I bought a bouquet for Valentine’s Day and didn’t even see the lilies tucked into the arrangement because none of the buds were in bloom. One of the long pods fell off when I was putting the stems in a larger vase, so I tucked it into a small glass vase. The whole floral display is nice, but watching a single flower open and bloom may be my favorite. However, once it is in full bloom, the scent is overwhelming and needs to be replaced with a new bud. Ah well.
One technique from the tapestry weaving book by Rebecca Mezoff is using a hidden weft when running vertical lines to close the hole. I decided to try it on my current weaving. I picked a strong thread from my stash and before I make a pass with the weft yarn, lay the thread across. As long as I pay attention to the way I lay the thread, the weft covers it, hence giving me a hidden weft and no vertical slit. I have other areas where I will sew the vertical slit when I am done, to be able to compare methods, however, I am a big fan of reducing finish work so this method is very appealing.
I was going to clean out the coop before Winterpocolypse, but then saw the forecast and decided not to because the decaying matter produces some extra heat. I even had the new bales of pine flakes on the back porch! So when it warmed up, my eldest and I locked the chickens in the run so they didn’t freak out, then cleaned out the old shavings, put down some diatomaceous earth, and spread 5 bags of clean pine. We emptied the old straw from the nests and replaced it with new straw sprinkled with some dried lavender. In the process, I also cut out one roost bar, shortening the roost by about 16”. The chickens never used the whole roost, in fact, they only use half of the new area, but by making it a bit smaller it makes it easier for the humans to move around! In whole it took the two of us two hours to clean. Not too bad.
It works really well to use a pyramid silicone baking mat to bake tiny dog training treats! The back side of the mat has tiny reservoirs, and it is easy to spread batter of a pancake consistency into the wells. I used two eggs, a can of tuna (not drained), and a cup of tapioca flour blended in a food processor. Then I baked it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. The treats come cleanly out of the wells, but it does take some time to get them all out. The dogs both love them! They aren’t my culinary cup of tea, but yes I did try one since I used all human grade ingredients. I stored them in a bag in the fridge, just in case.
Izzy likes to escape into the back yard, even though she has a catio. Apparently the dust baths are better down the hill. The dust is great because that is where the dogs run to catch the ball and they keep the clay nicely churned. Rolling in the dust during a game of fetch though doesn’t work well and sends Izzy running back to the catio, but to the outside hammock. We originally built the outside platforms for Sophie the outside cat, but they are way too close to Izzy. Plus there is the added nice view of the tantalizing dance of the chickens. Cat TV.
I actually took this picture before Texas Winterpocalypse, but this is what it looks like again. Texas, shaking off the cold like a bad dream.
Critters and Craft 