Pushing the Suburban Envelope

Pee pee Tepee tutorial

2012-02-11T23:02:00.000-06:00

I wanted a simple gift for my sister in law with the receiving blankets she had. I took one and made these pee pee tepee's for her little boy. One blanket made 14 in all.First I cut out a 7 inch diameter circles from the fabric. Then I folded them in half and then in half again. I inserted a washable marker in the fold so that I knew where the halfway mark way and marked it. Then I sewed down that line.

Then I turned one side right side out over the other side like this.

I then cut off the excess to make it all even.

Now it is starting to look like a pee pee tepee.

Then I serged the raw edge all around.

Here they all are. They just need their tails tucked in. And the washable marker will come off in the first wash.

Now if you don't have a serger handy, then make the circles 8 inches in diameter, then when it comes to the serger part, just sew one inch in from the bottom. Then make snips every 1/2 inch all the way around but stopping before you get to the sewed line and then wash. It will give it the look of a rag quilt.Happy SewingLovLiv

2nd Upcycle and Loving it!

2012-01-01T00:47:00.004-06:00

A year ago the baby was not quite a year old yet and now she is two and runs and talks. So much changes in a year. Which leads me to cleaning out some things in her drawers. Last fall I made her two wool sleep sacks but now that she walks and don't forget, talks, she doesn't use them anymore. You can see one HERE and the other HERE. I wanted to re-purpose them somehow but I didn't know how. Until I was parusing my favorite diaper sewing site and it gave me an idea. I needed to change them to sweater dresses and lucky me, those are in style right now.

I had to undo some of my past work, but I think they turned out great! And it upcycled to fit her older sister too!

Appliques and Ruffle Butts!

2011-12-29T01:53:00.000-06:00

Christmas is such a busy time of the year. Not just because of Christmas, but because of all the birthdays as well. All 4 of my daughters are born in the end of December or the beginning of January. And that is not counting all my many nieces and nephews as well.Tonight I finished a birthday present of my youngest niece who has just turned 1 year old. I combined two different techniques that I picked up from my new favorite website called Pinterest. The first technique is the application of ruffles onto onsies, the direction is here. The other is the technique of adding appliques onto fabric, the directions posted here.I think they turned out beautifully!!!

Jack O'Lanterns

2011-11-05T14:32:00.001-05:00

I hate carving pumpkins. Well, I don't hate it, but I don't like it either because it seems like a waste of a good pumpkin. But that is ok, they can be painted and when Halloween is over, they can be washed, cleaned, baked, and scooped out to be made into pumpkin treats later on. So we get to have our pumpkins and eat them too!I cut them in half and place them face down on a cookie sheet. Bake them at 350 degrees for an hour or two, depends on the size. When they cool then I only have to scoop them out and place them into a cloth to drain. When it has drained well enough, I transfer them into freezer bags for later use.Everyone who eats the pumpkin pies made from fresh pumpkin, rather than canned, thinks they are the best tasting pumpkin pies around. Personally, I could not tell you. I don't like pumpkin pie. LOL.

Moved outside...

2011-03-08T00:26:00.000-06:00

It's almost spring around here and for where I live that means it's time for spring veggitable planting. We worked like the dickens on Saturday. We tilled the garden and laid down the soaker hose. Then put landscaping fabric down. Finally the boys finally covered it with mulch.

And I read about this method of planting potatoes in a tire. And then as it grows, add another tire on top and then put staw in there. Then add another tire as it grows and put more straw in. Then when it comes to harvesting, pull the tires off and pull the potatoes out of the straw. Now digging in the dirt! Here I have them started in the first tire. I had some long grass leftover from the garden all piled up to use as straw.

Today I got the 4 cabbage and 4 cauliflower plants plus some herbs planted today. Thank goodness that only took 20 minutes. Most of the children are sick with what I feel is the flu and getting these things done is actually quite exhausting. But spring doesn't wait and neither does planting. I have learned from my past mistakes from planting things too late in the season. I never got to eat the spinach I planted last year because it bolted from the heat. :( Also this is a good lesson on not procrastinating. If things are well and you can get it done, better do it or all your kids might get the flu! I am so glad we laid out the blocks last fall. :)
Lov
Liv

FOE is really your Friend!

2011-01-22T21:56:00.011-06:00

Fold Over Elastic, that is! I bought a whole spool of 100 yards of it and it has been worth every penny. I originally bought it for overnight waterproof training pants but I keep finding ways to use it that make my life simple! For instance, my newly turned 1 year old wakes up every time we would lay her down. Talk about driving me crazy! But I finally figured out it was the cold sheets that was shocking her into waking up. So tonight I made her a fleece crib sheet. I cut out a 60 by 42 rectangle piece. Then cut out a 6 inch square out of each corner. Sewed the corners together. Then finished it with Fold Over Elastic all along the edge! I found online that fleece crib sheets are $38.00 a sheet. Honestly I didn't know they existed until after I made mine, let alone that they were $38 a sheet! I bought anti-pill fleece on sale for $5.00 a yard times 2 yards. Then I had a $10 voucher for a Teacher Appreciation Event at Joann's. So I spent nothing there. 4yards of FOE so that is $2.00. And I guess I could calculate the thread but you get my point. Awesome savings and super easy to do. And one happy baby!

And just the week before my son had a camp out in the dead of winter and in the snow. I obviously didn't want him to freeze. So I purchased washable wool for $25 a yard. Sounds like a lot but when you find out that wool winter underwear online runs for $60-$80, per piece, $25 sound cheap. Washable Merino Wool is super soft and yummy like Cashmere, which is wool too, by the way. So I took his tightest pants and traced out a pattern on paper. No fly, I'm simple like that. ;) Fold over elastic to finish the top and around each leg. Simple and a huge savings for for me. And he stayed warm all weekend! So don't you think it is time to make FOE your friend too?

Lov
Liv

How to make a Feminine Cloth Pad.

2011-01-13T23:19:00.024-06:00

It is also called in many circles "Mama cloth". Even if you don't want use them full time, like I do, they are great for emergency supplies. Just 12 of them is enough to have a full year supply! In this tutorial I will be making an overnight, all in one, cloth pad with internal soaker.

Patterns

Free Patterns for cloth Pads
Make your own Cloth Pads, Many Free Patterns
Pauline's Free Cloth Menstrual Pads Sewing Pattern
Adahy's Cloth Pad Patterns
Pad Makin' Tutorial

Patterns for sale but usually come with customer support
Fern and Faerie
Kiki Cloth Pads (I have purchased this one and it is GREAT!)
KinderBee Cloth Menstrual Pads
Kristins Cloth Pads
Mamas and Maiden's Cloth Pads
Personal Things Pattern
Pretty Pads

Next...... Materials
Next to Skin Materials
Cotton or Bamboo Velour
Microfleece
Flannel
Suedecloth

Waterproof or next to Panty Fabrics
Polyurethane Laminate Knit (PUL)
Procare
Thick Fleece

Inner Layer Fabrics (Soaker Pad)
Cotton or Bamboo Terry
Flannel
Cotton, Bamboo, Hemp Fleece
Zorb

Closures
Sew on Snaps
Buttons
Plastic Snaps (Kamsnaps, tools required)

Foots for the sewing Machine
Walking Foot or Teflon Foot
This is desperately needed when working with thick fabrics and PUL.
Here is a picture of my walking foot on my Janome.

Thread
100% Polyester Thread. Important! You do not want the thread to wick moisture to the other side of the waterproof layer and any percentage of cotton will do just that.

Places to Purchase Materials
Handcocks
Suedecloth (called Buttersuede but not Microsuede!), Flannel, Thick Fleece, and Cotton Terry.

Wazoodle.com
Everything but Hemp

Very Baby
PUL, Flannel, Microfleece, Cotton Velour, Cotton and Hemp Terry.

Fabric.com
PUL, Flannel, Microfleece, Cotton Velour, Cotton Fleece, and Thick Poly Fleece.

Kamsnaps
Plastic Snaps and special pliers to apply them.
I love kamsnaps and I know that the pliers are an added expense but they have been their weight in gold to me. Not only have I used these for cloth pads, diapers, and trainers, I have used them to turn Blankies into Capes and turned scared kids into super heroes! They are wonderful for putting snaps on children's clothes. Like I said, they are worth their weight in GOLD!

Step 1...
Cut out material

Soaker layer-1 Zorb, 2 Flannel
Outer layer- 1 PUL
Inner layer- 1 Cotton Velour (I recommend Suedecloth when first starting, I was using up this cotton velour and it loves to stretch and can be a pain in heinie!)

IMPORTANT!! When you cut out the PUL, make sure that when you are pinning the pattern to the fabric, that you only pin in the seam allowance. Otherwise you will ruin the waterproofness of the fabric!

Step 2...
Layer soaker. I am using flannel, zorb, flannel. But you can use 6 layers of flannel or a couple layers of terry. Sew a 3 step zig zag down the middle to keep layers from shifting.

Step 3...
Now, either serge the edges or fake serge by doing a zig zag all the way around.

Step 4...
Pin soaker pad to wrong side of inside or top layer. So I have pinned my soaker to the wrong side of the Cotton Velour. Then I zig zag on my widest and longest setting all the way around the soaker pad.

Top or right side of the Pad.

Step 5...
Pin right sides together of Top and Bottom of cloth pad. Since you do not want to ruin the waterproofness of the PUL, make sure to pin ONLY in the seam allowance. And PUL is slippery stuff (But awesome stuff!) so you will want to pin every inch of that seam allowance.
Tip: if you pin in a counter clockwise fashion, it's easier and faster to get the pins out when you sew.

Step 6...
You will sew a straight stitch all the way around the fabric with a #12 Ballpoint Needle, and with a stitch length of 3. I line up the edge of the PUL with the edge of my sewing foot when sewing all the way around. Leave a small opening to turn the pad right side out when done. I tend to leave the straight edge along the wing open to turn it.

Step 7...
Trim the edges to make both fabrics even with each other and then turn.

Step 8...
Use a stick to make sure all the edges are pushed out.

Step 9...
Pin the opening closed, again only in the seam allowance.

Step 10...
Top Stitch about 1/4 of an inch around starting at the pinned opening.

Voila, sewing part is done!

Now to add the snaps. These are handy for securing the pad to the undies by snapping the wings together after wrapping around the sides of the undies. You can use sew on snaps or a button and hole method as well.
I first use an awl to make the hole and then add the snaps with my kamsnaps pliers.

Here's my Lavender snaps.

