Chicken Ranching on a VERY Small Scale!

First, I bought a chicken coop from the local farm supply store. ~

Then, my sister and brother-in-law came to help assemble it.  It's modular so there is no cutting, just tying to  to follow the non-existent directions and screwing things together.  ~

This roofed section over the nesting box lifts so you can gather the eggs.

There are perches and and the floor slides out to remove the droppings. ~

It has a built in run so my ladies don't escape and I don't have any "fox in a hen house" scenarios. ~

It's adorable!  The only problem is.....it's really, really small.  I was told it should hold about twelve chickens.  It will hold two!  Four chickens would make me the official owner of a battery farm!

Sooo.....now I am planning an addition to the coop.


Oh, and remember how I planned on obscuring an ugly shed with it?  I'm thinking the neighbour has the last laugh. ~

Go ahead and laugh at my miniature chicken coop!!!

Bring Some Sunshine Indoors

Today I gleaned the yard for touches of yellow to brighten up the house.  Here in Ontario, we have dropped to normal spring temperatures and it's raining off and on.

The Forsythia bushes, I brought from my parents house many years ago, have not bloomed well the past few years and I threaten them with my chainsaw periodically.  This year, they have taken it to heart and are covered in brilliant yellow blossoms.

My thrift store find, tall vase is perfect for holding branches on the family room sideboard. ~

There is only a couple of inches of water in the bottom so the blooms can go right down into the vase.  The green, sequin table runner from St. Paddy's day doubles as a dresser scarf for the buffet. ~

More Forsythia branches tumble out of a vase on my bedroom dresser.  I made no attempt to arrange them so they would seem more natural. ~

Bits left over from the cuttings fill vintage mercury glass vases on the tiny office mantel.  A dollar store, mirrored tea light holder displays Easter eggs my daughters painted many, many years ago.  I store them in an egg carton and the delicate shells have held up very well. ~

Daffodils fill a little $3 thrift store vase.  It is made by Lenox and has a pretty Lily Of The Valley design.  My green Depression Glass dish, in it's silver holder, is filled with green eggs for a cheery spring feel. ~

The house feels alive with all the lightness of spring!  It can rain all it wants and I will have my dashes of yellow to remember the sunshine.

Another One Bites The Dust!

I had to work today (drats) but I was still plugging away at paint projects after.  I have no faith in this early spring lasting so I'm determined to use every spare minute taking advantage of my outdoor paint workshop!

I broke the bank on this piece at $3.99 at the Salvation Army. ~

It's solid wood and in great shape.  I want this to hang in my front porch so the pine has gotta go.

Here's the usual blah, blah, blah about dobbing different colour paints on it. ~

If you want a full tutorial on this paint technique click Here.

I put a final coat of white paint on and it still didn't look authentic.  I realized the perfect mirror was the problem and scratched some of the silver backing off.

This must have been the best made mirror in history because it was murder getting this little bit off! ~

I may work at that a little more some rainy day.

Here she is all aged. ~

That carving on the top is bothering me a bit, too.  What do you think?  Should I cover it up with something?

I've even made it 3/4's of the way across the garden in digging.  I'm totally impressing myself this week with my "get er done" attitude.  My lazy streak is bound to kick in verrrry soon!

I'm sharing this with:

Uncommonly Yours Link Party

What's It Wednesday

Power Of Paint Party

Open House Party

Sunday's Best Par.tay

So Creative Party Time!

Show Me What Ya Got

Under $100 Linky Party

Creative Things Thursday At The Vintage Farmhouse

Feathered Nest Friday

Inspiration Friday

Fabulous Fridays

Latest & Greatest Friday

Saturday Nite Special

Say G'Day Saturday

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Off To Work....

I feel like one of the Seven Dwarves this week.  I "dig, dig, dig the whole day through", to turn over the veggie garden.  24' X 10 ' may not be the biggest garden in blog land but it sure seems like it when it's time to open it up for the season!

Don't laugh at my wheelbarrow.  I've had it forever and it has patina! ~

I can't stand around all day marvelling at the first Periwinkle bloom. ~

I know I keep saying it, but this is March in Ontario and we should be covered in snow!

