A good friend of mine whom I haven't seen since December is very briefly in town this weekend. His birthday was yesterday, so I told him I'd make him a cake; he chose cake of the carrot variety. I hope he likes it! It's as much work as I remember, but also just as delicious.
Also, I made some gnocchi and somehow messed it up. How do you mess up gnocchi? Anyway, I had the genius idea of deep frying them as I was trying to figure out how to save it. I didn't do it this time, but I might try it someday.
Today is National Lasagna Day, and in celebration, I made vegetarian lasagna. I didn't really follow a recipe except the one a friend of mine gave me for sauce. Other than that, I just layered some oven-roasted veggies in with the noodles, sauce and cheeses. I used spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow neck squash. I was going to use broccoli, but I forgot. I also forgot the asiago cheese, but I had mozzarella, parmesan and parmiggiano reggiano, I believe.
The tomato sauce recipe is below, as it was given to me. I sort of threw things together mostly from memory. Last night I put everything in the slow cooker and let it cook on low overnight. I forgot to decrease the amount of liquid, so it was super watery. I let it cook while I was at work. At the suggestion of a coworker, I strained it when I got home using cheese cloth and a colander. It worked wonderfully! The sauce actually turned out a little acidic, so I added some sugar and some more spices.
After
This is under our bathroom sink. It's not a terribly dramatic change, but I needed it to be neater and more organized. I've found so many uses for these wine boxes I bought a while ago, and it's awesome. I also wanted to empty the white bathroom cabinet that was the primary storage in our apartment.
This is the real reason I wanted to organize under the bathroom sink. I wanted that bathroom cabinet as my new crafty storage. I downsized my stash and needed someplace else to put my stuff. My monster wardrobe was appropriate for the amount of stuff I had, but I realized that the amount of stuff I had wasn't appropriate for the amount of crafting I was doing. Not even when I was working on my store. I had so much stuff that was years old that I was probably never going to use. I pared down my crafty supplies to only the things I really like or think I will use. Of course, going through it all makes me want to start making stuff again, but I doubt that will happen. Then again, interest is low on my destash listing, so maybe I'll just use everything I'm trying to sell...
I love how my fabric and stuff fits in here, but the fleece is so bulky and takes up so much space. I want to fit all my tools inside as well, so I might stick the fleece somewhere else or possibly get rid of it. I love having the yarn in the baskets, but I know the cats will kill it as soon as I turn my back. I need to make liners for them so the yarn can be protected while still in the the baskets. I'm going to look for a pretty fabric to make the liners. I'm excited that I'm allowed to buy more fabric now, but the rule is that it has to fit in the cabinet or I have to use it. No more hoarding!
The last 3 days haven't felt like much of a weekend, but I'm glad we decided to do it on a 3 day weekend, because we otherwise would have had trouble finishing.
We started with the kitchen cabinets because we went from dark brown wood cabinets to all white cabinets. If we tested the wall color with the brown, it would have been inaccurate because of the light reflection.
The kitchen isn't done yet, and the house is still a mess. We emptied all the cabinets before we started sanding and painting, which was not exactly necessary, but helped keep dust on our glasses and dishes to a minimum. The reason I emptied them was because I wanted to wallpaper or contact paper the insides of the cabinets.
We still need to paint the walls and the trim on the cabinets, but we came a long way this weekend, and I think painting the cabinets was the most difficult and time-consuming part of the process. The paint on the cabinets isn't perfect, but we are planning to touch it up later. I'm sad that I wasn't more careful, but I had no experience painting, so now I know better.
Not sure when we will paint the walls and trim, but I'm excited!
DH put up some shelves in the living room in the niche in the wall. We have a niche like this on either side of the fireplace, and we're planning to put shelves up in both sides. We'll probably put a cabinet on each side underneath the shelves. When we put a TV in the living room, the cabinets will give us a place to put the peripherals.
