A bird in the hand is worth three in the coup

This morning my post on Facebook read;

"made jambalaya last night. Between the table scraps from prep and what was scraped off the plates after, my chickens and red wigglers are becoming quite accustomed to good eats."

Apparently a hawk or falcon, don't know which was also on Facebook, cause just a bit after I posted, Skye and I hear the chickens squawking.

I send her down to check and....

"Emergency......There's a hawk in the chicken area!!!!"




A beautiful raptor but how was I to get him/her out. I was more than a little nervous about grabbing him with these crazy talons, not to mention the sharp beak.



Not looking happy or co-operative.



At this point the little guy was pretty tired from flaying about trying to escape.




I asked Skye to get a picture of me and the hawk.

I was hoping for a shot that was a bitter wider, like maybe my face. Skye assured me that because you could see the solar panels in the background, you'd know it was our house, and who else would be holding a hawk in our back yard?

Good point?



I only have eyes for you.

Adventures in the rain

We get home, I walk in the door and it sounds like someone left a faucet on somewhere. In a way I suppose that's an accurate assessment.

Nature opened up the spigot and our gutters apparently forgot to unclog themselves. So just as it was getting dark, Skye and I climbed up on the roof in search of standing water to explain why there was water spilling from the can lights onto the bar downstairs. BTW, that can't be a good mix, water, electricity and booze....



We found what had become a four inch deep pond on top of our house and were able to clear out the downspout creating this spectacular waterfall and putting and end to the dicey light-faucet.

We'll see what surprises tomorrows storm brings.

At least this go around I am actually finding and resolving our water issues, as opposed to some of the mystery leaks of rains past.

Magazines--The Obsession Continues

As is happening more often than not, we were racing to get somewhere on time.

Racing,

Racing,

Racing

When we got to destination, the people we were meeting were'nt there.

We were only a minute late, I mean a minute late is like being early these days.

A minute's tardiness and yet there was no one around.

I looked at my watch again,

10:03.

It was 10:01 at first glance, now after apparently searching for 2 minutes.....
It was 10:03.

We were supposed to meet at 11 am.

We were an hour early.

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

So we went over to a nearby bookseller which had a coffee shop included as is the fashion of the day. So I ordered up a breakfast type thing that was sealed in plastic, then microwaved fresh for me, since I had skipped that in order to be on time, and then wandered over to the magazine rack.

Why can't I control myself?




There's a reason behind the purchase of each;

Urban Farm, Hobby Farm, Gardening and Dwell; see previous post, but seriously there is at least one article of interest/import in each. And these are just the three that made the cut. I had probably a dozen more on topic that I didn't get.

Getting Published and Writer's Digest Guide to Creativity--Because I should get paid for all the babble I commit to paper or to a computer screen. Technology sure can change common expressions, yet still a far cry from being a "paperless" society. The sheer number of magazines out there is testament to that.

Pirates--A tough magazine to find, so I usually buy it when I run across it.

Tap Out --Because my 1st jui jitsu instructor--Rigan Machado has an article in it and there are some techniques in there that might get me out of a jam. No really.

The Atlantic is kind of a cheat. I didn't actually buy that on this spree. I have a subscription but I needed an additional glossy to finish off the grid.

I love my magazines.

Farmer Jon and the Marauding Chickens

For a while I had let the animals have free reign, but they were having too much of a negative effect on the local flora.




Evidence of what they are capable of. This was one of my prized pepper plants. Was...


My New Resolve

Trying to find the silver lining in the clouds of despair of our rabbit episode, I resolved to get out and plant, as I had been holding off until I had proper housing for both the chickens and the aforementioned bunnies. Seeing as to how in the past they were all guilty for certain levels of crop destruction.

Well now I had the chicken coop and run completed, at least to the point of containment, there are modifications and additions but I can keep them in their place, more or less. And the rabbits well, ......



I know why the cage bird sings, or clucks.....

In this vein I planted one of the beds that the panels to keep the critters out had been 100% completed. "And it was good"



I used straw from where the bunnies used to bed down for the night as a mulch.

