A Very Busy House!

We've been busy becoming new parents this past weekend....and having little ones around again is SO much fun! I snapped some pics for you to see after we arrived home and got them settled in. The chicks are just a few hours old when I took these.
We picked them up on Saturday morning from the BEST hatchery that I've ever been to. McMurray Hatchery....and if you'd like information on them, please email me and I'll be happy to send you their way. After being in a few different hatchery's here in Iowa, I was flabbergasted when I walked into McMurray! They are so organized, and SO clean....even washed their hands before retrieving my babys'. So if your looking for baby's of any kind...they carry the most exotic breeds...Murry McMurray is the place you want to visit.

So the baby's are here....all 36 of them. Ofcourse they don't look like that many now...but just wait!

The little yellow chick in the very top pic has fuzzy feet and is a 'Salmon Favrolles'. A very beautiful salmon brown and creamy white color when full grown..with 5 toes and a beard and muff just like my 'Americanan's'. This is a very old French breed and considered critical by the ALBC Priority (The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy).

We also have 'Partridge Rocks', and 'Black Star' which are American breeds and not considered critical.

The Yellow chicks are 'Delawares'. This breed shows white feathers with slight black barring(stripes) in the shankle(neck)and tail. this breed is also Critical. I've personally found this breed to be very gentle and loves human companionship.

'Black Austrolorps' are the black and yellow chicks. A recovering breed that I find the MOST beautiful when grown! All glossy black! Another very gentle and quiet breed.

The yellow and Brown striped backs are 'Speckled Sussex.' A breed from England considered 'Threatened' by the ALBC. This adult female will be a rich mahogany base color with feathers ending in white tips and black bar.

And lastly we have our 'Buttercups'. The chicks have a black banding around their eyes making them look like bandits. They are also Critical. They are from Sicily and their cup shaped comb gives them their name. A beautiful breed and one that our son will be showing for FFA.

I had to show you this sweet little 'Black Australops' that took right to our son and snuggled herself in for a long nap.




This is all of our New baby girls....I do hope you've enjoyed seeing the pics of them. They are now 4 days old and already developing their wing feathers. I'm not sure if you can see it in these pics...
I'm knocking on wood as I say that we've not lost a one yet...and that they all seem very happy and healthy!

I hear some peeping going on....did I forget to tell you that they are smack dab in the middle of my livingroom?? HHHmmm.....well...it was to cold for them yet...just a few more days till it warms up a bit and I know that they'll be eating and drinking on their own. NO they are NOT spoiled!!

Till next time, read up on chickens! It's very mind opening!
Hugs to all,
Paula

What's Up Monday...

After a very nice weekend...the weather today stinks!! The wind is so bad it's blown my lawn chairs clear into the field. After 3 trips outside to rescue them...I finally decided to drag those huge concrete blocks out and put one on each seat. It had better keep them in place....because THAT was the last time I'm going after them! And just a little FYI...DON"T hang out laundry today!!!!! Not unless you want a pair of your briefs waving hello from the neighbors car antenna as he goes by!! YA...enough said.

Today has been a busy day here. We've just added (6) *NEW* furniture pieces, and (2) *NEW* Smalls! I'm in love with them all!! And..we've also added (6) *NEW* color options as well. These are our most popular colors.....SO awesome!!
These new dough boxes are a definite MUST HAVE!! So perfect for anything! Towels, old newspapers, books, blankets, paper towels...ect. Yup....A favorite!

Making this short and sweet today...busy, busy, busy. Gotta get the meatloaf in the oven!!

When you get a chance, take a peek at the new furniture. My wood worker man and his son do such a beautiful job on it all! Ofcourse, if you'd like more pics of anything...just yell.

Have a nice quiet evening my friends...and hold on to your hats!!
Much love to all,
Paula

It's Friday!!

Ok girls...how many of you put on the brakes...when you see a 'garage sale'or 'Flea market' sign...or how many times do you circle the block making sure the coast is clear, when you spy some good junk on the curb?? Yup.....me too. Even shoved my 7 year old son in a dumpster a few years back just to grab some GREAT old trim molding someone tossed out. Even picked up a perfectly good wooden ladder that day as well. It was a good day..

I love junkin'......even more then gardening....the better the deals they are, the more my heart flutters. And I KNOW there are many of you that are the same way. So today I thought I'd share a few of the things I just picked up. I'll show you the before pics today..and when they're finished being 'Primed' up, I'll show you the afters.


This sweet little cabinet is my favorite find. Handmade from an old packing crate. It's almost perfect to me...just needs a bit of cleaning up (I'm leaving the original paint) and getting rid of those knobs. We'll put on some simple homemade wood ones...probably what it had on it when it was built. I love the fact that it's missing a drawer. I love the quirky....it'll be a great places to stash a bowl..or recipes...we'll see.

