bo-ring

It seems like I've been super busy, and yet I haven't been getting done what I'm supposed to be doing. It seems like ages ago that I wrote a blog entry, but it was just two days. I'm not sure what's up with that. I have a cold, again... It's not too horrible (yet) but I'm just exhausted.

I neglected to mention that the Buff Cornish drawings, which were a struggle to say the least, were enthusiastically approved, and that is a wonderful feeling. I ordered frames for them and the bantam Spangled Cornish yesterday, and will be delivering them to their sponsors at the next show. I'm excited about that, it's extremely gratifying for me when the drawings are finally in the hands of the sponsors (plus I'm hoping the get shown off a bit there, I like the ego boost!). I framed the Rhode Island Whites last night and they look awesome. I'd post pics if I could, but...I can't. You'll just have to take my word for it! I'm working on drawing Bantam White Hamburgs now (hmm, I don't think I've ever seen one of those before!). The hardest part is getting started...just knowing how incredibly much work is ahead of me to even finish one pair, but once I get them started it goes easier and I get into it. I remember I always used to draw from the top left corner to the bottom right corner so I wouldn't smudge it (that was years ago) but I haven't drawn like that for years. Now it's more like foreground to background I guess (well no, because I tend to draw the farther-away parts of the bird first...hmm I'd better not think too much about that or I'll get all hung up on it!), and especially with these drawings the way I draw the bird is very influenced by the background, and vice versa (for example, putting in a VERY dark background means I'll need to deepen the shadows on the bird.) I guess it just comes down to making the bird look like it's really standing there! It never varies that I draw the beak first, and then the eye, and then the face, and then...yeah, on and on, on part at a time.

I counted birds today, I have 78, including the three BBRed cockerels I need to get rid of. They are good birds, I need to figure out what to do with them. The cuckoo and crele crossbreeds will move onward after breeding season, since their offspring will be superior in quality and I will not need to backtrack (probably). I think I'm stuck with "Twinkie" the Silver Duckwing OE though, I'm totally thrilled with him, he's adorable. He's gotten VERY friendly. If I was still a 4-H kid, he's the kind of bird I would drag around to all the exhibit days. I have a rough idea how to set up the breeding pens, but I'll need to sort through ALL the birds and make sure I don't pair up full siblings, and also try to repeat some of the crosses that I did last year that turned out well! I don't normally get around to this til the last weekend of the month, so I'm pretty much on schedule. Major coop cleaning will be required...

I have two roosters who are both 10 years old (Ferdie and Eddie). That's the longest I've ever had a bird live, particularly a rooster (haven't had a rooster make it past 7 before). I think it is nearly the end of the line for Ferdie though, he's been looking increasingly old lately. I now have the two old boys penned up away from the egglayer flock (those big pullets are MEAN!) where they used to live (I sold the old hen and put three pullets in there, ugh, nothing like changing coop dynamics...) So, we'll see. He's comfy, he gets around, and I think the relative peace and quiet will help. It's strange to think of how long I've had those two. They were named by a friend of mine in Art 1 class, my junior year of high school! Ferdie is the first Brassy Back I ever showed, and Eddie is the first BBRed I ever showed (4 generations into the project). Maybe he'll pull through, he's surprised me before!

That's about it for today. Hey, I just noticed the little time stamp isn't showing up while I'm writing this. That's weird.