There are great tutorials on how to add Kamsnaps Here.

And here they are all folded up for discrete storage.

Happy Sewing!

You will want to wash and dry on hot 2-3 times before using. This shrinks the needle holes around the thread and prepares the absorbent layers.
Regular washing instructions for cloth pads.
Rinse on Cold, then do a warm or hot wash. Can be washed with your whites, but never use Fabric Softener or Dryer sheets because it will cause the pad to repel moisture. Air dry flat to lengthen life, but will do just fine in the dryer as well.

I can tell you that switching to cloth has been the best thing ever! You wouldn't believe it but beside feeling great and unbelievably comfy, I no longer have cramps. It is a bonus side effect that seems to happen to women who switch to 100% cloth. And if I had known that, I would have switched years ago! I don't know why it happens but it is awesome! Here is a link of another testimonial on this!
Lov
Liv
Update 1 year later.....My cloth pad making ability is getting better and better. This pattern is a Kiki regular and I really like the fit!

Tackled a New Training Pant Pattern Today!

2011-01-12T20:39:00.004-06:00

A friend and I tackled a new pattern for a training pants. I like Trimsie Trainers but with Fold Over Elastic, the corners were very hard and awkward. So I learned of another patter and now that it is done, I LOVE IT! It's called Tinkle Time Trainer!

Here is Trimsie with FOE (Fold Over Elastic)

And here is a Tinkle Time Trainer with FOE

Straight edges were meeting with other straight edges. It even has a section to add a printed panel on the side. I can't wait to make these for my 4 year old for night time. :)
Lov
Liv

Had a wonderful Cloth Pad class today!

2011-01-09T00:38:00.006-06:00

We were so busy that I didn't get a picture of what my students made. But we made 5 overnight cloth pads!

When we first started, they saw the pattern and almost fainted on the spot! LOL The pattern made it seem so huge. I had to tell them several times that it really won't be that big when we are finished. :) And they weren't!

And this week has been super busy with project that I have been getting done. You want to hear a secret? I have been getting this all done by putting my family first more. Isn't that crazy? I have been reading to the kids and taking them to the park, daily, and I have more time. I'm happier and they are happier. I need to remember this!

Well here's some pics of what I have been up to.

Here is a couple of the overnight pads I made for myself from the class.

And here are only 2 of the 17 wool balls that I finally finished this week, for Christmas Gifts to the in-laws.

If you remember I made some previously and you can read how and get the directions from this post. But this time I put cinnamon sticks in the middle and then covered them in Essential oils of a Cinnamon mixture.

And here is wool longies that is my first custom job. I was sent a grey, moth eaten, Cashmere sweater and was asked to make longies for a 4 year old girl. I think they turned out well and they are so soft! It's no wonder that the lady wanted to salvage them.

And lastly on the Science front... While I had a sewing class today, the children and hubby took apart a non functioning TV to see what was inside. They loved it! And kept the shell. They thought they could do puppet shows in it. But the baby loved it too, so here is the Baby Channel!

So, what have you all been up to? I hear the seed catalogs are arriving in the mail. It's almost garden planning time again!
Lov
Liv

Cotton Babies Rock!

2010-12-23T18:05:00.002-06:00

I have to say, out of all the diapers I have purchased, Cotton Babies has the best, top notch customer service of all of them! I have never been disappointed in spending money there and I know if I have any problems they will take care of me!
Cotton Babies Rock!
Lov
Liv

Christmas, the Super Busy Time of the Year! Homemade

2010-12-20T01:01:00.005-06:00

One of the presents I made for my best friend was a super duper rice bag with a cover. I learned from making one for me how to perfect it and I wanted to share it with you all.

I made a rice bag for the whole back. Which is super yummy for those of us to suffer from not having a wonderful Jacuzzi bathtub. Obviously it cannot be one big square because all the rice would gravitate towards the ends so I quilted it.

First I made a rectangle bag of Muslin fabric. The I sewed three line along the full length of the 30 inches, thereby creating 4-30 inch columns. Sorry I don't have a pic by pic of this. My camera is broke. Then filled each column with 1/2 cup of rice. While all the rice is in the bottom, then sew right above the rice 5 inches from the end. Then fill each column again with 1/2 cup of rice and sew above it 10 inches from the end. Repeat until you reach the end. Sew or serge the last end.

This is what it looks like when you are done.

Then I made a flannel cover for the Full Back rice bag. And added snaps to the rice bag corners as well as the inside of the cover corners, to keep the bag from shifting.

Lastly, I added snaps to the cover's flap to keep it closed. And here it is all wrapped up and ready to go. Including a matching neck rice bag.

As for the inside of rice bags, you can use rice, beans or corn, it does not matter. Except pinto beans. Well, unless you really love that refried bean smell. :D
Lov
Liv

If a blogger cant take a picture

2010-12-03T02:01:00.002-06:00

of the craft she has sewn and post it, did it really happen?

Boo Hoo!
My camera's screen is broken!!!
It still takes pictures but I can't see where I am pointing to. Sigh, guess I will have to take a zillion and hope one is good. Until I get a new camera...:(

On a good note, I scored $125 worth of fabric at Joann's on Black Friday and saved $395!!

What did you do with your Black Friday?

Now off to bed to get ready for my 2nd Trainers class tomorrow! YEA!
Lov
Liv

It isn't much, but my sewing area is organized!

2010-11-21T19:56:00.004-06:00

I just needed to share!

I moved all my fabric to the shelves so that I could see them, but eventually it will over run this area. So someone told me about taking swatches and categorizing them and then noting their location per bin. I will do that in time but keep my diaper making/cloth pad making supplies on the shelf readily available. Oh and under the shelves is my wheat storage in 50 gallon barrels!

The huge bin under my cutting table is for my wool. It is a lovely cedar smelled haven.

And the old fashioned sewing table on the right is my daughters' "new" machine. It is a 1956 Kenmore, all metal construction Beauty!!

Lastly, I added the light above so I could see things better. It is florescent bulbs but the whole light spectrum bulbs. It has REALLY helped!

Hope you enjoyed this tour!
Lov
Liv

My First Class

2010-11-19T23:41:00.003-06:00

Today was my first class and it was a wonderful success. And honestly, I didn't think it was going to be because I was fighting a cold all week. But after a slow start, we made a ton of progress and 1 trainer was completely finished. 3 more only need the Fold Over Elastic and snaps put on and then they are done too. I loved my super cheerful students too.
Lov
Liv

We're Throwing a Fit and You're Invited

2010-11-15T16:50:00.006-06:00

T-Shirt Fitted Diaper. Don't you just love it?!

And my little helper.

And this is an ADORABLE wool skirtie that I made from a sweater at the Goodwill! I love the circular pattern at the top of the sweater and it lent to a wonderful shirt. So girly and warm at the same time.

Lov
Liv

It's been an interesting few weeks...

2010-11-09T22:00:00.003-06:00

We had some sort of stomach bug/fever during Halloween week and at the same time, threw out my back. It involved and ER visit and a naturalist and still not much progress beyond being able to go to the potty on my own. Yippee! I did finally go to the chiropractor yesterday and I asked him on a scale of 1-10 how bad was it. He said it was an 8-10. Yikes. Nutritionally, I need to eat more whole foods and I know that. Physically, I need to do more exercise. Looking into getting a mini trampoline as well. So I will be working on that.

And because of all this I haven't done much sewing. Some and and I will show it off, but not much. However we also came into alot of food during this time, and it need preserved. So stepping out of my comfort zone, I learned about canning meat and lemons. Then my family had to help too when I was stuck in the bed.

We canned Hamburger for the first time. I used this website on how to do it.

And so since this summer, We have canned Lavender, Violet, and Dandelion Jellies, Kidney and Chickpea beans, Lemon juice, and now Hamburger and Gator Meat.

And the good news is, if our freezer fails, we haven't lost anything.
Lov
Liv

I'm not MIA, just doing a Garage Sale for the Boy Scouts.

2010-10-23T19:05:00.004-05:00

And when it's at your house, all of life stops! But for a garage Sale that is not a City Wide, they did really well!
Besides my house, I donate Hot Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, whole wheat too! I use my Bosch Universal Mixer and make 5, yes 5, loaves of Bread. Then I take 2 of those loaves and flatten them to about the size of 9x12. Butter the tops and added Cinnamon and Sugar and roll them up. Cut them up with floss into 12 rolls. Now the icing is just salted butter, powdered sugar, and milk. I don't give out the ratios because that is my secret. But I have posted my super awesome, super light, whole wheat bread recipes HERE on All Recipes.

A Babe with Expensive tastes.

2010-10-16T19:45:00.003-05:00

Well not really. I have been finding Cashmere Sweaters (which are wool by the way) at the Thrift Store and surely I couldn't pass them up. They feel so yummy! But they are on the thin side. I read that if you don't want to felt them, you only need to double them up and that gave me the idea. Reversible Longies! So I made two sets of longies and combine them together. I added a sleeve for the elastic waist band. Then Rolled Hem the bottom of the legs and again at the top. It turned out perfectly!

Don't forget to register for the Breast Cancer Awareness Giveaway for a free Nursing Cover.
Lov
Liv

In Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month Giveaway!

2010-10-12T23:22:00.005-05:00

And the winner is.....A. Hines! For following me on twitter. Congrats!!

Nursing is very dear to my heart. I have so far nursed 8 years myself, including a set of twins! It has been proven that the longer you nurse, the more you decrease you chances of getting premenopausal Breast Cancer. And with it being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I would like to encourage all new mothers and mothers-to-be to protect their breasts!
So in honor of this I will be giving away an Autumn Batik Nursing Cover to help in this endeavor.

This nursing cover is lightweight 100% Cotton with the peek-a-boo feature that allows you to see your baby and him to see you, made lovingly with my two hands. As well as the others in my Artfire Store.
And for the month of October, I am offering free shipping on all nursing covers.

So if you would love to have this Nursing Cover, here is what you need to do to enter to win. Make sure a leave seperate comments for each requirement.

1. Leave a comment on what you would like to see in my Artfire shop. 1 per person

2. Become a Follower of this blog (current followers count too). 1 per person

3. Leave a comment if you post this Giveaway somewhere else public on the web and add link. No limit on different areas to link to, just leave separate comments for each.

4. Become a fan on Facebook (current fans count too) of Feminine Essence and leave a comment here. 1 per person

5. Become a follower on Twitter (current followers count too) of Feminine Essence and leave a comment here. 1 per person

6. 10 entries, leave a comment for each, if you order anything from my shop!

