Chicks Co-op Garden

Cheryl and I finally got to plant in our loaned garden. Let me tell you their soil is wonderful. I have'nt had my hands in that good of dirt in many years. We did spend a couple hours putting in onions, corn, bush beans, beets, lettuce, chard and radish. I would say that we had a pretty productive day. We will plant more in couple of weeks as there is still chance of frost until June.

I've Done It!

I bought a 1965 Aristocrat LoLiner. It is gonna need a lot of cleaning and minor repair but nothing that hopefully I can't handle. It can sleep 3-4 people so my friends will be able to go with me. I have been so looking for one since seeing them in MJ's magazine and thinking how fun it would be to fix one up all pink and shabby chic where no men are allowed. :) A summer project it will be, but none the less a fun one. I've even been collecting goodies to put into it for sometime now. Nothing like planning ahead. Only now my husband will be asking "where did you get that?". And that's where I'll reply with, "oh honey I've had this for a long time." Well off to start the cleaning.

Chicks are moved in

Been awhile since I've been here. Finally got the chickens moved in and today is the first day my new baby chicks went out in the yard with the older girls. O'Henry, my rooster, is sure lovin' the newbies. He makes a noise cooing them to him and struts and fluffs up real pretty. Today it got a little warmer where I finally got 5 eggs. Out of 8 hens laying, not too bad. Tomorrow I may have to mow as since it has rained so much the last few days the grass is pretty tall. My garden is full of weeds so that will need to get done, then there's the gate I still need to build to finish off the last of the fencing down below. Guess as the weather gets nicer, I will be quite busy.

Coop is Finished!

After finishing the gates and the fencing and cement all I had to do was move the chickens to their new coop. Two at a time I finally got them all down there. Then within 15 minutes they managed to find a hole in the fence I did'nt know was there, and they went wondering the property. So here I am with a stick in hand trying to herd them back into their yard. I am so pooped I'm ready for a hot bath. I have been at this since 8:30 this morning. Anyway I hope my hens will be much happier on the southern exposure. If I do say so myself I think it turned out just the way I had pictured it would.

Busy Days

I have been so busy the last few days. Took my little Onyx in to have her ears done and spayed. Poor little thing cries something awful to be let out of her cage to play, so I hold her and rock her until she sleeps or she plays with a toy while I am holding her. Just a few more days before she can chase the cat again.
Spent Monday at Cheryl's house helping plant a few things in the garden. We are having some really nice weather for a change.
Put down cement on some of my posts yesterday for my fences and today got a gate built for the chicken fence. A little more cement to support some of their area and they will be ready to move in. I can't wait to let my little Silky sit on her eggs and hope for new little babies. My other newbies are doing very well but are quite anxious to get out and see the world.
Tonight Cheryl and her husband are coming out so we can go and trap them a rooster. Found several at a neighbors who is more than willing to part with a few. This ought to be fun. Guess I better bring the camera.

Lunch and crafting

Today the girls came out to my house for a chance to do some more on our journal and we met a new gal, Terry, who is interested in what we are doing as a group. We had lunch and talked while some worked on postcards and pages for the journal. I did get our aprons made for all the gals so we could wear them to our next monthly meeting in town. I met with Cheryl and another gal, Yvette, yesterday who seems to really like the outdoors and is thinking about possibly joining our group. We are getting anxious about our garden but our weather is still too cold for planting much. Until then we are getting to know one another and seeing what everyone enjoys doing or would like to do together. Of course my little Onyx had to make her place amongst everyone and chew on everything she could get in her mouth before she got caught. She loved the ladies attention for sure.

Attitude adjustment

I needed my head examined to say yes to my dh for wanting a new puppy. I have'nt raised one in almost twelve years. Let me tell you, its like having a baby in the house. Always wanting attention, cleaning up after their potties, not getting enough sleep. Then there's the putting everything up out of its reach and making sure the wrong things are'nt put in her mouth. And let me tell you, she is training me soooo well. She is a gal with an attitude for sure.

She lets you know when she wants rocked, when she wants you to play with her and now her new thing is run out the door as soon as she hears it open. Boy, with all this going on, I should be losing weight, would'nt you think? Who needs Pilates?

Building a Chicken Coop

The last few days my dh and I have been working on getting our coop going. With the weather still getting chilly it is taking longer than it should. Yesterday I built the roost by myself and today I built the nesting boxes. They were quite a bit more difficult to do by myself. Can't wait until the house is done. I know the chickens are sure gonna like it. It will be in a much nicer location for them, plus I can pop my head out the back door and watch them. It's off to town tomorrow to pick up a little more plywood since I used some of it for the nests. Maybe dh won't notice.

