Treats for the chickens

     Let me begin by saying I honestly had doubts that this would grow.  I was browsing around on pinterest one day and found this and was like hmmm.  I thought through the processing or packaging process that it wouldn't be possible.  To my surprise it actually did grow.

 This is how I grew popcorn from the grocery store to use as treats for my chickens.

  I put a layer of compost on the bottom, spread a layer of popcorn, then put another layer of compost over the popcorn.  Within 4 days it started to POP up.

 About a week later.

                                     

        With this little experiment I found that I planted to much popcorn at one time and its actually choking it out.  So I am going to replant less so I'll be able to keep trimming to have more treats for the chickens.

Either way the chickens sure seem to love it.











                                                                   Until next time...

                                                                      

How I made my own hummingbird feeder

    I usually have a couple hummingbird feeders filled and out by the first signs of spring.  I love sitting on my front porch or watching them out the window. I think they are the most wonderfully amazing little creatures.  I was on pinterest and seen a few ideas on how to make your own feeders and it kind of took off from there.

 Here's a few things you'll need to make your own with just some recycled items you have around the house.  A plastic bottle with a screw on lid, a container with a tightly fitting lid, I used a KFC container, but I seen some made with small storage containers, scissors, pen or marker, (not shown- hammer, nail, glue gun, and some wire.

 First you'll just need to take the lid off your bottle and center it onto the lid of your container.  Trace around the bottle top and use care cutting out the circle.

 Use a nail to punch holes in the lid of your bottle for the liquid to flow through.  Push your bottle through the opening of your container lid and screw the bottle cap on.

 Use your nail to punch  four holes in your container lid for your feeder holes.

Then push your nail through the opposite direction to make sure the holes are big enough.  I glued on yellow beads to mimic a flower in hopes the hummingbirds will be more attracted.

I glued around the top of the bottle to make it a little more sturdy.  Then just make a hanger around the top, fill it up, and your ready to feed your  beautiful little visitors.  I added some beading to mine to pretty it up a little bit.







 Here's a few more more ideas you might like to give a try, I found the feeder plugs on amazon.

I pilfered this bottle from my sons house and finally found a use for it.

I made this one from an extra chicken waterer I had, I'm not really sure if the hummers will feed out of it but it will make a tasty treat for the bees and butterflies.

I made this one for my mom for a mothers day gift.

  Check out my previous post for a quick, simple recipe on how to make your own hummingbird food.

Have a look around, if you like what you see, please subscribe or follow me!

                                                           Until next time...

Food for your hummers

                                                  D.I.Y.   HUMMINGBIRD    NECTAR

 Instead of running out to the store when your hummingbird feeder runs dry, just use this simple recipe. The supplies you're going to need

• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• small pot
• spoon
• stove to boil your water
• and of course your feeder

directions

1. add 2 cups of water to your pot and bring to a boil(this gets out any icky stuff that may harm your beautiful visitors)
2. add 1/2 sugar, stir well until completely dissolved.
3. remove from heat and let mixture COMPLETELY COOL before moving on to next step
4. pour your hummingbird food into the feeder,depending on how your feeder is made a funnel may help with this step.

I know some people that use red food coloring before adding the mixture to their feeder,  I've read that it is unhealthy for them as it makes their eggshells weaker.  Whether this is true or not I really do not know.  I quit using the red food coloring and still seem to get just as many visitors.  Just hang your feeder and sit back and wait for your little beauties to arrive.  

Is that our new front door?

   We had so many projects we THOUGHT we were going to get finished this past weekend.  The Florida weather took that option away from us though.  We did manage to get our door put in, but still have some trim work to do and a gutter to put up in the near future.  We had some water damage on the other door area and our 3 little babies were being escape artists.  Back in 2009 we were unfortunate to have an house fire in which the house was a total loss.  We were fortunate though that it happened during the day and nobody was hurt and we had insurance to rebuild.  In the rebuilding process one of kids looked at us and asked "Is that our new front door?"  Its actually the back door but we always used it as our entry way.  We got a kick out of it though.

Here's our little escape artists from left to right
  Tiny, Fancy, and our little wild one, Tinky. 

We were hoping to repair our "new arrivals" home but were unable to get to it because of all the rain we've been having lately.  This is our next project because we have some new babies I'm so excited about.  Make sure to check back within the next couple days and be ready for all the cuteness.





                                                                     Until next time...

propagating jasmine

 As it normally goes this little area seemed to progress as the day went  on.  It started out with cleaning off the front porch and almost tossing out the barn birdhouse.  When I thought "no, I'll find a place to hang it".  Then I remembered the shepherd hook my hubby just brought home. The table was sitting there already, it just needed a cute little potted plant.  Then I remembered the rocks from another area I was in the process of cleaning and thought "how cute".  At this point another idea popped into my head.

 I should plant some Jasmine and let it grow up the tree.  My mom has a huge old oak tree in her backyard covered with Jasmine. When its in full bloom it has the most amazing scent.  I've used this method on ivy before and it seems to be growing well.  So I did a some research on jasmine and thought I'd give it a try.

  





Cut off your sections to measure 6 inches just below a leaf.

 Then take off the bottom leaf or leaves.

 Dissolve a aspirin in 1 cup of water.

Put your cuttings in the water for 3 to 4 hours, 

 then they are ready to plant.    If you have tried this  method with jasmine leave me a comment, I'd love to hear how it went.

                                                             Until next time...

Therias the duck

   Meet Therias, the newest addition to our family.  My hubby found him coming home one evening.  He walks in the door "honey I got something for you".  Okay, so I"m following him out to the van not thinking anything about it because this man is ALWAYS bringing something home.  And this is how it went.  Me-"what did you get?"  The hubby- "I found you a duck"   Me-"no you did'nt." He opened the van door and I see no duck!  Then he comes out from under the seat.  Me- "There he is, there he is!"  and that's how Therias the duck got his name.                   

 He seems to really like the turkeys, almost like he thinks he is one.

   He's enjoying his new pool, I cant wait to do some project with it.









                                                                 Until next time....