Raised Cedar Beds

Expanding my skills for Grandma!

Thank you to Ana White, for posting free woodworking plans! If you haven't checked out her site, you should! I'm addicted. I planned to make raised garden beds from Ana's website for my front yard, and so naturally when my grandma mentioned she would like to have a veggie garden I offered to build her some first. Here is a cool photo from Ana's website for these Raised Cedar Beds:

Here are the sides and ends I made before assembly

Here is a close up of the ends

Drum roll please.... the finished beds for Grandma!

I bought some new tools for this job (and all the jobs I have on my to do list), the Ryobi One Plus drill and driver set, and the corner cat sander.

All three use the same batteries, so I simply switch them around. I have to say, I love them!
Should I be promoting all this stuff for free? ;)







 On an end note, because it makes me happy, let's look at

What's Blooming Now!

 Iceland poppy

 Ranunculus

 Nasturtium

 Did you know you can eat Nasturtium flowers? Throw some in a salad, they are peppery

 Japanese maple, foliage is as beautiful as blooms =)

 These remind me of my childhood and Alice in Wonderland

Foxglove, I associate these with fairies. If you were tiny, wouldn't you want to snuggle into one of those bells for a nap?

I've had a request for a post on making preserves* and canning, so I will work on that!

*My grandma said I need to call my jam "preserves" because it is so full of yummy pieces of fruit and is better than regular old jam. I am not one to disobey my Grandma, so we're calling it preserves people!
I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend! Thanks for stopping by =)
*Connie*

(Backyard?) Chickens part II

My ladies

Left to Right: Buffy the Worm Slayer (a Buff Orpington), Leya (Golden Cuckoo Marans), Henrietta (Partridge Plymouth Rock), Z.E.E. ( stands for Zombie Egg Eater and she is a Barred Plymouth Rock), Lady Luna (Buff Orpington), and down front Attila the Hen (Partridge Plymouth Rock). Here they were about 2 months old and the coop/ run walls were just framed. The blond Buff's were at the time ranked  the number 1 most popular bird on www.backyardchickens.com, and the Rocks are iconic American chickens. The partridge (brown) coloring is not as common as the Barred (black and white) and such a pretty auburn variegated/checked pattern. Then there is Leya, the golden cuckoo. What a beautiful bird! She is named after my best friend (who thought I was crazy for getting chickens, but brought her toddler over often to enjoy them). She has brown, tan, grey, and black, and a beautiful golden neck. If she hadn't been named Leya, I would have named her Goldie Hen. haha. I know, it's ridiculous, but I really do think I am funny with all the word play. I do not however expect all of you to think it is funny ;) Bare with me. Truly, I love all the breeds I have, and have no idea how I could part with these breeds to try different chickens in the future, but a girl can dream. There are so many cool chickens out there!
 I read about horror stories of "the pecking order" yet have not witnessed any outrageous cans of whoop-butt being opened by my girls. I like to think it is my excellent planning and good decisions making skills buying day old chicks so they were all same age, and for all they know think they are related, but it could be beginner's luck. Or maybe California sun just makes everyone happy and want to get along =)

Here are more recent shots of the chickens

All of these varieties are said to be friendly, good layers, handle smaller spaces/yards. As I said before I live in town, and do not have a huge sprawling property for them to roam. Also, we have children. I had in mind a "teach our children where our food comes from, how to care for animals, feed them the healthiest eggs from the happiest birds" kind of journey, not a scene from a horror film where my children run from mean, pecking birds. This happens folks. I am happy to say that my girls are all pleasant and happy.

This is an image from The Garden Coop's website. I do not have much building/ design experience so I bought plans for $19.95.  Our cost was a little higher than the plan estimated, but lumber prices vary depending on where you live. I really like the light wood color, but we used the same stain we used for our picket fence in the front so ours is darker. If I'd known I would have to buy another gallon anyway, I may have stained the coop lighter, but I'm still proud of it! Next week some friends are coming over to help my daughters and I finish decorating the coop. I plan to paint some big cartoon-y flowers; tulips, daisies, etc.

Here is the area of yard before construction began

My poor husband had to move hundreds of pounds of rock, again! The huge pile behind wheel barrel used to border the whole length of the house, but I wanted to plant flowers so my wonderful man moved them for me. I can only imagine what he was thinking when I told him, "well honey, we need to clear those rocks for the chickens" I sold some rock on Craig's List, but the leftovers got moved to front yard where they held up landscaping projects until very recently! (I'll share front yard progress in a future post.)

Here is a photo of our coop as it stands today. There will be a nice border of flowers and a path someday, perhaps this summer.

 And this is what has been keeping me so busy that I have been slow to finish my chicken post part II

 A new puppy named Argos! He's a seven week old Cockapoo Retriever. (mom cockapoo and dad black Labrador)

 Hangin' with my youngest, Arabella. They keep Mommy busy and on her toes!

They make quite the dastardly duo! Phew! Take care ya'all!

(Backyard?) Chickens! Part 1

Connie's Chicken Tips Part One:

1. Let's see, first thing's first. make sure you are allowed to have chickens if you live inside city limits. I personally looked online for several days and found many rules about horses, pigs, cows etc. but not a single line about fowl! So I looked up city hall's number and called! I asked very politely to speak with someone who could tell me if I was allowed to have chickens, and was transferred right over.

