It's that time again: my 3rd chicken coop tour.

Any time before May of 2011, I never would have imagined myself saying this phrase:

On Saturday, I went on a walking tour of neighborhood chicken coops for the third time.

For me, one Saturday of my summer will always be devoted to thee Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association's Tour Des Coops. In Madison, it's legal to keep up to 4 chickens in a backyard, and local residents just love showing off their coops.

The Jones family (aka Scott, Elysha, Abby, and Clementine) and I took a leisurely walk down the bike path to get to the tour, which was smaller this year (only 6 homes). But still, I had the usual goal: snuggle a chicken.

Commemorative artwork from the 2011 Tour Des Coops (my first visit).

It didn't take us long to find some fresh eggs. 

And it also didn't take long for me to make a friend: Kuna, a 2-year-old Australorp chicken:

Kuna was quite talkative and did a lot of clucking.

Pretty girl, eh?

She had just finished laying this egg. Nice one, Kuna!

She lived in a well-decorated coop with some friends, like this gal.

Abby (a chicken coop rookie) had a great time feeding Kuna and her friends.

And soon, we were off to more coops! 

These 3 identical chickens stuck together, so I bonded with their cat instead.

Big Red posed while enjoying a snack.

It was getting pretty hot, so after our chicken coop fix, we grabbed some snacks at the Willy Street Co-Op and headed home via Jenifer Street. Of course, this meant walking by Andrea's house and seeing her latest sidewalk creation:

Ryan Gosling and a dog in sidewalk chalk: picture perfect.

As always, never a dull moment.

For my first Ryan Gosling chalk post, click here.

For my recap of the 2012 Tour Des Coops, click here.

For my recap of the 2011 Tour Des Coops, click here.

Unusual things I've seen in Madison: part 4, Ryan Gosling in chalk.

I stopped by my friend Andrea's house last Wednesday and wound up finding yet another unusual thing in Madison.

Sighting #6: Ryan Gosling in chalk on a Jenifer St. driveway.

Drawn by Andrea Miller, Hannah Stern, Nina Reynolds, and Veronica Sandoval
(photo by Veronica, of Paper Robot Design)

Andrea is a metal sculptor and a high school art teacher. In an effort to inspire her students while studying portraiture, she recruited her neighbors to help her bring Ryan Gosling to life in their driveway. The result is at once lovely and humorous (I think Andrea did a particularly good job on the eyes).

Never a dull moment!
For more of Andrea's work, click here.
For more of Veronica's work, click here.
For an amusing Ryan Gosling Tumblr, click here.

Art fairs on (and off) the square.

At knitting group, I found out that the annual Art Fair On The Square was happening downtown. While I'm not much of an art buff, it sounded like a fun (and free) opportunity to check out a wide variety of art.

I ventured out to the square and enjoyed browsing the entire fair.

John Petrey is an artist who focuses on themed dress sculptures made from a variety of materials. Here are two of my favorite pieces from his display:

Playing card-themed dress sculpture.

Dress sculpture made from 1960's shoe tags.

An artist with a lot of visitors at the fair was Michael Gard. Michael makes wire sculptures, focusing on human forms. Here are some of my favorite pieces from his display:

When I told my coworker Erika that I was going to the fair, she recommended that I also visit Art Fair Off The Square, located right off Capitol Square. Art Fair Off The Square focuses specifically on local artists. I explored this fair as well, which featured a stilt walker, food vendors, and many artists.

My favorite display at this part of the fair was Jim Sauer's sculpture exhibit, which featured funky anthropomorphic animals:

A frog on a laptop, of course!

Mama and baby kangaroos playing a tuba!

Days like this reassure me that I was right to live downtown. I wanted to be near the action and excitement. Today, the fun was 2 blocks from home.