Inspiration for home and garden
It was love at first sight. At first glance our foyer was open, airy, and had a gorgeous curved staircase. (It also was disgustingly dirty and had about 10 yrs of soot caked on it -- but that's a story for another day!) The staircase is one of my favorite things about our house. The … Continue reading Black Staircase Railing, DIY
We have many predators in our area including fox, coyote, racoons, and even the occasional bear. But we have never had any issues with them interacting with our chickens, until 2 days ago. This past Saturday was my sons 6th birthday party and as the festivities died down it happened. My chickens were attacked by a … Continue reading Hawk attack!
December came, the days got shorter and my hens all stopped laying! It happened overnight and I was horrified that I would have to buy STORE BOUGHT eggs. Luckily my superstars -- Cybil and Rosie -- continued to lay. But I was lucky to get one egg a day which would not do! I eat two … Continue reading Breakfast for Chickens
When I chose the breeds of chicken that I wanted to raise many factors came into play. My top priorities: Cold/winter tolerant Temperament and friendliness Rate of egg laying (at least 4-5/wk) Egg color (I wanted a colorful egg basket) It was also important they all look different so my kids could tell them apart … Continue reading Chicken Breeds & Egg Color
I was bored one day and home with a sick boy so I decided to paint the exterior doors the same color as the chicken coop -- Egg Yolk yellow! I started on the back door in case it went terribly wrong. The doors were a brick red and I knew it would take several … Continue reading Yellow Front Door
Another very easy project that requires very few supplies. 1x6x8 piece of hardwood (I used poplar) small can of stain and cheap paintbrush Sharpie number stencils First, I lightly sanded the wood and stained it. I drew the measurements on with pencil and traced the numbers on using the stencils. I traced over the lines and … Continue reading Big Ruler Height Chart
Once summer was over and the fall air set in I decided it was time to harvest the leftover herbs for winter meals and projects. I had a lot more Rosemary and Mint than I would ever use in cooking so I decided to make Soy candles for Christmas presents. VERY easy project! For one candle … Continue reading Rosemary & Mint Soy Candle
In preparation for my first flock of chicks I built this brooder. I had no idea what to expect or how fast they would grow but this was quite sufficient for the first 3 weeks. I searched for the largest tote I could find and settled on a Rubbermaid 54 gal tote. I cut the … Continue reading DIY Chick Brooder
My chickens don't love the snow. They tolerate the cold rather well but the snow turns them off. They don't like to walk in it at all. This was the first snow they ever saw and not one set foot in it. They stayed on the only grassy area that was left under the big … Continue reading Chickens & Winter
It's important to have a dry, rodent proof storage container to store chicken feed but I also wanted it to look nice. So I came up with this: The metal trash can is completely rodent proof but I've read it can leach metals into the chicken feed so the plastic trash can serves as a … Continue reading Chicken Feed Storage