A Hard Working Man

Our Daddy will be 78 on September 16th and is one of the most hardworking individuals I know. He's a dab hand at most anything he turns his hand to and is willing to try building most anything we can come up with ... if we give him a drawing to go by.

My sisters and I are blessed to have a Daddy who helps us when ever he can and as much as he is able.I thank him every time he leaves my farm for his help.

P. S.
It was raining this morning so I was unable to get updated photos of the work on the new hen house. My nephew-in-law Ivan will be putting the roof on it soon. Daddy and I have the siding on and one window cut out. Next we will be making a screen door and exterior door. We are using hardware cloth instead of screening for the windows and screen door for strength and durability.

The weather forecast is bad for the Plains states today and tomorrow. We, the Midwest, are suppose to get it early next week. So batten down the hatches and stay safe where ever you live!

The Sky is Falling

I awoke to a cool, windy morning following a second night of wicked storms. Looking out my laundry room window I saw a huge green shrub in the center of the backyard where no shrub was planted. Apparently when my lil urban homestead was hit by strong flat-line winds last night it took out part of a Box Elder and sent it across the chicken's run. The girls were not amused. It had narrowly missed their little hutch and brought down most of the hoops and netting that cover the run. Poor girls I bet they thought Chicken Little had it right and the sky was falling!

I made a quick call to work to say I would be late followed by a call to my Daddy/Farmhand/Handyman. After about an hour's work (Daddy sawed and I picked up) we had the tree out of the chicken's space and most of the debris lining the alley awaiting pickup. We still need to redo the hoops that hold up the deer netting cover. This will be the third time we have made these crazy hoops in less than a year.

The girls kept telling me all about their adventure and I kept trying to talk them down as they followed me from one end of the run to the other end. My poor chickens were pretty traumatized by the chainsaw too. Does anyone know a good chicken therapist??

Hallelujah It Rained This Morning!

It didn't last very long but we received a much needed gentle rain this morning. I sat on my back porch before work and called Mom to see if it was raining at the farm too. It was .. so Yay!

Earlier this Spring we were moaning all it did was rain and storm but it has been several weeks since we had any rain and it has affected farmers, gardeners and the animals.

Last night, at first dark, I watered down the chickens' run. It had become so dry that the soil was turning to dust. The only green showing was a ground cover the girls do not care to eat. Hopefully the combination of that watering plus the morning shower will green things up. The girls do like a little fresh grass. =)

It's still too hot!

It is still crazy hot and humid here in southern Indiana. We get these little pop up storms and instead of cooling things down they only raise the humidity even more. I apologize for being a whiny baby but dang I would like to enjoy some of the summer.

I raided the savings account and bought a laptop at WalMart this morning. It was a good deal on an Acer Aspire 5251. (Good thing I like Ramen noodles, oats, and other cheap foods!) Some of my Library customers use net books and like them very much. While I like the portability of the smaller size reading from the small screen and typing on that small keyboard would get old in a hurry.

We have several free Wi-Fi places in Bedford, including the Library, so I may wait a bit before I get service at home.

Angela's visit to the neurosurgeon didn't go as we had hoped. Because of the pleurisy, cracked rib and some capillary swelling in her brain it may be December before the surgery happens. =(

The photo is one Angela took a few weeks ago when Jaidy and her Meme (my sis DebJo) came to visit the chickies. We love how her lil rounded cheeks show the bit of baby girl still in her face.

Jaidy hadn't seen the girls since they were very small and was quite amazed at how large they were now. She knew she must not chase them but decided to try out her recently acquired "skipping" skills. Too funny! The girls did not think much of this so we only let her make a couple of laps in the pen.

Stay cool and have a blessed week!

The Secret is Out!

I spoke to Daddy yesterday and he agreed to make me a bunny hutch. =) First he tried to talk me out of getting a bunny but then he said yes. So yay a bunny is coming to The Black Sheep Cottage! My dad is such a blessing to me.

I found hutch plans online, there are shingles left over from my roof, so we need to buy wire and wood, then the fun begins. If possible I would like to have a vermiculture setup under the hutch. This will require a little more research but I see it as very doable if set up properly.

