The Interweb

I opened my email this morning to find over 15 requests for the Ms. Eliza Bennet Shirt tutorial that I drafted back in 2011.  The Mother Huddle included the Ms. Bennet Shirt on her Sewing Summer Tutorials round-up page, which caused quite a flutter on my site.  The internet is SO COOL! Naturally, though, I am not really that tech-savvy, and I still cannot figure out how to post the tutorial online correctly.  If any who happens to read this knows how, email me: meaniegreene(at)gmail(dot)com!! Trust me, I've googled how to upload pdf's onto blogs and have gotten it as far at google docs (which then gave me a link and I can't get it onto my page, UGH!)

A fellow seamstress sent ahead her version of the Ms. Eliza Bennet Shirt the other day along with great suggestions on how to make the tutorial more versatile (it is only in my size..., so each version created will be a little different than the original). I'm just amazed that someone actually tried my tutorial... and it looks AMAZING!!! She did have quite a bit of tinkering to do to get it to her size and omitted the zipper (which is perfectly fine, the original pattern never had a zipper).

cool beans.

What have I been up to?  I have basically recovered from the marathon, took a 2 mile run the other day and plan on running a few more times this week, but nothing crazy.  My sister and her kids are visiting for a few days and we're going to work on the garden and put in three raised beds with cut flowers, asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb and basically anything else I can cram in them.  So as you can imagine, I am running through the house trying to clean it up before they arrive (well, I will be after I get this post out!).

one of our outdoor excursions

We also moved the chickens downstairs into Carlie's kennel.  They seem to like it more, since we installed a few roosting sticks for them to perch on. So cute!  Jeff has been busy building the coop and it looks truly amazing. We hope to have it completed this weekend, so you'll hear more about it soon!

Have a wonderful Friday and a great Memorial Day weekend,

shelby g

Sugarloaf Marathon!

We were not in the front..., we actually didn't realize the race had started until the crowd began moving.

Well, it came and went. Marathon weekend was a success, although a little too warm (in the 80's!), hardly feels like I ran it (oh, except for the fact I resemble a zombie when I try to walk and forget stairs! or sitting/getting off the toilet.). The verdict: 67th place overall, 8th place for females, with a time of 3:22.52 (Boston Marathon Qualifier). The last 6 miles felt like they lasted 3 hours, even though they were mostly downhill.  Everyone I came across during the race was wonderful and encouraging and the roadside cheering squads were awesome.  And my running partner, Isaac, was awesome and we tried to make the best of every obstacles.

Isaac and I during one of the earlier miles, running comfortably, easy smiles for the camera

Thumbs up, still mentally and physically in the run!

Around mile 20, starting to pull apart a little

Heading across the finish line!

When he had to leave me at mile 20 (the heat hit me early and I was lagging behind..., it was time to let me go...da nah.) he gave me a few words of encouragement and off he went.  Which was a relief, in a way, since I needed some time to be in my own misery.  Isaac finished about 2.5 minutes ahead of me, but also succumbed to the heat in the end.  And our other running partner, Luke, finished strong in 5hrs with Isaac enthusiastically doubling back and running with him the last 4 miles (I did not... I went and showered!)

Luke powering up a hill at mile 22

exhausted

Jeff took amazing photos of the race and I could count on him to cheer me on every 4 miles and drive by once in a while waving his hand out of the sunroof. Not to mention he had to put up with 5 months of training and a weekend full of crazy runners.  We may be able to convince him to run the next marathon with us... just need to get a treadmill on the ship!

If you want to see all of the images Jeff took from the marathon, check them out on my flickr page.

Looking back, it was a lot of fun.  Can't wait until the next marathon!

have a great day!

shelby g

Mini Dinosaur Update

We just got a new camera. A Canon EOS Rebel. It can take AMAZING photographs and 1080p film (finally, our B budget zombie flick will become a reality!). Perfect camera to capture our little chicks transformation from cute, fluffy babies to adolescent dinosaur-like creatures.  The chicks are about 3 weeks old now, feathering out nicely and developing their flying skills. They have taken to sitting on the water tower and/or flying across the brooder (they also attempt to fly out of the brooder). Our little one, named Leeloo (5th Element), is doing well, she is still the smallest of the birds, but she has started to get her tail feathers, so I assume she's healthy, but that she is the runt of the brood.

Barred Rock and token White Leghorn

Man and beast

ferociously devouring hard-boiled eggs

exotic chick, still not sure what he/she is

Carlie looking too fondly at the chicks

new dangling seed toy in the brooder

New foods they eat:
freeze dried meal worms
crickets
earth worms
fresh corn

We start the chicken coop today, since the chicks may grow too big over the next week to stay in the brooder!

Have a great Friday!

shelby g

10 miles to go on a 9 mile run

It's marathon week. On May 20th at 7am I will run my very first marathon.  You probably won't believe me, but I am excited to get out on the course and see how I hold up over 26.2 miles. Right now I am feeling a little achy, but this week is a very light taper week (only 9 miles to go) and for the next couple of days I am going to eat healthy proteins and some carbs and then on Thursday I'm going to start carbo loading like it's my job. 

