No sew dog coat

On February 18, 2021February 16, 2021 By CarynIn Craft, dog

This is unprecedented cold for Texas. Griffin usually doesn’t care about the cold, however zero degrees is a whole other matter. He outgrew the sweater I knit for him ages ago, and we needed something so he could at least go out for a couple minutes to do business. So I took some fleece earmarked to make beds and used some to whip him up a coat. I measured around his chest and added a couple inches, then measured from neck to tail. I cut a rectangle using those measurements, then cut leg holes and shaped around the hips. Strips cut along the neckline and chest made it easy to tie the sides together rather than sewing. Within about 10 minutes he had a new coat. He loves his coat!

Griffin happy in his no sew coat, at least for a few minutes (it is really cold for us Texans!!)

Missy has more cold tolerance due to twice as much fur

Getting the video back online

On February 17, 2021February 16, 2021 By CarynIn chickens, Coop

Chickens all snuggled deep in their wings

The cameras in the coop and run have been offline since November. Every once in a while I would start the troubleshooting process, then give up because it takes forever and I was busy. The camera would connect, but not stream video. So frustrating. I finally carved out some time to disconnect the devices and bring them inside, where they performed perfectly. Huh. So I bought a repeater, and after more time spent moving it around to get the best signal overlap and extension, found a spot where the cameras would work again. I have no idea why they used to work just fine on the single router, but I’m glad that the repeater worked and I can see them roosting again. Especially since it is cold and it makes me feel better to see that they turn into nice warm fluffy feather balls.

Now that we have rolling blackouts, checking on the chickens via video is spotty. I do go out to break the ice off the water every couple hours because the heated water bowl doesn’t work without power. The chickens are all huddled in the coop, not happy, but surviving. No signs of black on the combs, and we are still getting eggs!

Utility sinks are awesome

On February 16, 2021February 13, 2021 By CarynIn chickens

I’m so glad that my husband installed a utility sink in our small bathroom. It made cleaning up Magic’s dirty bum possible, seeing as how it is freezing outside and the water to the coop is off. I saw she was plugged up and brought her in for a rinse and a blow dry before taking her back to her flock. She was amazingly calm through the whole process and even accepted grubs from my hand when she was back in the coop! Magic’s usual elimination is a bit watery, and she tends to not have a fluffy butt when she is laying. Despite that, she is my sweetest hen.

Upside down and backwards

On February 15, 2021 By CarynIn games

Yeah, I can read upside down, and I suspect most of you can too. Backwards, sure. Upside down and backwards? That is a fun brain puzzle! To have fun with your virtual friends and neighbors, it is actually quite easy to create these little text images. I used Autodesk Sketchbook on my phone because I was too lazy to go to my computer. Use the text feature to type in your message, then flip the layer vertically, and rotate it 180 degrees. If you want to be nice, use a san-serif font. I created the background using the synthetic oil brush and going back and forth with different colors.

Text formatted upside down and backwards

Want to read it quickly? Stand in front of a mirror and tip your phone down.

Stuffing kongs

On February 14, 2021 By CarynIn dog

I’m feeling rather accomplished, making my own stuffing for dog Kongs! (It doesn’t take much to amuse me these days.) I soaked about a cup of dog food in about two cups of water for a couple hours, then to further cut calories added pumpkin and canned chicken and blended the mixture in my food processor. The result was a paste that was easy to pack in the Kongs, which I then stuck in the freezer. The dogs enjoy them too! I’m trying to be sparing with the peanut butter since I recently read that the high fat can trigger pancreatitis, and these keep them occupied for a good while!

I had extra stuffing, so I put it in a bag in the fridge so I can re-stuff the Kongs after the dogs clean them out! (And after I run them through the dishwasher, because, ew.)

Critters and Craft

Month: February 2021