And then I planted and seeded the second bed. I had panels but the hooks to keep them in place weren't put in yet so I had the idea to simply set them in place. In fact I basically divided the garden in half and was able to not only plant and seed a second bed but also to plant the pathway, under which Shadow(the rabbit that was found and whose body was recovered) was burried. I broadcast seeded the path with Crimson Clover which I thought was a fitting gesture in memory of the bunnies past.




The avian horde peers in longingly at the newly planted bed and path.

The winds that didn't reach the tornado level of Long Beach did manage to blow down the separating panel. The hens got in and had there way with my flora friends.



This is what I came home to.





There was a beautiful fennel plant next to this marker. I don't know if they pulled out the entire plant or if there is still a nub of life down there somewhere. Rain ended my search.





The guilty parties back in their run, avoiding the rain under a makeshift lean to.



An artichoke plant the is big and mean enough to withstand the ravaging hordes.

After the rain

I patched the roof over Skye's room and I wondered whether it would do the trick.
It did. A leak that had tortured us for way too long had to surrender. However......

there were other drips and .......



There goes our awning.



Ooops




And when the storm passed, you could see how close the snow capped mountains were.





Pretty

Running in the Rain

After a week of two workouts a day, I was on the verge of over training. Luckily I had my rest day which unfortunately became a sick day and lingered on an additional day. So after a couple of days, I took it to the trails for the first time in a long while.

I was hoping to get it in before the rains came. That was not to happen, which turned out to be be fine.

I love running in the rain.

So 7 miles of trails and a little rain and all was well.








Saw this little fellow at the beginning of the run.

Anybody know his official name?

Sailing Out of Despair

The loss of the rabbits hit me pretty hard. I had put a lot of time, money and energy into getting their future home prepared. Unfortunately, I didn't get it together in time. So I had been feeling sad and very guilty about their violent demise.

It made me question a lot of what I have been doing, which is valuable to an extent, but this self-analysis was more than a little skewed by the circumstances.

So when friends of ours invited us to go sailing with them, I realized that my plans to finish the rabbit complex were now on an indefinite hold which left the afternoon relatively free. And what better way to get our minds off the matter.

I'm so glad we went.

It was amazing.



The kids had a blast. The sea was calm which made for a lazy, idyllic sail.



Picture speak volumes





As the sun set the sky and ocean became more and more beautiful.











Sea birds in for the night, watching the sun go down.



Sailor Kip and wife Theresa, thanks again for the wonderful experience.



A magical time that helped me out of the doldrums.

Death Lessons

Friday morning found me rapping a crowbar against the cinder block wall that divides the property lines around my house. I grinded my teeth while I forced down my desire to hop the fence and bludgeon to death the stray dogs that killed our rabbits.

The day before we discovered that the rabbits had tunneled there way out of the garden, something that I didn't think was possible, there were too many walls and bricks and, well I just couldn't imagine that as a possibility. It was. And our not-so-little-Houdini rabbits managed it, much to there chagrin.

They have escaped before and we would collect them in the morning. But on this particular morn, I noticed a couple of stray dogs bounding about the semi-vacant lots that border our house. I knew that was not good. I knew instinctively that our rabbits weren't coming home.

We had to bolt off to prior commitments. On our return, I found one of the rabbits tossed off like a stuffed animal in the neighbors yard. The other is MIA, but I did not hold our much hope.

So today, the day after as it were, we put things in order.

Skye is dealing with it stoically as is her nature.

I am reading much into it. I can't say whether I am reading more into it than is deserved or whether I am using their deaths as a jumping off point.



I reread part of this blog with a day or two of separation and decided to delete...

Let me put it this way, rather than throwing off the backpack as heavy and uncomfortable as it may be, I am tightening up the straps, shifting the load a bit and pushing forward. Trying to learn some lessons along the way, but not beating myself up too much. Looking to make their deaths a source of insight and inspiration, strengthened by their living memories not saddened by their deaths.

So that said, good bye sweet bunnies, Rest In Peace.

Old new shoes a runnin' we will go

I took a quick jog yesterday while Skye was in her Shakespeare class around the neighborhood, through Loyola Marymount's beautiful campus on the perfect day for a run.

That was the good part.

I was fighting a little cold, so I didn't really feel like running but...

