Project Puppy

One of the numerous projects going on here at RiverHaven is the dog run. This weekend, the girl-child and I attached a shade awning. The "NOT Hydrangea" trees we are transplanting won't be big enough to offer any significant  shade for a few years and the kennel gets full summer sun.  

The other reason for the cover is to protect puppy from eagles we have flying about. Until he is bigger, he could be tempting bait (a la The Proposal - see clip below).

Chicken Improv

Coyote trouble means the Ladies are on lock down until we can get a larger area fenced off for them. They have been less than thrilled so  to make up for it I did put together some chicken treats/entertainment.

Snapshot Saturday - Sewing Room Reclamation

Part of my Summer Clean up post National Board and School Year chaos was to reclaim my sewing room. I finally have breathing time and I have sewing projects to finish which makes this project a timely necessity. We had been using it as a secondary office for studying and my Sailors contract work when we was home. 

 I hadn't done anything to the walls after we moved in and it was sorely in need of attention. The previous owners had removed whatever wall paper and painted it a lovely butter yellow. Unfortunately when the sun blazes through the windows it's like the sun is IN the room. I chose a green with blue undertones to mute the glare of the light and I really love how it turned out.

The paint is still drying here. On the wall on the left you can still see the wallpaper glue the previous owners didn't remove but painted over. After the four-day fiasco of doing boy-child's room I can understand why.  I will eventually either have to cover the walls with paper or sheet rock - neither of which do I want to undertake right now. 

I didn't get started painting until 8:30 pm as it took about an hour to empty the room of "office mode". I was working on other projects from my list during the day too. Once I started, it only took about 3 hours. I was surprised how fast it really went.   

Here it is all finished! After I hung the curtains, I remembered I had this lovely garland and decided it was just what the window needed.    I LOVE how it turned out!!!  I still need to find my Ott lamp and put up my flannel board for pieces, but that's a project for another day. 

It was rainy and overcast today, so there isn't a blaze of sunshine. The colors are soft and muted to the eye, but it doesn't read well for my iPad w/ no flash. I will replace  it with a better one when I get the chance. 

Belated Garden Sunday

Life has been crazy-crazy! Guest-Author-Girl-Child here, in the midst of dead week and prepping for finals. After this next week, I am officially in my last year of university!! YES.

Anyway, here is a belated "Sunday" post of the projects mum and I did last weekend. 

The sun has come out and STAYED out these last few days. Gorgeous weather just begged for some veggie planting and mum, having finished her national board projects (HECK YES!) reactivated her green thumbs and joined me in the garden.

You might remember our raised garden bed project from before, I filled it partially with a mixture of compost and peat a few weekends back. Together we filled it the rest of the way in preparation for some new veggies mum picked up as well as some seedlings I grew in the greenhouse. 

Mum arranged the new veggies by future size and spaced them accordingly. Tomatoes will be tall, so we put them in the back so they won't block the sunlight from the other veggies. Those are spaced about 8-12 inches apart. In front of them are peppers, spaced 4-6 inches apart. And at the front of the box, are radishes, spaced 2-4 inches apart. Once everything was arranged to her liking, we took off their shoes and got them comfy in the veggie bed! 

Completed! We filled in the open areas with the seedlings I grew from the green house (more tomatoes, peppers, and radishes as well as some carrots and a mystery plant). Mum pushed in some of her tomato cages, ready for when they get a little bigger to make sure they have the structure they need. 

A lot of the seed packages in the garden shed are old or of unknown origin, so mum and I made some temporary planters to test them out. We labeled them (much better than I did  last time!) and we'll see what sprouts. If nothing sprouts in a week or two, we'll know those seed packets are done for and toss 'em. If they grow, we'll repot them and let them thrive in the green house until our next veggie box is ready. 

Project 2 we started was a door for our new fence. Project puppy-time meant fencing off a good section of the property and we cut a preliminary section out to attach a door. As I have the most experience with power tools, mum measured and labeled the wood and I cut. 

For the record, we did not cut on the bed of my truck. That is a major saftey no-no. This was just a perfect photo opportunity while mum went downhill to research how to adjust the blade allowance. I took woodshop and metalshop in college, and the experience is totally worth it. We covered table saws, skilsaws, jigsaws, lathes, mig welders, tig welding, and oxy-acetylene torches - all are excellent tools to have a good know-how about. In any case- the door we were trying to build was like this one:

This is one dad and the boy-child put together for the dog kennel they built. We picked up an extra hardware set (hinges, frames, handle, and lock) from our local hardware store and laid everything out. 

