Chicks Week 5 and 6

We have been taking the girls outside every other day or so depending on the weather. They are still not scratching up the turf much, but seem to really enjoy pecking around the weeds.

They are very tame and well socialized (though I say so myself).

Some new arrangements are in place now in the chicken condo. We have continued to raise the light each Monday. The chickens loved jumping on both their food and water containers and were constantly knocking them over as a result. This week we switched over to the adult waterer and feeder. I was worried because it takes up some of the room in their house, but they seem to be fine with it.  The adult waterer is just a 5 gallon feed bucket that we put poultry nipples in the bottom of.  

Ducky is more curious than scared of the kids at this point. She is looking for any bugs that they might drop her way.   The chickens figured out their new waterer in less than 5 minutes. They are curious girls and came over to peck at the nipples right away. At first, they just gave them a quick wack and  ran the other way, and then finally stepped right up to get a good drink.

Having the waterer and feeder hanging side by side seemed to take up all the room in the other box, so I decided to set the feeder up on bricks in the corner of the second box. That way they cannot perch on it or kick the food out. They still managed to tip it over once already, so I might have to secure it some other way. It will be another 4-5 weeks before the coop is ready for them to move outside.

 Sheba, our Australorp, has been the slowest to get her feathers and still has quite a bit of her white baby fuzz. She is calm and easy going and we all love holding her.

Recommended Reading: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I loved this book. It is written in the first person, which can be annoying or amazing depending on whether the plot is balanced with the intimacy of the narrator writing about their feelings and perceptions. And who hasn't wanted to live in a castle? This is a beautiful story about the castle, the English countryside, and family relationships.
The story seemed so real, I kept wondering about the author and where her ideas came from. Had she ever slept in a four poster bed in a drafty castle? According to Wikipedia she did grow up in an old house in England and she wrote I Capture the Castle during WWII while living in Pennsylvania and feeling homesick for England.

I remember watching a movie about this book about a decade ago, but I had forgotten most of it. I just remember it being quirky and a bit foreign. But now that I have read the book I am so anxious to watch it again. If for no other reason than the scenery!

Home Schooling Summary

Since I failed to summarize last week's family/educational adventures -- you get a double dose today. 

Daddy celebrated his birthday with brownies and peach cobbler.  I could not find any rhubarb for his favorite pie.

Baby S says "chee" now for "cheese" it is so cute

 Big sister A is getting pretty skilled at embroidery and did this little "Dad" number mostly on her own. I put it in the hoop and threaded the needle.

Picnicking at the nature center playground. I got this cute pouting face from baby S.

Baby S is also saying "guck" now for duck and was very excited to go visit the wooden models at the nature center. He likes our chickens too,  but these stayed nice and still.

They had a class about humming birds and made a neat little humming bird feeder with a recycled plastic soda bottle. It was not our usual teacher and brother M had a little trouble staying on topic.

We dumped all the old sand and got 2 new bags of good clean kid sand from Toys R Us. Now I can get some things done in the garden and they are entertained.

At a different local nature center we visited a model Eastern Native American hut and hollowed out canoe.

The kids favorite part were all the live animals that they had.  We were there taking a class about owls, but they also had an eagle, a turkey vulture, snakes, toads and a a box turtle.

Building projects were a daily affair this week -- mostly forts, all in the living room of course.

I went in to pick up baby S from his crib today and he was laying on his belly reading this book. As soon as he saw me with the camera he started to stand up. It was so cute.

We ordered some new books this week from our Scholastic Reading Club. Mostly beginning readers for big sister A to enjoy and also a couple workbooks to make sure that we are ready for 1st grade materials in September.

Reuse Recipe: Tips for Dyeing Clothes at Home

Dye Day has become kind of a Spring tradition for me.  Over the course of the year I set aside stained clothes, sheets (big sister A gets bloody noses), and table linens.  Then when it starts to get warm I break out the dyes. This year I had several leftover ones that I decided to just mix together in different combinations and use up. Plus, I had to order some for a doll dress that I am sewing for the neighbor (more on that later) so I ordered I couple extra packs for polyester blends.

I tend to use 2 brands which are both great for different things:

1. RIT Dye -- easy to find at most stores and they have a cool color mixing chart on their website; It works great for natural fibers, but dyes polyester or nylon a bit light
2. Dharma Trading -- has great dyes for natural fibers, but where they really stand out is their dyes for synthetics. I have used their dye for nylon and polyester with vibrant color results. 

Since I just did a big dye day yesterday and it is all fresh in my mind. I thought I would share some tips based on 3-4 years experience. I have made and continue to make a lot of mistakes have a lot of learning experiences while doing this.

