Karla's Cottage

Beating the heat

Despite the heat, our garden is doing well. We have well water, and live over a deep aquifer, so I use the sprinkler a lot to beat the long string of 100 plus degree days.

I've set the chickens in the garden almost daily to get the bugs for us, and they did pretty good till the squash bugs hit the cukes.  I've had to hand pick the horrid creatures off the plants, but have also used some organic insecticidal soap.

One thing I have not watered is our yard. This is what the ground looks like!  We never did have the best looking grass anyway, so I'm ignoring the lawn and concentrating on keeping the flowers and veggies going. And the poor chickens.  We lost one to what we think was heat stroke. So now, we keep a sprinkler going on low in the flower beds so that they can have a place to cool off.

We thought we were going to lose this gal too.  One of the dogs got ahold of her, and chewed all the feathers off her rump.  No real damage, and I think she looks kind of jaunty with that one tail feather sticking up.

We keep the wading pool full too, mostly for Twinkle. She is very fat and very pregnant and likes to jump in the pool, lay back and relax to cool off.  I'm thinking about getting her a raft for it, she loves the one out on the lake. 

Well, the forecast says we have a few more days coming with no rain, and more heat. Kansas is typically hotter than Hades this time of year, but not quite this hot. Sugarwings has a couple of swimming lessons coming up before back to school time, I hope its not too hot to hit the pool this week!

If its too hot to play in the pool, we'll be back inside playing dress up with Twinkle again. That is how we spent a big chunk of one hot day last week.

Sweet little chicks and cactus flowers

Ever have one of those days when lots of bad or stressful things happen, but you still feel like you had a good day?

Lets see, today I woke up with a sore back and realized that the bed frame had broken and I was sleeping downhill (time to lose some vacation pounds?), then had to go on a opossum hunt through the wild, over grown flower beds in my jammies and high heels (they were the quickest shoes I could grab, since they were still on top of my suitcase from the party and I had to get the critter before it got my chickens!).  The beast didn't get a bird, and I lost its trail, but searched high and low, trying to find where it scurried off to. By the way, I was wearing a vintage cotton night gown, the best of bed head styles, and carrying a big pink shovel.  That opossum was right to run, I looked crazy.

The dogs did nab a hen later today, but didn't harm her, just her feathers. It was quite traumatic.  And its over 100 degrees again today.

Ryan's car broke down, twice. Once, it was out of gas, the second time the battery ran down.  Sugarwings and I missed a movie we were headed to when we had to help him instead.  He pushed his car to work for blocks uphill, in this heat. We drove off thinking all was well, and it wasn't, I don't know why he didn't call us back!

There was a disagreement with a family member and I'm not one to loose my temper, I'm more of a cheek turner. But today I blew.  Not proud of that one.

We made a loaf of bread and the paddle didn't turn, so I had baked flour with wet crusty edges.  Not a big deal, but just one more thing today.  And did I mention that it was 107 degrees again?   The heat is unbearable.

But there was a bloom on our cactus, a gift from a grand child and sits in a pot painted by one of the little fairies.

It kind of stands for the day I've had, lots of problems and cactussy moments, but some how the day bloomed anyway.  Having a happy little Sugarwings by my side all day kept me from feeling bad about all the issues that could have gotten me down.

She's my sunny, little cactus flower.  Its impossible to have a bad day when I'm with her.

Instead, I enjoyed the good parts of the day.   Here are the good points of the day that outweighed the bad ones:

Watching Sugarwings pretend to be in a parade through the grocery store whille holding 2 dozen pink roses on sale for $5.

Dewdrop running into my arms and showing me that she could do all of the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Seeing Ryan handle his car problems with a good attitude and being proud of the man he grew up to be.  He has lots of LD issues and was a very short tempered, frustrated child. He is a fine man now and I'm proud of him. 

Picking a bag of fresh veggies from the garden, and popping a sun warmed tomato in my mouth

Watching the hens play in the sprinkler to beat the heat.

Taking a meal to a friend who hasn't been feeling well. I wish I saw her more often and I really should try to help more, I'm glad I made time today. 

Laughing with my sister-in-law, Sandy who is living with us.  Its good to have a freind around to share a silly thought with now and then.  I also appreciated having her here to listen to me grumble about all the problems today and to accompany me on the oppossum hunt.

Getting a funny text from my husband who is quite proud of breaking a bed after being married 30 years.

Feeling Twinkle's puppies move for the first time. I love to try to count the bumps in her belly to guess how many will be born.