Contest ends October 31st at 11:59pm. Open to all US Residents.
Lov
Liv

The Reusables!

2010-10-10T21:29:00.014-05:00

This is the display that I did for the "Thinking outside the box, Preparedness Workshop". I am so happy to try to share this with you all online!
And here is the Teddy Bear changing station. It was for anyone who wanted to see what it was like to change a cloth diaper.

An overview of everything laid out. :)

The start of the Diaper Area!

Here you can see the Fuzzibunz from The Suburban Tree Hugger, Bumgenius 4.0 that I recently won, a couple of All in One cloth diapers, and a Rumparooz. The Picture is of a diaper sprayer. I wanted people to see how easy it is to clean a cloth diaper now a days!

Here you can see the Katydid Diaper, Rumparooz that I won from Sugar Dipes, Bumgenius 4.0 that I won from Cotton Babies, Diapers made with the LaDiDa Diaper Pattern and Diapeze.

Here are some Kawaii Diapers, Chinese Prefolds, Swim Diapers, and some wonderful fitteds and pocket diapers from Nifty Nappy.

Here is the prefold, flats, and covers section. There is a Thirsties, Flip, and Econobum from The Suburban Tree Hugger. And a Bummis prefold and cover.

And lastly, cloth wipes. The colorful ones are from Diapeze. And the white ones are some that I surged from scrap flannel. And above them both is a Hemp doubler.

Here is the information display for the cloth diapers. You can read the Documents below.

Cost analysis of Disposables vs. Cloth diapers

Here are the different types of Cloth Diapers.

Basic instructions of washing Cloth Diapers

Where you can purchase Cloth Diapers

Free Cloth Diaper patterns Online

Here is a picture of the wet bags I made and cloth pads from Randumosity.

Girly Cloth that I made myself for my two girls.

Unpaper towels I have made myself. And waterproof sandwich bags made by another Stay at Home Mom that I bartered with.

And Here is a food cover from Rebel:T/L/C, made with Food Safe Nylon, that you just throw into the washer. She also accepts Amazon Gift Cards that you can earn with your Swagbucks, same as cash.

And Here is the informational Display on all these items!

Why Cloth Pads

Cost analysis of Disposable Pads to Cloth

Where to get them

Reusable instead of Disposable

Finally, some of the wool items that I had been working on lately.

I hope that I was able to bring a a little bit of what I have done for you all online.
Lov
Liv

So what did I do with the wool scraps?

2010-10-07T20:27:00.003-05:00

I am making wool balls with them! Wool balls are the new "fabric softener". They shorten the drying time, cut down on the static, and fluff the clothes all at once! All these attributes are great for cloth diapers, but are still great for anything you stick in the dryer anyways. Here is the tutorial that I got the idea from.

Here is a piece of wool that I had leftover from making the longies. I washed it and dried it in a pillow case to felt it. And then I ironed it and then ironed on freezer paper. I used the freezer paper so that I could use my template and draw alot of side panels at once without any pinning.

Here it all drawn out. :D

Voila! My first Wool ball!

And my children thought that the freezer paper cut outs needed a use too! Well, art was taken care of today!
Lov
Liv

My Wool Longies Are done!

2010-10-04T13:23:00.004-05:00

Yay!! Now this isn't part two with the scraps. I had to finish what I was doing with the wool to gather all my scraps. Which is now felted by the way.
These longies turned out so cute!! I love them!
I got the tutorial from here. She had great instructions and I made my a bit big for room to grow, but I also had to add elastic to everything so they would stay on.

I had enough of the wool sweater to make another sleep sack. You can see how I made the sleep sack from this post. I am finding that Men's XL are perfect for this job.

Well, there is one thing that I made with the scraps. :D The Shoulders of one set of the sleeves plus some leftover ribbing made a perfect hat.
Lov
Liv

Upcycling Wool Sack

2010-09-29T11:23:00.014-05:00

In my fascination with wool longies, I started hunting the local thrift store. I found two other sweaters that will be good for the longies, but I came across this sweater vest for 1/2 off that I couldn't pass up. It was $2.99 but all green marked tags were 1/2 off. Plus I had a discount card for another 10% off. So this bad boy cost me $1.35!

First I opened the shoulder seams.

Then I measured 5 inches down(to include an overlap on the shoulder)on the sleeves and sewed in towards the body. Then when I got far enough in (of course this is determined by more the size of the child. Once I got far enough in then I went straight down. After I sewed it, then I trimmed it. It was easier to sew it first and then trim it.

Then I sewed the bottom together.

Then I folded in the wrong sides of back shoulder seams 3/4 inches and sewed together. I then folded in the wrong sides together and pinned the front shoulder seams 3/4 inch and sewed.

Once all 4 shoulder seams were sewed down, I had to decide what snaps to use. I decided lavender was a nice complimentary color, since I didn't have charcoal colored snaps.

I spaced it out and 5 snaps across looked good to me.

Voila! Finished product on my cutie pie tester.

And this is only part one! Wait till you see what I do with the scraps!
Lov
Liv

Humanitarian Aid

2010-09-24T12:46:00.003-05:00

I have to share what my daughters jointly made with the help of Sister Virginia Stough for Humanitarian Aid! Isn't it adorable!
Lov
Liv

Sewing Frenzy!

2010-09-24T12:18:00.003-05:00

Finished all the girly cloth and the girls are super happy and so am I. And since I have been at the sewing machine, the mending has come out of the woodworks! Shirts, hems, dolls and pillows. One in particular, Scott got when he was a baby. There was a rip in the front and back of the fabric but the embroidered name part was still intact. So I took the name part out and made him a new pillow. No toy has ever made this boy as happy as having this pillow fixed. And the fabric came out of scraps!

And then I tackled my first diaper. I think my friend who I am making them for, is going to be super happy! I obviously think it is ADORABLE! I love this Ooga Booga Girl Print. And if you look closely, you can see little Ooga Booga snaps as well.

My family has been busy getting the garden ready for next year. We moved it and expanded it. And since now is the time to plant grass, we did that as well. I will show that progress on Monday.

Pictures of my School/Sewing Room

2010-09-17T13:42:00.003-05:00

Someone asked to see it. It's not much, but it's organized and functional. I am truly blessed. :D

Vacation and catch up.

2010-09-17T01:52:00.003-05:00

Last week I was on vacation with my wonderful family. First we went camping and then we went to visit historical sites, 6 hours away. But it was 9 hours with little kids. So this week was back to the bump and grind and getting things done. Monday was spent cleaning up the school room. A deep clean and organization and I should of took a picture to make it last. Oh well. Right now there are a set of shoes under the table, a brush here, a wii wheel there, and why is there a towel down here? But all in all, it is much better down here and kids are getting to work. And I am getting things done sewing wise.

I made two wet bags for the girls and another set of girly cloth. And a ton of mending is getting done. Now it is time to get some sleep. Looking to glean some more apples. I can't believe how many people are not even picking their own trees. I have my eyes on 5 right now as we speak. Awwwe, it's starting to feel like fall.

Another Huge Diaper Giveaway from Diaper Junction

2010-09-11T12:20:00.001-05:00

This was too big to pass. If you are interested in cloth but thought you didn't have the funds to try, this is your chance!
Come here to register for the giveaway!
Lov
Liv

Cotton Babies Diapers

2010-09-10T09:35:00.003-05:00

There is no doubting that Cotton Babies is the major name in cloth diapers. They have the Bumgenius, Flip, and my favorite prefold Econobum. And this week they had a huge giveaway, leading to today's finale! So if you ever thought of using cloth, here is your chance!

For a chance to win a 6 pack of Bumgenius 4.0, go here!
Lov
Liv

My first two girly cloth.

2010-09-01T10:57:00.003-05:00

Ok, don't laugh. I want to remind everyone that this is my first attempt with PUL and my first time working with a walking foot! But besides the the lines not being so symmetrical, I think they are pretty good for my first try. I guess by posting this I am hoping to inspire all those who haven't tried it yet. I know that with time, I will get better. I called them girly cloth instead of Mama cloth because these are for my girls, when they get older.
I used pink and purple suede cloth for the non pilling qualities.
I used zorb because of the super absorbent and ultra thin qualities.
And I used white PUL, to keep the wetness getting to the undies.
Ok, lastly is 100% Polyester thread, to keep things from wicking.

These could compete with any of those ultrathin disposable pads but these are reusable. And lacking in all those chemicals used in disposables. In fact, I read, and found myself. That without those chemicals, periods are lighter, shorter, and a whole lot less painful! Obviously, those of us who have suffered through debilitating cramps, know all to well the pain. I just wished I had learned a long time ago that it was because of the chemicals!

As for cleaning... I put mine in a bucket and wash with my baby girl's diapers or my whites. Some people like to rinse. I don't and haven't had any problems with staining.

I learned a great deal from these ladies online, Diaper Sewing Divas.

Lov
Liv

Lulu in the Fluff

2010-08-25T15:13:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, I am a Rockin Green Fan! Before I knew what to wash my diapers in, 10years ago, I just washed them in regular detergent. Many of you may not know, when I was 18, I got to tour France for 2 weeks. It was awesome! One of the tours was a Sewer Tour under Paris. Seriously! Well, washing my cloth diapers in regular deterent always brought me back to when I was 18 and was touring the sewers of Paris! I kid you not!

A good diaper detergent must not leave any residue or you will be touring the Sewers of Paris for free! Hence the best test of a good diaper detergent is no smell at all. So with talk generating for Lulu in the Fluff, I was game.

"Put Lulu's In The Fluff and you're using safe, environmentally friendly detergents that smell fabulous in your laundry room and rinse clean, leaving no residue behind.

Lulu's cloth diaper & laundry detergent was formulated out of a need to clean with glamour! It’s made of safe, phosphate free ingredients, which are good for the planet, and is great for kids and adults.

Best of all, it is totally safe for cloth diapers. Just one tablespoon and you are on your way to clean diapers and clothing."

I did a soak in the tub with all my prefolds.

Then I did my regular wash and dry, and tentitively held it up to my nose. Nothing, absolutely, nothing! It smelled wonderfully of nothing! No flashbacks to Paris! Just the warm feeling of my love of cloth!

So combine that with the $11.95 price tag for the Hard Water Version, I am sold. There are no scented versions in the Hard water Lulu, but I am sure that will change. And as an Essential Oil fan, one drop of my favorite will remidy that. Besides you do not want diapers to smell afterwards, because that means residue was left behind.

