Silky Mothers, Geese, and the Wrecking Ball

Goose egg,  duck egg, chicken egg

Today we got our first goose egg from our Sebastapols. I was watching from the kitchen window but didn't realize she was laying an egg because she was sitting in the open in front of the chicken coup. I should have known because both ganders were guarding her from all the other birds like she was a queen. I thought it odd but didn't see the egg until I went out to put them away for the night. I hope she figures out what a nest box is for.

Two of my three Silkies started sitting on duck eggs almost two weeks ago.  About the second day I noticed Baby Mama wasn't really sitting on the eggs. She was straddling them and trying to keep them warm but not setting. She didn't look good at all and she was extremely thirsty. She would drink and drink and then the water would just run out her mouth. She had diarrhea too. It was time to do something or lose her so I took the eggs and put them under the other silkie and mixed up a teaspoon of Epsom salts with 1/2 cup water and flushed her with an eye dropper. After two days of that I switched her to Pedialyte for a day.  Guess that did the trick because she started eating. I also rigged up a light over her perch to keep her warm. She seems OK now and not interested too much in the eggs that the other is sitting on. I was afraid she had a broken, stuck egg because her eggs shells had been getting very thin even with extra calcium. Guess she just got into some nasty plant or rotting thing that was poisoning her tiny little body. The white silkie is sitting tight on her nest and maybe it is just my imagination but those duck eggs look darker :-)

In an earlier post I told you we were going to rip out that ugly bathroom. Well we started and I am so excited. The first thing we (I) did was buy a claw foot tub. I have been looking for one for months. Every time I found one it was either more than I could afford, in really bad shape or someone would beat me to it. That's one of the disadvantages of living on an island.  I found a really great one in the Fremont District of Seattle. One tiny little chip you can hardly see and no visible rust. The outside and the feet have to have the paint removed and repainted but the inside is a smooth and shiny porcelain. A tub in that condition would probably sell for 6 or 7 hundred dollars around here (sometimes more) and it was advertised for $450 but I got it for $375. Guess that got the man moving because he started ripping out walls the next day. I helped by putting the plaster board and junk into big plastic bags and hauling them out to the garage to wait for dump day.

In between doing that I started stripping the paint off of the tub feet. LOTS of paint. Layers of green, yellow, white, black, and a primer. That took about three days of soaking and scraping and soaking again but its off. Then the man took the feet out to the wire buffer in the garage and polished them up. He is going to use a Drummel to take off the crud in the knuckles of the claws. We have been tossing around what color we want to paint them and the outside of the tub. So far yellow or light blue or maybe a warm ivory.

I also started ripping out the ugly 12 x 12 ceramic tile on the floor. The previous owner had placed it right over the old linoleum (also very ugly) so that will go next. You can see in this picture the light switch hanging in mid-air and the closet which ran along the back wall and in an L shape up to the door is GONE! Thank you so much God! Have you ever had to have your clothes hanging in a damp bathroom? Yuk! I actually had to throw away my suede belt because it was growing something. Guess there are worse things though. At least I had a closet (and a bathroom).  Now the man and I are brain storming where we want to put the tub and the sinks. The shower and toilet will stay put because of the plumbing but we are going to put in a bigger shower and probably put tile in it. (An extravagance on our budget). I think I have him talked into wood floors (real tongue and groove fir stained to match the kitchen floor which is reclaimed pine). So far the only expense has been the tub. A good friend gave me an antique quarter sawn cabinet with a leaded glass door that I am very jazzed about. It even has the saw marks on the shelves.  Although I was already using it in the old bath I can't wait to see it in the new one. It's perfect for holding towels and toiletries. I think we are going to put in a pocket door so the bath looks bigger and that along with the shower will probably be the next thing to do. But that is up to the man of course.

Here is what I have been doing in my spare time. It's a very easy, very yummy light oat bread. Gotta feed that guy to get any work out of him! ;-)