Seeing how sweet Sugarwings was about missing her movie. She is not a grumbler when things don't go her way.  That made me want to not grumble about my peeves either.

Baking a second loaf of bread that turned out crustily wonderful on the outside and soft and almondy on the inside- just in time to have for dinner.  As a matter of fact, a slice of that would make a nice bedtime snack too.  Except I have no bed, I'll be sleeping on the couch till we get that bed frame repaired.

Oh, and I have a Project Runway recorded and ready to watch, that is the icing on the cake to top off this day.

 

A feathered guest at a fancy wedding

Thanks for all of your visits during the studio tour, I know I've shown the room dozens of times before, so I wondered if anyone would even care to see it again.  I tried to post photos of different parts of the room than in the past, but some of it was a bit repetitive. 

Sugarwings was with me almost every day last week, and luckily we had a break in the weather and were able to enjoy the outdoors for  a change.  Although, I'm not sure if the cooler air was really cool enough for gloves....

We like to sit in the garden, under an archway covered in vines.  In the past, I used to trim them, but now, we let them grow wild and crazy, so that we have an enclosed area to play in. Its shady and cozy.  When we sit under the low hanging branches, we feel like we are hidden away in a world of our own.  Its a good spot for picnics, hiding from ogres, and for weddings.

We had a special guest at this garden wedding.  One of our cuddly, Rhode Island Reds decided to join us in the arbor clubhouse.

These sweet, little hens are becoming part of the family.  Its so fun to have them follow us around the yard, curious about what we might be doing in case it involves crumbs of any kind.

Of course, ask me about mid- January when I have to slosh through drifts of snow to go take care of the birds a couple times a day, if I still love them as much.

The chickens are NOT doing their job of eating enough of the bugs. So far, they've been great with grasshoppers in the flower beds, and we've not had to use any pesticides at all in our veggie garden. But they haven't eaten a single chigger from the yard.  We are all suffering from chigger attacks, and Sugarwings and I have tried to play only on the paved or gravel areas to avoid getting chewed up.

We are hoping to buy some Guinea fowl, they are champion chigger eaters, but we can't find any full grown hens around to buy. 

Every time I wake up at 3am scratching, I swear I'd pay a fortune to own a couple chigger eating birds.  Anyone know where I can find some?

We don't like the idea of spritzing the little fairy grand babies with bug spray at all. Especially since I coat my ankles with it and still get bitten.

But this year is the worst I've ever seen for pests. I suspected it would be when we had such a  glorious, mild winter.  As much as I hate snow and cold, it serves a purpose, and does help keep the bugs down.

So, I'll try to remember that when I feel like complaining about going out to take care of hens in the cold this winter.    It probably won't shut me up, though, I most likely will still grumble about the cold.

How to trap fruit flies

Thanks for your comments about my friend's place in Omaha. I sure would recommend it if you need a place to stay when in Nebraska!

Talking about wine reminded me about this little trick to get rid of fruit flies.  This year has been awful for the horrid little pests.  I discovered that they really love wine, more than anything and every evening when my husband poured a glass of his (purely medicinal-ha ha) red he'd end up with floaters.

So, instead of throwing out this bottle when I was done, I left about 2" of wine in the bottom, and covered the top with Saran Wrap, and taped it down tightly.

With a toothpick, I punched some tiny holes.

The insidious creatures can't resist the wine, fly in the tiny holes, and then get stuck. I don't know if its that they drink so much, they are too drunk to get out, of if they get fatter while in there, or if they find their way in by scent but aren't led out that way. 

Whatever reason, it works.  Of course, I could tidy up the plastic wrap and make the bottle look nicer, or use a better bottle of wine, not a $5 one from Trader Joes.  But I still think this looks better than fruit flies on the bowl of produce I have sitting out!!

But you don't want to make it too attractive, it would be awful to mistakenly pour this into your wine glass!

Now, if I could just get the chigger problem under control outside.  The hens don't seem to be making a dent in my daily itch quotient.  But they do pick grasshoppers off my begonias.

Yummy Bread Machine bread - too, too good

This week has been a hodge podge.  I repainted a fairy, finished another, signed up a TON of people for the swap (yay! This will be a fun one!), babysat my own little fairies, and baked a TON of bread.   I might just weigh a TON more now that I've experimented with my new bread machine a bit...

As the smell of fresh baked bread fills the house, my Sister-In-Law, Sandy, and I do all we can to stop ourselves from standing over it, each clutching a stick of butter in our greedy little paws.

You know you've baked too much, when you realize the 5 lb bag of flour is empty.

