Chicken Coop for the Soul

It started with a dog house and a wooden crate.  I was determined to turn them into a chicken coop and in 4 hours, I did just that.

And it cost me nothing.  I used materials we already had on hand.

My oldest was my right hand man on the job.  Here we are at the beginning of the project.

Here's the finished product!  (I may paint it since we don't have the chickens, yet.)  The kiddos were inside the pen pretending to be chickens.  The coop is just large enough to accommodate 4 hens.

The project started off well.  I was surprised at how well it was coming together.  Mounting the crate to the side of the dog house properly really intimidated me.  I hit a major snag when the one side of the crate proved too rotten to hold screws.  As I tried to shore it up, the whole back, top and side fell to pieces.  It turned into a blessing in disguise because after rebuilding the rotted out pieces, I was able to make the top of the box removable for easy egg collecting.  The crate made two perfectly sized nesting boxes.  The next intimidating thing was making the door.  Thankfully, it came together so well, so quickly, I was surprised.  

This is likely going to be a temporary coop.  We're still hoping for a barn down back which will house the rabbits, chickens, pig and feed (and two goats we may have on loan until breeding time).  I still hope for a goat barn and dairy at the top of our property near where we have electricity.  That way I can have lights for milking and a have a fridge and/or freezer in the dairy.  

Step by step we are getting there.  Building this coop all by myself (hubby was working) really helps me feel better about my own abilities to work hard and get things done agriculturally.  It's so nice to look out the window and be able to say, "I did that!"  

Now, to just get 4 happy, laying hens in there!  

Thinking Outside the Jones's Box

We are a larger than average family in a smaller than average house.  Therefore, conventional practices and cultural standards simply don't usually work for us.

Living in a rather small house, the bedrooms are not very big at all.  Daughter's bedroom is the smallest of all.  When we moved her out of the boys' room and into her room, we shoved a twin size bed along the wall, leaving just enough room for a side table, a narrow shelving unit and her dresser with a narrow walkway between the windows and her bed.  I had it in my head that she needed a twin size bed.

Consequently, the poor girl had little to no floor space for playing and moving about.  Too big for a toddler bed and too small for a twin and no floor space, the bed turned into a catch all and at night everything would avalanche to the floor.

I tried so many efforts to keep that room clean, but it just wasn't working.  Worse still, her toys and things would pour into the living room as she sought out space to play.  I was beside myself, and so was she.  The joy of having her own room was turning into an every day frustration.

Finally, I decided to stop trying to live up to conventional practices of giving her "real" furnishings, a real twin bed and whatever idealism was attached to it and pulled it out of her room, mattress and all.  Instead, I decided to revisit the cobbed-together daybed idea I used in there before she was born.

I grabbed a bunch of totes from storage that I knew we wouldn't be opening any time soon and thanked God I saved the platform from the old daybed and pulled it from the shed.  I added hubby's old feather ticking and an unused down comforter for a mattress and voila!  A charming bed AND floor space!

Here's it is in the picture before I put the bedding on.  Twin fits, though it needs extra tucking, which is no big deal.  It holds the ticking and comforter in proper place.

The smile on my daughter's face said it all.  She LOVES her new room and her new bed.  She calls it her "box bed."  Better yet, she's keeping it tidy!

The Tiny House Movement provides me with ideas for fitting all of us in such a small house, but better still, it provides me with the freedom from the conventional.  It's OK that my daughter doesn't have a traditional twin bed.  It's OK to make do with what you have and create something different.  It's OK that we live in a small house and it's OK if we STAY in this small house.

Micro is GOOD!  That's not to say Macro is bad, but there's nothing wrong with letting the Jones's be the Jones's and letting the Scott's be the Scott's.

Dandelions

May has proven to be a very busy month.  I didn't expect anything less, but my oh my!  I certainly look forward to homeschooling being done for the school year, and getting my washing machine fixed.  Thankfully, we only have 8 days left of homeschooling!

During all this busy-ness, we're enjoying Spring in full bloom, particularly the Dandelions!  Many people hate Dandelions, but not me.

I've been enjoying bouquets of Dandelions from my children.  Seriously, how sweet is this?!  He presented them to me as my Mother's Day gift, completely unbidden and unprompted.  Although, I have encouraged my children to not pick every single Dandelion they see because they are first foods for hungry bees waking up in the Spring.

But, with this field of sunshine next door, I don't think the bees have anything to worry about.  

The rabbits and I have been enjoying Dandelion greens (and the clover), and so has this little toad.  Can you spot him?  He's the first toad I've seen this year.

We took advantage of all those Dandelions to harvest their tops for Dandelion Jelly.  Yum!

Easter Dress

My daughter just loves her Easter dress!  She picked out the fabric herself and helped design it.  I made the pattern by sketching it out on the lining fabric which is the cotton center of a king size bedskirt.

The waistband, complete with decorative bunny rabbit button.

She wanted big, hot pink pompoms for trim, but when I offered the pink centered daisies, she thought they would be nicer.  I agree.  Detail of collar.

I love the old fashioned look to the dress.  While I'm not against modern styled dresses, there's just something refreshing about the old fashioned look.  I'm so glad my daughter likes the look.  I knife pleated the skirt and the petticoat to create a fullness to the skirt.

A close up of the back with a neat row of pink bunny buttons.

The hem, trimmed with the daisies and the petticoat lace.  The lace was given to me by a friend.

For another beautiful hand made Easter dress, click HERE.

Vinegar of the Four Thieves

During the Bubonic Plague, 4 Thieves ransacked the houses of plague victims, yet remained unscathed by the disease.  Upon appearance before the judges, they wondered how this was accomplished.  In exchange for the recipe for the Vinegar of the 4 Thieves, the thieves were pardoned.  At least that is the legend.

In a world still filled with so many terrible diseases, I am thankful the only ones that plague me are the occasional cold and rare stomach bug.  However, I do have a personal vendetta against the common cold.  I managed to make it through the entire autumn and winter without a cold.  As soon as I felt that warm tickle in the back of my throat, I downed a cocktail of herbs and supplements to stop it.  I successfully ceased at least 3 colds this past year.  But, this time, I thought my throat was dry from teaching a class and was late to start supplementing.  I came down with a full blown cold.  My methods have helped keep it on the milder side, but it was still a week long ordeal of sore throat, sniffles, watery eyes, toothaches, ear aches, post nasal drip.

I decided that I need to finally make and utilize a Vinegar of the 4 Thieves, adding it to my other methods of killing colds (listed below).  What is great about the Vinegar is that you can use it internally, externally and as a cleanser for your house!  I'm thinking great times to use it is after running errands (nothing like having your cashier hack and snot in your face because they don't get sick leave and have to pay the bills...I know, I've been there), being in a crowd (who knew if that baby in the church nursery's runny nose is from teething or a lingering cold), and especially when school begins.  Even though we homeschool, it seems that once school starts, the 1st World plagues begin and entire schools, neighborhoods, even cities are affected.  Several years ago a nasty stomach flu swept through our rural neighborhood.  Even with almost no contact with any of the neighbors, we still got it.  Some bugs really are that potent, and stomach bugs can remain contagious a week after symptoms have gone away.

Shoshanna at Bulk Herb Store has a great page on the Vinegar of the 4 Thieves.  Check it out!

My usual cold-killing-cocktail

Garlic or garlic supplements

Echinacea

Nature's Plus Animal Parade Immune Boosters

Grapefruit Seed Extract

Lemon oil

Local honey

Herbal teas (chamomile, pau d'arco, agrimony, nettles, alfalfa, St. John's Wort)