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I love these colors and a bit of sparkle is delightful! This is a new no felted necklace of silk, wool, and alpaca.

Here is the first of the lower parts of the roof of the tiny studio Cheryl constructed.

We had a roofer out to give us quotes but after looking at it he said he was too busy to do our roof. I think it was probably just too weird of a roof or something.

I’m glad though because I wanted to attempt this roof myself. I watched YouTube videos on roofing with architectural shingles. There are many videos on roofing and I found them so incredibly helpful. I feel completely confident in what I am doing now.

Ever wish you had some busy little servant that would clean up after you? Well, just go outside and there are millions of them!

When I think of ants I think, ‘Little garbage men of the earth’. Anything that can be eaten by them will be deconstructed and removed for recycling as food in their ant homes. Whether it’s somebody’s leftover food or a dead insect, ants can be found moving in to take over the cleanup job.

Once, years ago, before I was such a wonderful housekeeper . . . (guffaw), I noticed the nut meat of an almond on the floor in my home. I didn’t pick it up and throw it away and by the next day I noticed that ants had discovered it. I watched over several days as they completely deconstructed the almond, and removed every trace of it. I was fascinated. How did they find it? I had not seen any ants in the house previously.

Once, while sitting quietly in the woods I noticed four ants moving across the forest litter on the ground, together, in a very unique way. I had never seen this behavior before. They were obviously searching as they went. The first three went to the left and right, covering different little areas, and the last one made bigger, wider sweeping motions as he appeared to be double checking the whole area the other three ants had covered. They moved along methodically, as a group. They did not appear to be following a scent trail, they appeared to be scouts. They were scouting for something new. I was in awe of their intentional and organized movements. Ants are truly amazing creatures.

Watching the chickens sift through the horse manure and find food is kind of gratifying. They are benefiting from all the little bugs and worms that live in the manure. Plus they break apart the manure and cause it to decompose faster . . . I think.

Chickens are so fun to watch. I especially love looking at them when they run away from where I am because they have such a cute waddle run. And I love it when they come up close and eat food out of my hand. They get very brave when they’re wanting me to give them cat food and they get right up to me. They love cat food LOL.

I was thinking about not having chickens anymore but I kind of love them and it’s hard to think about getting rid of them. I just need to make it easier to find their eggs because they are masterful at hiding them. Free range is fun but messier and difficult to find eggs. I’m going to have to come up with a better way of taking care of them so I can benefit more by having more eggs available to me and less poop underfoot.

I love how the rooster will find food for the hens and call them with a quiet little special cluck. It’s a little excited noise he makes and his women come running. Or watching the mama and her chicks when she finds food and makes her little noises that bring all the chicks to her. They’re such a community in a way, but there are some bullies and the mamas keep their babies away from the other hens and the rooster, to keep them safe.

Some of you animal people out there may know about the little rings you can buy to put on the ankles of baby chicks so you can tell them apart. The problem is, when the chickens grow up it can potentially create a health problem. I noticed one of our chickens that still has a ring on was getting a swollen leg and the ring was becoming embedded in the leg. We caught the chicken and removed the ring but I could tell it had gotten pretty bad. We doused the wound with hydrogen peroxside, anointed with the natural antibiotic honey, and wrapped with a gauze bandage. We will check on our sweet hen again tonight and see how she is healing.

The moral of this story, if you are going to use identification rings, take them off when the chickens get big, or replace them with something larger.

Having all these small pieces cut from the large insulation rigid blocks, I decided to use them up. Using the great stuff foam as a glue to solidify them. Seems to be working just “great”.

We’re working hard to get our art cottage finished before June. Framing has to be done before the electricity can be put in. I’ve decided to set 1/3 of the space aside for a guest bedroom when I have company. It’s going to be amazing!