Tips for Success

• Despite my best efforts some things just don't dye according to plan. Stretchy T-shirts are especially tricky, I think since they are close to my skin they must get some oils and salts on them from sweat and just never dye themselves evenly. 
• On the other hand, "What have you got to lose?"  (That's what I tell myself).  I would be throwing these stained clothes out anyway and it only costs 2-3$ for a container of dye.
  

  

  looks like a sweaty back right?

• I find the stove top method works best for making colors bright. Keeps things nice and hot.  The water should be boiling hot for polyesters and nylons and nearly boiling for cottons.
  
• Designate a separate pot and utensils (like from the thrift store or an oldie) that will be used just for dyes.  Otherwise it could get into your food and that would be bad for your health.
• Wet everything thoroughly before you put it in the pot and UNCRUMPLE it before you drop it in the pot or it might end up looking like tie-dye.
  
• Make sure the dye is thoroughly dissolved and that the pot was rinsed out with bleach after the previous use. (Otherwise you can get little flecks of another color on your material). 
• The directions say to "agitate" the whole time. That is best done by a combination of stirring and pulling things out to make sure that they are not getting twisted and rumpled. This is very important. 
• Add a cup of salt to cotton batches; this is supposed to be done after the dye and clothes are in. I push the clothes to one side and pour it in then stir vigorously. Undissolved salt grains can make flecks while you are dyeing too. 
• I learned this time around I could reuse batches of dye (let cool and reheat with another load of clothes). I need to experiment more with it.  It seemed to work best with the RIT dye and when it was done within 24 hours of the original dyeing -- otherwise the dye settled to the bottom of the pot... And I also noticed that the colors were a shade lighter...probably because the dye was less concentrated?

Here is a before and after that I am excited about-- some beautiful napkins that have become more and more brown with stains got a facelift and now match the napkins my mom embroidered for us. Success!

Before -- looking stained and dingy,  though hard to see in the picture

After

Another cool thing is that usually the thread used to embroider kids clothes does not take the dye and makes them look like this:

I mixed one bottle liquid Tan RIT with 1/2 a bottle of the liquid Scarlett RIT to get this lovely bright orangey red color. Total good luck.

 Here are the piles of dyed clothes on my laundry room table. There were also a couple black batches still in the wash.  Dyeing things is pretty addictive and a little bit messy. I cover my counter to make sure that it does not stain, but it comes off the stove top easily.

Garden Progress: Moving the starts outside

I am in the "in-and-out" phase. I transplanted all my starts to various pots and they are getting nice sun during the day outside; but I have to bring them in at night since it is still getting down to the upper 30's.

I left one pot out last night since it was supposed to be 45 F, but it got a little singed. Sorry peppers.  

 Cilantro is growing in its milk jug greenhouse

Possibly my favorite Spring smell -- Lilacs in bloom

Seeds in the garden boxes so far:

• lettuce
• beets 
• radishes

Perennials coming back or reseeded in the garden boxes:

• strawberries
  
• onions
  
• dill

• rutabaga??  -- was not expecting that one 
  

Things I expected (usually reseed themselves or are perennial), but that might not have survived the cold winter... since I have not seen them yet:

• Rosemary
• Mint
• Parsley

Easter Festivities

I did not take out the Easter decorations until Friday this year because I knew that I would be cleaning up plastic eggs constantly. I was right...

Kid managed and directed egg hunt -- Practicing for the real egg hunt on Sunday afternoon

I am a few days late in my blogging due to Easter Sunday busyness. I told the kiddos about a week before that we were going to try to minimize the amount of Easter candy this year. They got presents (books:) and animal crackers in their baskets and the only candy was from the egg hunt.

We left a few things to the last minute, like the egg dyeing, which we did Sunday morning. Instead of buying a kit this year, I tried one of the pinterest food coloring recipes and it worked great.

I like to try to be sort of matched up as a family for Easter, but I never do it very formally or buy anything special for it.  This year we were all shades of blue. Navy blue pants on brother M and navy shirt for big sis A. All the boys wore the matching blue ties I made them for Christmas. Baby S wore the blue striped seersucker suit handed down from big brother M. 

I wore the long version of a kelly skirt that I made with a heavy vintage blue and white seersucker. It all came together really well for being so improvised.

We had the Easter Egg Hunt and a ham dinner with my brother's family. It was a riot as always. 

The anticipation of starting the egg hunt was killing them

I just told him to "say cheese" and got this scowl

And they ran for their candy!

Pleased with their results

Getting to know the chickens -- It is easier to pet them when they are corralled