The fencing seen here is the bit cut from the actual fence, I think it's a smidge to small to actually cover the door frame so we're contemplating using spare hardware cloth. 

We ended up not finishing the door project that day, ran out of daylight and 1/8th inch drill bits! We called it a night when the one we had broke off in the uncooperative wood panel. 

We picked up some more today, and hope to finish the project in time for the next Sunday post!

To Do List Tuesday - Garden Notebook part 2

I'm continuing my To Do List project from last week. Now that I have my fabulous new Garden Notebook, I have been fervently working to transfer over the notes and cut outs, and plant lists I had tucked in my marble notebook.

I realized in putting the pages together that I needed to move the form around a bit to give more room for the care and instructions part. I want to be able to have notes at a glance on overwintering or end of season care. I'm finding this layout works much better.

It's a slow process, but will worth my time - especially since once it's done, I'll only have to add pages for new plants and it will be a book tailored to Our Haven.  It will be  a work in progress, but when it's done, it's done.

I'm thinking it might be a better project for the winter when things are dormant. For now, I'll work on it a bit here and there as I have time or need a diversion from other projects.

Therapy Thursday

My therapy project today was an extension of my Garden Notebook.  I really wanted a chore list available at a glance for family members to reference but didn't see anything I liked at the stores or online, so I made one. ^.^

Here it is all finished:

It took me longer to make my custom lists than it did to put it together.

Basic info:

• The font is Jane Austen - I like it even though I'm not an Austen literary fan.
• The lists are printed on resume paper for a parchment look.
• I bought a 12x36 poster frame with glass  - important if you want to use dry erase on it) for about $15 at the store 
• I raided my fabric stash for the backing and 504 spray.

With my materials all laid out, I got started.

I trimmed the fabric to the board with about an inch and one half extra all around. I pinked the edges so they wouldn't fray.

I sprayed the 504 on the wrong side of the backing board and smoothed the fabric onto the surface. Then I flipped it over and sprayed the 504 along the edges.

I pulled the corners in first and then did the sides to make a nice edge. Then I worked from the center out to the edges to pull the sides down. I didn't need to tug much, I just wanted to keep it smooth and not wrinkle.  You can see from the picture above, I wasn't really worried about perfect lines with the spray glue (5o4). No one is going to see that side anyway. 

Sorry it's a bit blurry. Here it is ready to flip and add the checklists. 

I did a little math to center the pages, put a touch of 504 so they don't slip and then it was ready to frame.

In the frame the metal turn downs will hold everything in place.

All I have to do now is mount it. I'm going to put it in the laundry room along with a dry erase marker. The expectation is that when people do chores, they will be able to check it off and initial. I'll be able to see what's been done and what needs doing and I don't have to maintain the list in my head. Win on both accounts.

To Do List Tuesday - Garden Notebook part 1

Updating and creating a "good" garden notebook has been on my list to do for quite awhile. I just wasn't sure what I wanted or needed in it.

Until now, my garden notes have just accumulated in a composition notebook. That's fine - everything is in one place. The down side is that it's not as organize as I'd like and it's hard to find something without having to page through it all.

Today, I sat down with a cup of tea, a few of my gardening books, and my laptop and put one together. I think I mentioned I'm a bit neurotic with organization - I like everything to have and be in its place. I think this notebook will allow me to do that.

I will put it in a vinyl 3 Ring Binder, use page protectors where appropriate, and dividers for the sections. The beautiful thing is that I saved it as a PDF and can just print pages as needed. I also have it as an open file so I can make changes and tweak things as I see the need.

The notebook is divided into 5 parts, detailed below:

Planning & Projects: pretty self explanatory. In addition to the forms I created, plant tracking (what was planted where), a project tracker, and planter design pages for box and barrel pots, this section will include graph paper for drawing plans.

Maintenance & Chores: I created forms for seasonal and monthly maintenance/chores with check lists as well as amendment/fertilization record page

Reflections: I have a choice of a weekly Observation/Note page or a week-at-a-glance page with daily details.

