This is what I ended up doing yesterday afternoon. I ignored the dollhouse and started on this. Both the dollhouse and puzzles are calming for me, but jigsaw puzzles (and crossword puzzles) are the most calming – a form of meditation, if you will. I love John Derian’s puzzles. As far as I know he only has three designs, the one I just finished, this one, and one of a cat. I’m not a cat person, so that particular design doesn’t call to me.
This is based on an old map of NYC. Here is what it will eventually look like:
We’re getting snow today. We’ll have somewhere between 1 and 4 inches by tomorrow. There is a chance for a winter storm with more accumulation next Sunday and Monday. We’re looking forward to watching the snow fall today. First of all, it’s pretty. But mostly, it’s something different. Since we’re basically indoors these days looking out at a barren landscape and every day seems the same, something like snow ends up being exciting.
These guys (all 8 of them) have now discovered our yard. This was taken from the kitchen window. We’re fascinated by them. Our neighbor has informed us that the rooster is aggressive, so we’ll make sure to stay away from him. On one hand, it’s slightly annoying to me that they are now free-ranging on our property, but on the other hand, they’re interesting and we get a kick out of them. And don’t they eat ticks? Am I remembering that correctly?
They sure do lay pretty eggs.
I’m almost finished with my book and then it’s on to Winter Solstice.
Stay safe.
Happy Tuesday.
I don’t think I would want my neighbors free range chickens on my property. Where there are chickens there is chicken poop. My neighbor next door raised chickens for awhile. Roosters don’t just crow in the morning. They crow anytime they feel the urge.
Love seeing your puzzles come together. I used to enjoy doing puzzles until we got cats. The puzzle would have to stay behind a closed door at all times.
The crowing doesn’t bother us. We never hear him during the night. And chicken poop would join the deer poop and bear scat that is also on our property. Remember, our property isn’t manicured – it’s rather wild.
Stay safe.
thanks for sharing progress photos of the jigsaw puzzles, dollhouses, etc. … they are beautiful and inspire me.
with snow on the way, you’ll get time to work on them all … plus read a favorite book. enjoy!
as much as i love animals and as fun as they can be to watch, i doubt i’d be as patient as you about someone else’s chickens (or other creatures) being on my property.
it started snowing here at noon yesterday and hasn’t stopped yet (maybe in a couple hours, they said). we’ve received over thirteen inches of snow so far. it is beautiful and we sure need the moisture, plus i am home now and probably won’t go in to work today so i am not complaining. :) i might knit a few rows on a hat, then who-knows-what.
hope you have a good day and stay safe.
kathy in iowa
ps … i hope a little thing arrive(d)s soon.
I mean other people’s pets on my lawn … wasn’t referring to wild animals.
xo
kathy in iowa
xo
We live in the country. There are no fences. It’s hard to keep tabs on chickens every hour of the day, so my aim is to be understanding and compassionate. It’s always the best choice.
So you’re home from work today, Kathy? What a nice treat! Enjoy your knitting and your quiet time.
Stay safe!
agree about understanding and cooperation! i just don’t see myself as patient with people allowing their pets to get on someone else’s property without first getting approval … or putting up their own fence. your neighbor is fortunate to have you and don as good neighbors.
think i’m going to take a nap.
kathy in iowa
That map puzzle reminds me of the giant model of NYC that Fran Lebowitz carefully steps around in the show you recommended – “Pretend it’s a city”. I have been watching it and am really enjoying it so thanks so much for that!
We got some snow today and more is on its way but it does look lovely and my son shoveled already and I have no where I need to go so I can just enjoy it!
Stay safe and warm!
The rooster sparked a memory. When my son and daughter-in-law lived on a farm-ette in OK, they wanted to raise chickens. No one told them it wasn’t necessary to have a rooster, so Bruce Rooster (named after my husband) came along. He too was nasty and didn’t do much to earn his keep….UNTIL one night a predator came in with an eye on the chickens. No one knows quite sure why, but Bruce Rooster managed to kill the predator. He was the rock star of the hen house from then on.
Yes, this rooster apparently warned all the chickens when there was a hawk swooping overhead. He got them to safely.
So he’s a hero!
Stay safe, Carol.
It’s snowing here too. Big fluffy flakes. I agree It’s pretty and there is nowhere I have to go today, but driving in it can be a pain as I’m sure you know.
Chickens! I love chickens! I almost talked hubby into getting some chickens but then a new neighbor moved next door and they have chickens, ducks, guinea hens..so we get eggs from them.
I was even going to name my chickens after some of my aunts. Beatrice, Ethel, Henrietta, Minnie, Esther. I think they are perfect chicken names. I don’t know for sure if chickens eat ticks but guinea hens do. His chickens don’t come to our yard but the guinea hens come to our yard often. They are fun to watch and they are welcome to all our ticks.
