How could you not love a face like this? This is Minnie, just one of our rescued shelter chickens.
She is, quite simply, hilarious. She knows we are good for treats everytime we come outside, so she will come running at full speed, all her flockmates trying to keep up. She was found wandering the streets of Lawrence, and if you met Minnie this would not suprise you at all...she is the one we find off visiting the neighbors, in the front garden, coming over to visit as I work in the yard...she is just a little chicken bursting with personality. She figures into the story later.
This is just one of her friends, Ms. Figg. They both came to us by way of the
MSPCA at Nevins Farm. People often think of adopting cats and dogs, or even rabbits, from the SPCA, but many have units where they adopt "farm" animals...chickens, goats, sheep, llamas, cows, horses, and more.
So to get on with the story, we have a flock of 16 rescue chickens and 2 peacocks. The peacocks are not as friendly as the chickens, but they are very protective of the flock, and whenever they think there is danger, the first thing we hear is the alarm call of Bluepea (pronounced Bloo-py)and Snowpea.
So one evening, a couple days before vacation, I heard a very alarmed call from Snowpea. I got up to look for him and saw him in the front yard, obviously in distress, flying low and screeching. As I ran out, I finally caught a glimpse of his attacker, a coyote. The coyote ran away, with so many white feathers in his mouth that I thought he had run away with Minnie- I was just devastated. Carl checked the flock, and thankfully, Minnie, as well as everyone else was safe and sound...we were so relieved! That is, until then the neighbor told us he could see the lifeless form of Snowpea in the woods.
Carl made his way thorough the underbrush, and although he was still, Snowpea was panting, and very much alive. We bundled him up in a towel and brought him to a dark place in the house to calm down. Just the fact that he allowed himself to be picked up by us was worrisome, this is not a bird that loves humans. Shockingly, he had no visible wounds, although he was terrified and had huge clumps of feathers ripped out, which we knew must be excruitiating for him. He also did not want to put any weight on one leg. Since he is happiest with the flock, we calmed him down, put everyone in the coop for the night, and hoped that a nights rest would be the best thing.
Unfortunately, the next day was no better, so off he went to the vet. Several hours and a steroid shot for the pain and swelling later, we were sent home to hope for the best. We set up a small "recovery pen" as part of the coop, so he could be with the flock, but was in easy reach of food and water. We arranged for his daily care while we were away, and hoped there would be some improvement by the time we returned.
Happily, it seems to have worked! Snowpea is back with his girls as of today, and though he is hobbling, he is much better. The first good sign was that he fought the whole time I tried to check him out. Hopefully it is just a matter of time until he is back to his normal, skittish, contrary self....just the way we like him.
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Life is good by the seashore, and we tend to have a lot of ocean theme cakes. Here are a few cute recent ones. The first one was a donation for a
Piers Park Sailing Center fundraiser, a great non-profit group that "uses Boston Harbor and the seas beyond to provide year-round recreational, educational, and personal growth opportunities for people of all ages and abilities" They are very nice folks, were very patient with me since I was so busy it took me days to return phone calls, and I hope they raised oodles of dough! (hey, dough, get it? Cake, dough....oh forget it.) The next one is a rehersal dinner cake for a couple who also got married this past weekend (Congrats Christy and Jed!), I haven't downloaded the wedding pics yet, but I love this one with the chairs and flip flops - which, incidentally, they gave out as favors at the wedding! The next one is not necessarily "beachy", it is Bruce from Finding Nemo....that involves and ocean, right? I needed an excuse to add him, because I just love him, his teeth make me laugh. On a completely unrelated note, someone shared this link with me today, it is a blog called
Cake Wrecks. I laughed, I gasped (oh, you will know at which one when you see it) and I doubled over in laughter. You can thank me later for the link. Stay cool kids.
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Even though I am slacking off on this blog, it is only because how busy this wedding season has been!
So I will have to pick out just some of my favorite photos of the last couple weeks, off of only one of our cameras. My computer is evidently in a fight with my other camera, my computer tells me it is "not communicating" :( Sadly, until they make up, I can't get at my other pics.
So we will start with this cake, which is based on the Rock Band video game guitar...this cake was actually a few months ago, I didn't realize I never shared the picture!
A grooms cake from this last weekend, of Wrigley Field
And to the left, a just lovely cupcake display - I think my favorite of all time
A pretty little pentagon cake,
with flower appliques and
sugar paste cymbidium orchids
A jack in the box, I think he is just adorable
And last, but not least, a simple but pretty cake, this one happens to be gluten-free too, and I love the colors
And one additional photo, of my greatest creation ever- my Jr. baker CJ, and my great (as she will tell you,
GREAT) Aunt Ruth. We took advantage of a recent weekend to scoot out to upstate NY and annoy her, and she was lovely enough to pretend she enjoyed having us. Thanks again, we can't wait to come back!!!!
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I just finished your cake :) I really like it, so I had to share.Have a wonderful wedding tonight, and a long and happy marriage!
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I know a lot of you were disappointed that we were not able to make it to Veg Fest last year, and I have been fielding a ton of emails asking if we will be there this year. Mark your calenders kids - we will be back at Veg Fest this year!
If you have never heard of it, or never been, it is a free festival jam packed with all sorts of veg vendors and groups, tons of free samples, great speakers, and an all around great day. Check out
the Boston Vegetarian Society link for more info.
We are planning on the usual assortment of vegan goodies, cake by the slice in several flavors, biscotti, muffins, our famous SCARY GHOST COOKIES (hoooooooooooooooo - that is my scary ghost sound, fyi) and maybe a few more goodies as time allows. As we have in years past, there will be a few gluten free items as well.
So plan on it, and make sure you come by to say hi!
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Read More Posts From Bakin' with the Hippie Chick
She is, quite simply, hilarious. She knows we are good for treats everytime we come outside, so she will come running at full speed, all her flockmates trying to keep up. She was found wandering the streets of Lawrence, and if you met Minnie this would not suprise you at all...she is the one we find off visiting the neighbors, in the front garden, coming over to visit as I work in the yard...she is just a little chicken bursting with personality. She figures into the story later.
This is just one of her friends, Ms. Figg. They both came to us by way of the MSPCA at Nevins Farm. People often think of adopting cats and dogs, or even rabbits, from the SPCA, but many have units where they adopt "farm" animals...chickens, goats, sheep, llamas, cows, horses, and more. 
Working...