These boxes cost me just a few bucks...and I know, some of you are saying' those are so cute just the way they are'. And your right. But I'm extreme prim girls...and these need to be jazzed up a bit. You won't even recognize them when I'm finished.

And finally we have the birdhouse that you see up top. Handmade and given to me. A little remake and it'll be good to go.

I'm still Spring cleaning and decorating. We have orders we're working on...and ofcourse I LOVE working down on the dining room table instead of my craft room...so the dining room looks like a bus full of 1st graders just visited!LOL
I promise that as soon as I get orders finished and out, I'll get those pics taken. :o)

Hope your having a great day today. Chilly, windy and cloudy. You know it's a icky days when the girls don't want to leave the chick coop.

One week till the baby's arrive and counting down. We are working on the brooding pen today...getting the heat lamps up..and the waters and feeders cleaned. I'm So excited. I've found pics and details of all the new girls coming..so I'll share details of them tomorrow. There are 7 breeds...I miscounted.

So till tomorrow....start a fun junk project...and check out your local farmer's market for those fresh eggs! Our's starts in just a couple of weeks. It's one of my favorite places to go.

Hugs to all,
Paula

Happy St. Patty's Day to you!

I know it's been a few days since I posted...we've been so busy here. But I just wanted to take a moment and wish you all A great day today. Even though I'm NOT Irish..I did put on a pair of green socks just for this occasion.

I hope your all enjoying this wonderful weather God has finally graced us with. *70 today...but a bit cooler for the rest of the week. Just fine for racking gardens and hanging out clothes.

We've been finishing up our orders...but I've also been sneaking in a bit of time for Spring decorating. I have to admit that I still had just a FEW pieces of Christmas still up. I know.......I'm bad.LOL But after I finish I'll take some pics for you to see what I've been doing. It's been really fun decorating this Spring as I've 'Shopped' in my own home. Finding things that have been put away for awhile now...or things that I've dragged from one room to another. I like this kind of decorating...in these hard times, when we ALL love to have a beautiful home, but little funds to make over....using what we already have can be very satisfyingly. So dig out those goodies you've had stored...and gather some fun Spring things from other rooms and lets get to work. See what you can come up with and in a few days, I'll post mine. Please send me your pictures as well...I'd love to share them with others.

Till then my friends, enjoy shopping in your own home...and don't forget to have a wonderful day today!!

Hugs to all,
Paula

Well friends...this past week as been nuts. With March coming in like a lamb(and how many FORGOT to change their clocks ahead..Hands up...yes I did)the weather this past week has been anything but Lamb like. We had been scheduled to do our update on the 8th. That didn't happen with the winds and freezing rain taking it's toll on my dish. Yup..that left me without a computer for a day and a half. I was having withdrawals let me tell you.
But between the sun and hubby, we were able to clean it off for our update last night...though it DID take me 4 hours to finish it. Ick! But, if you have a chance, please stop on over and see what I've been doing....I really am proud of the new dolls. All hand sewn (tons of work and finger pricks I have to say)...and all made with 19th century rescued fabrics. LOVE them!!

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Being March...we've also got our baby chicks ordered. They'll be arriving March 28th. So that will be a very big day for us here on the farm. There are almost 40 coming...6 different breads, all of them are very old breeds and 3 of them are almost extinct. So I really can't wait to see them. It'll be a beautiful flock when they all grow up. Hubby is planning on building a different henhouse that can accommodate all of the chickens. Right now it really is just big enough for the girls i have now ...I want a house that can hold the older girls on one side, and the younger girls on the other....
Pictures will be coming as soon as they arrive. Such cute little puffballs.
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I've also got my gardens all planned and have started some of the seeds. It's going to be 8 raised beds this year. Easier for me to garden with the arthritis...and hubby just ordered me a Mantis tiller, so HOPEFULLY no weeds! I'm not sure who's more excited to play with it...me or hubby. He comes in every morning askin' if the post man delivered it yet. I swear...he's like a kid in the candy store when it comes to gadgets!

As usual I went nuts with the seeds. But the packages look SO pretty..and the promise of beautiful plants and flowers is just to much for me to handle. So a whole bag full of seeds are now sitting on the potting table. I'm not talking just 1 pack of each kind here my friends...oh NO..I'm talking 4-5 packs of each!! Well...like I told hubby, we live on a farm...with lots of room...which needs lots of plants because then it's less mowing for him. See where I'm going with this?? Oh yes, that worked and hubby was speakless scratching his head....and then finally agreed with me. 'Yup, I guess your right. I love him to death, but BOY is he easy!!(giggle)

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So dear friends, I'm off to finish orders...we've had alot of wood orders..which is very good but a bit time consuming with all the aging we do to them. So I'm off to age and work...hopefully I'll get few more goodies on the website in the next few days..so please keep checking.