Plant Profiles: Annual, Perennial, Orchard, and Veggie - color coded

References where I'll keep images of planting charts, or plant identification charts and other reference photos.

That's my To Do for today. Let me know if you think I have missed something. I think the next notebook I need to tackle is for house and equipment maintenance. But that's another day.


Thanks for stopping by!

To Do List Tuesday - still working on that sign.

Remember this? 

I've been doing a lot of curriculum development most days, so I haven't really touched it since last week.

I took it down, sanded it and gave it a couple coats of "chalkboard black" spray paint.   When it was dry,  I hung it back up so it would be like working on the whiteboard in class (and hopefully better for my handwriting than trying to do it laying down). 

The next thing I had to do was pull out my math brain to figure out where to put the lines ( how far in and down, etc. ). Once that was figured, I marked it on the sign in pencil. 

The writing is all free-hand, which is obvious from the lettering. 

I used silver pastel pencil by accident, but it was a brilliant error - it let me just wipe away my mistake and start anew. 

The image below is where I am now. The scroll has three coats of "Whitewash White" and the top line has two.  I ran out of daylight today, but I'll finish up in the morning.  

When it's done, I'll remove the landmark lines and box around the scroll. Depending on how it turns out, I may sand it a bit before doing a tea-stain seal. 

I chose this passage as a reminder to stop and breath - - In. Out. Let go. Repeat. 

If we can remember to do just that small thing, we open ourselves up to find those small quiet moments of joy. 

So many things to do - not enough hours in the day

My day started in the chicken coop -  now it's raked clean, wiped down, and smelling pretty. 

• I made an coop air freshener and I really like how it turned out. 

 4 ounces dish soap

 12 ounces water

 10 drops tea-tree oil

10 drops lavender oil

10 drops peppermint oil

10 drops grapefruit extract 

I put it all in a spray bottle, gave it a swirl, and misted the coop when I finished cleaning up - now the coop smells fresh and clean. 

• I tried a recipe for a chicken treat but I  think it will be back to the drawing board for this one - they barely touched it.  I used ingredients from the treat list I've been working through and the consistency was similar to the Chicken Pumpkin Pie recipe I came across some time ago but they turned up their nose  at it:

I had an avocado I needed to use or toss (bought some for making guacamole and had an extra). I combined the flesh of it with some oats and some Omega egg yummies.    I mixed it together and served it on a pretty plate. I'll make it with pumpkin next time -- I just didn't have any, fresh or canned. 

• I assembled all my materials for a Chicken First Aid box and placed an order for the items I didn't have (I found everything at Amazon which beat driving all over creation and at least 6 stores to find the items on my list.  I REALLY need to find a good feed/farm store around here. 

Ordered from Amazon (couldn't find them locally without going to 6 stores and driving all over creation)

1. Blu-Kote
2. Vetericyn
3. VetRx
4. Nutridrench
5. Kocci-Free

Pick up from grocery store or round up at home:

1. Honey
2. Cornstarch (stops bleeding)
3. Gauze pads
4. Q-Tips
5. sharp scissors
6. Tweezers
7. Saline Solution

I'm going to put it all together in a sealed bucket or galvanized tin and I'm all set in the event we need it.

• I made a self-feeder for my chickens. 

I followed a plan I found on The Chicken Chick and it all came together without too much fuss. 

I cut a 10 foot section of 4" wide PVC pipe in half  so I have enough for 2 feeders. 

I made a oyster shell feeder from one of the pipe caps

The only difference I had with my construction was the attachment. I used long zip ties and secured the pipe directly  to one of the 4x4 support beams instead of to a 2x4. It's holding quite well and the chickens took right to it. 

I made a open dispenser for oyster shells for the chicks too. 

I built a new perch for the run area of the coop.

This natural perch is by far their favorite - they were hopping onto it before I even finished putting it in.  I think I might switch out the other 1x2 perches we originally put it with more natural ones. Goodness knows we have enough branches about, I could make hundreds of them.   

I think I also need to switch out the 2x4 perch I put in the coop for a natural round branch - maybe that's why they don't use their perch inside much. We'll see. 

• I harvested some raspberries and blackberries - enough to eat as a snack or make a tart, but not enough for jam. There's so many more - I just can't get to them. 

While I was trying to reach the berries in the middle of the stands I got an idea for next season. When things go dormant this year I want to move them apart and anchor them onto an arbor high trellis that way I can walk down the middle and still reach everything. 