DH also hung the guitars on the wall in the bedroom. They all look so cool up there, although now every time my nephew comes in, he wants to play with them. Hanging on the wall does them a lot more justice than being stuck in the closet.
We got a lot of work done yesterday. While we were at Ikea buying the shelves, we stopped by the as-is department and discovered that 3 corner sectionals were on sale. The first two didn't have covers, so we went to look at the covers. We couldn't find a cover for the exact couches that were on sale, but we found a cover for a smaller one and it was $300. So we decided to just buy the sectional one sale that came with a cover, which was only $24.75 more than the two without covers. The cover is very light tan floral design, which I don't particularly care for, but it'll do for now. I'll take a picture of the sectional once we sell the futon and clear up the living room some more.
We are really excited to have the couch and have found ourselves spending more time in the living room than we did before. Admittedly, our previous set-up was rather not conducive to hanging out. What I realized was that we had just gotten our apartment to the point where I was satisfied with the organization, and then we up and moved! Getting the apartment to a point where I was satisfied with it took literally years. I wonder how long organizing and decorating a house will take. I'm excited to find out and have fun in the process ♥
Bigger and bigger and bigger!
While I wasn't home last weekend, my brother brought his dog over and introduced her to the chickens with my sister. Penny wrenched her leash away from my sister and got a hold of poor Rhea and pulled some tail feathers out. Rhea seems fine otherwise, but you can tell how sparse her tail is compared to Hera's.
Last night, DH and I came home to a skunky smell, and I was immediately afraid for the chickens. Lucy was left outside while we were at dinner, and she smelled nasty too. I went to investigate and discovered three indentations in the ground that looked like something had been digging at the edges of the coop. Two were right next to each other near the chicken feed and water, and one was on the back side of the coop. The girls were all fine, though. What a relief! I thought Lucy might have been the one digging at the coop, but I have never seen her do that and she's been inside before, so she knows what's in there. I wish we had been home when this happened, but they were fine without us, so that's good.
I want to take another picture of Persephone on my hand to show her growth from last time, but I let them out of the run already and can't seem to catch them. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a picture of her later today or maybe tomorrow. I noticed that she is the smallest one of the five, even though she seems giant from the pictures. Maybe I'll take a picture of Persephone and someone else in my hand to show the difference there too.
Today I want to work in the yard a little bit, but I also want to relax. Since I accidentally got up early, I'll probably go out there soon and then come back inside before it gets hot. I also have to clean up the coop, especially since I didn't do it last week.
I thought it would be fun to chronicle their growth. The best pictures I have are of Persephone because she was never afraid of the camera. So here is the growth chart so far, updated today. I'll be continually updating my breed page on Backyard Chickens.
 |
2 days |
 |
6 days |
 |
14 days |
 |
23 days |
 |
31 days |
 |
57 days |
 |
73 days, today |
Here are more pictures of the girls. I think my camera is getting a little beat up from being in the dirt. I've been thinking about retiring it, but I really adore this camera. It's maybe 5 years old, and I've taken some awesome pictures with it. We'll see.
The girls are getting bigger and bigger. I feel a lot more hands-off these days. When I first got them, I was in the garage all the time, spending time with them and handling them to get them accustomed to being held. As they grew older, I handled them less and spent less time with them. On the weekends, I would let them outside and leave them to peck around while I went about my business or worked on the coop.
The coop makes being hands-off even easier because they don't need their water changed twice a day. I only peek out at them to make sure they look okay, and then I head out to work.
In other news, Iroh can has cheezburger?
The first day that the coop was done, I put all the ladies in the hen house. The next morning, I knew they were hungry and thirsty, but they hadn't come out yet. So I went to the back door and shoved them all through the hen house door. I wasn't sure how long it would take them to understand, but I shouldn't've doubted them. When I got home from school that day, they were all already in the hen house. The next morning, they were outside pecking around. I guess they learn quick!