I must also say that Lulu has, hands down the best customer service out there. A zillion times better than Rockin Green. So my recommendation is to Glamorize your Fluff with Lulu's in the Fluff. That reminds me, I have some used diapers that just came in the mail, time to go glamorize them.

You can buy Lulu's in the Fluff from these Retailers.
Lov
Liv

Two Weeks of Giveaways!

2010-08-23T01:48:00.002-05:00

Starting August 23, My oldest's Birthday, through Sept 3rd there will be giveaways everyday on In The Mommy Business. In my family, starting tomorrow, we will have 5 birthdays for the next two weeks as well, so it now feels like one big celebration, for me at least. So check it out.
Here is a list of the retailers participating if you'd like to check them out before hand. I haven't received all the product from them yet so this list may lose some names. This list could also add some names since it seems like more companies are interested everyday. They are in no order.
-Thirsies
-Diapeze
-The Paisley Jellybean
-MomCrafts4U
-deedleDdo
-DyPeas
-Mother-ease
-Charlie Banana
-Beautifully Created Boutique
-Prairie Tales
-Dream Makers Design
Lov
Liv

Score! Gleened Apples

2010-08-20T22:08:00.002-05:00

I hate how fruit trees go to waste! Well, I found one today, and had to pick it! And this was just on the low branches. I think we will go back with a ladder tomorrow. I do want to add that you should check with the owner first, if possible.

And the winner of the ROCKIN GREEN SOAP is

2010-08-18T21:39:00.004-05:00

Kim Allen said...
I Like smashing watermelons!

Please email me within 24 hours to claim your prize!
Lov
Liv

Yummy Yogurt

2010-08-17T18:41:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, while I was making and baking, I started yogurt as well. It take 8 hours to set up, so it was done until this morning. 1 quart of store bought yogurt made all of this! I love Hillbilly Housewife, she supplied the recipe. I don't like all her menu choices, but when it come to making from scratch or making do, she is the queen! Her yogurt recipe click here. Browse around and find your gems!
Lov
Liv

Baking Making Mondays

2010-08-16T17:19:00.008-05:00

Mmmmmm, it smells so good in here. Can you smell it? No? Alright I will have to tell you instead. It smells like fresh homemade bread, oatmeal cookies, and Peach Crisp all at the same time. With homeschooling, I don't have time for the rest of the week for baking and such. Ok, really, I don't have time for many things with eight children. Even still, I have declared Monday for baking and making. It's other name is Home Economics. LOL. We make whole wheat bread for lunchtime sandwiches for the rest of the week. I like my family to have whole grain and found the prices of real whole grain bread at the store to be a bit much for me. I have been extremely fortunate that my Grandfather, when he used go to garage sales, found me a wheat grinder for $2.00. Score! So I store my own wheat and make bread once a week. After some trial and error for 6 years, I have perfected my own recipe and put it on Allrecipes. Soft and Yummy Whole Wheat Bread I also take one of the loaves sometime and make Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls. They are infamous in these parts. Here's a picture of them rising.

The girls made Oatmeal cookies because it is Family night tonight. They almost put in 1 1/2 cups of Salt in instead of teaspoons. I am soo glad I caught it! They would have been disgusting. *yuck*

And I wasn't going to make Peach Crisp but I saw that the peaches on my peach tree looked salvageable. This was our first year for peaches. It should have been last year but a late frost killed the blooms. I feel bad that I didn't spray them as much as was needed. I'm not perfect. With full time nursing of a baby, it cuts down what I can do. However, some were salvageable! Yeah!! It's going to be oh so yummy!

I've still got beans to can tonight. I did 13 quarts of Kidney Beans done this weekend. Better go get the chickpeas started....

Good news, I will sleep well tonight and I am set for the week.
Lov
Liv

Rockin Green Soap Givaway

2010-08-15T14:34:00.009-05:00

I tried to buy Rockin Green Soap locally and they didn't have it at the time. They didn't have it another time either, but I digress. They instead sold me something called Tiny Bubbles and said it was way better. So without options, I bought it. Ran out of my Rockin Green and just opened Tiny Bubbles this week. Two washes, that is all I have done, 2 washes, and already I hate it! I smell a residual funk already and in prefolds no less! Better? Not on my baby's hiney, it isn't. I am sooo not happy. Can you tell? Well,to make a long story short, I am going to order Rockin Green on Thursday and decided that one lucky person should get to enjoy it too! So if you already love Rockin Green or if you want to see what all the hype is about, join this Givaway for a chance! I got to enjoy Hard Rock because I had won a givaway once and now I want to pass it on! This will end on Wednesday at 9pm Central Time.

Now what you have to do to enter. Make sure a leave seperate comments for each requirement.

1. Leave a comment on your favorite Rockin Green Scent or a Scent that you would like to try. 1 per person

2. Become a Follower of this blog. 1 per person

3. Leave a comment if you posted this Giveaway somewhere else public on the web and add link. No limit on different areas to link to, just leave separate comments for each.

4. Become a fan on Facebook of Feminine Essence and leave a comment here. 1 per person

This is one free bag of Rockin Green sent to you. Your flavor and varity. I will post the winner on my blog on Wednesday August 18th, 9pm Central.
Lov
Liv

US Residents only.

Bigger tends to be Greener

2010-07-01T13:26:00.007-05:00

Many of my Large Family Friends have taken the "How Green are You?" quiz. And shocker of all shockers, we tend to be a whole lot greener than the rest of the population. I think that has alot to do with cutting costs to enable raising a large family. I love this article here on Faith & Family Magazine. It points out that even though we are large we are also green. Some critics still argue that all those children grow up and then start wasting resources like the rest of the non green small families out there. But really, they do take what they are taught with them.

So I guess I can say, I am a penny pincher so I can raise my family and whether environmentalists like it or not, I am super green too!

I don't have plastic wrap anymore. Why would I? It's disposable! I've got reusable plastic containers with lids that do the job much better. I still have aluminium foil, but I can recycle that. :D

I have not bought paper towels again and use Unpaper towels instead. I made them myself and sell them on Artfire Feminine Essence . They can be purchased all over artfire or my favorite etsy seller is Athena Creates . Where ever you choose to get them, they will cut down on one major expense on paper and are totally worth it.

I use cloth diapers and cloth pads as well. Have you heard how long it takes a disposable to degrade in a landfill? 500 years! And how many diapers do a baby go through in a day? Anywhere from 6-24! And did you know that when your baby poops that you are actually suppose to flush that down the toilet and not wrap it up in a tight little bundle and throw it in the trash? Yep, says so on most packages. That is because landfill is not a waste treatment plant at all, it was never meant to handle bio hazardous material. And I do cloth because it cost me $100 to start up. I have a HE washer, with a Sanitary cycle so water and ease are easy peasy! And just like everything else in the world, even the cloth diaper has a zillion user friendly options. And you know what the greatest thing is, a peace of mind. When things get tight, I am never worrying when the diapers and wipes are low and where the money is going to come from to buy more.

I guess I have come to dislike anything that is disposable. And come to a view of only getting what you need and making do with what you have if you can. Why not, why waste that money?

So what can you think of that can have more use? Like Alton Brown on Good Eats, a Unitasker is Bad! I was given disposable face wash clothes, do you have them too? Well, I saw it such a waste to just throw it away after washing my face, so I clean the sink with them too. Then I scrub the toilet rim and outside with it. Then I felt, it was dirty enough to throw away. Maybe you have some product like that too. Find more than one use for it, then cut your budget, and get a little greener too.
Lov
Liv

Peas and Carrots

2010-06-08T20:56:00.004-05:00

Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm Peas and Carrots.
What I learned......You cannot plant spring plants in the same area that you are going to plant summer plants. You can do spring plants and fall plants in the same area, however.... oops! Added upon the fact that my peas were late bloomers, but they are here and they were yummy! At least my early sugar snap peas. My regular peas are still not here yet. My spinach bolted and the lettice tastes yucky, must of bolted too. So, I can say that I am still learning. What gardening oops have you done this year?
Lov
Liv

Funny thing about being busy in spring is there really isn't time to blog about it.

2010-05-18T13:10:00.005-05:00

In the last two weeks, I've planted about 100 plants (with hubby's help), trees and shrubs and then proceeded to pull more weeds than that. We were joking last night that they should genetically modify grub worms to only eat weed roots. Those scientists would make a bundle!! But then again, knowing nature, the weeds would adapt and make themselves taste yucky. LOL.

I also painted the boys' room blue with the help of a friend. So before you are all thinking I'm super woman, I'm not. I did have a friend's help. :D I definitely could not have done it without her. I did, however, overhauled the lawnmower by myself. Well my 11 year old son was there, but he did the damage so his attendance was requisite. It's working wonderfully now. First time doing repair work on an engine, so not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Worked on some sewing projects and have made 40 some unpaper towels and a diaper pail bag. Still have some nursing covers to finish and then on to cloth pads. I used to think that I hated sewing but then realized it was not the sewing that I hated, it was the machine!! I had a horrid machine. Good riddance, I say. And now I am in love with a Janome. It's not a top of line machine, but it is a good machine and that has made all the difference in the world.

And finally, I finished a book. In my spare time in the "library". It's called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and I totally recommend it. I finished it just in time for book club this Thursday. My library is my small five minute sanctuary. I love the peace and quiet that it brings to my day, that is until the children knock on the door pleading to use the potty. Busted....

My Kam snaps pliers came yesterday. They are so awesome! After my couple of practice runs with some blankets that are now capes, I converted Alea's diaper cover from Aplix (Velcro) to Snaps. It was pretty simple. I learned some things in the process but they are definitely improved by the conversion. Some pictures for your viewing pleasure. :D

And lastly, while pulling weeds, I kept the dandelions. Did you know that besides making jelly from their flowers, their roots are great for detoxifying your liver? Yep. Since my flower garden is organic, why not! That's them soaking in the water to get the dirt off. I will then dehydrate them and chop them up. Since I don't own capsules to put them in, although not expensive, I might make them into an infusion.

Well, baby woke up from a cat nap. I have no idea what is going on with her, but 5:30in the morning does not work for me....
Lov
Liv

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T01:46:00.003-05:00

Today is Earthday and I'm all for that. My recycling is neatly stacked at the curb, my organic garden is growing well, and my cloth covered baby bums are happily running around the house. All is well on Earthday!

