Penny Sanford Designs

Sarah Has a New Egg

Sarah and Abraham, my Cotton Patch Geese, have a new egg. I have waited a few days to post about this, in fear of "jinxing" her new motherhood.

So far, Sarah is tending this egg by covering it with hay, turning it, and turning fresh hay into a pretty round nest. Supposedly, she will lay more eggs before settling down to sit on them around the clock to hatch 29 days later. I will let you know how this nest progresses.

Sarah laid five eggs back in mid to late March, but her isolation period from a Chinese crested-mixed breed goose was not completed. That mixed breed pair is no longer on the farm, and those first eggs were broken or blown. 

(Blown means you drill a tiny hole in both ends and blow the egg yolk and egg white out in order to dry and save the shell in one piece.)

Abraham is solid white. Sarah has browns on her body. Photos by Lindi Turnipseed.

Henrietta is Sitting!!

Update 4/17/18:  Henrietta has rejected her nest. The big bossy hens pushed her off of it several days in a row. Then she was moved to a holding pen to protect her from bossy hens. At the same time a cold spell hit. In all it was enough to break her broody mood.  She will go broody again this spring. Next time she will be moved to the holding pen right away. 

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Henrietta is sitting on a nest! She is a Black Cochin, a breed that goes broody more frequently than many other breeds. Last year Tiger, the first Henrietta and another Black Cochin sat and hatched eggs and raised babies. Then the Chicken Hawk got them during the year. 

This year, a new Henrietta is sitting on her first nest. The chicken pens are now enclosed with two covered chicken runs attached. Hopefully no predators can get to them.

Other hens have run her off her nest two days in a row now, so she and eleven eggs are tucked into an isolation pen used to introduce new chickens to the flock.

She has private water and private food and protection from other bossy hens. Not all 11 eggs are her eggs. Some are blue-green and some are olive and some are brown. The chicks that hatch will be a "barnyard mix" for primarily egg production.

Twenty one days from several days ago. Little chicks should be breaking out around May 2nd.

Photo by Lindi Turnipseed.

Westie or Polar Bear

New designs are nerve wracking, whether sculpture or embroidery or anything else.

You think you have stitched a Westie, but a month later, when you look at the piece again, it looks like a polar bear. You are too deep into the process at first to see the finished result objectively.

Is that a Yorkie or a raccoon? LOL A Cairn or Norwich Terrier? (I may have too much hair for a proper Yorkie...hmmnnn...)

This is supposed to be a Yorkie snuggled down in a pillow and a Westie begging for his bowl of food. 

There will be adjustments to each new design as  I stitch it a few times and design "matures".

 

 

My Grandmother, Ora Belle

My best friend Pamm sent this picture to me today by email. I must have published it on this blog in years past. This is my cherished grandmother Ora Belle Dunn Hamer who died in October, 1979. (This picture was before 1975, but I am not sure when.)

I was so close to my grandmother. She taught me to sew and to enjoy shelling peas and butterbeans. I can taste her wonderful cooking. I can see her sitting on her cooking stool, talking to me while she turned her incredible fried chicken.

I can see her brushing her long hair and braiding her thinning braids to criss cross over her head.

I can feel the nobbly chenille bedspread as I napped on her bed, waking up with bumpy imprints on my cheek. 

My world changed forever when she died. Looking back over the almost 40 years since her death, I can now see "the rest of the story" on the various people that populated her prayers and hopes and conversations.

Grandma was easily hurt, but I remember her as very forgiving and generous to a fault. She taught me there is pure joy in giving without expecting anything in return.

I am sure Grandma had annoying habits and the flaws we all have, but I cannot remember a single one of them.

I just remember a crippled, withered old lady who walked with a severe hunch who radiated pure love.

She had lived what we would consider today a very hard life on a farm during the Great Depression.  If anything, that hard life kept her tender and vulnerable.

I wish I could talk to Grandma about so many things. How could almost 40 years have passed since her death? Tears have been flowing all afternoon as I remember wonderful memories and wish I could share more of her time. 

