We bought our house back then and the farmer neighbor, who owned lots of land beside us, had a whole slew of chickens and roosters that he let run free. I guess they were the true definition of what we now call free range chickens, because they were permitted to roam anywhere they wished...which was, except when it was feeding time, always on our property.
Now, at first, those chickens and roosters were pretty awesome but all it took was a couple early mornings, waking up to roosters crowing under our bedroom window, for both my husband and me to start being annoyed with the varmin.
Pretty soon, the chickens were scratching in my flower beds, making quite a mess. So with all the roosters crowing at all times of the day and the mess they were making in our garden, we needed them gone.
We tried to catch them so that we could take them to a farmer that would take care of them properly, but if you've ever tried to catch a chicken, you know how virtually impossible that is. We tried traps...we actually had fun trying to catch them, but failed every time. I seem to recall there being about a dozen or so chickens and at least 2 roosters.
So one day, while starting off to work, I drove past our farmer neighbor's house. I saw him standing outside so I pulled my car over, got out and made an attempt to speak to the very large, intimidating farmer guy named Walt.
I told him very nicely that his chickens and roosters were ruining our vegetable and flower gardens and would he please try to keep them contained. Walt, the farmer, who just so happens to still live by us today, very sternly told me that they are "wild chickens" and he is not able to do anything about it.
So, ok. I guess he was not willing to take responsibility for his chickens. Over the next months ... well, let's just say ... you all know why chickens like to cross roads, doncha? Of course .. it's cause they want to get to the other side.
In this case though, ... well.... ummm.... one by one, the chickens became roadkill. Not one of them that I know of made it to the other side. It was only about a year or so and they were all gone....crushed And then, I kinda missed them.
I know this was a dreadfully long story but I want to emphasize how important the rooster and his crowing is to me which is one of the reasons why I sew roosters and eat fried chicken.
I tried to say it nicely ...that this pattern is inspired by the roosters in my life but really, to put it bluntly ....
This pattern is in memory of the rooster roadkill in front of farmer Wally's house.
The finished size of this pretty candle mat is 16" across. The picture shows it made with hand-dyed tweed wool, but I'm almost finished with one that I've made with plain colored wool and it's really pretty too. I'll show the pic once it's completely done.
Price for the pattern includes shipping to US and Canada.
If you wish to pay by check instead of credit card, just email me and I'll send ya my mailing address
Either click the "buy now" button up there on the left sidebar to purchase it or go to my website to purchase it there.
The hand-dyed tweed wool is also available, in limited supply. The wool can be found HERE
Thank you ladies and .... Happy Day!
Note: please don't be angry about the rooster roadkill. My husband and I did everything we could to try to save those chickens. We even called the police. Even the police couldn't save them from the tractor trailer tires.
1 comment:
Funny story, living in the country completely understand. We had neighbors way on down the road past us had free range geese, the BIG white ones not the wild ones, Cute but messy and annoying. Over the last few years they have dwindled down to just a couple, due to road kill and coyotes. I'm sure their close neighbors don't miss them much, or maybe at all?? I never asked them.
Your pattern is BEAUTIFUL, even with the roosters, love the sunflowers!! one of these days I really need to try stitching on wool. Your patterns are alway so cute. But wool is not readily available around here and am not much of an internet buyer.
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