2. Build or buy your chickens a home. You'll notice this is step number TWO!!!! (in my opinion) I did not do this, much to my husband's chagrin. I wanted chicks now, and I wanted them to lay eggs yesterday so I had to order them the second I decided, thinking 2 months would be plenty of time to build a home. For our busy family (with an infant at the time) it wasn't. When people say chicks grow fast, they mean quicker than European bullet train! Seriously folks, they go from fluffy balls of cuteness ...

to basically full size in less than two months!!!!

Here you can see the ladies perching on the barely assembled framed walls of what would become their coop and run! I live on the edge of town and there are raccoons, opossums, hawks, and coyotes that all come around here, especially for easy picking like chickens! My girls need protection when we aren't home during the day.

3. Pick out your chickens! As painful as the waiting part is, you can use that time to research and decide on breed(s) of chicken. I had a blast, and difficulties picking my birds. There were so many to pick from and I wanted to try most of them! I settled on regular-sized hens (not bantams, which are smaller) and I wanted all brown eggs & friendly birds that were ok in smaller spaces. I used this website a ton, and ordered my day-old chicks from here. My local farm supplies had several of the varieties I ended up with, but at different times so online was best for my choices.
** the website had a similar disclaimer, but I thought I'd mention it here too, do not open your box for the first time with little eyes around. Meaning, not all chicks make it alive, and it could be very sad if you're small child(ren) had to witness that. I am happy to report all of mine made it to adulthood, and are still with us!

4. Put your chickens in the best place. Now you are going to have to figure this one out, but I'll try to help. They take dust baths to keep clean, so right next to your favorite door or window that is left open all the time won't be your best bet. Gardeners- if you didn't already know, chickens eat bugs, weeds, and fertilize for free! They ALSO eat or trample pretty much everything else. I had huge areas stripped of hostas, bleeding hearts, foxglove, chrysanthemums, eggplant, cabbage, inpatients, well you get the idea. Roses seem to be ok, so if that's all you grow, let 'em roam! Of course if you have a little property it won't be as much of an issue, and I've heard those little garden border/fences/netting can deter them, but while chickens are not smart, they will figure out how to get to where they want to be.

5. Have a comfy sitting area so you can enjoy your new family members! They are endearing, dumb, HILARIOUS pets that can create an ambiance of peaceful relaxation, and country charm like no other!

Stay tuned for Part II, More on breeds, my birds and why I chose them
...even later building the coop/run, where I bought plans, and before/during/after photos
Enjoy! *connie*

Food: What I've been up to

Yesterday I baked four loaves of homemade Sourdough Bread

My grandmother has sourdough started from the 1950's (kept alive by frequent use and stored in glass jar kept in fridge in between making loaves. I've had my started for about ten years now. Someday I'll show you how easy baking homemade bread is, even without a bread maker!
Today after work I made homemade mac n cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and garlic green bean stir fry

after pulling a few weeds and allowing the girls some freedom and exercise

 

Since my blog is named after these wonderful ladies, next up will be a post about the chickens:  photos, tips, and lessons I've learned as a city girl with a country heart. See you next time!

Step One: Decide where to start!

Why hello there! Welcome to my blog =) I have so many projects, ideas, recipes, how-tos,  tips, and "before and after" photos to share with you all! What do you think of the name? Here on the beautiful Central Coast of California we get plenty of sunshine year round and my chickens were the catalyst for me to dive deeper into my homemaking on a budget. I grew up baking fresh bread with my Grandma, canning fish and homemade jams, gardening, and sewing (a little). I like to think my family had a pretty good homemaker before, but I was inspired to be more of a suburban homesteader extraordinaire! All while being a working mommy of two girls... 

 I tend to research things when I have a new interest. A lot. For example, when I decided I wanted chickens I became a cyber-stalker of information at www.backyardchickens.com. My mother-in-law (Nana) popped over to visit one day (as she often still does, lucky for us and our kids) when our second child was only a few months old. I was nursing, and looking at the above website, plotting how to convince my hubby to let me keep chickens in our small yard. Nana asked if I was looking at a mommy forum, and when I told her with a dismissive wave of my hand, "No way, I've done all that. I am getting CHICKENS!!!!" She laughed so hard she went into tears. During my research I found inexpensive plans for building our own coop and run (waaay cheaper than buying one pre-built) and recipes for the fabulous fresh eggs my feathery new friends would be giving us.

 Those recipes branched out to an interest in canning for my family, which included growing my garden to combine cottagey flowers and kitchen functionality. Fresh food is always better. Last summer I canned my little heart out, preserving jams and pickled veggies. I will be adding to my wood working experience by trying some of these uber fabulous (did I mention FREE) plans by Ana White, and painting my way to a beautiful cottage/country/comfy home inspired by Shaunna over at Perfectly Imperfect. I have been trolling their blogs the past week into the wee hours of the night (like 11:30pm haha) and have been so inspired by them! One more fabulous lady pushed me over the edge into having to do this blog, my sister Theresa. She is living my dream teaching English in a foreign country- South Korea! So, there's a little about me, and my plans and hopes for this blog. Stayed tuned as I add the before and after photos of all the work we have done to make this house a home, and watch me try my hard-working hands at some new things!
Ciao!