Banana Nut Bread

Today I needed to use up my old bananas so did the next best thing and made my ex mother-in-laws Banana Nut Bread recipe. It is really moist and delicious which makes it my favorite one. Thought I'd share it with you all. Enjoy.

Banana Nut Bread

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

3 bananas (ripe)

2 eggs

3/4 cup nuts (optional)

Mix dry ingred. together and set aside. Cream together sugar and shortening, then add bananas and eggs. mix well, stir in flour mix and add nuts. Lightly grease loaf pan and bake in 350 degree oven for 55 minutes.

My little princess

You know I just had to get something pink for my new baby. She's a little fiesty booger, just too darn cute not to love her. I'm certainly not use to anything this small except when I was about 13 and had a pet hamster. How the heck do you train something this small and wound up? Guess its off to training school after all her shots. Oh well she still had to have a few new toys. Just to keep up appearances and all.

First day of Spring

It is so beautiful outside. I could sit out here for hours and soak up the sun, think of all the things I need to do , dream of all the things I'd like to do and just do nothing at all. Now this is living.

Hen house

Well the girls got some sunshine today. Sure helps with the egg laying. I got 6 yesterday. Four of the Buff baby chicks are mine and the others are Cheryl's. They just got some wing feathers on them. They're so cute and doing really well. We'll both have lots of eggs this year. My hubby sells ours at his work to several of the guys. Saving my egg money for the BBB trip. Have'nt started on the new coop yet, still need more sunshine. Hopefully within the next couple weeks.

Repurposed rake head

I picked up another rake head for Cheryl as she liked this idea I had found sometime ago and hung on my wall. It's just another way of repurposing an old rake. Little country charm.

Home pics

Okay, since Cheryl put it out there that I actually have a home (hee hee), I figured I'd better place a couple pics of it here. Just know that it is still a work in progress as coming from a much larger home to here (which is only 1000 sq ft), I'm still figuring out storage space. But it is my humble abode and I love it.

My second apron

Finished my 2nd apron with some vintage and new fabrics just for fun. I think I will keep looking for more vintage materials to play around with. My mind is on a roll for all the different things I'd like to try and make. And it is nice to be wearing an apron again instead of staining every top I put on. Why did I ever stop wearing one?

Wedding Ring Quilt

I picked up this quilt at an estate sale last weekend. I only paid $15 for it. What a bargain. I took the advice of some farmgirls on MJ's forum and hand washed it in the bathtub this morning and hung it on the line. Boy was that a workout to haul it outside to hang. Isn't it beautiful? It looks just like the one that was given to me many years ago and was lost in my many moves. It is all hand stitched with beautifully spaced stitches. It must have taken quite some time to finish. It does make me want to sew a quilt. Someday maybe.......

Bath salts

Yesterday Cheryl and I went and learned how to make our own bath salts. It was much easier than I thought and there are so many different blends you could make. I also brought home Cheryl's and my baby chicks. They are doing really well this morning. It is cold outside here to day but their room is a toasty 70. Now if only we could get more spring weather so I could begin on their new hen house. Instead I have stayed inside and made another apron only this is a full apron. Also showing my granddaughter how to sew a dress for her school project. She may be teaching me a thing or two.

Meet our newest addition

My husband got a bright idea Sunday to adopt another dog, only this one is a house dog. He has always wanted a minpin and we have only had Labs. So guess who gets up all hours of the night and has to do all the dirty work. I am not use to anything so small. I only hope I survive the training of the next few weeks to come. Her name is Onyx and she's purebred Mini Doberman Pincher. She's a little pistol. Other than being sleep deprived she's so cute to watch do dog stuff. I can't say my cat is too crazy about her. I think he thinks she's a big rat. So long as he does'nt try to catch her I guess they'll become buddies.

My great thrift find

I picked up my thrift find today. It is a 1910 Singer treadle sewing machine. I will be going to the July BBB and will be bringing this along to barter. Looking forward to a lot of fun and finding lots of great finds there.

Laundry Soap making.....

So I asked myself, self, what are you going to do today? And looks like today was the perfect day for making laundry soap. Yep, I gave it a try and have a load in the wash as I speak. The only thing I will be doing differently is that I will be investing in a food processor (used of course). I really love how it smells and can't wait to see how it turns out. Hmmmm....what will I find to do next?