Nothing like a cold to ruin a day...

I knew that I would eventually come down with a cold. The kids have been bringing home all sorts of fun little colds to share amongst themselves. I really want to go outside and enjoy the warm weather we are having but I feel pretty miserable.

We have two new additions to our crowded house -- a pair of zebra finches. They and five other birds were abandoned at the local hardware store. I suppose that the owner planned on trying to give them to the nearby pet store but they could not take them due to quarantine issues. He asked an employee at the hardware store for some water for them and while that employee was getting the water he took off leaving the birds behind. My friend happened to stop in the store for paint and agreed to take them home. Before we were married and later before we had kids we had quite a few little birds like this so it wasn't difficult to convince me to bring a few home. They are noisy little ones though!

This is what I have been working on this morning. Another pair of wedding birds


and this colorful rooster.

Ice from the sky

We had a surprise hail storm yesterday afternoon. It was so noisy outside and in the house my youngest was terrified and I was a bit surprised too. I just looked out the window at the plants getting pummelled by the 1/2 inch balls of ice. There wasn't much I could do to save them because the lightening was very close. Thunderstorms kept rolling through all afternoon so I opened up the sewing machine and started a few sewing projects. I am working on some stuffed fabric hens and chicks. I have sold the hens locally in a few shops and at fairs. I have a basket of them in my living room that makes me smile too. I made up the pattern myself but I am having a little trouble getting the little chicks to look cute enough. I want their heads to be larger and round but they aren't quite coming out like I am imagining them. I guess a few trials will be in order.

I finally finished painting the wooden base for this handsome rooster so he could be ready for the shop. I love the black and white coloring on him. Mounting him to the base was a bit of a trick but I have a tiny drill that worked out fine with a little patience. I loosely modeled him after a photo of a Fresian rooster that I saw on Flickr and loved. I am thoroughly enjoying all the beautiful pictures shared on Flickr.

Ahhhh! The sun.

I am enjoying the sun shining through the windows cheering me up. After a few morning chores I will make my way out to get my hands dirty a bit in the garden. I finished photos of this needle felted rooster and bee this morning and listed them in my Etsy store.



This little bee looks more like a bumble bee than our dear honey bees. Our honey bees were out this morning enjoying the sun and flowers. While waiting for the school bus we watched them gathering nectar and collecting pollen on their legs. They seemed to be humming happily.

We haven't heard any word from the sheep shearer that didn't show up so maybe today will be the today. He never did show up on Friday or over the weekend. I am looking forward to seeing the silly faces on those adorable sheep. Maybe someday we can get two to keep out in the field. We only have a single acre so I'm not sure if that is enough space for them.

One of my little birds was included in another Etsy treasury today. This treasury is called So Precious by cynmb.

The rooster crows

I worked on a smaller needle felted rooster last night. I have a little wooden base for him that I want to paint with the sounds of a rooster crowing as they are known from around the world. Here is what I found in my search on chicken sounds. Hen and Rooster animal sounds in several different languages from Sounds of the worlds animals from Georgetown University.

Chicken (hen) clucking
Afrikaans: kloek-kloek
Albanian: ka ko ko ko
Arabic (Algeria): cout cout cout
Bengali: cokor-cok
Catalan: cococ
Croatian: ko-ko-da
Danish: gok-gok
Dutch: tok tok
English: Hens cackle and cluck.
Estonian: kaa-kaa
Finnish: kot kot
French: cotcotcodet
German: gak, gak
Greek: ka-ka-ka
Hebrew: Tarnegolot mekarkerot.
Hungarian: kot-kot
Icelandic: gaggalagó
Italian: coccodè
Japanese: kokekokkoo
Korean: kko-kko-daek-kko-kko-kko-kko
Norwegian: Høna kakler.
Polish: ko ko ko
Portuguese (Brazil): cocoricó
Russian: ko-ko-ko
Spanish (Spain): coc co co coc
Swedish: kackel
Thai: gook gook (with high tone)
Turkish: gut-gut-gudak
Ukrainian: ko-ko-ko
Vietnamese: cuc-cuc tac


Rooster (cock) crowing
Rooster
Afrikaans: koekelekoe
Albanian: kiki ri ki
Catalan: kikkirikí
Chinese (Mandarin): gou gou
Croatian: ku-ku-ri-ku
Danish: kykkeliky
Dutch: kukeleku
English: cock-a-doodle-doo
Esperanto: kokeriko
Estonian: kikerikii
Finnish: kukkokiekuu
French: cocorico
German: kickeriki
Greek: ki-kiriki
Hebrew: kukuriku
Hindi: kukru:ku:
Hungarian: kukurikuuuu
Indonesian: kikeriku
Italian: chicchirichí
Japanese: kokekokkoo
Korean: kko-kki-yo
Macedonian: kukuriku
Norwegian: kykeliky
Polish: kukuryku
Portuguese (Portugual): cocorococo
Russian: ku-ka-re-ku
Spanish (Spain): kikirikí
Spanish (Argentina): ki-kiri-ki
Swedish: kuckeliku
Thai: ake-e-ake-ake
Turkish: kuk-kurri-kuuu
Ukrainian: kukuriku

My needle felted tree sculpture is listed in an Etsy treasury called a House wife's wish by wired. I love this nest of eggs from wired's shop.



This afternoon I will head out with the girls to watch a sheep shearing. I will let you know the details of this excursion.

I finished this little purple bird today. The purple matches perfectly with the purple lupines that are blooming now. I finished my latest batch of pottery chickens with a few cats too. I just listed this little funny cat.




Softies Central featured one of my needle felted roosters on May 29th. I particularly like the red and black color combination. I sold this particular one in early April. I have rooster with red and green spots that remind me of green olives though the green is much brighter.

Meanwhile I guess I am looking for any excuse not to keep cleaning house (for the imminent visit from the grandparents). Obviously I shouldn't be finishing up birds, photographing, listing new items, and blogging, when I have so much yet to do. But I just can't help but procrastinate. I even watched a PBS program about the possibility of life on other planets (I was supposed to be dusting the multitude of nicnacs I have in that room). I was so mesmerized by this that I didn't get much done at all.

I have my hands full the next few days trying to get the house cleaned up for visitors. Both sets of grandparents will be here later in the week. It is always a struggle to get all this done since nothing stays clean for long. Even the grass won't cooperate. I try to get help from the girls but only small self contained tasks seem to work. Cleaning their room definetly won't get anything productive done.

Earlier this spring Scoutie Girl included some of my etsy items in her blog in March.. At that time I had almost no clue what a blog actually was. But I was thrilled to have someone actually find my shop.



One of my needle felted birds is included in an Etsy treasury called Sing a Song by ayeyet.