I'm so happy that the coop is finally done. They seem happy too. They have a lot more space to peck around, fresh air and sun, and they aren't scared to death by me when I stick them all in a box and take them outside. Maintenance is a lot easier too, since I don't have to change their water twice a day.
I'm going to get a storage shed for the corner near the coop to store their supplies. It'll be a lot easier than trudging to and from the garage with scoops of feed and whatnot. I thought about just storing the feed next to the run or inside it, but I don't want to risk animals chewing it open or take up space in the run. The water is still a pain, but I guess I can just bring the hose out there instead of bringing the waterer to the hose.
It's done! We still have a few minor things to do, like add a handle to the door, but they moved in the second we finished. Sooner actually, since they invited themselves into the run while we were working. This was the longest I had ever kept them outside, and as the sun began to sink, they started making upset noises, as if telling us to hurry. Naturally, after a sweltering 11 hours in the sun, that didn't make me too happy.
But having the Goddesses moved into their permanent home definitely made me happy. We were so tired that we didn't clean up or even get proper locks for the latches, which is why a stick is in the back door latch.
I'm not sure why, but the egg door is my favorite part. I like the way it looks and opens; it's so fitting and makes so much sense. I chose and installed the latch, which was one of the only tasks I performed entirely by myself. At the store, I didn't really care for the latch, but when I installed it, the look of it grew on me.
I'm so excited to have the chicks out of the garage. I can't wait to reclaim the space, have it be and smell clean, and most importantly, be able step out there without stepping on poop.
If I didn't already say so, I bought The Garden Coop plans online for just under $20. For weeks I looked up info on making my own and trying to plan, but I overwhelmed myself with trying to include everything and hardly being able to make decisions. The Garden Coop plan had pretty much what I wanted with the flexibility to add whatever it didn't already include. My basic requirements, other than what chickens require (ventilation, space needs) were that my coop have an attached run, house at least 5 chickens, and look nice. I originally wanted external nesting boxes, a slide out poop tray or slatted floor, and some windows, but once we started building I realized these weren't very practical for our level of skill.
The creator of the plan was extremely responsive, friendly and helpful whenever I had questions. The plan was a great start, but I also think that having such a plan made us feel as if we were obligated to follow it. We began to deviate from the plan more towards the end when we began building the henhouse, but in the beginning, I wish we had deviated more. Part of it was because I did the hardware shopping and didn't know what to buy, so I just followed the shopping list on the plan. It was great because I didn't know what to buy, but it was also not great because I didn't realize that screwing the frame together would have been better than nailing it together. DH found this annoying, especially when we made a mistake and had to waste a piece of wood.
Throughout this whole process, I kept thinking about how long this was taking and how much we were spending, but I know that DIYing was the best way for us. Although this is our first construction project, I tend to prefer DIY because I like to customize. Also, pre-made chicken coops and event custom-built coops did not appeal to my aesthetics, and that was important. This structure would be an important part of the yard, and I would see it every day. I didn't want to open the back door and sigh in resignation or wrinkle my nose in distaste. The Garden Coop is one of the better looking coops out there.
Modifications:
We used larger redwood boards for the henhouse so we wouldn't have to sand and stain anything else. It actually wasn't too expensive, we needed fewer boards, and it looks really nice. Some of the boards are almost a salmon color, which for some reason I find funny.
I didn't like the hen door in the floor of the hen house, so we made it on the side instead, which wasn't too much trouble.
The original egg door was too small and required too many steps to cut and frame, so we simplified it by making one of the panels open. This probably wouldn't work as well with slimmer wood. Ours was 7.5" wide, so it worked very well.
I didn't like having the human access door to the hen house on the inside of the run, so we built it on the back wall, across from the egg door.
Instead of adding a spring to the run door, we used springed hinges. Our run door also opens outward.
We added two extra 2x4s under the hen house in the front and back to which we secured the hardware cloth.