Till next time....put your feet up and read a good book and just enjoy the beautiful day!
Hugs to all!

Starting Roses from Cuttings..

This is what's left of a huge bouquet of flowers that I received on Valentines day from hubby. I was just getting ready to toss them, when I noticed that 2 of the roses had sprouts on the stems. Now, I've NEVER seen this before on florist flowers.....and probably will never again, so I decided to root them and see if they'll grow.
Rooting is really simple...but only works on hard stem plants...such as the roses, lilacs, lavender..etc. Just always make sure you take a cutting from the old woody growth.

After cutting off the blossom , I cut just below the new sprout. Both cuts are at an angle for better water absorption.

I found 2 small custard cups to plant the roses in. The cups are small enough to put a sandwich bag over..and then to sit on the window ledge.

After cutting the stems, I dipped them in water, shook off the excess and swirled the wet stem in the root hormone. This I buy at any farm implement store, but I have seen it at Walmart as well.

I then pushed the stems into the moist potting soil, and taped down nice and firm. Give it a bit of a misting, not much. You don't want mold to grow. Cut a wooden skewer in two and push on either side of the stem. This will keep the bag from settling on the stem and will act as a terrarium.

Cut off the 'zip' part of your sandwich bags, and place over the your whole pot. You can tie some twine around the bottom if you'd like, But I like to keep mine open for a bit of fresh air. Only mist the stem when it's dry. With the bag over it, it should produce enough water to keep itself going, but if you see that it's to wet, uncover the pot for awhile.

You can keep it on the windowsill, or on a table on the south side of your house.

After about 4 weeks, you can check to see if roots are growing by very gently tugging on the stem. If there's resistance, you have roots! After about 2-3 months, I'd transplant the rose into a larger container and over winter till Spring which is the best planting time for roses.

Have fun....look around this Spring and see what you can start. It's a great cheap way of adding plants to your gardens. :o)

Good Luck!

A wonderful day!

YUH.....now this is what I call a great day! 65*...warm, sunny and just plain beautiful. I've had my windows open for most of the day...don't you just love that fresh smell you get indoors when the windows have been open?
I tried to stay outside for awhile...just to enjoy the sun...I hung out some laundry.....and the girls enjoyed the day as well. With the snow melted, they were able to do the thing they most love in the world...dust bath.What's even funnier is when all them try to get in there to bath. Oh how they love this time!

POOR MATILDA! Her pretty feathers never grew back after she molted last Fall...but they do say that your best laying hens are always the worst looking. I should sew her a jacket... don't you think?


Have a great evening!

The 2ND Day of March

I just can't believe that March is already here...AND we have NO snow on the ground! NONE...ZILCH!! And even better is that it's going to be in the *50's here later this week! WWOOHHOO....time to break out the shorts and hammock. I just had to share this sweet doll that just arrived from Miss Wilma. She is the MOST precious thing ever! That face just sang my tune when I saw here....and so she now sits in a place of honor...where I (and hubby..giggle) Can see her everyday. I just love her to pieces!!


I'm a sucker for a wooden bowl. Yup...my passion, my downfall. MUST HAVE!! It's like I can't even walk by one without snatching it up....it's in my hands before I realize it. And having all these bowls is fun but yet a challenge...what do you do with them?? So I've taken a few shots of a few of my favorite things. I like putting ANYTHING I can find in them. This HUGE bowl is on my coffee table and is filled with oranges and grapefruit that I dried myself. There's also some dried mushrooms, artichokes, and baby gourds all layered on a bed of dried grass. I love how primitive they look...the fruit isn't dried all pretty...it's got a great old look to it.
The 2nd bowl is filled with old wooden architectural pieces from an old porch that was being torn down. I loved how simple yet detailed they were...I only wish there was a few more of them.
I've also filled a bowl that's in my kitchen full of all my tin goods. Cutters galore and scoops. Great texture! And always on hand if I need them.
The cabinet is one hubby built for me...and is a narrow 'jelly' cupboard on top. Just perfect for a simple line of bowls. Christmas comes I tuck in greens an drieds...otherwise I usually leave them alone.
And finally, my favorite little 'make-do' cupboard filled with my little sheep (another obsession) and smaller wooden bowls with paddles. The checkerboard you see is one we build and can be found for sale on our website.
So what are your obsessions??
OOHHH..I also LOVE textiles....we'll save that for another day!LOL

Have a great day!