That looks like another challenging puzzle. I have the puzzle with pictures of our granddaughters finished and stuck onto sticky sheets (kinda like contact paper) on the back, and then spread a clear puzzle sealer over the puzzle front. Just have to frame it. I doubt that I would ever do that with any other puzzles though.
Today is our 47th wedding anniversary. Nowhere to go to celebrate…just getting take out. We will stay home, warm and cozy.
Stay safe
Happy Anniversary, Marilyn! Take out and warm and cozy sounds perfect.
Enjoy your day.
Stay safe!
hej, marilyn schmuker …
happy anniversary! hope you have a lovely day.
kathy in iowa
ps … love the names you’d give chickens. i love “old-fashioned” names!
Yes, I love that model!
It’s coming down now in big, fat flakes. The road is already covered. It started falling earlier than predicted so I wonder if we’ll get more than 4 inches?
Stay safe, Ellen!
Love the chickens! Do the neighbors now have to search your property for eggs, or do they only lay in nest boxes?
My chicken knowledge is nonexistent😖
They will be fun to watch – one of the things i loved about Kauai was the free range chickens, and the roosters calling.
I’m living vicariously through you and Don this morning, have a happy day.
I think they lay in their boxes in the coop.
Thanks so much, Jan.
Stay safe.
Sorry would not want the chickens…
Even before I became a vegetarian in 1992, I couldn’t tolerate anything about them. Others like them…ok that is fine…you are sweet about tolerating them. Love the puzzle. I am still teaching five kids online and I also work with college age grands. Jus at peace in our nation now and that is helping us get through the COVID somewhat better…prayers
I like them because I’m a vegetarian! I would never eat them and they have distinct personalities. But then, we are animal lovers here.
Stay safe.
I didn’t realize you are without snow. We just got about 6-7 inches…and it’s still falling. It’s very light and fluffy, but windy. Brrrr.
I love the eggs from free roaming chickens…very pretty, and I think they taste better, too. And…they are fun to watch. Here, in the city, you must have a fenced in yard for your chickens. But, people are supposed to pick up after their dogs too…and they often don’t…grrrr. Each location, city or country, has its own challenges it seems.
I like your new puzzle…looks more difficult than the butterfly one. Should be finished…tomorrow, lol? Stay safe! ;)
We are in the country, so it’s a different world. Very rarely does someone have a fence around here – only for dogs, and often, not even that. We’re fine with it.
Stay safe, Donna!
I love this new puzzle. His designs are beautiful and interesting. I would enjoy watching the chickens! I love seeing the deer and birds so why not chickens. Hope you have a good day.
Yes, Roosters can be really mean and so aggressive!! I would feel much more comfortable meeting an unknown dog in the yard than a rooster!!
Our county here had no storm watch or advisory, etc. and received nearly 8 in of snow. All of the schools are cancelled. I sure wish they would come up with a better way to predict/ notify of weather than the old county system. We live in a little town of less than 5000, and have 3 counties that come into our little village. Seems there should be a better way to show warnings and watches and advisories for all weather. My mini-rant for the day. I guess that when I don’t have to worry so much about what the current administration is up to, my mind opens up for so many other things!! I had forgotten that.
I have been on the waiting list for the new Fannie Flagg book, The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop since before Christmas, and it came in. I started it last night. I love her books for a fun light read. Have a great day and take care.
I don’t blame you for being upset. Come on guys, get it together with the weather forecast!
Glad you have something enjoyable to read, Chris.
Stay safe.
I think the chickens in the yard are pretty cool; as long as they don’t ‘crow’ or whatever they do (and wake you up too early in the morning). Apparently your neighbor isn’t concerned about any predators for them (in the great outdoors).
This puzzle is going to be challenging!
Well there are predators around here, which is why I never got chickens. There are hawks, foxes, etc. The rooster has scared off a hawk already and his frantic calls gathered the whole group together away from the hawk.
Stay safe, Vicki.
There’s a gal in my neighborhood who now owns the house which my husband and I rented for years. The property is more ‘land’ than house. For a suburban, mid-century neighborhood, this particular home has the largest lot on the block, and sits on approx 0.75-acres (I know this doesn’t sound like much, but ‘land’/ground is at such a premium here in SoCalif; some of the older residential properties have a bit more ‘yard’ which is why you’ll see a younger couple, despite no ‘big money’ to work on a house, but at least with some know-how or brawn, who will tackle the older houses just to get some ‘space’ for the ‘outside’/outdoors (as opposed to new housing which has you crammed in like sardines with other homes and a postage-stamp-sized yard, front and back [so, you either buy an old house with a bigger yard, or go for a new house with NO yard]).