I wanted to be able to secure all the latches, so instead of regular barrel bolts (which I bought because of the list), I got several different types of latches, all of which allow a padlock or something else to secure it.
Still To Do
For the hen house, we still need to put linoleum on the floor and add the final panel on the inside wall. Though we don't have to worry about it for a while, we also need to make the 2 nesting boxes. The run door still needs a handle, and the door framing needs to be put in.
I also want to hang a chain from the middle board underneath the hen house to hang the feeder, and I need to get proper locks or at least some sort of something for all the latches.
We also couldn't get a screw in this one spot on the side, so I want to make something to hang on it.
Future Reference:
As I mentioned before, we would have used screws on the frame instead of nails.
Also, we might end up cutting and installing windows someday. I'd like to be able to see in there without opening a door and disturbing them.
I have been thinking about adding another door on the side of the hen house for easier cleaning.
We also bought a different length for the framing wood than the plan suggested, which did not work to our benefit. We had a lot of extra wood leftover. This was good and bad. Good because we were able to use the scrap for other parts or to correct mistakes, but bad because most of it is sitting there and we don't know what to do with it. I suppose we have enough to give away or to make something else out of them.
I can't think of any other comments or specifics, but I'll post if I think of anything. I'm really tired now, and I want to lie down. I wanted to read a little, but it's a little late and I have an early day tomorrow.
I'm really looking forward to lazing around next weekend. We're not gonna be taking on any projects at least for the next 6 weeks. I, and I'm sure DH, look forward to a break. Woo!
A big, big thank you to my DH. I couldn't have done it without you! ♥
These are the ducklings and their mama that live by my office =)
When I tried to get closer, she spread her tail feathers to cover the ducklings. I wasn't sure if she was trying to hide them from my sight or from the sun. I couldn't get too close because I didn't want to startle her, and I definitely didn't want to get attacked. I hope I get to see more of them as they grow older.
I don't feel the way I thought I would about my chickens. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite fond of them, and I enjoy having them. But I thought I would love them like I love my other pets, but the reality is that I don't. My theory is that I only have feelings for animals that are reciprocated.
This is even true for my cats. Perhaps they just show it differently, but I don't feel that my cats love me very much. Sure they like us, but I don't feel like we are all a family together. Iroh seems much more attached to us than Selina is at this point, so I return Iroh's affections and try to regain Selina's.
When I was unemployed, and Selina and I spent all day together, it was wonderful. We took naps together and played, and she drove me crazy while I tried to sew or crochet. She loved me very much and I loved her. Then I started working, we got Iroh. As if that weren't enough, we moved -- into a house that had not only a dog, but a young child as well. True, he isn't with us full-time, but he's sure rambunctious enough to make up for his absence. She's now in a perpetual bad mood most of the time, and we can pet her for all of 2 seconds before she makes an irritated noise and runs away, or even bites us. Her kneading me and sleeping on my chest is now a rare treat rather than part of our nightly routine.
Sometimes I find myself wondering if we should find another home for her, where she can be the only animal in the house. I haven't considered this seriously both for selfish reasons and because I don't know how she would react to a new home since she seems so resistant to change. But someday my parents will take Lucy, and DH and I will get a dog of our own that will likely be much larger than Lucy. How will Selina handle that? I'm not sure, but I want her to be happy. She tolerates Lucy and is actually much nicer to Lucy than she was to Iroh when we first got him. We did turn her world upside down in a matter of few months, so maybe she just needs more time. I hope that's the case.
My in-laws graciously bought us a barbeque, so we moved our old one and are planning to give it away. When I opened it to take pictures of the broken inside, I noticed bees. Upon closer inspection, we found them to have begun a nest inside.
I find myself wondering what their nests are made of, and what that silvery looking stuff is that the nest appears to be hanging from. DH tells me that these aren't the kind of bees that make honey; they are the kind that can sting you multiple times without consequence, so I will be glad to get rid of it. I put a warning on the ad, but I'm still a little concerned about giving it away.