Hello again! I hope you had a lovely Easter. Over our two week school break we kept busy with wood walks and lots of garden days, especially in the middle of last week when we had a few days of distinctly summery weather – hopefully there will be a lot more of that to come!
The Easter egg that I was most eagerly anticipating did not arrive for Easter but appeared a week and a half later on April 15th…
That was when the first chicken egg was laid, with the second two eggs following the next day. The first two eggs are tiny and I'm not sure which of our girls to congratulate and give extra treats to as both eggs were laid in the early morning. The third egg was larger (though still on the small side compared to a shop bought egg) and was definitely laid by Hattie, as she went into the nest box during the day and after she came out there was a lovely warm speckled egg sat in the straw.
So our girls are ladies now :) They have learnt to scratch in the dirt, to come when I rattle the little jar of corn they get each afternoon, to let me pick them up for inspection and a quick cuddle and they are old hands wings now at bed-time ladder climbing. They do make me smile and I've really been enjoying their antics…
The first egg may not have arrived in time for Easter day but I did get a lovely Easter present, The New Kitchen Garden by Mark Diacono. The fact that I bought it for myself (because around here it's only the children who get visited by the Easter bunny) doesn't diminish my enjoyment of it – it's a great book, beautifully laid out and it has all the information I need to make the most of our little veg patch.
I've already made a start with nasturtiums, courgette seedlings (which are desperate for bigger pots) and my kuri squash seeds are just about breaking through the surface of their compost. In the garden I've planted out kale, broccoli, cabbage and some lettuces too and I've direct sown spring onions, beetroot, mangetout peas and dwarf french beans. Fingers crossed we've got no more frosts to come.
Around the rest of the garden everything is sprouting and it seems that overnight the plum tree has gone from frothy white with blossom to bright spring green as the first leaves open out.
I love this tiny shoot coming directly out of the gnarly bark – it perfectly illustrates the magic that is all around at Spring-time
as do these small shoots of sweet woodruff growing out of the wall.
Well, I'm off to relish my monday-me-time. Having Toby at home for the last 2 weeks has been quite tiring, so it's very nice to have a bit of time to myself again with the children going back to school today. I'll be playing around with the blanket that I started over the Easter break.
Originally I had planned using Solveigs lovely 'flowers in the snow' pattern exactly as written but when I started joining the squares I felt the need for a bit more space between the coloured circles.
So I'm adding a round in grey before starting the squaring-off round.
I'm using mostly Rooster Almerino yarn which is beautifully soft. All notes and yarn used etc. over on my ravelry project page if you want more details.
Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back soon, hopefully with some knitting news of a new pattern 🙂
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PS: This is not a sponsored post – I don't do those. I only write about things that I like and I buy with my own money.
little cotton rabbits 
Awe well done to your girls/ladies! I vividly remember as a child when visiting my aunt the excitement of finding an egg in the nesting box.
Your book looks lovely and you have been busy in the garden, courgettes are brilliant aren’t they, you can almost watch them grow!
Gorgeous crochet too, such pretty colours.
Enjoy your week Julie,
V x
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Your kitchen garden looks amazing – and beautiful
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I’m envying you your lovely fresh hens eggs. I’d like chickens one day, it must be such a treat to find an egg. Lovely kitchen garden book, I shall look forward to hearing how all your vegetable growing goes. Wishing you a good week. CJ xx
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How fab to get fresh eggs. I’m not surprised your girls make you smile, they’re lovely. 🙂 x
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Oh Julie – your blanket is BEAUTIFUL !
Have a good quiet week, Kate xx
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Lovely as always Sweet Julie! Fun to see your girls are now Ladies and such beautiful wonderful eggs! i would love to eat a fresh egg, have only ever eaten a store bought. That book looks interesting and fun, I’m happy you got it for yourself! Gorgeous blanket and the colors are so soft and soothing and rich! Have a great Monday, xoRobin
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That’s quite a beautiful lush little garden. 🙂 I can’t wait until our little house pots can go outside without the squirrels digging for unsprouted seeds— rather rude. Congratulations to your feathered ladies, too. The more I see bloggers with chickens the more I am desperate to have some of my own. 🙂 They look so lovely.
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I love having chickens and knowing who laid my egg…makes me more grateful and the eggs are a work of art inside & outside. The yolks seem to stand at attention in their bold yellow glory! Glad to hear your school break went well. We don’t have that break here but I woke up to find our high school teachers are on strike…much to Jack’s pleasure. Take care. Anticipating the pattern news!
As always, Lori from Port Perry 🙂
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Oh Julie, those colors in your new project are just beautiful. Soooo, soooo pretty! And your pictures are beautiful as well. It looks like you’ll have a wonderful garden this year — don’t you love spring and the promise of a new garden?
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Love those hens! And love Rooster yarn. I bought a batch (clutch?) about 2 years ago because you recommended it for your LCR.
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I’m clinging on till Wednesday when I get my solitude back. Though to be fair, now the boys are older, there is less of a divide between term time and holidays as they can be left at home while I go to the supermarket… AGAIN…. which is the inevitable consequence of them being around for 3 meals a day plus snacks and additional friends!
