shirt) and a bale of straw for stuffing (never mind that we only used about 1/10th of the bale and we were cleaning up straw for weeks afterwards out of the garage). An old piece of burlap was sewn into the shape of a head and stuffed with straw. We attached this to the "head" area of the armature and then finished dressing and stuffing Crowman in the thrift store clothes. A pair of work gloves and rubber boots served as hands and feet. Yarn became hair and wool felt became eyes, nose and a mouth. I cut out a giant, yellow felt "C" and sewed it onto the bib overalls and finally I fashioned a cape out of an old sheet that I had dyed blue. We carried our straw-filled, caped crusader to our assigned spot and wired him to the fence with his cape spread out behind. As a finishing touch, I made a sign which read, "Look, out in the field, it's a cornstalk, it's a crow, no it's Crowman!" I thought it was incredibly clever. Surely, we would win one of the prizes.

We kept a close eye on Crowman and inspected him carefully everytime we were in town. He had to remain presentable the whole month if we were to have a chance at the prizes. I must admit, I felt a bit smug when I saw our scarecrow strapped tightly to the fence, he seemed indestructible. What I hadn't counted on was the annual Homecoming parade. It was an unusually warm night for the Coupeville High School Homecoming parade and game. There were lots of folks, young and old, out and about enjoying the festivities. Many people walked by Crowman that night and sometime during the evening someone tried to remove his face.

We discovered the vandalism the next day. To say we were dismayed would be an understatement. How could anyone harm a defenseless scarecrow? Fortunately he could be repaired. We drove home and retrieved the sewing kit and then returned to the scene of the crime. Paul and the boys waited in the car nearby while I stitched up Crowman's features. Cars were coming and going as I worked away and at one point mid-stitch, I heard a young, rather angry voice cry out to me. "Leave Crowman alone!" I turned around just as the light changed to see a young boy glaring at me from the window of a retreating minivan. I was stunned. I didn't even have time to protest my innocence, much less let anyone know this was, in fact, our scarecrow.

I finished my repair job and Crowman never sustained another injury. He held up great for the rest of the month. We ended up winning third prize, a free pizza from the local pizzeria. Not too shabby! But Crowman was the real winner. We may have gained a pizza but somewhere out there he gained a friend.

Across from the Drive-in

7" x 5", oil on linen canvas, 2015

The painting below is currently for sale at auction. 

Click to view Auction  (auction includes detail and framed views)

 This barn is located just as the title says “across from the drive-in”. We are fortunate to have a teriffic drive-in theater here on Whidbey island, the Blue Fox Drive-in. It is 2 miles south of the city of Oak Harbor off of Monroe Landing Road. For a price quite a bit cheaper than a regular movie theater, you can see a double feature of currently running movies. Plus there are great go-carts and an arcade. Their food is pretty tasty too. I love their Philly Cheesesteaks. You can check them out at http://www.bluefoxdrivein.com/index.php/en/