If at all interested, which I can guarantee that only a few people would be interested in this, but a few weekends back my marathon training team (that sound professional!)  drove up to Sugarloaf, USA (a mere 3.5 hours away) to give the worst hills a trial run and also to videotape the course.   After the marathon, we are going to narrate the course and post it on youtube.  Seems a little weird..., but when looking for marathon resources, this was a resource that was seriously lacking.

interior camera and back up camera

Isaac and Luke installing the exterior roof camera (watch out google mapping!)

Here it is!!

It's kind of cool, because it gives the elevation of the hills.  As you can see, there are plenty of hills (but also a lot of downhill) and the landscape seems to change consistently.  Since it is rural Maine, there are a lot of trees and lakes, but it's broken up by gas stations and homes along with a nice river (named Dead River...foreshadowing?) running along the left side.  There are also some great spots for spectators, so if you are at all bored this weekend, come watch the race, all 3.5 hours of it. It'll be awesome!  Jeff will be out there taking a lot of photos, so expect lots of images to appear on Meanie Greene next week. Most will probably be of me with a grimace on my face, but I hope to smile once or twice, too.

Here's my running tune for the week.  Jim White again. Can't get enough of this guy. Yeh, it's a weird song, but I like the part in the beginning about the odometer.

happy monday!

shelby g

Chicken Whisperer

I wanted to update you all on my chickens. They are still all going strong, eating like crazy, and developing feathers and personalities with each day. They have started to set up a social hierarchy, which has been interesting to watch, but also makes me a little sad. There is one little chick that is much smaller than the rest and she doesn't get choice picks on any of the food because she has been deemed the timid/submissive chick by the rest of the group.  She waits until the feeding frenzy is over before she attempts to get food. While everyone is getting fatter, she seems to stay the same, although her feathers are finally starting to grow in. I try to get her extra food when I can, but I have read that singling out the weakest chicken will only set it up to get picked on in the future by the alpha hen. The weird thing about her, though, is that she is very aggressive when it comes to getting the meal worms that I hold out as treats.  While the whole brood stumbles over themselves for the worm, she leaps out of no where and runs off, peeping the whole time with worm in mouth.  So if she doesn't die, she'll be a scrappy hen, I bet!

I have started feeding them all kinds of treats. They are kind of obsessed with treats..., but at least it has allowed them to recognize my hand as the "momma-hand" so that every time I pop my hand in their brooder, they run towards it, peeping away.  They have also taken to jumping up on my hand if I hold it there long enough. One step closer to cuddling!

I've been feeding them a variety of treats, just to liven things up in the brooder.  The chicks are about 2 weeks old, so I did a bit of research before I gave them treats. And I also spoke with a local chicken farmer who said that when raised by their moms, they eat anything they can forage from day 1, so I figured anything that I gave them, in moderation, would be good for them. I also consulted a list I found on Backyard Chicken.

Here's what I am feeding them along with the crumble:

• organic Tide Mill (local farm) yogurt with crumble mixed in
• unsweetened applesauce with crumble mixed in
• strawberries
• bananas
• meal worms
• hard boiled eggs (they love these!!)
• whole wheat pasta
• a clump of lawn sod with dirt attached to serve as grit
• grass and dandelion clippings

Some of the food they didn't understand at first, because of the different consistency.  The first time I gave them applesauce, I just left it in a dish in their brooder.  They just ended up standing in it, which was hilarious, but not the function that it was suppose to have. I just mixed it up with crumble and they gobbled it down.  I'm really excited to get some crickets for them... I have heard that the cricket chase is pretty entertaining.

Anyway... remember when I use to write about sewing?  Someday I'll get back there, but for now I am obsessed with my little chicks!

happy friday!

shelby g

14 Little Chicks

And now there are fourteen little chicks peeping away in the upstairs bathroom. No, I didn't kill off 26 fluffy chicks, they were all delivered (successfully!) to their homes, eighteen to a local farmer, eight to my sister.  So how did we end up with so many chicks when we were only planning on ten? A few extra chicks were thrown into the mix before shipping just in case of death (plus the "mystery chick" added an extra one).
That's ok, though.  I really do love these little babes.  It's fun to watch them grow..., since receiving them on Monday they already have wing feathers and they are starting to get tail feathers. So cute.

see the "mystery chick" with a light brown body and dark markings!

hope your Friday is filled with fluffy, cute, animals!

shelby g

3 years

Look Photography

Look Photography

Look Photography

Look Photograph

Look Photograph

Look Photography

Look Photography

Look Photography

Look Photography (Harry's "Poke Face" Dance)

Happy Anniversary to my dear husband!  Can't believe that it has been three years since our crazy wedding. Is it cliche to say that I love you more every day? Probably..., but I do!

have a great day!

shelby g