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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Welcome to Our Animal Farm

Hello, where have you been?


It has been a crazy month, and I've had so much to blog about, but no time to sit down!

With the end of the school year coming soon...yipee!....and my son's high school graduation....another yipee!!, we've been busy with schoolwork, etc. But, we've also added some new animals to our zoo. :)

In addition to Molly, our new pup from the pound, we added baby chicks, soon-to-be-hens to our brood, so to speak. My husband wanted to have chickens last year, but that didn't work out, so this year was his year, and we are "training" Molly to get along with them. I don't think they will be "bestess friends", but she will at least learn to leave them alone!

We have three Buff Orpinfton chicks and they are growing literally overnight. It is amazing how fast they grow! We haven't named them yet, and are waiting a little longer to do this as their "personalities" develop, but I'm hoping the family will go along with a Dickens'-esque theme. I think the chicken coop should either be : "Great Eggspectations" (aka: Great Expectations) OR "Beak House" (aka: Bleak House), both Dickens' novels. And the ladies (as I call them now) should be given names associated with the novels. Both of my boys have had to read a Dickens' novel this year for school, so I'm hoping they will agree with this plan! :)

Here are a few photos of the growing brood~


Only two days old...and a little camera shy!

Four or five days old enjoying a walk outside the brooder for the first time.

Literally overnight they grew wings and feathers!


Just two weeks old and already in the "gawky teenage" phase!

What is this thing called grass? Not sure we like it.

Today: 4/29/11~ Out of their brooder and in the backyard.....kind of liking the grass this time. :)

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Oh, and the porch is stained and looking pretty! Even though the directions said not to stain in weather below 50 degrees, we had to do it anyway....we've had some really cold, snowy weather for April and didn't want the new wood to get ruined. I think it looks great, and I'm not sure I even want a railing...what do you think?



And it is May already! Wow, hopefully that means some warmer weather. One thing it does mean is update day for TDIPT. I had an idea of a doll floating around in head and finally sketched her to show to my husband. He really LOVES it when I ask for his help with some of my crazy ideas...NOT! :)

But, after a few gentle pushes toward his workshop, he carved my doll's body out of bass wood. (I really shouldn't have given him a project this month, he has been so busy with end-of- the-year choir concerts, etc., but he was sweet to do it for me.)



Charity is made of carved wood with shaker pegs on her shoulders where I attached muslin arms, and small wooden knobs on the bottom of her body where I attached painted muslin legs. I really like her "naked", but for modesty's sake I gave her some clothes.



You can see more of Charity and the Faux Linen Sack Cloth painting by clicking the link to my selling page on TDIPT:



A second offering this month is a "faux" painted linen sack cloth. Antiqued and aged, this painting resembles a feed sack or linen sack. I've painted a bee and some random letters and numbers on it as well as stripes to give it a "sack cloth look".


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Family is coming at the end of the month for our son's high school graduation and I have some ideas for sprucing up the house before they arrive.....hopefully something that will be blog-worthy to show you in the coming weeks.

Happy May! And if you made it down this far...thanks! :)

7 comments:

Cassie Shella said...

OMG how cute are those chicks! I've wanted chicks for a while but we took in three stray cats this past winter (I'm such a softy and they are just good cats) and some how I don't think the two will mix. Your doll is beautiful, love her primitive look and she's so dainty:) Oh - and I like the porch without rails, i't like a prairie porch. Hope your weather get nicer we had the rainiest April in recorded history here in Ohio.

Caitlin said...

How cute are those chicks! I've
heard that those Buff Orpingtons (sp)
are good layers. In due time, of
course.
Everything around your house
looks like it could featured on
HGTV. Neat that you did it all
yourselves. Speaking of which,
Charity is completely charming.

Ruth Fraser Davis said...

Love the photos. Those 'girls' of yours are adorable. The wall doll, the bee - outstanding.

Looking forward to strolling up that front walk:)

Unknown said...

The chicks are adorable. I'm still trying to talk Kevin into getting a couple.

Lana Manis said...

Ok, where do I start???
I adore the faux sack cloth!
That doll is amazing!
Love your new porch!
And those buffs are so sweet and I know you won't regret getting them. :)

Cathy ~ Tadpoles and Teacups said...

What a fun post! I love all your creations....even the porch!

:)

Sarah said...

Love your doll and the bee!