Besides all of the ‘park-like’ yard to the rear of this specific home (which includes four decks; a large fenced-off area which used to be for a lengthy/permanent clothesline, with a lean-to ‘shed’; also a stand-alone ‘BBQ House’ [larger than my current living room and sort of equiv to two large rooms] which had been erected for entertaining, with a built-in bar [I knew the people who owned and later rented out this home, and that ‘BBQ House’ once had something like a half-dozen tables with chairs in it; a whole bank of nearly floor-to-ceiling, screened glass windows, too, with wide double-door entrance]; additionally two separate patios as well, one brick and the other concrete/cement), the rear yardspace is actually three distinct/separate ‘outdoor rooms’, with an addition of a mini orchard at the base of the hillside.
So, this is the case with the aforementioned ‘gal’ and her husband (young; starting out with their first home [which needs a lot of work]); he’s a Seabee (naval construction battalion) and his specialty is carpentry, so they’re great candidates for remodeling/updating an old house. In their case, they did totally buy the place, though, for the extra groundspace (although it IS a good floorplan with four bedrooms and an addition of a family room). She’s about to become a full-fledged veterinarian and does animal rescue, so she had wanted space for animals (although we’re still in the City and there are certain regulations/ordinances, but she has somehow worked all this out with the local Animal Control, and none of the rest of us care as she’s a stellar animal caretaker and this is a really-nice, caring couple who are terrific additions to the neighborhood).
I haven’t been back there since they moved in, but I’ve viewed part of their rear yard from another property; I’m sure the husband has built some very-humane pens and shelters for their menagerie (which is constantly evolving). The way the home is situated on the heavily-foliaged/tree’d lot, anything they do like this doesn’t intrude on other neighbors, but they’ve somehow enclosed a significant part of their backyard with not only the high chain-link fencing you see at golf courses (normally, this wouldn’t be allowed in a conventional neighborhood here), but also some kind of see-thru material over/across the top and between the fencing, and I assume it’s so that the turkey vultures can’t swoop down and get her assortment of creatures which includes chickens and probably bunnies (but the fencing also protects the goats and lambs and kitties [dogs are always part of the household, inside the home] from coyotes coming down the hillside [which has also included, about a dozen years ago, mountain lions]). If anybody could do this, her husband could figure out such a protective shelter which isn’t unsightly and also not confining to a farm animal or domestic one, still gives all of these animals room to roam and find their own cubbies, yet it doesn’t ruin another neighbor’s ‘aesthetic’. Genius!
There were some wealthy people near where I used to live (in yet another neighborhood [I’ve moved too much!]), who constructed a brand-new, custom home on a hillside, and she had an elaborate thing for her house cats so that they could get outside romps, where she could press a button in her kitchen, and this ‘awning’ would pop out over the backside of her house (I saw it, and it was BIG, this awning thing) and push out wide and long over her lawn, right out to the edges before the hill dropped off (again, a sort of see-thru netting structure which just unfolded outward, literally from the walls of the house) so that her house cats could play and sun themselves and get exercise without fear of aforementioned coyotes or hawks or vultures. It was really something. When the kitties were ready to come back inside the house, just press the button and the whole process reversed, ‘awning’ folding up, and a return to a ‘regular’ backyard. (‘The rich are different; yeah, they are!’ [I have no idea how I have that quote in my head, but it applies!
{I think it’s some F. Scott Fitzgerald derivative}.])
I know zip about chickens/roosters so it’s interesting to hear that the rooster protected his flock. Love that! You captured a good photo of them, too. They are photogenic!
xoxo
Hi Claudia,
Oh, another lovely puzzle! You find the prettiest ones. How fun to have your chicken neighbors visit. They are so good to have around. They eat all manner of bugs and even rodents. Keeps the population down and out of your house. They also do a nice job of aerating the soil. I had 5 chickens over the course of 7 years in my (well manicured, suburban!) yard and they were just lovely. Of course I had to clean up after them daily, but the girls more than earned their keep. Lucy, Ginny, Violet, Buttercup & Molly each had distinct personalities and were so fun to know. I miss the sounds of their joyful, content clucking.
Your storm sounds exciting – can’t wait to see pictures! We have had winter weather as well. Down into the low 50s for a high yesterday. It was windy, overcast, wet and even snowy in many areas. It was nice since we had no where else to be but home – even though our governor lifted the stay at home order yesterday as our hospitals are still at or exceeding capacity. I wish they had waited a bit longer.
Netflix: We watched the making of Queen’s Gambit which was interesting. We also finished season 2 of Blown Away – so good! Planning to watch Mank next. I will check out the one you mentioned with the French subtitles. Any other recommendations? I am thoroughly enjoying All Creatures Great and Small on PBS!
Have a lovely Tuesday – say hello to Don!
xo, Christy
No other recommendations at the moment, but when we find something new that we like, I’ll be sure to share it with you, Christy.
Stay safe!
