Whew! Busy week so far. In addition to the day job (this term I'm teaching textile study labs at the university and working on creating a data base of the several thousand items in the historic collection) I taught a bread-making class at a friend's kitchen supply store. Talk about a whirlwind--I had a loaf of bread to sample when the class started, and over the next hour I made a loaf of french bread, a pizza, a calzone, and skillet bread.

Was a tired puppy that night. More tired Wednesday--I had three programs at the museum that were supposed to be for 3rd graders--and they ended up being kindergartners! Me and a total of 90 kids--yeah, right. Then a dash back to the campus in time to teach color theory, and finally over to the folks for a sandwich and beer. Beer good.

And, of course, no pictures of any of this. I have a couple of programs at the museum tomorrow (the schools are starting to sweep their budgets) so I'll try to get someone to snap a shot.

CRITTER(S) DU JOUR

During the summer, the county Mosquito Control puts chickens in cages in various places around the town. There "sentinel" chickens are monitored for diseases like West Nile virus or encephilitis. Bob, being the curious widget that he is, wondered what would happen to these chickens when the summer was over--so he called and asked. Turns out--they try to find homes for them, and come season end they delivered a half-dozen hens to us.

So here's a few members of the Red Headed league (you get bonus points if you get the Sherlock Holmes reference). They're fine little Rhode Island Red who take very seriously their two major jobs: scratching for weeds and bugs, and producing a serious quantity of eggs. Friends, family, and the occasional passing stranger are often greeted with "would you like some eggs?"

And yes, this is on my front porch. They come through the cat door to steal food from the outdoor cats.