Friday the 13th & Phobias On The Farm

Another Friday on the farm, this being Friday the 13th.  I don’t see any black cats and I guess I don’t walk under ladders even if it’s not the 13th.  And I don’t really suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia anyway.  How’s that for a mouthful!?  It’s a big word that means you’ve got a phobia about Friday the 13th.  (From frigga meaning “Friday” and triskaidekaphobia (or paraskevidekatriaphobia) which is derived from the combination of the Greek words Paraskeví (meaning “Friday”), and dekatreís ( meaning “thirteen”) attached to phobía ( from phóbos, meaning “fear”)).

I do not suffer from probatokaunlophobia . . .

Or a fear of llamas.  And obviously, she does not have hydrophobia (fear of water).

Nor do I have alektorophobia. . .

Nope, no chicken phobia.  I don’t even have apiphobia!

Oh, I don’t want to get caught in the middle of a swarm of bees, but that’s not apiphobia, or fear of bees, that’s just good sense!

Thankfully, I do NOT have anthrophobia either.

That would be sad to be afraid of flowers. 

Don’t really have to worry about nyctophobia or selenophobia either.

(If I did have a fear of dark or any other real phobia, I’d go on over to someplace like the Fear Of Dark and learn how to get rid of my phobia!)

I will confess, however, that there might be a smidgen of the well known arachnophobia lurking in my psyche.

But while spiders of a certain size give me the heebie-jeebies, I can live with the fear.  … mostly.

So not a lot of phobias here on the farm.  Happy Friday the 13th!

Chickens In The Bird Bath

Our birdbath seems to be the community spa.  Or perhaps it’s the equivalent of the local tavern.  At the very least, it’s the local watering hole. 

When I put it out in the yard, the idea was to give the wild birds a place to easily get a drink, especially in the winter.  And they do use it, but they sometimes have to wait their turn.  There might be a squirrel there, or the cat might be taking a sip.

Then of course, the wild birds larger and domesticated cousins frequent the bird bath too.

Sometimes it’s couples day, and other times, it’s just a hen party.

I guess I disturbed their party, because the white hen left in a huff and a hurry.

The other hen seemed unconcerned with my presence, but she didn’t want to be left alone either.

She finally decided she didn’t want to be left behind.

Maybe now the wild birds can enjoy the birdbath in peace for a little while.

A Fowl Morning. . .

I usually take my camera out when I do chores.  This morning seemed to be one for fowl creatures.  First off, the little fluffball is still running around, hooray, hoorah!

It’s like trick or treat… is it a baby chicken or a baby guinea fowl… so it’s CHICK OR KEET!

One of the roosters was up on the gate getting ready for a morning crow.

A cardinal was sitting in the tree above the rooster.  He seemed to be watching the rooster.  Maybe he thought he was a noisy show-off.

And on the fence beside the gate, hiding in the honeysuckle foliage, was little half-grown bird.

I’m not sure what sort of bird it is since it’s so newly feathered, but it looks like it might be a Tufted Titmouse with all those gray feathers.

With so many kinds of fowl, they may not be birds of a feather around here, but there sure are a lot hanging around!

Back In The HOT South. . .

Yes, we’re home again!  Back to heat in the high 90s… sigh….

Actually, we got home Tuesday night, but I’ve been trying to catch up a little on home and farm chores.  When you’ve been gone for a week, it means you’re bringing home a bunch of laundry to wash for one thing!

When I did chores yesterday morning, I noticed a few additions.  One hen has a couple of little chicks following her around now.

She was sitting on a at least a dozen eggs, but I guess as soon as a couple hatched, she was out of there!

And then I noticed this little fluff-ball. . .

At first I thought it was a little chick.  Perhaps a little long-legged, but we get a lot of white chicks.

It has some interesting dark markings on the back, however, so not totally white.

Then I saw who is mothering the little thing…

Well now, THAT’s interesting!  Our little guinea keets are usually brown and black.  So the question is, did this guinea hen hatch out a chicken egg, or is this really a keet?

At first I figured it to be a chicken, but now I’m not so sure.  We had some white guinea fowl a few years ago, when we first got guineas.  They didn’t last long, because the predators seem to find them too easily. 

But the genes are still floating around in the flock, so … maybe this is a for real keet.  Guess we’ll know in a few weeks, if it survives long enough to feather out.

I hope the adult guineas keep looking after this little baby.  It’s a cute little thing.

Chiengora Anyone?

If you want to see the precursor to chiengora, here it is…

Looks like somebody killed an animal or something!  But it’s just some of Toby’s undercoat.  Operative word there is *some* of it.  I only combed out one side, and didn’t get all the fur from there even.  He sheds an amazing amount each spring!

I think his fur would be too short to make pure chiengora though, but would have to be blended and spun with other fibers.

If you’ve never heard the term “chiengora” before there’s a good explanation over at Chiengora Fibers:

Chiengora (pronounced she-an-gora) refers to yarn spun from dog hair. Chien is the French word for dog, and gora is derived from “angora,” the soft fur of a rabbit. The spinning of dog hair is an ancient art form dating back to pre-historic Scandinavia. It was the main fiber spun on the North American continent before the Spaniards introduced sheep.Chiengora is up to 80% warmer than wool and sheds water well. Its fiber is not elastic like wool, and is characterized by its fluffiness, known as a halo effect. It has a similar appearance to angora and is luxuriously soft.

Chiengora Fibers is located in British Columbia, so I suspect the shipping would be a little high to send fiber there from the States although probably not too bad for smaller amounts.  If you live in Canada, then you’re good to go!  You can have dog fur from your pet spun and even made into something if you want.

For people in the states, there’s another place that spins dog fur into chiengora, called Custom Dog Hair Spinning . . .

You can have the brushed out hair from your pet made into beautiful, very soft, and luxurious yarn. Most dog and cat yarn has a beautiful halo similar to mohair.

Since it’s in New York, it ought to have cheaper shipping for people in the States.

Maybe I should be collecting all that dog fluff. . .