Did you wash your hands?

On By CarynIn Craft

I have had a little paper tent with the hand written words “Did you wash your hands?” on our table for four months to remind us all to wash frequently and especially before eating. I thought it was past time to make something more lasting! I decided to use my 3Doodler, since the plastic is washable, it is light, and it wouldn’t take me too long to doodle up. I laid out the words in Adobe Illustrator, then put a clear work mat over the print out to trace the letters.

Making the sign with my 3doodle pen

I made two copies of “wash”, then used a book to space them apart so I could lay down the connecting lines and make the word 3D. I made the other words separately then “glued” them on with more molten plastic.

Useful 3D table decoration

I think it came out rather well! And certainly has a more decorative element than a folded slip of paper.

Again?

On By CarynIn chickens
Feathers in the coop

So I was aware that the Faverolle hen is a medium layer, meaning not high production, which is why I aimed for a flock of 6-9 (we currently have 10) for our four person family. That they are molting again, as evidenced by the snowy piles of feathers throughout the runs, is another reason why egg production is down. It is not unusual for poor layers to start their fall molt in July and take a few months (!) to regrow all their feathers according to my chicken books. At least we are getting some eggs! It looks like there was an attack in the coop with all the feathers strewn about.

Cosplay crochet?

On By CarynIn Craft

My eldest likes to play Pokémon and picked for her avatar a green and white beret. As I was watching her play, I realized that I could make a hat like that! She didn’t make a negative face, so I sat down with my fingering wool and worked on recreating the hat (but without the cross bar, as she requested).

Crocheted beret with pom pom (100% wool)
Pokémon trainer hat
Hat flat

Dust

On By CarynIn chickens, dog
Dog chasing green laser light, kickin’ up dust

My dog loves laser lights. Correction: my dog is obsessed with laser lights. He is funny about them though, he doesn’t chase it just wherever, he has a self defined path that if you flash the light at the beginning of the path, he will traverse the whole trail, whether or not the light leads him. If you shine the light elsewhere you are given “a look”, and he waits until you get it right. Goofy dog. This behavior does result in a dirt path through the yard. For me, though, this is not a bad thing necessarily. We have clay soil, which is hard and unforgiving to dig. In the dog’s trail, the clay has been churned to a fine dust, which is easy to scoop up and add to the ash and diatomaceous earth for the chicken’s dust bath. So really, the dog’s favorite activity in the whole wide world is also providing a chicken service. So there we go. The dog is happy, the chickens love their dust bath, and even the cat, when she dashes through the door, beelines for a good roll in the fine dust.