I'm not a measuring type, but I've tried to approximate measures, so that the machine will be filled with the right amounts, and not overflow.  And I've learned that as much as I love the pure whole wheat flour, it can be a bit heavy for most people.  I've switched to mostly whole wheat, and about a 1/3 bread flour.  Its lighter and breadier.   

Pure whole wheat does make a good, solid, filling peasant type bread though.

Here is my favorite made up recipe (sort of- my own measurements are eyeballed)

Yummy Bread (as Sugarwings calls it)

1-1/2 cup leftover coffee, still warm, not hot (I drink Starbucks Vanilla)

1/2 cup organic clover honey

3/4 cup dried mixed berries

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds

2 cups whole wheat flour (organic)

1 cup unbleached organic bread flour

2-1/4 tsp bread machine yeast

Dump into machine in that order. From what I hear, you want the liquid on the bottom and the yeast on the top.  I don't know why.

Bake on the whole wheat setting. 

Stand by with your stick of butter so you are ready when the bread is done! (notice that I didn't add oil or butter to the mix? I forgot to, and liked it better this way, it was moist and soft, and I put enough butter on top while its hot, that I do not need any inside the loaf too)

Bread machines are too, too easy to use.  It takes me less than five minutes to make a loaf of deliciousness.  If I keep this up, I will become housebound, too big to fit through the front door.  

On Thursday, it got up to 107 degrees.  In June.  Yes, 107. Dang!

I had both little girls here, and we really did try to play outside. We turned on the hose, made mud pies and stayed in the shade till almost noon. I was proud of myself for staying out that long.  As soon as lunch time came, I had the perfect excuse to give up on the great outdoors and get into the air conditioning.

Then, we did the same thing we do on blizzardy days. We built a fort of blankets over the dining room table, filled the floor with pillows and climbed in to watch movies and read books.  We also brought markers, and drew all over the under belly of the table. Sugawings traced her foot and I dated it.

It was too hot for the chickens today too, when I turned on the hose to water the flower beds, a couple of them dove in to cool off in the water.

 

There hasn't been a lot of time for making things other than bread this week. I did finish a few book covers for the swap, I need to keep on top of that and make a few here and there, so I'm not swamped with too many at the last moment.  We are at about 60 or so right now. 

I hope you'll join us if you haven't yet.

 

Believe it or not, I actually made time to list some millinery packs in the Boutique! 

Including some Halloween/Autumn tones. 

And one magnificent double white rose with white velvet ribbons!

Winged friends

Things are going well with the Ladies.  They are feeling enough at home that we can leave their doors open all day, and they return to the coop to lay their eggs. 

We have 8 boxes for them, but there are only two or three that they like.  And they deposit the eggs together in the same nest all day. The next day they might use a different box, but all will use the chosen box of the day.

The Rhode Island Reds are about as lovable as a chicken can be.  All run up to me when I step outside. I'd like to think its genuine fondness, but I think they are just greedy pigs and  wondering if I might have a treat.

What surprises me about hens, is how soft they are. And that some of them actually seem to like to be petted. 

Our other four ladies, the Americaunas and Red Stars, are not nearly as friendly, but I hope that changes. They are much larger, louder, messier, and squawk at me like I have no right in the coop.  I am kind of wishing I'd stuck with just the Rhode Island Reds, since they are so sweet, adorable and act like they are thrilled to see me.

I guess its time to tell the big, noisy, messy birds that  they are too juicy and fat to not at least pretend to like me.  Because I love fried chicken more than I love hens who act like I am an annoyance in their lives...  No, thier eggs are too pretty to give up on them.  Sugarwings and I enjoy the blue eggs they produce.

Don't forget, we are having a Faerie Book Swap!  Scroll down a couple posts for details. I painted this fairy as a possible part of the collage for the cover, but I'm not sure I want to use it.  I think I'd rather have a more vintagey looking fairy.

What do you think?

 

Welcoming the hens to their shabby chic chicken coop

The ladies seem to be adjusting to their new home and are happy to be here. They came from a larger group of chickens, and I think they will like their extra space and room to roam.  Ariel appreciates the mirror.

They've been up on their perches too, and even like the chandeliers. I'll have to get a picture of them on one.

Sugarwings tends to think of the coop as her playhouse, but it hasn't been covered in poo yet. 

Soon, it will be much less appealing to hang out in.

Ariel, Small World, Unicorn, and Mator don't use their nesting boxes yet, though. The eggs (yep, we already have egg production starting the first day!) are nested under the table holding the boxes instead of in them.

