New journal

On May 24, 2020May 22, 2020 By CarynIn Tools

I’m so excited. There is nothing quite like starting on a new journal! Brand new pages, an open slate stretching forward in time. I use the journal as my memory, not to record every moment, but to recap events so I can look them up. It is not a diary, not a bullet journal (although I do sometimes have a doodle or two to make entries easier to find), and not a lab notebook (although that point could be argued about my past journals).

My new journal has a beautiful tree embossed on the cover and is the first one I’ve purchased online. It is more the size I usually use. When it was time to get my last journal, I had a terrible time finding one I liked. I ended up with a book twice as big and it took me over two years to fill it. The fabric cover wasn’t as durable, and the spine broke. Since the brick and mortar method of shopping failed me, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to risk an online journal purchase. We’ll see how it goes!

Most useful kitchen whatnot

On September 12, 2019 By CarynIn Tools

I received this tube of rubber in conjunction with a ceramic garlic grater. I love the grater, but was unsure what the tube was about. Until I popped a clove of garlic in and rolled it under my hand. The peel came right off! It is now my go to tool when I have to peel garlic. Such a funny little tube that works so very well!

Love my jig

On June 25, 2019June 24, 2019 By CarynIn Coop, Tools

I love making pocket holes to assemble the screens doors for the coop runs! I setup a kind of assembly line to drill the holes for the doors using a Kreg mini jig.

Pocket holes drilled using a Kreg mini jig

So after drilling the holes and assembling the frames, I covered them in poultry wire and my eldest helped me hang them. We can now rotate the chickens through three runs! Yay!

Taking the plunge…

On February 14, 2019 By CarynIn Tools

and changing to silicone wedding bands.

Our Valentine’s gifts to each other are new wedding bands. After taking my rings off and putting them back on over and over to put on work gloves, or work with tools, or to paint, I was sure I was going to misplace them (and it was a pain). Leaving them on was out too, as one of my recently repaired rings ripped through a pair of work gloves.

I’ve been concerned about my husband’s metal band for several years (he has a scar where it cut into his finger), and with him building out-buildings and working on cars a metal band has a higher chance of causing damage. (Do an image search for safe wedding bands and there will also be rather disturbing images of what can happen if a ring gets caught in machinery. I’m not going to link it; it’s on you if you choose to search. I stumbled upon them by accident and am indelibly scarred. You have been warned.)

I suggested that we both make the switch, and he accepted. The new bands have taken a bit to get used to; they are lighter and don’t spin as much as metal, and frankly, when you’ve worn something for over 22 years, changing is going to feel different. Still, I feel safer for making the switch, and I even found a ring with some nice carving. (Of course now I’m wondering how hard it is to cast medical grade silicone…)

Tamper

On February 2, 2019January 31, 2019 By CarynIn Tools

Our soil here is clay. When clay gets wet, it doesn’t just get muddy, it turns into a slimly slippery sole sucking mess. (Sorry, that was #punintentional.) Walking through the yard after rain usually results in 3 extra pounds of clay sticking to each foot.

When we have chickens, we will be heading out to the coop rain or shine, so I decided we needed a fairly mud-free path to the coop. I dug in bricks as a border, then filled the path with decomposed granite. The fines in the decomposed granite will settle down and make a firm base for the path. To help the compacting and settling of the path, I used this 10″x10″ tamper. This is also a good workout. Starting to think the title of this blog should be “Of Chickens, Craft, and Calories”.

I’ve made the half of the path that leads to the gate. When we know exactly where our coop doors will be, I’ll lay the other half of the path.

Critters and Craft

Category: Tools