Hello. We’re having some lovely snowfall here in Michigan. Love it! Don’t have to go out and my husband works from home now so don’t worry anymore about his hour long commute.
As far as free-range chicks, my neighbors’ chickens found their way to our place and every time they left I had to rake up the mess they made from digging in my gardens. A real mess. And the rooster actually chased and flew up at our grandson. Had to fight it off with a broom. Be careful of those guys. Take care.
If they start digging in my gardens come spring, then I’ll have to have a serious talk with my young neighbor. Right now, there are no gardens. I’m probably going to have to have a chat with her anyway.
Stay safe, Penny.
Yikes, I’ve read all the comments just now and free-range chickens in your gorgeous, picture-perfect yard come Spring/Summer does NOT sound like a good idea, Claudia. You spend a lot of time and go to so much loving effort (and you and Don enjoy your yard so much as fruit of your labor and expense) to have your landscape/yardscape be destroyed by somebody else’s ‘property’. And these cantankerous roosters sound downright dangerous (bold and aggressive)!
I hope the ‘chat’ with your neighbor can go smoothly. Maybe if you talk to her ‘early’, it’ll give her time to figure out how to build a big pen for them and their coop and/or nesting boxes, but I’m thinking maybe that’s the point of ‘chicken wire’ fencing??!!
I’m going to call the daughter (who has the chickens) and have a little chat with her.
xo
I envy you the chickens, how fun to watch them without having any responsibility for them! Perhaps you could put up a box on the sly to see if you also got some eggs? Or even chicks, but then of course the responsibility would kick in. I have always heard that both chickens and guinea hens eat ticks but have never had the opportunity to test it out, you must let us know.
ceci
No. I want no responsibility for them. We could have added some to our menagerie, but there are predators around here and I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to my chickens.
Stay safe, Ceci.
Can I trade lives with you? Everything sounds so nice. I was just called for jury duty in the middle of an active covid county, and my daughter’s doctor won’t increase her medicine that keeps her from hitting herself and screaming all day. And she stays awake about half the night often waking up at 3 am. This is my covid life, I cannot even read a good book! Thanks for the blog!! It is about the only thing that keeps me sane. That and crossword puzzles.
praying for you and your family!
kathy in iowa
I’m sorry Jan. I know your life is hard.
Why would they call a jury at such a dangerous time? I’d be clear with them that you have a vulnerable daughter and you can’t expose yourself to others.
Stay safe.
Hi, Claudia — you are very correct to be wary of roosters–take it from an old Ky farm girl — do not mess w/them–beautiful but can be mean. love your new puzzle — is there a date on that map? I looked but could not see a date, still love it. hope you enjoy the snowfall. stay safe and healthy.
I can’t remember the date – late 1880s, I think.
Stay safe, Linda!
I enjoy our neighbor’s hens, especially when they are sweetly talking to each other! Farther down the road, is a farmette with a few goats and turkeys and they sound pretty cool too. Better than down the road the other way where they have dogs that bark a lot and loud vehicles, both sides of the road and sometimes I think they compete to see who can get their motors reved up louder.
Thank you Kelly. We like hearing them, as well.
Stay safe.
Love the new puzzle, Claudia!
The chickens are novel and interesting, but I would be wary of them if I were you. If they keep roaming free in your garden, they will start thinking it’s their territory. Shoo the rooster every once in a while. If he’s such a protective hero, he will take his hens and go somewhere where they don’t get disturbed all the time.
I don’t mind chickens – I tried keeping them for a while. Crowing and clucking are peaceful sounds and unless you have manicured lawns or they start coming onto your porch, the poop won’t be an issue. They’re excellent pest exterminators and will eat all the bugs and slugs in your garden. Unfortunately, they’re incurable soil rakers and fresh green shoots are a favorite part of their diet. My attempt at keeping chickens free-range led to the complete destruction of my flower beds (and the fenced vegetable garden, they kept finding a way in). The only solution was to keep them caged and since I didn’t like that at all, I gave up on trying to keep them.
I like them, but I am going to call the daughter (she’s in charge of the chickens) later today and express my desire to keep them away from our property. I don’t want them digging up my gardens!
Stay safe, Megan.
Hi Claudia. I haven’t completed the butterfly puzzle yet but I bought the John Derian cat puzzle yesterday. I am a cat lover. I also got my first Covid vaccine yesterday. I am 7 months out from a double lung transplant and got the notice last Friday that the hospital was starting to give it to transplant patients on Saturday. I logged on immediately and got my appointment. I’m so glad to soon be less vulnerable to Covid. Love your visiting chickens!
So glad you were able to get the vaccine, Connie!
Stay safe!
The new puzzle looks great! And so do the chickens. Maybe your neighbors will kindly share some eggs in thanks for the wandering space!
They did give us some eggs a while back, Jeanie.
Stay safe.