2011 Chicken People Meet/Bonfire/Camp Out Synopsis
Dateline......North/Central Illinois August 20th..........(insert ticker tape sound here).........
The weather report was no rain and sunshine to passing sprinkles. The house was ready, the grounds were ready, outdoor furniture was waiting OUTDOORS!, The tractors and vehicles had been moved out of the garage and covered with tarps, The raffle grand prizes had been assembled the gifts from our sponsors were laid out artfully across a table the night before and were waiting in the garage to go out into the sun, which alas, refused to shine. August 20th started out a cloudy day, which by 8 AM was pouring rain. The ground was getting softer the more hours it rained. Praying it would stop, but it would not. Its OK I thought to myself We can move the whole thing indoors.
We had raffles and more raffles. Our 3 grand prize winners were Zoo357 and 2 members of NotAFarms group.
Our smaller raffle prizes made sure that no one left empty handed. There were Chicken Greens Seed Packets donated by MY Pet Chicken. Happy Hens Treats and Rooster Clocks donated by Randal Burkey. Magazines, subscriptions and free issue bonuses donated by Back Yard Poultry. Educational books donated by Smith Poultry Supply. GFMs donated by BYC. Coolers, Tools, Gripping Gloves and Thermometer/Hydrometers donated by Farmtek. A feedbag purse made by dmccann donated by ParadiseFoundFarm.
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Our guests started arriving and they brought the sunshine with them! A nicer bunch of people has never been assembled. Every person who came made you want to be his or her best friend even the all perfectly behaved (not a typo) children!
Jerry SE brought some of the most beautiful birds. There were LF lavenders, Bantam Lavenders and a Brown-Red Bantam Cock just the prettiest thing I had ever seen. A Lavender hen with barring.
Lavender LF Ameraucanna and Bantam Lavendars and a Brown/Red Ameraucanna cock were on display from JerrySE along with an unusually pretty Lavender LF hen with unique barring on her wings found herself a new home with Pat (no BYC handle yet), our new friend who came with Not-A-Farm. She was so pretty she had to go home with a new Mommy. Having now seen the Lavenders in person, I must say I totally understand the thrill this new color is sending through the ranks of Ameraucanna Fans.
6 Chickens St Charles arrived and curiously had some sort of yarn thing in her hand she was twisting and manipulating. Later she presented it to me. A perfectly matched to my indoor colors wash towel she had knitted on the way here while here DH (fun dude) and 3 DS (more perfect children youd never meet).
NotAFarm arrived, and with her, she brought the party! There was little Katie (< 1 year old), children, friends, family and her! She brought a lot of food and made herself comfortable in the house, then later outdoors as the rain had stopped. Her laughter was contagious! You could tell she is organized and in charge. What a woman! Strong, statuesque, and constantly smiling.
Patti (no BYC handle yet) came to share some laughs a learn about all Fowl Things. Thanks to Zoo357 for finding her right in our back yard. They were a great addition.
Bluebird finally arrived with the big trailer. By that time the sun had come out fully and we were looking for some shade away from the house as JerrySEs bird were drawing flys in the undercover shade we had been congregating at. The trailer made the perfect shade and we moved one picnic table and umbrella to lengthen the area.
Zoo357 and BirdBrain came and were ready for a party! They know more than they let on about birds.
Our food was wonderful! Every One brought more than was needed so no one went hungry. It looked professionally catered. There was lots of variety. Next year lets put a sign on the dishes stating who made them. Perhaps we can ask that recipes be brought so we can enjoy those tasty treats before we meet again. Conversation got the better of our 2 cooks though, and a whole batch of brats were blackened into charcoal briquettes that even the dogs would not eat. Good thing we had plenty.
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Around dusk we started moving the party out to the bonfire area. We all pitched in to move chairs and coolers. The pile was wet from the mornings deluge but the ground was dry for us. After a slow start, the fire reached 30 + feet high and sent beautiful sparkling embers skyward. Conversations abounded and chicken people and non-chicken people shared laughs, conversation and tips. (Did you know that you could kill weeds safely by putting vinegar into a watering can and sprinkling it over them?) After a few hours out there, we were forced back undercover due to the rain coming back into the area.
We played games in the open garages and conversed until it was way too late for early risers to still be up. Mark & I said goodnight to our guest and went indoors to clean up the kitchen area for the mornings coffee clutch. There was not much to do as I suspect NotAFarm had done most of it when I wasnt looking.
We all want to do this again. Lets start making plans. We can make this a traveling show, using another farm (with camping facilities available) next year, or Paradise Found can host again. Together, over the BYC forum, phone calls, PMs and E-mails we got most of the bugs worked out even before this one started and the next one, we will all be smarter and more experienced. Does any one want to offer their farm? Lets set a date.
I will be editing this to add more BYC handles and pictures asoon as I can - Dad is back in hospital this morning and I will have my hands full this week.