We are under another tornado watch this afternoon and evening but there is a strong chance of snow showers tomorrow ... go figure.

~ Penny ~

Weather Report from Indiana

We have been having crazy weather so far this March. Temps ranging from the high 20s to the high 70s, two tornado touchdowns, I'm expecting another hurricane anytime now ... remember Ike. We didn't get the precipitation but we certainly got the wind from that one!

One tornado took the homes of two of our extended family. If you saw a photo of a a school bus upside down on what was left of a home that bus and house belonged to Daddy's cousin! The other tornado damaged the home of a classmate of my niece Heather. The good thing is we are blessed with no being hurt.

My day is almost over. I'm going to offer to walk my furry nephew Toby then head to the house. Hope everyone has a good evening!

~ Penny ~

Snow Dances are a Powerful Thing!

Monday evening I asked a few of the library staff to do their "Snow Dance" when they got home. I did suggest they do the dance in the backyard. I didn't want the neighbors to see them and be concerned ... if you know what I mean! ;)

Tuesday morning my supervisor called to say we had a Snow Day. I said Yay and good job on the "Dance".

Wednesday morning, after a night of freezing rain on top of several inches snow followed by more snow, I got another call from my supervisor. Yay another Snow Day! I did suggest that next time she might want to take the Dance down a notch or two! LOL

It's only January 28th and our kids have already used up all the allotted Snow Days. They are going to be sooo sad when they are still going to school come July 4th!!

This afternoon we did have a few moments of sunshine. The wind had blown away some of the snow off the tree branches outside my window to expose the inch thick ice covering the branches. It was beautiful! Well worth me trying to not pop an ankle, or my knee, while dealing with cleaning off my car and the driveway. Beauty from ashes ... so to speak.

~ Penny ~

P.S. Thanks for all the comments concerning my last post. My furnace is still running and a part has been ordered. Don't ask how much the part cost I'm still in shock! @@

Yay for the Weekend!

It wasn't a bad week but it was a looong one. I think the crazy below zero temps we have had this week has worn everyone down.

I took an hour of vacation time Friday afternoon so I could run Angela to Bloomington. While we were there we ran over to Michaels. Angela had coupons that were burning a hole in her pocket so for the sake of her clothing we shopped! lol

She found a crochet hook with the larger handle she wanted (50% off w/coupon). I found size 15 circular knitting needles (Again 50% off, thank you A. for sharing your coupons). I needed the needles to work on a prayer shawl I've started for a friend who recently had cancer surgery.

The sterling silver jewelry findings were on sale and also the Austrian crystals so I stocked up on earring makings. I'll work on earrings tomorrow and get them up to Angela so she can add them to my empty Etsy shop. I think I'll also take some of my hand dyed yarns too.

My goal this weekend, besides making earrings is to get the handout written for the Soy Candle class. Everyone who takes the class will get a information sheet, 1 jam jar candle, two votive candles, three scented soy tarts plus a tart pan.

Time is getting away from me, so I had better get busy. My family is meeting at 5:00 to celebrate Angela's birthday. Her birthday was actually January 13th, but we had to wait until everyone was free to get together.

Stay warm!

~ Penny

Snow Day

Yikes! My day off has turned into a snow day. South central IN is under a snow/blowing snow advisory from noon today until tomorrow afternoon.

Instead of running errands I stayed in my jammies until early afternoon but now I'm getting some laundry caught up and working on a few other household chores. Later I will sit down with the natural dye book I got on inter library loan.

The book, The Complete Natural Dyeing Guide, is out of print and I haven't found a copy I can afford to purchase. It's a fabulous book if you are interested in natural dyeing. Great photos and recipes for using many different plants, trees and shrubs.

I'll be spending the afternoon taking notes of the recipes I want to try and making color swatches using my Prism colored pencils and I may break out the watercolors too.

I love dyeing. It's so much fun to play with the dyes and see the colors emerge from the dye pots. I usually dye on a sunny day and hang the skeins on my front porch to dry. Folks driving by slow their cars to see all the colorful yarn hanging from the porch of my tiny cottage. I enjoy sharing my fun with the neighborhood.

Penny