As you can tell, I am a big believer in Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Shhhhh. Don't tell my fellow HOA neighborhood police, that won't even allow me to have a clothesline. And no, I am not kidding. Hence, Pushing the Suburban Envelope. What can I get away with in the burbs without getting fined. The chickens lasted a whole year at least...I regress.

But, despite my lack of clothesline, I still use cloth diapers and dry them on an indoor rack. And when I wash them, I wash them in Rockin Green. Great for the environment and super great with diapers. I have been doing cloth diapers for 10 years and I can tell you that a good diaper detergent is key. Key for a happy bum and a happy mum. And my Rockin green comes in these cute muslin bags. Too cute to throw away. So, what would be a way that I could reuse them? Granted, if I had enough of them, my daughters would have me make them into a quilt or something, but alas, I only have two. And I hear that they are no longer going to be packaging them in the muslin bags, anymore. And I can't wait to see their new packaging!

But with my empty one, how can I reuse such a cute bag? Think, think, think... Well I decide that since they were great for my children's diapers, they would be perfect for storing my little "diapers". Ok, they are not diapers but all wrapped up like that, they look like cute little diapers to me. Oh yea, ladies we are going there! I LOVE cloth pads. I grew up in the traditional sense when it came to feminine products....disposables all the way. Oh and I was suppose to be grateful that they didn't come on belts like the "good old days". The fashion got thinner and more absorbent, and slowly but surely, my body soon revolted. We put lotion on the rest of our bodies to keep it moist but remove all the moisture down there with current ultra thin pads. My body started to become tooo dry and the plastic was unbreathable. It was an awful combination. I mean they tell you to always wear cotton because it breathes but just not during that time of the month though. Seems like an contradiction to me. So after years and years and years of doing what the mainstream does, I decided to try the alternative. Cloth pads. I couldn't believe how comfortable they were. Like wearing only underwear. So cool and comfortable, it was night and day. My only regret was not switching sooner! And even that has furthered my resolve to use cloth on my babies. They deserve to be cool and comfortable too.

I would be remiss if I didn't say something to all the women in my life. And I have. Now, I will go back into my cloned suburban "earth toned colored" house and figure out how I can make vermicomposting work around here. Ahhh, they can't tell me what I can do inside my home..... yet!
Lov
Liv

I don't know if I've ever told you, but I have been banned...

2010-04-20T21:01:00.004-05:00

from Michigan Bulb Co. And online plant company. Seriously! I spent about $500 there when I was first landscaping. They have their "wonderful" "lifetime" guarentee.

They send the items when it is suppose to be good to plant them in your area. Somethings didn't travel well. A big order they sent arrive October 31st and it snowed 2 days later. I don't know who could of thought that was a good idea. So I had to replace things several times. So last year they sent me a letter saying that I am no longer allowed to buy things from them anymore and they no longer are honoring their lifetime warrenty.

And to top it off. I have two beatiful bushes finally blooming today and it turns out they are honeysuckle bushes. I didn't even know that honeysuckle came in a bush variety! I ordered Double Mock Orange!

So take what you want from this review of this company but I would never recommend them.
Lov
Liv

My ad on craigslist, enjoy!

2010-04-19T23:20:00.001-05:00

I received alot of inquiries for this singer sewing machine, but my conscience was pricking me when I received alot of requests for it for first time sewers and I had to repost it with full disclosure. Yes, the tension came apart and yes, I did try to put it back together and yes again, I do have all the parts and it could be put back together. BUT, during the my cursing in the attempt to repair it, I had an epiphany. This machine would be more useful if an accelerant was doused on it and it was lit on fire! So here is the thing, if you want this machine for parts OR to use for a trade in at a local sewing machine shop for discount, then I will freely give it to you. However, if you are going to fix this machine and give it to a new sewer, I would rather pitch it into a pond for a decoration to entertain the fishies before I will ever let you forever scar your loved one into never sewing again!

Other acceptable uses for this machine....
A high school science teacher who would love to drop it off the top of the school to teach their students the law of Gravity.
A Mechanical Engineering student who would love to melt it in determining whether the plastic was injection molding or vacuum molding when manufactured.
A gift for an mechanically minded son who would love to take it apart to see how it works, with understanding of it's substandard construction.
For the fisherman who lost his anchor last season and is too cheap to replace it.
A target for an artillary range.
And lastly, a disgruntalled husband who wants to pretend that he is making up to his wife but wants to secrectly drive her nuts, then this....... is the machine for you.

I won a free bag of Rockin Green, Hard Rock Soap

2010-04-16T14:30:00.003-05:00

I won a bag of Rocking Green Hard Rock from Jess at Welcome to the Zoo. I recently became a fan of Rockin Green but I have extremely hard water so when they came out with the Hard Rock version, I had to try it! But for one reason or another, it wasn't in the cards yet. However, now I get to try it!! Can't wait! Thanks Jess!!
Lov
Liv

Violet and Dandelion Jelly

2010-04-14T21:17:00.005-05:00

I found this wonderful blog with the recipe for violet and dandelion jelly. Finally something to do with my plentiful crop and bane of the Homeowner's association! I kept some roots too. It's good for detoxifying your liver. However I don't know where my 4 year old put them. I told him to stick them on the porch....Oh well, still PLENTY of roots left to dig up.
Lov
Liv

I looked out the window and what did I see......

2010-03-31T15:58:00.004-05:00

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! I couldn't help it. I LOVE SPRING!! I love gardening. I love baking bread. I love cloth diapers. I love recycling. I love chickens. If I didn't live in a homeowners association, I would even have a mini sheep instead of a lawnmower. Hence pushing the suburban envelope... :D Also I added a link to Get Real- The inside poop to cloth diapers on my sight. If you have ever wondered about cloth, this event is for you! There are soooo many neat things out there today. Anywho... The pictures are for your viewing pleasure....So what's in bloom at your house?
Lov
Liv

Went To My First Gardening Class.

2010-03-23T01:43:00.003-05:00

Not my first one, but my first one here at the Rec Center. It's being taught by a Master Gardener and who couldn't learn a thing or two from them? And this Saturday, they scheduled a garden demonstration, hands on kind of thing. Guess who's dirt we are going to all play in, weather permitting of course, YOURS TRULY!!!! A master gardener is coming to plant my carrots! LOL!
Lov
Liv

Homemade All Purpose Cleaner

2010-03-22T12:48:00.006-05:00

The Laundry detergent is going well and I am pleasantly supprised. And since I have shared that, I thought I would share our Homemade All Purpose cleaner. Another way to kick out the toxic chemicals and save a ton of money!

Mix together

1 tbsp of Borax powder (find it in the laundry aisle of your supermarket)

3 tbsps of white vinegar

2 cups of water

1 tablespoon of dish soap

1 drop of essential oil such as Peppermint, Lemon, or On Guard(Theives) for fragrance (optional)

Pour it into a spray bottle you bought at the hardware store, give it a shake, and you are ready to clean.

Lov
Liv

I made my own Laundry Detergent today!

2010-03-19T23:36:00.004-05:00

I admit it, I love the Duggars! I couldn't do 19 children but I think they do an awesome job. They also have a web page of their favorite recipes, including Laundry Detergent. I have been wanting to make it for 6 years (blush), but couldn't find all the ingredients to do so. In South Carolina I couldn't find Fels-Naptha Soap so I gave up. Then, the other day, when looking for Calgon Water Softner, there was the Soap and the Washing Soda. I couldn't believe it and couldn't pass up the chance to finally try it out.

I did wait until my other detergent ran out first. Then I shredded the bar today and got to work. Nikki mixed the soap as it heated up. I didn't have a 5 gallon bucket, well I do but it is a food grade bucket and I wasn't going to waste it on non food grade stuff. So I used two old laundry detergent buckets, one is 3 gallons and the other is 2 gallons. I couldn't use them for much else so it was perfect!

After I got it all mixed, it looked pretty much like soapy water and that concerned me. I was worried that it wouldn't gel up, like it said in the instructions. I messed up some icing recently so it was a valid concern. But this evening, sure enough it is gel! The instructions say to cut it in half again with water, but I just plan to use an 1/8 cup instead of diluting it again. I actually do have an 1/8 cup measuring cup somewhere around here, just got to find it. I will let you know how it goes, but for less than $2.00 for 640 loads, you can't beat the price. You can find the recipe and all the Duggar's Favorite Recipes HERE.

I also found that Rosemary Essential Oil complimented the smell that the Fels-Naptha already had. Laundry day tomorrow!
Lov
Liv

Do you need seeds for your garden?

2010-03-15T20:43:00.003-05:00

This wonderful website is offering free vegetable garden seeds here.
And in this economy, this is a wonderful help that keeps on giving.
Lov
Liv

Spring has Sprung so today was busy

2010-03-14T01:16:00.004-06:00

The square foot gardens were getting low in compost. I have a huge truckload ordered for next Thursday but I needed to plant peas today. So we dug out and cleaned out the back two squares and moved that dirt to the front two squares. This allowed me the ability to plant the peas. Boy was that work. Not only did we clean out all the weeds and get that done, we cleaned out the whole back yard too. It seems our bored dog likes to chew plastic into little pieces. *rolleyes* Then pruned all the trees, vines, and bushes. Moved a bush to it's proper spot. Then completely cleaned out the garage. We needed to get all the garden stuff organized again. The lamp is ready for me to start some seeds. :) And while we were cleaning out the garage, we organized all the recyclables and put them in the van. It seems I will be dropping off everything from metal to plastics to cardboard to be recycled on Monday. Lastly, I signed up for a gardening class at the local Rec Center. You might be wondering why I would be taking a class about gardening, of all things. Well, I would love to learn new techniques but mostly for pest control. This is my first year doing cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce and we all know how hard it is to keep those from being gobbled up by every bug in the neighborhood. I'm tired now and it seems we have a couple of kiddos with the flu. Oh and that last picture is of my Scarecrow. It has a motion sensor on the front and when a little or big animal walks near, it sets off the sprinkler for a few seconds. The noise and water is suppose to scare off whatever is near the garden. Hopefully it will scare off the local bunnies.
Lov
Liv

Most of it is in buckets now!

2010-03-11T21:31:00.005-06:00

I am sooo happy and a bit tired. Just need to wash some more buckets. Might need to buy some more and lids too but it's mostly done. Want to see?! And the last picture is all that is left to put away. Yeah!
Lov
Liv

Finally sat down with my seed and a calender.