We started with 4 Rhode Island Reds, and have room for lots more, so will pick up a variety of different kinds of birds later on. We found these on Craigs List for six bucks a piece, and the farmer met us halfway from his place in the country to drop them off.

I'd really like to get some that lay those pretty blue/green eggs.

And I look forward to the time when I can let them have the whole yard to play in and find bugs. For now, they are penned in till they adjust.

The other animals will need some adjustment time too.  Twinkle and the cats have been pacing along the fence trying to find thier way in to properly greet the new arrivals. I have a feeling that Twinks will need to be locked up whenever the ladies are having a promenade around the yard. 

Or the birds won't be surviving very long. I'm not sure about the cats.  Can a cat take out a hen? I know they want to.

We were told that our coop could hold 50 chickens comfortably, but we aren't interested in doing that. Maybe 10-12 at the most.   I don't want so many that I can't get to know them!

Happy Mother's Day!

When I got back from California, there was a delightful surprise waiting for me as a  Mother's Day gift! Our Gypsy and Dewdrop completely cleaned up my studio and garage from the chaotic mess left behind from Birdsong!

She even took photos of them at work for me.  And it looks like they turned the day into a party, drinking ginger ale from the plastic wine flutes I'd bought for the event. 

Before I left on my trip, I was drained and exhausted from the prep and work, and excitement of Birdsong and I just wasn't up to cleaning up before my flight.  Then, I was even more tired from a week of fun on the trip and dreaded facing the rooms as I'd left them.

It was the best gift ever to get home and see how thoughtful my girls are!!  They cleaned, swept, and put all the furniture back in place. I don't know how the two of them managed to bring  the big dining room table from the garage to the studio on their own.

Not only that, but she saved up some floor sweepings while she worked. Its funny because when Beth and I cleaned the room to get ready for Birdsong, Beth told me that there was enough detritus on the floor to make a whole project.  And after the party, there was apparently even more.

Because that is just what our Beloved Gypsy did! She used the feathers, glitter, moss, ephemera, ribbons, lace and beads to create a wire wrapped fairy for me.

Now, that is a true souvenir of the weekend! And one of the sweetest Mother's Day Gifts ever.

But that isn't all, today is shaping up to be quite the Mom's Day.  My family made an early morning run to a farm to buy us some hens!  Yep, the ladies are finally here.

I'll have some photos of Ariel, Small World, Unicorn, and Mator soon.  (guess who just got back from Disney and was full of great names for the new pets?)  But for now, I'm off to enjoy my special day and hang out with my loved ones.

I hope that your day is a special one too.

A home for the hens

Everyone around here is excited about the rehab of the chicken coop!

This old building has been through many transformations, and as good as I can guess, this will be its third time to serve as a home to a flock of birds.   Its also been a woodworking shop, an antique store, a dog run, a hang out for my Jr High school age boys, and lately, a storage shed..

Now, back to being a chicken coop!

When I used this for an antique store, we ran electricity out to it, put on a new roof and painted it all a barely there, blush pink. I think the ladies will enjoy nesting in that flattering color. They will feel so pretty in the ambient lighting and soft pink walls.

(we still need to hang the feeder, right now, its just sitting under the bench.  If we tried to feed them there, they would argue over access to the goodies. And it needs to be hung up so it doesn't get pooped in as much. They will be pooping in it no matter what, but higher is better)

We've provided a couple of mirrors so they can check themselves out. I hear that chickens enjoy looking at themselves. 

There are also lots of roosting materials, an old lawn chair, and branches screwed to the walls all around like a jungle gym.

The old painting on the wall is simply for their enjoyment.

A couple of chandeliers that no longer work were hung up for more roosting, and for lighting, I hung a ceramic lamp with a cracked base that was laying out in the shed.

The bench we built  to set the nesting boxes on is just the right height to store bales of straw.  They slide right under it, and don't leave space for the hens to roost (and poop) on the straw.

No ETA on when the girls will be moving in. But we are set and ready to welcome them to their new home.

The building has two sides, the long, narrow one that the ladies will be calling home, and a big square room next to it that the cats like to hang out in.

This side is where we keep lawn furniture in the winter, supposedly. But other things tend to accumlate too.

I've valiently tried to not let things pile up in here, but I'm glad I let a few things slip, because this is the place I raided to find the pretties for the coop. Nothing nice, just some old beat up stuff too nice to toss and I'm glad it had piled up there for me to dig through!

I'll let you know what the girls think of it all when they move in.