Mixed impressions from Vimmerby last week, when my last book talk at the library was finished.

(PS. 8 chickens! DS)

At this very moment, one egg after another is hatching in front of our eyes. The small and exhausted chickens peck themselves out of the egg shells, rest for a little while and then start to clamber around inside the incubator, eagerly squeaking while moving closer towards each other. From yesterday evening we have heard peeps inside of the eggs. Now there are 4 chickens looking fine and healthy, and we are impatiently waiting for more. It is fascinating to see the chickens crawl out. In an hour from leaving the empty shell they are dry and fluffy and very, very cute!

(Vad har hänt med radavståndet i nya Blogger? Radavstånd, var tog du vägen??? Saknar dig.)

For 7 days I´m out on a project called Lässurr. It´s a yearly book project where I have the possibility to visit schools all around Småland. I meet the young readers who have been working with my book Tänk om... for many weeks. Early mornings and bus-rides in sun, rain and hailstorms. Intense and inspiring days! (The first photo is borrowed from the home page of Hultsfreds kommun, from an earlier year of Lässurr. The other pictures are work made by children in Kristdala. Animals from my book. Nice, aren't they! PS. The pig moves its legs when pulling the curly tail!)

Uppercase magazine. (#12 article about me, written by Elisabeth Dunker, #13 article about Ingela P Arrhenius written by me.)

Cheryl Sorg and Mike Reigelman, both via Uppercase Gallery (and Shedworking.)

En bok för alla som tecknar. Eller en bok för alla människor som älskar bilder. Eller en bok för alla... människor! Claes Jurander skriver. Och ritar. Tänkvärt och ROLIGT om hur man ser och upplever bild. Och om hur det går till när man ritar. Till exempel en häst. Gidlunds heter förlaget som gett ut. Jag blir så lycklig av att det finns böcker som den här!
............
Book (in Swedish) written and illustrated by artist Claes Jurander.

Yesterday we brought our sprillans new fluoroscopic egg lamp down to the incubator in the basement, lifted the cover, picked an egg up and COULD SEE THROUGH THE SHELL! We saw the blood vessels, and inside each egg a small spidery dark spot that, according to the brochure that came with the incubator, had to be the one-week-old chicken itself. It was indeed a David Attenboroughish moment (but impossible to catch with my camera)! And waiting is now, if possible, yet more eager. A strange thing though, is that there is a big difference, mentally, between the way we look at the eggs we everyday bring from the hen house in to the refrigerator (eggs we will eat) and the eggs we very carefully brought to the incubator. The same kind of eggs, but the knowledge that these last-mentioned ones might have a future as chickens made them feel like real treasures. But all eggs are treasures, I think. True miracles.

PS. Only a fertilized egg contains the beginning of a chicken. Eggs from hens held in factories are not fertilized, as the industrial hens never meet a rooster. (Drawings atop by me.)

On Sunday we put 19 eggs in the incubator, and then poured some water into the small watertank and turned the motor on. Now and then we run down to the basement to check the temperature and keep an eye on the machine. 21 days (from Sunday April 1) we will do this while waiting. And we keep our fingers crossed that everything will go well. (The nice sign, by the way, is from Järna, close to the café.)

On Friday evening, at the National Library of Sweden, it was the opening of the exhibition Svensk Bokkonst 2011 and also the prize ceremony for the rewarded books. Me, Ingamaj and Jakob was there.

Juryns skrev så här om INGAMAJ: En ljuvlig liten bok med en inte alls insmickrande historia om livets logik och tragik. Utmärkt tekniskt utförande i ett tilltalande format. En skön men tragisk liten bokpärla.

Tack, Svensk Bokkonst!

We have bought ourselves an incubator. Hopefully in three weeks there will be chickens! But at this point a lot of things seem uncertain. Are the collected eggs fertilized? Have they been stored under the best of conditions while waiting for going in to the incubator? Will the thermostat work? Will the automatic egg rotator manage to imitate the care of a tender mother hen?
We have learned that the first step is to collect newly laid eggs, keep them in a cool place with the tip down for at least a day, maximum a week, put them all together inside the incubator... and wait. On Sunday we will turn on the machine. And then the waiting-part will start! (The last two photos from last year, when the children in school took care of extremely newborn chickens.)

I like this (Swedish) magazine. Trädgårdsliv. Always a lot to read and to get inspired by. In the latest issue you can read about Villa Augustus in Dordrecht, The Netherlands. (More photos here.) I'd like to go there.

New in my shop: my latest book Vad har du bakom ryggen?