Instead, I'm in shorts and have chives almost ready to cut! ~

Ignore the temporary edging.  It's just to mark them so they don't fall prey to my shovel.

I leave the kale in at the end of the season since I can harvest it up until Christmas. The mild winter has caused it to start growing again.  I've never seen this! ~

See this none too attractive shed that my neighbour smacked right up to the fence? ~

I keep trying to think of ways to disguise it.  To the left of the shed you can see where I started weaving a wattle fence.  That took about a week and then I decided I couldn't live long enough to ever finish it and gave up.  Today, I decided to fight shed with shed, or coop to be exact.  

I bought this. ~

As soon as I figure out how to get this baby together, I have a darling, little chicken coop.  Then, I'm off to my daughter's farm to bring home some feathered friends!  I haven't had chickens since my daughters were little and I'm soooo excited!

Have a day where you do something crazy!

I Can't Believe I'm Painting Outside!

It's still sunny and hot; too hot for the slugging involved in turning over a 24' X 10' garden. I'm about halfway through the job but I'm taking LOTS of breaks.  In those breaks I'm hauling stuff out to the patio to paint.  With no basement or garage, it's a bit of a task to find room to do messy jobs.

I've been picking up bits and pieces, in thrift shops, to dress up the front porch and patio. It's all part of my thrift, gift, reworked or found policy.  I almost passed by a wooden plant holder for $2.99.  It was in a natural wood finish and utterly boring.  A closer look showed a backstamp that said it was hand carved and made in the Sauble Beach, Lake Huron area.  I'm thinking beach + driftwood = paint job.

I thought I had a before picture.  It looked just like this without the grey paint splotched on it. ~

There was no sheen on this piece so I didn't need to sand or prime.  I dabbed on some Martha Stewart Crevecoeur from the sample pot I picked up for $1.  I just randomly dragged the paint across the piece. ~

Next I used a matte, beige boo boo paint that was $2 for the quart.  It's best to use an old ruined brush for the top coat.  It forces the paint to go on unevenly and gives a more naturally worn look.  When I get to the grey spots, I lift the brush a bit so some of the grey shows through. ~

If it looks too good in spots, let it set for a couple of minutes and drag your brush through it again.  That will start pulling the paint back off.

The end result of the paint treatment is this. ~

I thought it could use a little dressing up and had a package of Rub-ons that I picked up from Michael's for 25 cents.  I think they are for scrapbooking.  They're super easy to use. Cut out the image, remove the backing paper, place and rub with the tool they provide.

This took less than a minute. ~

How cute it that? ~ 

I know this is a plant holder but I kind of want to use it for something else.  Any ideas?  It's sitting on my potting table, which I also use as a server, and seems quite happy there. ~

Have a day filled with sunshine!

I'm sharing this with:

Show Off Your Cottage Mondays

Uncommonly Yours Link Party

Power Of Paint Party

What's It Wednesday

Open House Linky Party

Inspiration Friday

Saturday Nite Special

A Brooklyn St. Patrick's Day

I asked Baby what was different in the big city for the day and she told me the story in pictures.

First you put on your best Irish outfit. ~

You're going uptown where all the fancy people are so you don your best Mommy/Baby matching sunglasses. ~

Head for the Staten Island Ferry. ~

Wave to every single person on the ferry and find out New Yorkers are very friendly and will wave back. ~

Find out you love riding on ferries! ~

Wave to the Green Lady herself and think of the hope she held out for so many. ~

Accidentally get involved in a street party.  Realize you are a baby and the streets are full of party goers with green beer.  It's time for Baby's St. Patrick's Day celebrations to end. ~

I'm glad she had the sense to call it a night!

A Summer Day In March

In all my life, I don't remember hitting temperatures in the 80's in March.  This does not happen in Canada!  But, it did this weekend and I hauled out my rake and started on yard clean up.

My reward is finding this darling under the leaves. ~

I took time for a little thrifting this weekend and came home with these. ~

At $1 each, I think they are a pretty good deal!

The balmy weather inspired some Easter decorating.  Some eggs tied with ribbon on an antique compote make a pretty nest for this fluffy chicken and her brood of chicks. ~

How was everyone else's weekend?