DIY Chicken Coop

Oh boy! Am I glad we are done?! We, well, Mr. C has been working on our chicken coop for the last 2 weeks. He has been working on it when he gets off work at 7 pm or at lunch and on little breaks here and there from work. What a wonderful husband I have. We have been so busy and he did this so we can have our chickens.

Here is his first trip back from Home Depot and a friends house that had some extra plywood. This is something very interesting with the way he works, he goes to Home Depot for every step of the project. He will only buy what he needs that day, not what he thinks he will need for the entire project.

C was very excited to help with the coop.

Here is our framing wood.

It's mostly framed.

Look how hard C is working on the coop.

L too, she's good at checking up on daddy.

The top is where they have privacy to lay their eggs.

Almost done, just needs 1 wall with a cut out and a front door.

We choose bright red like a barn. I thought it would be a fun cheery color.

 The top still needs a door.

Here it is! Yea, finally all done. I love the hardware Mr. C picked for the doors. We have one door for the big part and one where I can sneak in and get the eggs.

Inside are some Easter baskets we got for the chickens. The baskets are better then the cubbies because they are cheap and easy to replace when they get old and yucky.

Check back tomorrow for part 2: Bringing home the Chickens

Bees

We had a small problem yesterday afternoon. Well, I guess it would have only been a problem if we didn't catch it right away. When Mr. C left for work, he texted to let me know we had bee's again. So, I called the bee guy that removed the bee's before for us. The bee guy was kind enough to come and remove them again. Yes, "the bee guy" does have a name, but I only got permission to post the pictures, no other info on him. 

Here is a picture of the massive bundle of bee's. It's crazy!

To remove the bee's he had to smoke them to calm them and suit up.

C and L were very excited to watch all the bee excitement.

The bee guy is going to swipe the bee's into the box. When he came before, he didn't have the suit with him. He had to do it in regular clothes! Now that is a dedicated bee lover.

Swiping them out. Ew! It looked gross.

He is showing us how the bee's on the edge of the box are flapping their wings really fast to release the pheromones to let the other bee's know that the queen is in the box. Pretty cool!

Here is a closer picture. You can see the bee's on the edge, but not the flapping wings.

Now that he is all done, this little box is going to ride home with him. He said they won't sting in the car if there are any loose. They get confused because they navigate by the sun and since he is driving, the sun is always moving. The bee's are just trying to get out. Again, I have to say, pretty cool! Cause I thought it was.

Look, we got fresh honey from the bee guy. C is very excited. We go through a lot of honey around here.

Here is another bee or actually honey fact. If you have allergies, you should eat a teaspoon of LOCAL honey a day. It builds your body's immunity to those pollens. Again, pretty cool! I don't like it, but I can bear it in tea. So I will be eating honey.

Beanies

Well, we are back from our wonderful, quiet, fun, relaxing, short 4 day vacation in Death Valley. I guess it rained at home all weekend but, in Death Valley it was a perfect, beautiful 78 degrees fahrenheit. Anyhow, while I was gone I didn't fully get away from crafting, what would a vacation be with out a little bit of knitting. At least I could kint in the car on a 6 hour drive, right. I have always kind of liked long drives. Their relaxing. I remember as a kid driving up highway 395 oh so very often laying down across the front seat watching the reflections in the window. I never could totally sleep in the car. My sister would always be asleep in the back. Now, I can knit and drive to relaxing things together.

Well... sometimes. Here is what it can be like to knit in the car.

Or should I say more like this...

My yarn was all tangled so I had to un-do it and roll it into a ball. It was a bit bumpy at this point. After that, it went much more smoothly.

Here it is almost finished by the time we got there.

I finished that one then started another.

I'm thinking either this pink or a blue flower on this one.

 I almost finished the yellow one, I think it needs a tassel. The multicolored one is the one you saw earlier.

Here are a few more beanies Lacey wanted to model this morning.

These will become gifts or I can sell them. I really haven't decided yet.

Here are some past gifts to others.

Here are all the beanies I have on hand. I was thinking about making a bunch and going to a boutique or something. I have some other stuff I have made also that I am thinking about selling.

If you have any thoughts, feel free to comment.

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It's a Blog Party

Would you do it different...

I am leaving for the next four days on a nice vacation. We will not have any distractions, just us and the kids. It might rain and snow when we are there and we will be in a trailer, but that's ok, cause it will be undivided attention on our family. It will be wonderful. I might even get a little knitting in that I can share when I get back.

Anyway, on to the title of this post. Tonight I was visiting with C's old preschool teacher who's daughter is 18 and she mentioned something to me that really got me thinking. She said, "We always pay so much attention to firsts, but never lasts." She mentioned how she would love it if her daughter would cuddle in bed with her just one more night. She says lots of stuff like this, that's just one of the special things about her. So, anyway I give you this:

What would you do if you knew today was the last time your child _________

Rocked with you
Nursed
Slept in your bed
Sat in your lap for a book
Wanted just one more chapter or just one more book
Wanted to be held like a baby
Wanted to be held at all
Sat in a highchair
WANTED "just 1 more hug" before you go... Just one more kiss...
Wanted you to lay with him/her while she falls asleep
Said, "I love you to the moon and back" or "All the way around the world" or "more then you do."
Threw a fit
Couldn't say their s's, w's, r's, etc. (it's that baby talk I'm getting at.)

Would you record it? Would you sit and take it in a little longer? Would you not want to make it stop so soon? Would you want to let them be a baby as long as they needed to?

This is just a reminder to cherish the moments. Live in your stage and know that it will change. The challenges of raising babies, toddlers and kids is over before we know it. Being up all night with crying babies will be gone way too soon.

 

They were such chubby babies!

Adding Curtain Black-Out

It seems like those store bought curtains never do their job at keeping the light out. They can be so cute and go perfectly with the decor that you just have to get them though. So, my solution is to buy black-out backing and sew it on yourself. Here are some before and after pictures and a little tutorial.

Before you can see the light streaming though. You can even see the lines on the window.

To give the full effect, here is an after without the flash. No more light coming through. Now baby can sleep like it's night at nap time.

To do this, it's basic seam ripping and sewing a straight line. You will need:

1. A seam ripper

2. Scissors

3. Black-out backing

4. Matching thread to the curtains

5. An Iron

First, iron the backing and curtains.

Now, rip the stitching along the fold edge of the curtains.

Next, lay out the backing, wrong side down. (I always use this Roc-Lon Blackout Budget Drapery Lining. It is also heat blocking.) Then the curtain on top, right side down. Cut out the backing the size of the curtain. Now switch their places, curtain is on the grown first, right side still down. Lay the cut backing on top wrong side down. (Wrong sides are together.) Now slip the edge inside that original fold where you ripped the seam. Pin it a ton!

Now, just sew where the original stitching was all the way around the curtains.

You are done! See before again...

Even with the window open you can see lots of light shining through the curtains. 

Now lets look at the after again. Without flash is first to give you the full effect. No light!

Now with the flash, you can't see the window through the curtains anymore.

Even with them open, it makes a huge difference.

I hope this inspires you to upgrade your curtains and help your house be greener by keeping the sun out on hot days.

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