2010-03-10T16:36:00.003-06:00

And it seems I should of planted peas outside and broccoli and cabbage inside this last Saturday. But hey, I was busy with a blessing and a baptism then so this Saturday it shall happen instead. I might try to squeeze it in before then but the lids for the buckets arrived today!! And I've got some food storage to put away. I guess my rest (yea right!) from the baptism and spring cleaning is over.
I will post pictures soon.
Have you started your planting yet?
Lov
Liv

My Food Storage Orders Are In!!

2010-03-01T15:38:00.006-06:00

Like I said earlier, I felt extremely compelled to get my food storage in order. So when our tax return came in, beside car repairs(YIKES) and Braces for our 8 year old (Double YIKES), we bought a ton of food for our year supply. And I am pretty sure that the "ton" part is literal. I'm still slowly building up our beans but pretty much everything else in the basics of food supply is now finally complete. Which is a good thing because I hear the prices of bread are getting close to doubling, in some areas, in less than 6 months. We found the food grade buckets used on craigslist and are in the process of cleaning them all up. I still have to order some new lids and Gamma lids this Thursday and then we can start the big process of packing it all away. I promise that when I finish, I will take pictures but until then here are some pictures of what we are starting with. And a picture of my 50lbs of powdered eggs that came in today as well as my year supply of gelatin from Honeyville Grain. They had the best prices for eggs (which are pretty expensive to begin with) and only $4.95 for shipping! You can never beat that kind of shipping prices!! Plus I signed up for their emails and waited until they sent out a 10% discount via email for my purchase.

Now to start my seeds in a couple of weeks for my big garden! Can't wait to do some canning this fall to complete it all!
Lov
Liv

Hello, my name is Olivia and I have barnheart.

2010-01-25T18:36:00.002-06:00

Finally! A name for what has been ailing me! Read this wonderful article that is both funny and insightful.
Barnheart: Yearning to be a farmer.
Lov
Liv

Food Storage

2010-01-18T22:25:00.004-06:00

Beside working hard in my garden this year, I am also feeling a strong pull to get my food storage up to date with our tax return. And I am so glad that I am because I read this article on how food prices are going to skyrocket this year. I have some things stored, but it really isn't up to date or organized. So I am planning to organize it and bring the amount up to snuff for our family. While planning, I found this wonderful website to share. It has a neat planning spreadsheet/calculator for Long Term Food Storage.

A further search of that wonderful website I found produced a 3 month food supply Excel sheet. You feel in what you eat and the ingredients for it and it will calculate for you what you need for 3 months! Awesome.

If you haven't thought about food storage, now might be the time to.
Lov
Liv

I've ordered my seeds!

2010-01-11T22:24:00.004-06:00

I looked over what seeds I had already and then figured out what I still needed, which wasn't much. This is my first year of trying carrots so I ordered 3 different kinds to figure out which one I will be able to grow the best. I even ordered a globe carrot. Have you ever seen a globe carrot? I haven't.

I ordered them from www.heirloomseeds.com I like them because they are a small family business and they have so many different types of heirloom seeds. And the reason I chose heirloom seeds was so that I can harvest my own seeds and not be dependent on buying seeds, year after year. Unfortunately, you can't do that with hybrid seeds. And the variety of plants is soo cool. I love growing purple tomatoes!

So where do you like to order?

What to Plant and when.

2010-01-03T20:25:00.003-06:00

I have found the most wonderful site! If you know what zone you are in, which you should from my last post. Then this site tells you what vegetables you can plant and when, in your area.
Vegetable Planting Calender

I live in Zone 6 and by looking at my planting calender, I have realized that I need to start Cauliflower inside in only 6 weeks. So seed buying needs to be quick to allow time for shipping. Off to look for seeds...
Lov
Liv

Happy New Year! Time for Garden Planning!

2010-01-02T11:37:00.002-06:00

Snow is on the ground and not a lick of green can be seen, however, it's time to start imagining it. Time to plan our gardens!

First, what kind of garden are you going to have?

Square Foot Garden.

Traditional Row Garden

Wide Row Planting

Raised Bed Garden

Container Garden

And what would you put in them? Now this is where we think of our favorite vegetables and imagine the possibilities, however, I would add a word of caution. If you are just learning to garden then I would suggest that the smaller the garden, the better. It is better to have a couple of good looking cucumber plants that are producing in abundance than it is to have rows and rows of vegetables succumbing to pest, disease, and plain ol' accidental mistakes. When we fail on a grandiose scale, we tend not to try again. I hope that won't happen.

Whatever you choose for your garden will takes lots of research. Is it a cool season crop or warm? What plant hardiness zone do you live in? Shade or full sun? What soil do they need? All of this and more needs to be taken in consideration when planning a garden. If you are planting directly in the soil, then you need to have it tested. If you are ordering the seeds in the mail, then it's time to start looking.

So now you have a glimpse of why January is the time to plan our gardens. So make a trip to your local library, or even a spin around the web, and imagine the possibilities.
Lov
Liv

Sorry, I've been out for baby season....

2009-11-21T12:50:00.002-06:00

And as of today, only 5 more weeks(fingers crossed) of baby season before we meet the Beautiful and Lovely Emma Corinne.

I will be back in Mid January for Seed shopping season. Hope to see you here! 2010 is going to be the year of pushing the suburban envelope with veggies in the front yard. Gasp!
Lov
Liv

I looked out the window and what did I see?

2009-03-08T19:32:00.006-05:00

Popcorn popping on the Apricot tree.
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise.
Popcorn popping right before my eyes!
Lov
Liv

Create!

2009-02-27T09:47:00.000-06:00

All the Chickens are gone now.

2009-02-22T23:50:00.002-06:00

One lady bought the Americanas and was so excited to do so since a stray dog wiped all but one of hers out. And a homeschooling family just bought the rest of the chickens and the coop. They got a deal and I got to know that they will be well taken care of. My fish tank is spoken for by a lady I know in Scouts. And the fish are being sold to a local pet store. We plan to clean out the garage on Saturday so things are really getting cleaned out and cleaned up!

And that leaves the Saturday after next to start my seeds! So is anyone out there starting seeds soon and what are you starting? I'm starting tomatoes and peppers. MMMMM MMMM Good! Come on Spring!
Lov
Liv

I am debating getting rid of our Chickens

2009-02-17T21:04:00.003-06:00

Things in the neighborhood have not settled and it doesn't look like it will be for some time. I was fine, keeping them in the garage for the winter. I really thought that we would be able to fix things around here by spring. But spring is peeking around the corner and things in the neighborhood are more complicated than before. 2009 seems that it will be the year of the bee as 2008 was the year of the chicken.

I am saddened by that but they need more than a light that simulates the sunshine. They need the sunshine. Besides,all those people that tell you that you can do it all. They are wrong. I admit that I definitely cannot do it all. So I am working with everything in it's season. And chicken season, in this neighborhood is over.

I am going to be doing some spring cleaning around here for the next few weeks. It's time to open my schedule and let things go. So do you have spring cleaning to do?
Lov
Liv

Non contributing pets.

2009-02-04T22:29:00.002-06:00

I know my guppies are a drain of our budget and my energy. I know they are non contributing. They were a huge help last year for my winter blues but I'm getting out to the YMCA pretty much daily now. So how does your household run? Do you keep non contributing pets?
Lov
Liv

On Saturday My children and I were victims...

2009-01-26T18:51:00.003-06:00

Not real ones though, thank goodness. We were made up victims for an exercise. CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) trainees need to do a mock disaster to prove their skills they had learn. Since I became a CERT member back in October and since DH was a trainee this time, it was natural for us to volunteer. I had a fake head injury and only repeated things then went unconscious. It was fun and interesting. It was a bit like Halloween in January as well. Some people had fake bones sticking out. Some had fake glass sticking out and some were impaled. But us four were the worse because we all had head injuries. I even got to be tied to a spine board.
So when are you going to join CERT?
Lov
Liv

Time to look for seeds.

2009-01-14T12:51:00.003-06:00

I don't know about you but I have been inundated with seed and plant catalogs. Which obviously signifies that it is time to start looking into our gardens again.

I've got some bulbs that I need to get into the ground still. (blush) I need to schedule that.

So look at your Zone and figure out when your last frost date is HERE.

My last frost date is April 15th. So I have several times that I need to start planting.
I've just looked through my seeds from last year. I had so many leftover that I stored them in the freezer.

First section, tomatoes and peppers, are started indoors 6 weeks before last frost. So I will be doing this the first week in March.

Second section, cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce). Some are before last frost and some are the day after last frost. Check labels to make sure.

Third section, summer crops (summer squashes, melons, pumpkins), 2 weeks after last frost. So for me, in the beginning of May.

So if you have seeds that need started 6+ weeks before last frost, now is the time to find them and order them.

So have you planned your garden yet?
Lov
Liv

A Picture for my Prudent Homemaker.

2009-01-07T02:18:00.003-06:00

Sorry it is not of the hive yet. Trust me when I say that thing has a ton of work. But my son found the hat and decided it was in fashion, all day. :D

Dirt Baths

2009-01-07T02:11:00.002-06:00

We let the chickens out on a wonderful Saturday while we cleaned their coop. And they headed straight for the Dirt! Nothing better to clean with than DIRT?! Gotto love chickens! :D
Lov
Liv

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

2008-12-22T23:57:00.001-06:00

Awesome MySpace Comments & Myspace Layouts

Why Food Prices are not dropping.

2008-11-19T23:58:00.003-06:00

This is a really great article from MSN. Check it out. Click on the title below.
Why food prices aren't dropping.
Lov
Liv

No-Knead Bread

2008-11-19T00:55:00.002-06:00

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Published: November 8, 2006
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery

Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Added an addition to the Chicken Condo

2008-11-15T20:21:00.003-06:00

It had to be done. With this Homeowners Association thing, they've been stuck in the Garage. I did have a broad spectrum light on but it wasn't enough. It wasn't getting in the inside enough. Not enough room for them to be happy. And the feeding were officially too small now. So we added a back addition today. It only took 7 hours. YIKES!! But looking at them, you can tell that they are happy now. More light gets in. More room to run. I feel better. Plus with winter, they wouldn't have been outside much. Today was windy and cold. We let them out and still they kept trying to get back in while we were working.
Lov
Liv

I'm Trained!

2008-10-28T10:58:00.002-05:00

This last week, I spend all my evenings and my whole Saturday training to be a first responder in the case of a disaster. I am now apart of the CERT team. CERT is Community Emergency Response Team. It's exciting and scary all at once. Most of the stuff we learned was good for even just our homes. Like turning off the gas and electricity, fire extinguisher instructions, fire safety, sheltering in place, and first aid. Other things like Triaging, setting up a treatment area, and disaster psychology will lend more to an actually disaster. But in either case, I feel this class would benefit every family. So yea, I am recommending you all go out and get trained! There should be a class in almost every major county so give your county a call.
Lov
Liv

Our dog, Pacman, died today.

