Our 1940s house’s bathroom and mudroom This timeline of the project doesn’t account for the daily, sometimes multiple trips through out the summer to Home Depot, Lowes, OSH, or the mom and pop hardware store around the corner. I think they will all know me on a first name basis when we are finally finished. Late June Well, the week after school got out for summer, we broke out the tools and removed the paneling and dry wall to see…
Back in early February 2011, my neighbor and I split an assortment of 2 day old bantam straight run cochin chicks. Her kids came over in the evening to select the 5 cochins they wanted out of the 15 to choose from. I already had plenty of friendly hens at the time, so I wasn’t too particular what i ended up with. I, well Lady Cluck, got the 10 remaining cochin chicks. A day later, I noticed one of Lady…
Apparently, I am not the only one who has noticed the sweet aroma of ripening concord grapes recently. Each day over the last week, there have been a few more missing and scattered grapes under the vines. The chickens like getting to clean up fallen fruit, but we need to figure out what is stealing our grapes. The Concord grapes smell of sweet grape soda outside our bedroom every night, so I know it is finally ready for harvesting, that,…
A big concern for many chicken owners is dogs, especially their own. Pet dogs are probably the number one predator that kills chickens. A backyard chicken can look like a fun toy to play with to most dogs, especially when the chickens are spooked. My dog was probably no exception. He is a bird dog by nature. He is obsessed with squirrels, has caught wild birds before, and I have to keep a careful eye on him when we…
All the chicks arrived alive and well early this morning. When I ordered over the phone on the day of shipment, I asked the hatchery if they could make a note that Cochins are my favorite breed. I doubt most of Ideal’s bantam assortments are this Cochin heavy, but boy was I tickled when I saw how many Cochins they sent. Here’s what showed up in my Ideal Poultry “Special” Bantam Assortment: 1 Blue or Self Blue Cochin 3 Black…
After 6 weeks of hoping Penguin would stop sitting and brooding, I am giving in. She really is a good mama hen, so I don’t mind letting her raise chicks, but the timing isn’t the best of us. We just recently started remodeling our 1/2 bath into a full bath, so I am kind of busy. However, Penguin is starting to feel a little thin, despite making her get off her nest to eat and drink once a day. I…
After 14+ years of talking about it, there is no turning back. We tore out the floor, walls, and avocado green sink in our home’s addition in 1971 of a half 1/2 bath and bare laundry room. It is our huge summer project of changing the bathroom into a full bath, opening the adjoining wall to our bedroom, and then adding badly needed storage in the laundry room/mud room. We are working within the existing footprints of the spaces….
When it comes to grapes, I have to choose carefully what varieties I plant because we don’t have the best growing conditions for most of the commonly sold wine and table grapes. At the time, based on the Sunset Western Garden Book’s grape varieties that are supposed to be good in zone 22, I planted Flame grape in 2001 or 2002, but had been having problems with mildew plaguing it almost every year since. I wanted to find a different…
One of the many badges my Junior troop worked on this year was Prints and Graphics. It recommends the girls make their own stamp by using something like a potato. I was never a fan of stamping with a carved potato and it only lasts for a few hours before it looks gross. I came up with an alternative simple method for the girls to make their own stamps that are reusable. I used scrap wood and cut it into…
“Chickens are farm animals, not pets.” I should make myself repeat that 3 times a day until I convince myself of it. But it is hard for me to keep that in mind. I enjoy having the hens follow me around the yard as I garden. They come up and look to me for treats, just like the dog. They come when I call them “chook, chook, chook.” Penguin and Miss Prissy (formerly Greasy Chicken) both hop on my lap…