Your garden is looking lovely Julie – mine’s horrific.
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It’s so exciting when the hens lay their first eggs! I’m really happy for you. Your hens are pretty and they look so inquisitive. I love the look of your veggie and herb patch, it’s so neat and the sprouting plants look very healthy and green. I look forward to seeing your blanket. I made a flowers in the snow blanket for my daughter last year and almost did the same as you, with the extra round before squaring them off. Sometimes I look at it and wish I’d done it. I’m sure your blanket will be beautiful. I really love the colors you’re using. I hope you had a very enjoyable Monday. 🙂
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I keep trying to figure out a way to have chickens. Your three are beauties! The new blanket is gorgeous as well. Your garden reminds me, I need to go plant the next sowing of lettuces. Enjoy your week!
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Oh the ladies are lovely, that last picture of that inquiring expression is terrific ! Yes, you want something? We are just getting going with seeds over here, the trees are showing lovely green and the magnolias are in full gorgeousness.
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I LOVE your new afghan! Beautiful colors! I’m sure I could crochet if I tried….I knit and have so many projects going I don’t really need to learn to crochet!! Also LOVE the chickens!!
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I love the colours in your blanket, so soft and pretty. How exciting to have your first eggs. We really miss keeping hens but we are not allowed them where we live now. 😦 Take care. Sharon x
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Our girls have been laying for a little while but I STILL get excited when after winter they start laying again 🙂 Your vegetable garden looks quite promising 🙂 our garden is a little behind but there are lots of shoots beginning to show x
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My ladies are gone. We need to remedy that but need to build another coop first. My gypsy wagon hen house ended up rotting at the base. So sad. Levi is adamant that we get some more baby chickens! First things first Levi. Need to build a coop first unlike last time when I bought the chickens before the coop and sent Brian scrambling to build the gypsy wagon. I got the biggest kick out of my ladies so I agree with Levi. Time to get a hurry on this project!
Your yarn is lovely as are your photos. I like the added grey.
Time to get my veggie patch up and going again. The peas are planted but that is about it. This weekend I hope to start adding more.
XXXXXX
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Yay to eggs and your girls are fine looking chooks ☺ Vegie gardens too are wonderful and feel real good when you eat straight from your yard ☺
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What a difference in egg size! It’s great that you’re getting your eggs fresh and organically 🙂
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Oh so beautiful Julie. But no hint for the new pattern. It’s what I live for.
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Hope the frost this morning hasn’t hurt your tender plants. Love the colours in your new blanket Julie. Seeing your hens has made me determined we should get some more.
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Beautiful garden. I used to love feeding our chooks when we had them and we could always tell the white chooks eggs because they had the white shells and the colored chooks had the brown shells which I loved more. Your chooks look lovely. Your crochet blanket looks wonderful with so many beautiful colors in it. Enjoy your day!
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Hi Julie,
Your chickens are gorgeous – enjoy the eggs. I’m jealous – we are going into winter here and its been so cold.
Looking forward to seeing your new blanket progress over the next few months.
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Home grown eggs are the very best! I miss having chickens, and so very jealous of you. Thanks for sharing such beautiful photographs! The crochet project is also gorgeous, such inspired colour choices.
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It’s always lovely to catch up on your news Julie, and once again you have started a crochet blanket that I covet!!! I started a new one this holiday but really don’t like it at all which is frustrating 😦
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There’s nothing more satisfying than the very first egg. My chickens are getting on these days, and we have eggs less often, but every one is a gift!
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Your chicks are so cute and glad to see they’re finally doing their jobs!!! My son has 6 new chicks and 3 hens and the hens walk around with the chicks on their tails–it’s so cute. I simply love your new blanket and so much so that I have ordered all the colors too and can’t wait for their arrival…gives my hands a bit of a rest form knitting!! xo
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ah those first little eggs are so sweet! and your garden and your blanket are looking gorgeous x
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You are so right about the extra round on the blanket squares. I get such a sense of peace when I visit your blog, although I know that your daily life is not always so. The visual beauty of the pictures and your writing is wonderful. I too get a great release from the daily stresses from crochet and knitting. You truly have a special skill in transmitting that over the internet. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.
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I’m glad that you’ve found some quiet time to be creative. Your blanket squares are gorgeous, the colours as ever soft and gentle. Well done to your girls with their egg production – may you have many more!
Cathy x
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What a beautiful pattern Julie and as usual, your colors are so calming. I anxiously await the next pattern. I’m on pins and needles with excitement. I stopped counting the animals I have made with your patterns at number 33.
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Beautiful blanket! I love circles in shapes – I’m currently doing circles in hexagons, and so enjoying just crocheting up all the circles to be joined together later!
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I so love the colours that you use, very restful. I love your chickens, so good to hve fresh eggs, and, I so admire all you do in your life.
Thank you for blogging!
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Oh how I wish we could keep hens, but they are totally incompatible with whippets. I shall have to live vicariously through your lovely hen photos instead.
That blanket is going to be lovely. And I agree, the best recommendations are not the sponsored ones, I won’t do those either.
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