2008-10-01T19:03:00.002-05:00

He was a good, good dog. He followed me where ever I went and always was so good to the kids. As we were driving to the Library today, we had the windows down because it was such a nice day. He always loved to sit in the passenger seat. And for some unknown reason he decided to jump out the window. Maybe he thought he saw something he wanted? As soon as he jumped, he was ran over my another car.
We are greatly devistated and he will be sorely missed.
There will not be posts for a few weeks as our family takes time to morn.

Rest in Peace Pacman.

Are Acorns really Edible?

2008-09-22T08:01:00.002-05:00

Well, I am determined to find out. It seems that it is a dietary item for American Indians and in different dishes around the world. The problem is that it contains Tannin which is quite bitter tasting. So to fix that we have to leach out the Tanins. I have been letting them sit in water, sometimes I cook the water too to speed up the process, and when it becomes brown, I then drain and refill again. This brown stuff is the tanin. Once it become clear then I can roast them. I have been doing this since Thursday. Granted, not the whole time. I have been quite busy. But I try to drain it when I can. I will let you know how they turn out.

As for the Butterflies, we are now up to 5 who have hatched and been on their way. And we have yet to actually see one come out of their chrysalis.
Lov
Lov

Oh my gosh, I think I hear a rooster crowing!

Two More Butterfies

2008-09-18T06:58:00.003-05:00

Just an hour after we released the first one, another hatched. It was late afternoon when it became fully functional. When the second one was taken outside to be released, we noticed that a third had hatched. The third one is still in the butterfly house. I guess that since it hatched so late in the day, it hasn't tried to open it's wings yet. In fact it is still at the top of the butterfly house snoozing. We haven't actually seen one come out of it's Chrysalis yet. But with about 15-20 of them, I am sure that we will.
When we released the second one, it did linger and I was able to get more pictures. It was heavenly.
On the sad side of things though, one of our chickens died unexpectedly. It was one of the two older ones. Her sister had been laying for 3 weeks now and she hadn't. I wonder if it had anything to do with that.
Lov
Liv

Our First Butterfly!

2008-09-17T08:45:00.002-05:00

Yes, our first chrysalis has become a butterfly! It was beautiful, sweet, and short. As soon as I gently pulled her out, she flew through the open patio door. I am sure that I will plant parsley again and maybe even some milkweed too. That was soooo worth it.
Lov
Liv

Parsley is making a comback!

2008-09-16T06:18:00.002-05:00

Notice that I didn't say paisley. ;) LOL Despite being eaten to stubs, my parsley has grown back. I am so excited! Maybe I will get to harvest the herb this year! The sun also made a comeback after being gone for 2 whole weeks. In fact there wasn't even a cloud in the sky. Yesterday's high was 74 degrees making it feel more like October rather than September. Which has me wondering if the season will be shortened this year. I do hope not but I also wouldn't mind if it stayed this way until November either.
Lov
Liv

Rain, Rain, Go away, FINALLY!

2008-09-13T20:10:00.002-05:00

It rained 10 inches just yesterday alone! And we are about 2 FEET above our average for the year! It has rained almost the whole time since Sept 2 and then a whole 10 more inches yesterday! I am not kidding. Many people were flooded out of their homes. We, however, were lucky. We live on a hill of sorts and the sump pump worked like mad for the past two days. It was still mostly cloudy today but it stopped raining at least. Then, out of the blue, a double rainbow appeared. It was beautiful! It also happened as the sun was starting to set so as I ran in to get the camera, it faded. So I wasn't able to get a good picture of it. But as the rainbow faded, the sun set came alive and I was able to get a picture of that. It felt like things were going to be OK. I can't really say that for Houston though.
Lov
Liv

Fall Veggies Coming along!

2008-09-10T07:26:00.002-05:00

Some things are just now sprouting because the weather has turned cool but this one lettuce is doing awesome. I have a 100% sprout rate on it. The other things are more of a wait and see kind of a thing. More updates to come.
Lov
Liv

Where did my Parsley go?

2008-09-09T07:15:00.002-05:00

I planted (from seed) parsley in a pot on my back deck so it would be close to the kitchen. It was growing nicely and soon I would be able to use it. As suddenly as it came, it was gone. But it's OK, I don't really need parsley anyway. And it's really not that bad since it went to some beautiful creatures. OK, granted, now they aren't so lovely now but they will be when they come out of their Chrysalis. These little boogers will be Black Swallow Tail Butterflies. I have debated putting them in the garage to hibernate for the winter. We had a huge cold front come in exactly a week ago and the weather went from the high 90's to the 60's-70's. I went from sweating to death last week to needing a sweatshirt on my morning walk. So I don't know if it will come back up again. I do know that this is the coldest weather I have ever seen around here for September. Oh! I do hope that means we will have a horribly cold winter! OK, before you think that I am crazy and I am sure that I will regret saying it when it does happen. But I need some of these other bugs killed. It has been a horrible bug season this year! Don't get me started on the squash bug! But the butterflies are a keeper. They are so cool and educational.
Lov
Liv

Homemade Grape Jelly

2008-08-28T20:42:00.003-05:00

It's my first time and it's a simple recipe so I thought I would give it a try. I didn't realize I would unintentionally make so much of it! We are a family of 9 so there is no problem using it, thank goodness. The recipe uses grape juice, which is good because we yielded only 7 bunches a grapes this year. Which is technically really good for 2nd year grapes. This Site gave me great directions and they're the ones that I went by, mostly. The mostly part has me praying that it will set. Literally praying! It says it could take up to a week on the package of pectin, so that is good to know. As of now my fingers are crossed.

Nesting box for the Tractor.

2008-08-27T18:20:00.003-05:00

I had nesting boxes for the coop but not the tractor outside. I really had no clue what I was going to use. I wanted something weather resistant but practical and inexpensive. Then while I was looking at tractor designs I saw something that would be a perfect nesting box. A Rubbermaid container with a lid! We cut a hole on the side, inserted some straw and a golf ball. Why a golf ball? They make great, cheap, nesting eggs. We made this last night and put it, with the golf ball, inside the tractor this morning with the chickens. Voila!

First Egg

2008-08-25T19:58:00.004-05:00

First Egg! First Egg! We got our first EGG!!!!
It's the brown egg. I used a white store bought eggs for comparison!
Lov
Liv

Fall Garden Seeds Finally planted.

2008-08-18T22:04:00.003-05:00

What a slacker I am! Tee Hee. I finally got those fall seeds planted. I finally looked at the calender and compared it with how many days are left until the first frost in my area then added the total days until harvest. Basically, for my area, the first frost will be about the 25th of October. The days until harvest for the lettuce and spinach I bought are between 45-56 days so that means.....Start it now!!!
I don't know why I put it off for so long. I mean it took an hour tops, no big deal. I'll most likely be moving them out in about 2-3 weeks. I've had crap start to take over in my front gardens since I last weeded. (frustrated) So after the next big rain which is eminent, I will be pulling those like crazy to make room for all of these plants. Then hopefully that will leave less room for all the weeds.

You see, my front garden, in the most part, is new this year. All of them are 1-2 year shrubs and perennials, which are minute comparatively so the weeds feel the free reign. In a couple of years, I will stop having this problem. In fact the weeds were completely encompassing last years, so I have actually made great strides in just one year.

So have you planted your fall garden yet?
Lov
Liv

Edited to add that I tried to upload a picture but that feature seems to be down. I will add it later.

Know your City Ordinances!

2008-08-16T20:24:00.003-05:00

Our city's finest made a trip to our house this evening. (rolleyes) We finally got the chickens safe but it made it obvious that we had them to our neighbors. So they called the police on us.

After my husband calmed down a bit from shock of the police at the door, we showed him the chickens. And guess what, we did nothing wrong and are in compliance. He's a farm boy who understood and said that anyone else complains they will just let them know that we are in compliance.

Suburban Neighbors...Sigh, got to love them and let it go.
Lov
Liv

The Decision has been Made.

2008-08-16T18:01:00.002-05:00

You know, to our Hawk problem. My dear husband made this chicken tractor. We still need to permanently add the shade and we still plan on adding wheels to help move it around. Other than that, it's done. It lets the chickens out into the open air and on grass, movable, it keeps them out of the veggies and the dog away from the AND keeps the hawks from having a meal. The chickens still go into the coop at night to be locked away and safe.

I really did look into getting geese but I couldn't really find any that I could get until next year. And at that, they would only be goslings. AND not to mention that I could possible drive the neighbors nuts. I mean, I already have the chickens, geese would most likely be the last straw.

So this will keep them safe and outside for now. As free ranging as we can get.
Lov
Liv

Why should I or anyone else do all of this?

2008-08-16T10:30:00.007-05:00

Why have I gotten into gardening, keeping bees and chickens? Well, it is partly because I am a country girl living in the burbs but mostly it is a self sustainability issue. I store food too. I actually have 2 55 gallon barrels of wheat in my basement. I also cover them with a pretty tablecloth to blend them in with the rest of the decor. Also bucket and bucket of so much more. So why? Because not only has the government encourage it but so has my church. And it really does make sense.

Individual Checklist
Provident Living Food Storage

If something should happen to us financially, we will be OK. If something should happen around us, we will be OK.

I also have 4 55gal barrels of water in my basement as well. This came in quite handy the day that our town shut of it's water supply for a couple of days. People here were freaked and bought out the entire supply at all the local stores. We on the other had were set and didn't have to pay $1 a gallon to flush our toilets. I choose to keep things in the basement as well because I live in the Midwest, Tornado Ally! So where you store your supply depends largely on your area.

Personally, I don't just think that these aspects are helpful but in this day and age, essential! So next time you go shopping, pick up an extra can or two and put it away. Begin today!
Lov
Liv

So here is where I am at.

2008-08-13T12:09:00.003-05:00

OK, so the chickens can not longer be outside because the hawks would pick them off, one by one. So now they are in the coop in the garage all the time. I do have a broad spectrum light over them so that does help.