She must surely be in Heaven, so, in the proper time, she and I can pick up where we left off...

 

The Mystery of Marianne

Marianne is a chicken. 

Do not tell her that. She thinks she is part dog, part human and part cat with only the best chicken traits.

Today she watched TV with me.

It is certainly not the first time she has settled down in front of the TV to actively watch what is playing. Action movies or TV shows are her favorite.

Marianne is an Ameraucana chicken that lays beautiful blue-green eggs.

Marianne has enough personality to fill a blog all by herself, but we will let this be your introduction to the magical Miss Marianne.

Return to Porcelain

My last remaining kiln is dead. I test fired it with a piece of porcelain earlier this week. My four kilns bought between 1993 and 1995 were WARRIORS! (If every machine we use lasted as well as those kilns, this would be a much healthier country!)

Anyway, I need to raise money to finish buying a new high-fire porcelain kiln.  I have put down about a quarter of what I need.

To raise the rest of the money, I am searching the house and studio for porcelain I made for my own collection or to have on hand to give as gifts. Unless noted, everything I list on Etsy will be mint-in-box.

The porcelain ornaments and brooches (maybe tiles and vases) will be in my Etsy store. I am happy to combine shipping, so expect a refund of shipping charges if you buy more than one piece. I have not figured out how to set up the Etsy store to combine shipping charges for multiple purchases.

Once my new kiln is paid for and set up, I can start sculpting and firing all the new designs in my head.

The Lord continues to restore me and renew my mind. Thank You, Lord!

The Goose House

A friend (who wishes to remain anonymous)
gave me this very cool dog house with side steps and a balcony on the roof. It matches Marianne's house in the farmhouse. (Marianne is a BIG topic for another post.)

Tom is pictured checking it out on the day the Goose House arrived early last week. A few days later, one of the hens was checking out the view from the roof. (Remember, this is the GOOSE house for Sarah and Abraham, my Cotton Patch Geese. The chickens have 20 roomy laying boxes in the pen next door!)

The next day, one brave (or brazen) hen laid an egg in front of the Goose House front door.

The next day, there was a chicken egg INSIDE the house, with hay smashed down.

Since then...zip...no chicken activity tresspassing on the Goose House. I think Abraham had a quiet word with Tom and Chester, asking them to keep the hens away.

Sarah must be shy about laying more eggs with experienced laying hens around to nag her. This is her first year laying, after all. (Please read this with mirth.)

Photos by Lindi Turnipseed

 

Cotton Patch Geese Get a New Pool

Sarah and Abraham, my Cotton Patch Geese, have a new pool.  Did you know geese breed in the water?

Sarah has laid five eggs so far this year, two of which were accidentally broken. The other three were "blown" and used in baking.  

Tomorrow is the first day we can save her eggs for her to sit on and hatch. I am praying for her to have a beautiful gaggle of babies this, her first year as a mother.

The road to having Cotton Patch Geese here on the farm is seven? Eight? Nine months long?  

I will have to look back through my emails to determine when Abraham and his two "wives" moved to the farm.

The hawk that devastated my flock of chickens, ducks and geese last year, got one of my Cotton Patch Geese as well.

Now I have a 1500 square foot covered run with serious predator deterrents.

You will be seeing lots more about my Cotton Patch Geese. They are a Heritage breed, once blanketing the U.S. South, helping farmers by eating grass out of the cotton fields. Now they are a special breed in need of preservation with a growing number of dedicated breeders intent on preserving their special, gentle qualities.

Photos courtesy of Lindi Turnipseed

The Cairn Collection

The three little Cairn dog brooches in My Etsy store. A Toto Cairn and two caramel Cairns.

Hand embroidered by me. My original designs. Can be used as a brooch, a necklace or a Christmas ornament. FREE shipping to North America.

 

March of the Little Embroidered Dogs

Another step of restoration.

Reopening My Etsy shop

It has been since 2012, I think, since I made these little brooches that can be worn as a necklace or used as a Christmas ornament.

I will prattle more about them at a later date, but for now, here are some pictures of some of the finished pieces in My Etsy Shop.