Jack

Jack

Monday, January 17, 2011

Mmmm...Fresh Origami!

Whoo hoo, new modular origami to try! This one is called 'Fireworks' and the end model is a toy to play with!

Also along the same lines, the 'Magic Circle':

I can see that they are going to require loads of patience to fold, though.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

It's Back!

Thanks to my darling hubby and a fellow SA Goon making a HUGE effort on my part, they were successfully in wresting my chicken info site away from the previous crappy provider, it's back!

http://jackshenhouse.com/

This was WAY harder than it ever should have been, ridiculously so. And I see that I have to re-FTP up some of it that for some reason is not current, and some of the photo links are broken. To the people who depend on the site, sorry this took so long but you would not BELIEVE the hoops we had to jump through!

Monday, January 10, 2011

OK, THIS Is Just Getting Ridiculous Now...

Phoenix, our 1/2 Barred Rock 1/2 Americaunas rooster, takes after his father, Jack (Barred Rock) in many ways. Sweet temperment, same build, etc.

He also carries Jack's leanings towards being a weaponized chicken. Here's his daddy Jack, with a look at Jack's spurs...those KNIVES he carried on his legs:





Now, Jack was beyond sweet, a very laid-back roo who would never dream of attacking a human with beak, wing or claw. Or spur, thank God. We could just walk up to him and pet him or scoop him up and carry him around at will. Phoenix is just like him. Which is a damned good thing, because yesterday Phoenix finally molted the end of one of his spurs (which I had been grabbing and worrying with my hand every so often over the last month or so, twisting it a wee bit in an effort to loosen it). Roosters are supposed to molt their spurs every so often as needed, and Phoenix had hung on to his WAY too long. I'm sure the hens, come Springtime and the mating season, will appreciate his shedding the stupid thing more than anyone--he had molted the other one back over the summer. So here is Phoenix's latest contribution to my rooster spur collection:



If it was straight it would be 6 1/2 inches long. Truly the definition of 'overkill'. This, by the way, is the cap--Phoenix still has a spur that is about 2 inches long on the shank of his leg.


Aw, my widdow sweetums Roo-Boy of Death...

Angel Fish!

Got some angel fish made using the paper from the old children's books!



Some of the paper is fairly brittle, so I doubt if it will take kindly to being folded into anything terribly complicated and requiring loads of handling. The angel fish model uses a lot fewer folds than something like a crane, so it worked out OK. Here's a close-up of some of them:



The books were a Hans Christian Andersen collection with lovely illustrations in both sepia tone and full color. The color illustrations are gorgeous, having that 'old book' deep pigmentation that has mellowed with age. Also in this shot is paper from a collection of fairy tales--this paper is even MORE brittle and threatened to crumble & flake if not coaxed into shape VERY gently. A third book was an odd little book from the New York opera telling the story of Mozart's 'The Magic Flute'.

I am glad I was able to save the paper from the ruined books, it was just too gorgeous to throw away--yay for origami!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Chicken Site Missing For Now!

Argh, my stupid site provider has taken down my chicken info site with no explanation and won't respond to our repeated emails. I KNOW it's all paid up and there are no problems with the site content, so I don't know what the heck is going on--but I suspect the provider is going under. We're working on moving my site to another provider, for now if anyone needs my help with anything chicken just let me know here.

Bloody frustrating though!

Our Head Hen, Bear, who is turning 9 years old this year has been under the weather. I'm not sure what her issue is but I'm treating for for a few likely causes (God, my kingdom for a microscope so I can do fecal smears--!)...but it may simply be her age. Phoenix the Head Roo is fretting for her and staying close by her side. We had her in for a few nights this last week when the temps got really cold overnight and learned after the first night to bring Phoenix in, too. He was SO worried about her the morning after that first night and was overjoyed to see her the next morning, he danced and danced around her for several minutes, chuckling and talking to her. I felt really bad, I didn't realize he'd think the worst the next morning!

We'll have to watch them both closely, I still remember when my first Head Hen, Wild Child, died from old age--my Head Roo, Jack, died about 24 hours later, out of the blue--I'm convinced of a broken heart. Phoenix is Jack's son, and has the same personality. But Bear is looking better the last two days, and the weather is FINALLY cutting us some slack on all the damned rain.

A Few New Models...

Was browsing some diagrams and tried a few new ones to incorporate into my repetoire! These are first folds so the models are pretty 'meh', but with practice and maybe a change in a fold or two they'll work. I'll also add detail with eyes or other such things.

Clockwise left to right: a cute inflatable model of a winged box, a yacht, a tom turkey and a snail.

Also these:



Which are, clockwise: a Christmas tree, a cicada, an angelfish, a seahorse, a swan, two different owls, a pheasant and a Scottie dog. The Scottie dog is cool because with only one change to a fold it becomes a regular dog. The pheasant needs another leg and the angelfish a complete tail and a change to offset the lower fin--I think it'll look more realistic that way. Also the turkey and the swan really need the heads to be sink folded instaead of a pair of pureland folds to look their best.

I think my favorites are the winged box, the cicada, the purple owl and the snail. The purple owl is interesting because it uses 1/2 a sheet of square paper--not too many folds call for a rectangular piece of paper! I also found some dollar bill folds I want to learn: the ever-popular ring and an inflatable snail that is TOO cute!