I hadn't loaded music on my shuffle, so I was SOL in the tunes distraction end of things, and

I decided to wear these shoes that I bought at a specialty running store. I bought them forever ago, wore them once and decided to stick to my tried and true shoes 'cause I had a marathon coming in a week and didn't want to take any chances. They were "stability" shoes to compensate for my overpronating. They felt a bit awkward, which was normal, I was told, but they were supposed "good for me".

I felt like I was wearing cinder blocks strapped to my feet. Part of this was not having run for a while and feeling a little under the weather, but I ended up with hot spots on my feet which I haven't had in a long time, so I am more than a little skeptical. I might give them another shot in a week, but I see them ending up as sprint shoes or stair shoes as opposed to long distance shoes. We'll see.

It wasn't the best run, but it was better than no run at all.

Yahoo Groups

I became a huge fan of Yahoo Groups through the home school community. It's an amazing way to get information out, respond to it, etc. etc. I've joined some non-home school type groups and for the most part they have served as more entertainment than function. But sometimes, I get some really great info or insights from them.

So when I stumbled upon the chickenchatcoop, for urban and sub-urban chicken keepers, I couldn't resist. I have most of the groups set for a daily digest, that groups all the post together for one daily update. But I figured there wouldn't be too much chatter on backyard chickens.

Clucking like a bunch of hens....I couldn't believe how much these folks chatted.

So I'm telling Skye about this and an e-mail comes in from a friend, with the subject line "because it's funny and you have chickens and then this link; http://littlehenrescue.co.uk/jumpers.aspx

I open it to the Little Hen Rescue site; subject of the day NEW DESIGNER FLEECE JACKETS FOR OUR GIRLS with pictures like




Really.....

With patterns and everything.

So that was a strange coincidence, made slightly less strange when taken along side the relative strangeness of the whole matter to begin with.

Anyhow, I'm afraid the chicken chatters will be downgraded to daily cluck digest status.

As for our chickens, they are faring well. The coup and roost are coming along, interrupted by more pressing rabbit housing and garden irrigation issues.

Just another amusing day at the Milagro Vertical Farm with Farmer Jon.

Interesting Juxtapose

I was on my way back to pick Skye up from a Girl Scout workshop she was at when I pulled off the PCH(Pacific Coast Highway for non-locals) to grab a bottle of water at the AM/PM. (I had already finished my "green" glass bottle of tap that I lug around for the eco-police types, and yes I suppose I could have loaded up with 2 bottles)

Anyway, just north of the Santa Monica pier, a bit before you hit Pacific Palisades, these two magazines were in the rack positioned just like below. I suppose I could have simply taken a quick picture and in retrospect it would have been more authentic and cheaper, but my magazine fetish got the better of me.






Is this what the kids are reading these days?

Who says kids these days don't have values?

Oh I could go on, make up a caption and leave as a comment.

Farmer Jon and Milagro Vertical Farm

After the devasting loss of the rabbits, which prior to their demise,that is their existence in the garden and that of the chickens meant there was no planting or growing of plants going on. OK that was some brutal run-on, beat up sentence structure. Point being I was feeling no green thumb or farmer gene happening at all. But I have of late refocused and am ready to take up the mantle of urban farming, for better or for worse.

I used to buy seeds from where ever, veggies and such from Home Depot or whatever. But I have of late taken to buying from local growers and heritage breeds and seeds and it has strengthened the bond I have to these greeny things.

Today I transplanted Red Russian Kale, Imperial Broccoli, Yellow Bell Pepper and Italian Dandelion plants I purchased from Hayground Organic Gardening, that I picked up at the Santa Monica farmer's market. In the same, bed I decided to take a grab bag approach and broadcast seeded the rest of the bed with the seeds I had left over from last year; Wild Arugala, Swiss Chard(Bright Lights), Oak Leaf Lettuce, Danvers #126 Carrots, Mesclun Lettuce, White Sesame. Some of these are heritage and some are just seeds.

It should be intersting what this year brings. I am learning more and more and greening my thumb along the way.

