Back & forth + Duck soup

I candled the remaining three eggs last night (I removed #4 yesterday morning–it had a hole but was still and starting to get whiffy), and Pollyanna though I am, I have to admit that only the blindest optimist would still have any hope. Two of them are clearly kaput. And yet (see above) I let her sit on them last night “just in case.” Just in case what? Just in case the duck fairy flies in with her magic wand and turns the clumpy blobs of goo back into a duck embryo? Ugh. Truth be told, they also cooled much more quickly than the should have when I took them out from under Zoe. Clearly duds. And yet. The last one had the right shape, but no motion. So either it was sleeping (ahem), or it’s also a non-duck.

So what happened between Sunday, when they were all alive and kicking, and today, when they should all be hatching? Grant pointed out that since two hatched out on Tuesday (and one of those had pipped Monday night), maybe that’s when any that were going to hatch should have hatched. Which is a good point. Anyway, I’ve all but given up. I mean, really, I have completely given up, but I’ll wait until tonight to take Zoe’s eggs. I think I’ll put her in the permanent coop with the other girls for a slumber party, then move everyone back to the summer coop until after the pinhole camera show, when I’ll sort out what to do with the fence situation.

The fence situation is this: with the perimeter fence finished (and the unfinished courtyard frame temporarily blocked with cattle panels), I’m not nervous about the sheep, and I’m using the portable electric as a pasture boundary without worrying about the mad overgrowth rendering it pretty much shockless. The sheep are accustomed to the fence and respect it even when it’s cool. However, I don’t expect the chickens to be cordoned in by those big, enticing open squares that they could easily pop right through. Even if it was hot, I’m not sure it would contain them, since there’s only one shock per second. If they’re startled by the shock, they’d be more apt to go forward than backward.

So what I should probably do is just let them do their thing and range with the sheep, popping in and out through the fence at will. Or I could be more fastidious about the fence and actually weed around it like I was before so it would stay hot. I suspect the chickens will learn to avoid it almost as quickly as the sheep.

Last night, I was all bummed about the candling results, so instead of working, I watched the new Mad Men and did some consolation knitting, which also involved some frogging. I ripped back the bottom of the Rhinebeck sweater several inches, because I decided the hip increase was too severe. I’ll probably add one more increase, more widely spaced, and knit down so I have about 4 inches total additional length. The sleeves are extra long and have a 1″ rolled hem with a purl border. I toyed with other hems, but I think the rolled hem fits the over-long sleeves nicely, so I’ll be doing the same thing along the bottom. The problem is that I don’t think I want a rolled hem on the hood, so I’m not sure how to finish the hood. It needs to be equally simple. The yarn has enough color and texture that I don’t really want any competing stitches. I guess I could use the same border from the hood on the kangaroo pocket… Or maybe I’ll change my mind and rework the sleeve hem. I should really swatch a few options…

Bleh.