But I had the small ones on the bottom and the big ones on the top and with them being cooped up 24/7, this was not going to work. They all needed more room to run. So my big plan to integrate them began and ended unsuccessfully yesterday. The littlest ones happen to be the roos and they have been plucked pretty clean around the wings and neck. One was soaking wet, cold, red from the plucking, and overall, in pretty bad shape. I warmed him with my rice bag and only a couple hours later, he was running with the other chicks. He is doing well today, thank goodness.
Overall assessment, bad. So the little chicks are in a Rubbermaid container again.

Just a bit of advice. If you get chickens, make sure that you buy them all the same age so you don't ever have this integrating problem. And if later you want more chicks, stick them under a broody hen who will adopt them as her own and will do all the protecting for you.

I have been looking over all my options for my hawk problem and these are it.
1. keep them cooped up all the time. (just doesn't seem humane to me)
2. Build a movable run. Something with wire on the sides and top to keep them safe during the day until they go back into the coop at night.
3. Geese. I guess geese keep away hawks. I have read this in two different locations but still, it makes me wonder if it will really work.

Unfortunately geese are better behaved towards family if raised with them from a goslings and all goslings are sold out for the year. Pretty much. Yea, I know, they can be LOUD. But I have researched and found that Buff Geese are the friendliest, quietest, and sweetest of the types of geese. Oh and goose poop, at least unlike big dogs, it is a good fertilizer. They also do lay eggs like chickens that can be eaten and they are great weed eaters. For some reason they love the weeds and not the other plants. That of course has me baffled, but everything I have read, states it.

I feel like the lady that ate a horse, to catch the cow, to catch the goat, to catch the dog, to catch the cat, to catch the bird, to catch the spider, That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside me, to catch the fly, I don't know why I swallowed the fly. Perhaps I'll die!
Lov
Liv

Frustrating Day!

2008-08-11T22:38:00.004-05:00

First on the Beekeeping front, I go down to city hall to fill out the paperwork to get approved to keep bees in the little city that I am in and guess what? There is no paperwork. The police department was wrong. The town wants me to write a letter to the mayor and the city council to ask them for permission to keep bees in the city limit. Oh gotta love living in a little suburb! So now I am home and will soon start a letter with my intents and wishes, illustrated with photos.

And when I came home and was taking the pictures, what did I find? A chicken in our yard with it's head and breasts eaten. EEW!! Something came into the yard and ate it. Yuck!!! It was sometime from 2-5pm, in broad daylight! There goes the free ranging idea.

After posting the picture of the half eaten chicken on my chicken board with all the details of the attack, it sounds like a Hawk ate my chicken. There is just no way a free ranging in my yard with a hawk. Now back to square one! oiy!
Lov
Liv

Finally Finished the Coop

2008-08-10T14:08:00.003-05:00

I still needed to add a pull down door on top for the nesting boxes. I wanted a door right into the back of the boxes so that I could just reach in and grab the eggs. Plus we needed to add more roosting bars. Hey it was 3 am the first time we finished so the extras had to wait, till yesterday that is. It was alot of work but it's done. And those 2 red beauties are Red Stars. I bought them from a semi-local lady who needed to cut down on her flock. They are six months old and will be laying really soon.
Lov
Liv

Chick Kick

2008-08-07T23:01:00.002-05:00

Yea, I know, I talk alot about them lately. But you know what is soooo cute about chicks? When they think they found something good. They pick it up in the beak and run like mad, nowhere in particular, so that they are alone with their priced possession. BUT, the other chicks saw the first one run, so that means they have something good and must therefor be chased and wrestled for it. The funny part is that it usually isn't something all that great, like a piece of yarn. And the even funnier part is that they never realize it isn't all that great. They just keep chasing and chasing one another as one drops it and another picks it up. It's fascinating to watch really. Hey! I finally get football now and why men waste their afternoon watching it. LOL!!
Lov
Liv

Sad News

2008-08-06T20:22:00.002-05:00

But the inevitable. I lost 3 little little chicks today, including the kid's favorite Blondie. The terrible part was all three were girls when all 4 of the roosters, that I cannot keep, are just fine. Sigh. That is why I bought extras. So if you do plan on getting chicks to free roam in your backyard, make sure that you get at least 3-4 extra. We did find the body of one in the back yard of the next door neighbor. Their big black dogs got to it. It wasn't Blondie though so that leaves uncertainess for the kids. So the little ones are still too little to be out of the coop. We did find the hole they went through and will have to make some sort of patch for it.
Lov
Liv

Rest in Peace, Blondie!

Am I as smart as a chicken?

2008-08-06T00:15:00.002-05:00

Well, not all the time. We are in a heat advisory and what do I do? I go out and about sweating through 3 layers of clothing. Well if I go back in time and I burn my bra with the feminists, that could elliminate 1 layer but sadly, things have headed south since having children and I would need a time machine for that too. LOL.
Anyway, dripping in 3 layers of clothing, I stand outside watching my chickens stay in the shade. So much so that they run from shadded area to shadded area, never hanging around in the HOT BURNING SUNSHINE. I Love the Midwest in August (Dripping with Sarcasm). Ok, it could be worse, it could be the southwest. :D

The Garden is doing pretty well. Except for all the water that I have to spend watering it. Time to make my rain barrels.

Which also reminds me, have you started your fall garden seeds yet. Better get to it. Me too!
Lov
Liv

Never leave a dog alone with your chickens.

2008-08-05T00:26:00.003-05:00

No matter how much you trust him. Last Monday, I had to leave the Dog alone in the backyard with the chickens because I was going to be gone all day. I thought, "well, he never messes with them when I am around and the chickens are getting big enough." Nope. Bad IDEA! I came home to count 6 chickens, instead of 8. I looked and looked and finally found one cowering inside my fenced grapes a little ruffed up but fine. Then I found the last one trying desperately to hide in a corner. And the dog had scratched the skin off of her back. It was horrible. I couldn't think of how a chicken could live with out the skin on her back. I wrapped her into a towel, and then researched. Someone told me that their chicken lived with a hunk of meat taken out of it's back from an attack and eventually even grew back feathers. So I gave her a saline back rinse and covered her in triple antibiotic ointment. I then put her in a Rubbermaid container with a heat lamp and her own food and water. I actually fed her scrambled egg yokes and prayed. She ate and drank just fine that late evening. Then a few days ago, I noticed that she was cleaning herself and making light chicken noises. Then today, I found her perched on the top of the Rubbermaid container. She had a huge limp but I thought some sunshine would do her good. I took her out to the other girls outside.
Man, what a difference sunshine and friends make. Her limp was 90% better. She used her wing feathers to cover up her back so it was hardly noticeable. And she kept up with her fellow ladies all day long. AND they didn't peck at her at all. When it came time to come in for the evening, she went straight into the coop with the rest of them and hopped herself right up to the perched and settled. Here I thought for sure she would die and it seems she is making a full recovery. I couldn't be more giddy!

However, the dog is never allowed to be alone with them again. I am even going to pick up a chain soon for those times that we have to leave them both outside again.
So my advice, never trust the most trustable dog alone with chickens.
Lov
Liv

Herding Chickens

2008-07-27T21:02:00.001-05:00

Well, let's just say, that it is a whole lot better than herding cats! The girls were just itching to be uncooped after church so I opened their door and out they went, practically flew! They were just a hoppin' and dancing when they got out. Nothing like wide open spaces. Well, it is a small suburban lot but to them, it's wide open. They gobbled up grass and bugs alike and were as content as content could be. But as the sun set, they were still on the other side of the house in the back yard so I thought it was best to herd them in. If you go slow enough, they just love to stick together, so that is what I did. Mine also like to stick next to the house because it gives them security. So I walked slowly behind them as they walked the whole perimiter to of the back of the house till them reached the open garage door. They ran right in and straight to their open coop. Yep, chickens are so much easier to herd than cats.

Lov
Liv

Have you ever seen a swarm of Dragonflies?

2008-07-25T16:33:00.001-05:00

Neither had I until today. But there they were, about a hundred of them. I tried to picture them but alas, a camera is no match to the human eye. My final attempt was to video them on my digital camera. If you watch closely, they fly quickly by. It was a scene to behold.
Lov Liv

Peppers, Watermelon, and Chicks.

2008-07-22T17:08:00.001-05:00

The pepper are looking awesome. I don't think I have enough to feed my whole family for the year and I can't even imagine how much I would have to plant to do that. I guess we will see.

The netting on the watermelon is a sling to help hold it up that way it won't snap off from it's own weight.

The chicks will be a week old tomorrow and the wing feathers are growing in well. I have not lost a single one and I am very happy with this shipment. I have heard so many stories of losing one or all during their winter/spring shipments. I think I will stick to summer shipments from here out if I can help it.

However my grapes have the black little aphid looking things. I sprayed with insecticidal soap but I don't think it made enough of a dent on them. I will have to see if I can make my own because this 3-4 dollars a spray bottle is not going to cut it.
Lov
Liv

Keeping Bees

2008-07-20T23:46:00.001-05:00

My father kept bees once when I was a kid. That was before the horse got to the hive in the winter and killed them off. But I have been around bees before, just not as the beekeeper. Yet, I cannot see the downside of not keeping them. I have been in my garden at least once a day and except for early spring, I have not heard the familiar buzz of the honey bee making it's rounds. It's sad really but the suburbs have done their darnedest to remove all that is good in nature. I have seen many a blossom fade out without the helping hand of the wonderful honey bee in my garden and I have had enough. I want my own bees! I have to wait until next early spring before I can get my own by mail. But in the meantime I have researched what it will take to lawfully keep bees around here and so far it is looking like a large task. First, I have to fill out a petition at the city hall. I plan on doing that tomorrow. Then the clerk gives that over to the police department who sends an officer to check out my yard and my plans. That officer then takes his recommendation to the city board who votes on whether I can keep bees or not. I guess the only good thing that I have going for my is the recent release of "The Bee Movie". I know, juvenile, but really, I think that will be the only research that the city council will do concerning the matter. I plan on building a Top Bar Hive, more on that later, and keep them in the corner of my back yard that borders the big field of the high school. I also plan on building a 6 ft Fence around it so as to raise their flight plan above anyone in the yard. In the meantime, I keep researching and learning all I can about them, like this wonderful article by a 14 year old girl that helps her family keep bees in the city. The Bees and Me.

But one nice thing in putting the word out that I want to keep bees in that I have ran into a lady at church who's family can no longer take care of the bees that they have. She has suggested that I could do that for them and I jumped at the offer! Why not! They have all the books and all the equipment. So I will set out soon to check out their situation and then get the bees ready for the fall and subsequently the winter. I will still have access to some wonderful local honey despite how the city rules.
Lov
Liv