• I did some research on riding lawn mowers V. garden tractor  - - garden tractor for the win! 

Husqvarna GT52XLS (52") 24HP Kawasaki Garden Tractor (2013 Model) - I could buy 3 of these for the cost of the one below, but the Kubota  could be used for SO much more at Our Haven. . . 

So, I will be mowing the lawn by hand for a while some time more. 

• I finished the geography unit I'm designing for my 4th graders 

It has turned out well and I'm very happy with it. It just needs a few finishing touches, then I'm going to package it and offer it on my TpT store with a few other things I've been thinking of putting out there. 

Then it's on to the next thing on my ToDo list for the new school year. 

My dinner's in the oven and my "wish" now is to enjoy it with with a few boys - either "Mike" or "Jose"  Not sure wish.     ^.^

To Do List Tuesday

I have to mow the lawn - again. IF I have enough energy once that's done I plan to get started on my garden shed sign. Right now it looks like this: 

My plan is to sand it, match the "chalkboard" shade of gray as best I can, and then re-word it: 

We'll see how far I get. 


UPDATE: I got the background of the sign painted - two coats, then it started raining. I'll finish tomorrow.  I DID get 95% of my geography unit finished - yea me! 

Oh, and good news - because of the rain, ALL the chickens went into the run early. I decided to leave them there - and guess what? They ALL went into the coop and tucked themselves in like good girls. ^.^  

You have no idea how happy I am about that. I think I'll keep them in the run for a few days just to make sure they get the idea. Hopefully that will be the end of it - but with chickens, one never knows. 

Fabulous Friday - Remedies, Recipes, and Cleaners

 I have been converting the cleaning products I use to all natural and home made for quite some time.  I either made or purchased awhile, a "natural" version as one of the regular bands I had already had ran out -- I didn't want to just throw out good money which is what I would be doing if I tossed a 1/2 empty bottle of 409 or something.   

Why would I go to the trouble? I want to get away from the harsh cleaning agents and limit the chemicals my family is exposed to. It will be better for our septic system in the long run as well. After all, my grandma was able to clean just fine with vinegar, borax, baking soda, and some muscle.  

The recipes are out there, and they are plentiful. One weekend I tried a recipe for laundry soap that someone had Pinned. I thought, why not.  I tried a liquid soap recipe  but something wasn't quite right about it (whether it was cook error or recipe, I'm not sure). So, it was back to the drawing board - or supermarket for me. . . 

One if the switches I made was to Mrs. Meyers. It does a good job, I love that I can tailor the fragrance I use, it's OK with my septic system, and the best part - I can just pick it up of the shelf.   The down side?  It's as expensive as the other stuff - definitely not a way to save money.  Still, it was a good transition given the convenience. 

Now that it's summer, and I have more time (and I'm almost out of soap) I thought I'd give it another try.  In my test kitchen today - laundry soap for HE machines. Most recipes were variations of the one I eventually used - can't wait to try it on towels.

Ingredients & supplies:
An airtight container (gallon size at least)
cheese grater
food processor 
4 cups Borax 
4 cups Washing Soda
2 bars grated bar soap
I used Ivory, cause it's what I had on hand - other recommendations are Castille or Fell's Naptha
2 cups Oxiclean (dye and fragrance free)
There seems to be great debate as to the "naturalness of this product" but I leave it to you to decide - it has Sodium Carbonate (washing soda)  and Sodium Percarbonate (basically hydrogen peroxide in solid form which probably explains why it works so darn well. 
10-15 drops Lavender essential oil 
You could also use TeaTree, Camomile, or whatever you prefer - just remember a little goes a long way.


Steps: 
1. I ran the powder 2 cups at a time through my Vitamix (except for the Oxi - it was already very fine). 
2. I added each portion to my airtight storage container
3. Mixed it it all together once I was done (next time I'll add the soap last - I discovered it stuck to the container a bit when I mixed it)
4. Added the essential oil, put the lid on and gave it a shake. 

2 tablespoon for regular loads and 3 tablespoons for heavily soiled loads should be plenty, I'll let you know. 

I didn't think to stop and take pictures along the way. I have to remember that for next time. 