Warrior Workouts

Skye and I have started taken aerial classes at a really great facility in Manhattan Beach, The Power Plant. They have a 2-week introductory free membership because they've just joined up. Unfortunately with our schedule being the way it is, we've only been able to make it to a couple classes. We made a day of it on Saturday though, Skye did a teen class, I did an adult class and then we both jumped in on the Cirque Class, which had an overwhelming 30+ people.

After all of that, I was still determined to try to keep going with this Spartacus workout. "Keep going", rather I should say start, as in this is my second go at it. Last time I started doing the workout out full tilt and was done before I made it through one circuit of ten exercises. I pushed through and almost finished a second series. You're supposed to do three. Yesterday I paced myself a bit more and made it through 2 circuits and was pretty spent, so I dialed down the time spent on each exercise from 60 seconds to 30 and was able to finish a third circuit.

It's a nice workout, but still repetitious. I made up a pair of "Thunder sticks" and will be playing with them in my FUNctional fitness experiment. More on that latter. Must go for now, off to do a nice trail run while Skye is at Girl scouts.

The Haircut

The day after Cindy left, I took out the clippers and took it all off. I started with #4, not quite short enough. Down to #3, which worked except for in the back and around the ears, #2 for those spots.

I'm not going to doing anything to it until Cindy returns.

I like my hair at this length because it is just so easy, but unfortunately it makes my ears look even huger, same goes for the nose. But it is so easy.

I've been cutting my own hair for a couple of years. It saves money and time. And most of the time, the results have been respectable.

I think I may have unnerved some people with my post on Facebook.



It's not quite so bad...




But you see about the ears....

Catalina 50 mile-run Canceled ....for me at least

Several months back, I signed up for a bunch of races and marathons with the notion that if I committed to doing the event, all of the practicalities, such as logistics and training would somehow just happen. Oddly enough this method did indeed work, up until now. In fact, I posted my best marathon time ever in Death Valley just a few weeks after running my most enjoyable marathon do date in Malibu and with even less standard or traditional training than my usual less than normal amount of traditional training.

However, after much thought and consternation, I realized that the Catalina Ultra marathon was beyond impractical, just a shy step away from impossible. That being said, now I can really ramp up my jui jitsu training, work on my FUNctional routines, fly in aerial arts, grind out the Spartacus challenge and push to get a sub-four hour marathon at the L.A. Marathon, March 21.

I also signed up for the Warrior Dash in April. A crazy looking three mile obstacle course.

Maybe I'll give Catalina a try next year, or the next. I signed up for the Death Valley Marathon around ten years ago and couldn't make it because of work and this year I ran it had a great time, so who knows?

A New Day, A New Year, A New Decade

We've been throwing a New Year's Eve party for the past few years. I almost never take pictures because I am too stressed out trying to get ready for the party. This year was no different. So what I usually end up with is before and after pictures, which I know is a little strange.




The party has become a motivation to finish projects and clean the place up. This was a few hours before the party.



With help from Cindy and Skye, a lot of sweat and a unfortunate barrage of swear words, we cleared the place up.



Our "free-range chickens" definitely not helping.




After.



After a very lovely party, that of course went quite late, I slept for a few hours, and woke just before the sun cleared the horizon, which made for a spectacular sunrise.







Good morning sun.

Then it was down to check on the chickens and rabbits and give them a special treat of New Zealand clover that a guest had brought to the party.






Shadow doesn't realize what she's missing at first.




When she did she jumps right in.

Next, I scuttled about the kitchen and made a fritata with some left-overs from last night's party(asparagus, curry dusted mushrooms, and jerk-style ground Ostrich)







Yummy yummy.

I skipped my tradition of a mimosa on New Year's Day. Instead I gave my new workout a try. I got almost 2/3 the way through pushing myself pretty hard, when I remembered that I haven't done a "workout" in months. I've been working in the back yard and doing some Juijisu and aerial arts, running here and there you know my whole FUNctional fitness philosophy(which I might go back to by the way)

Basically the "Spartacus" workout kicked my butt.

I spent several minutes decompressing by hanging upside down.




All in all a great way to start the New Year.





Los Angeles looking very un-L.A.




The last rays lighting up downtown.

Now I'll wander downstairs to where the beer is still on ice, grab a cold one and settle in to watch some Laker action.



One last shot