Also, I did some extra research and feel safe using this recipe with our septic system because there are ZERO phosphates and ZERO fillers. That means there's nothing to harm necessary septic bacteria. Yea!

Therapy Thursday - today in the garden . . .

In February, I was itching to plant. Since it was still too cold, I perused the garden catalogs and put in an order instead. Then the beauties began to arrive - and I wasn't ready for them.  Most of the bulbs and dry root stock I ordered came right in the throws of report cards, closing my classroom, and moving my daughter home. Needless to say, getting them in the ground fell to the bottom of my priority list.  

Two weeks ago, they at least made it out of their boxes and I got them sorted: shade, part shade, full sun. That's as far as I got. They still looked good - but I knew it would serve me right if they dried out or rotted. I knew better, but sometimes it is what it is, we have to breathe and let go. 

I think the thing that was feeding my hesitation was that the beds where I think I want to put them aren't ready yet. They still need A LOT of work in the weeding and stump removal area. Let me just admit right here - I put the cart before the horse and now I have to deal with the situation. 

The planting directions said they should be soaked for 1/2 hour before planting. I had this brilliant idea (think brain on summer vacation) to leave them in their bags while they soaked so I wouldn't mix them up.  Well, by the time I got to planting them (way more than 1/2 hour), the ink had come off the labels so I had no idea what was what anyway.  LOL  ^.^  

I decided that I would plant them in pots to be transplanted later when I got the beds ready.That way I could also determine which, if any, weren't going to make it after all.  I labeled what I could decipher and put question marks to the rest - it'll be like getting surprise gifts!

Wishful Wednesday - There's gotta be a better way of doing this...

I love my Goddesses (chickens) - I do. Sometimes, however, it's like having another pet around. Even when they range about most of the day like ours do, there's still maintenance that needs to be done.  

It's kind of like having cats - LOVE having them . . . dealing with all the husbandry that goes with? Not so much.  Cleaning the chicken coop/run is rather like cleaning the catbox: It needs to be done regularly and completely sanitized every so often. 

Cleaning the run and coop with the little scoop and pail I was using was taking it's toll on my back, not to mention using precious time. This is where my Wishful Wednesday comes in. The other morning I was trolling my favorite chicken pages, doing research on the care and keeping of the little creatures (I'm a new chicken mama!) when I read about how someone made basically and extra large cat scoop out of wire and a rake. I thought I'd give it a try.




I used some of the extra hardware cloth from building our run to create the mesh and wired it to a hay fork -- I don't know what it's called, found it in the barn :)  

Here it is all finished. It took me the better part of an hour but I had a great view while I worked (I parked myself on the deck, listened to the river go by). It turned out exactly as I wanted.  

I wire fit it to make it really tight using 15 gauge wire (made my own twist ties). Then fastened the cloth to the pitchfork.  It works GREAT! 


 Here's our coop and run. It is fully enclosed for their protection. We used hardware cloth instead of chicken wire for it's durability and to protect against predators (like coyote, bobcat, weasel, hawk, eagle, bear - yes, I said bear 'cause that's where I live).

Hen Haven: Our coop and run houses 14 birds. 

They've gotten SO big in just the few weeks we've had them. The Goddesses are about 14 weeks old. The little bits (in their separate "look but don't touch area" while I'm trying to integrate flocks) are about 10 weeks.

Look how nice and clean the run is - and my back isn't sore in the least.
Love it when incentive and ingenuity work together to make wishes come true! 

To Do List Tuesday - trail signs

One of the little things on my list of To Do's is to touch up the trail signs. They are very weathered. So with sandpaper, whitewash paint, and brush in hand, off I went.  I changed one that said "Picnic Shed," which I really didn't like - it's not a shed, more of a patio. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

supplies

before

after

 Of course one thing led to another and I got working on one of the other signs that were bugging me. It's a work in progress - not sure how I feel about it yet. The good news is if I don't like it, I can always sand it down and start over.

These were attached to our the pizza kitchen off the deck.
The large one needed some work; the other is getting an update.

 I sanded both and gave them a base coat. This is the one I started working on first. I painted some vines on the frame and then worked on what I wanted it to say.

Almost finished. I haven't painted anything like this in awhile, I'm out of practice. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either  - we'll see what it looks like when I'm done.  

Here it is finished and installed. It turned out better than I anticipated considering I haven't done decorative painting in a few years: