Kitchen Cabinet DIY - Cut Trim

One brave hen laid her egg in the top divided nest box and the other egg was laid in the bottom nest box next to the plastic crate I put in there yesterday.

Here is a link to photos of the nest box set up I built that shows the doors to the nest boxes open and shut. I like being able to walk in the front part of the coop and open doors to check for eggs, but I think I have too many nests for our sixteen chickens.

The two ground eggs were laid in the wood shaving I put down under the roosts. I'll have to put a layer of dirt down over the shavings. I think the hens may get confused about where to lay their eggs?

The kitchen was dark and had dark wood cabinets. I thought I would try open shelving and paint the cabinets a light color. So, that's where I am... still in the DIY process, but nearing completion. The upper cabinets are the last step.

I was at the miter saw or in the kitchen all day getting the cabinets emptied ready to paint, and trim cut and nailed.

Trim? Oh! Good grief... I had forgot about the trim. I searched through all the scrap trim wood and it took pieces of four different kinds of trim to make it all the way around. Tomorrow I can paint!

I'm going to have to take a day or two and spend them at the computer catching up on blog reading and commenting. I try to do a few every day, but I am way behind.

Peek at the Past

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It's been a year since Morgan was hurt.

(August 14, 2009)

(4 eggs today)

2 on the ground.

I guess it will take time for the hens

to get used to the new nest box setup.

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Smiles

Nest Box Cleaning and DIY

All the old straw and wood shavings that were in the nest boxes went into the compost pile. I rigged up the hose to put out a fine spray over the top of the compost pile that helped keep the dust down. I need to put turning the compost pile on my list of stuff to do.

I asked Morgan and the chickens to pose in front of the compost so the photo wouldn't be so boring. I paid the chickens off with a handful of scratch. Morgan was happy to be in the middle of things. Poor Morgan didn't get a treat.

Using scrap pieces of wood I screwed together a wooden cover for the plastic crate and put it in the middle of the communal nest box. This set up makes for three individual nest areas.







Here is the box with fresh straw. I'm curious to know if the hens will lay eggs in the box tomorrow.







I have tried to divide this box before but ended up taking out the crummy scrap wood. This time I screwed in a series of stakes. I use what I have and I have a bunch of stakes.








And here is the stake box with fresh straw. There is a long piece of plywood that fits behind the wire/wood door when it is closed.







I put another plastic crate in the bottom nest box. Sure hope the chickens are happy with their new nest box arrangement.  When the doors are closed on this side all the nests are nice and dark and cozy.

Eggs... eggs girls... I want eggs.

Peek at the Past

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I was busy last year too.

(August 13, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Painted The Entry

Blogger is giving me a run around asking me to sign in over and over and then not giving me access to my blog. I reset Safari and Blogger let me back in so I can post. I guess it is a Safari issue.


I took the goat down and Kristine held up the shelf and Kristine and I decided that the goat looks better where it is and the shelf looks better at the end of the counter.

The cups are different sizes and didn't fit on the selves, so Kristine tried out the spices and I like the look. The shelf is just leaning against the wall for now because I am spending my time painting and not hanging the shelf. I finished painting the entry. Tomorrow I'm back to painting in the kitchen.

Before I painted the entry walls I needed to get the cobwebs down and tried different things and then remembered reading once I think on Tanya's blog about how they cleaned cobwebs at a temple in Japan with branches so I went on a search for a long pine branch and it works great at knocking down the cobwebs.

I'm going to duct tape some branches on the end of a long pole and use that to get the cobwebs that are way, way up high. Well, not tomorrow, but soon.

Kristine and I watched One Piece again tonight and ate Chinese food that she brought for dinner. She is so sweet. We are up to watching episode fifteen.
Time for bed.

Peek at the Past

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Memories - My favorite old things...

(August 12, 2009)

[ 4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Hungry Chickens

Chickens in a hurry!

This is what I see when I go outside. The chickens see me and make a dash to where ever I am and then follow me around.

They act like I never feed them. Poor starving chickens.

This is what they love...

Scratching up scratch that I toss on the ground. I throw the corn out in handfuls into four different spots so the bossy hens don't eat it all. 

I still haven't got out to the coop and changed the straw. I'm bad. I covered up the old straw with new straw and promised the chickens I would be back to work in the coop as soon as I get done painting in the house.

There is a definite feeling of Fall in the air. It is supposed to heat back up in a few days, but I think we are going to have an early Autumn and Winter this year. Kristine said that the birds that migrate have already left. I want to get the painting finished while I can still leave the windows open at night.

I painted away the orange and now the wall is a lovely apricot color. I'm going to paint the entry tomorrow and would like to paint the insides of the upper kitchen cupboards too. Maybe I'll have enough time if I get started early.

The other reason I decide to go with orange when I picked up the paint last year is because the kitchen area in the den area is orange formica. And instead of painting it or getting a new counter over there I thought I would just go with the color.

There is a small area over the slider in the entry that I will keep orange. I'll paint the other three walls apricot. I'm having fun painting. I'm slow because I'm painting with a brush. There are so many windows and doors that trying to paint with a roller would be a waste of time and paint. I'd have to clean the roller and there would be a lot of paint lost in the roller. 

The shelf is painted again and I'm letting it dry overnight before I try and hang it tomorrow.   

Peek at the Past

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Poor Morgan

(August 11, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Knobs, Aprons And Hall Wall Painted

The wall is painted!
And I put another coat of paint on the shelf. I'll put a third coat on tomorrow and hope it dries quickly so I can hang it in the kitchen. I want to play with the shelves and see what cups and glasses will fit. Maybe cup hooks on the bottom shelf?

I hung up my chicken aprons finally. They have been in a drawer and I never opened the drawer so I never wore the aprons.

Yesterday, I put up a towel rack that is really a minor disaster waiting to happen. There was only room for one screw on each end, so I expect the whole thing to come crashing to the floor some day. But it is nice to have a towel near the work area in the kitchen.


Today I put the knobs on the doors. I made a template so I wouldn't have to measure or eyeball the placement and that worked out great.

Tomorrow, the plan is for more painting. I'm going to paint the wall next to the wood stove with the Apricot Seashell paint and cover the orange. I only bought that paint because it was the only orange paint they had up here and I wanted some color on the wall. The orange does brighten the area and it works well color wise with all the dark brown beams and wood in the house. But! The Apricot Seashell color is really what I wanted in the first place, so I have a wall and the entry to paint.

Kristine is bringing home hamburgers and fries for dinner. Tom is bringing tri-tip and french bread. I have steamed broccoli. Sounds like a fun made up dinner.

Peek at the Past

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You can see the Apricot Seashell color and the orange.

(August 10, 2009)

Same link as yesterday.

[3 eggs today]

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Patches, Chickens, Shelves And Lots Of Thens

This morning started out with me getting things ready to paint some of the walls in the house. I got the drop cloth (plastic) folded and laid out in the hall, got the step ladder and even found the right paint and brush.

Then I got sidetracked into doing laundry and ironing patches on my jeans.

Then I gave the chickens some cabbage treats.

Then I cleaned up my work area that was full of my tools and stuff and put it away in the plastic roll around cabinet. I talked Kristine out of the cabinet.

Then I rummaged around in the storage place and found two shelves that my Dad built for Dolores. One was coming apart and I had to spend some time putting it back together and attaching two backing boards to stabilize it and straighten the frame.


Then I gave the fixed up shelf a coat of the paint I used for the kitchen cabinets. The plan is to put one of the shelves in the kitchen to hold cups and glasses. The other shelf will go in the green bedroom. Works out great since it is already green.

I never did get back to painting the wall. First thing tomorrow after breakfast I will start painting the wall. No more diversions. I hope.

I am so very far behind reading blogs and making comments. I'm just too tired after I post and just want to go to bed. Sleep, I need sleep. I want to get all this painting finished before the weather turns.

Peek at the Past

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 (August 9, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

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Morgan Attacked By Chicken - Poor Dog

This afternoon I took the camera and went out to collect eggs and give the chickens a treat.  Morgan as usual watched the hens eating the scratch I had tossed out in a shady place.

The Wyandotte that Morgan is looking at took offense and flew at Morgan while making lots of chicken noise and trying to peck her. I guess it was something like, "Back off dog... you can't have my corn!" It happened so fast I couldn't get a photo.

Morgan left the chickens and headed for the trees. Poor Morgan... Kristine has seen that mean ol' Wyandotte chase her before.

I followed Morgan to see what she would do and found her at one of her favorite pastimes. I like to think of it as Morgan keeping the squirrels in the trees or squirrel herding. When she finds them she will follow the squirrels from tree to tree.

After a hard day watching squirrels and chickens Morgan likes some quiet time on this bed next to me and the computer. Well, what she really likes is my foot. She parks herself under my foot so I will give her a foot rub. Then she lays down and makes herself comfy on her bed. Tonight she even made herself a pillow. Morgan is talented. 

Tom and Kristine left today for a visit to her grandmother. I took the day off and watched Agatha Christie shows on YouTube. Later I did take the time to put on the magnetic catches.

I started with this door because we hardly ever open it because it is mostly full of the gas piping for the cook top. I've been thinking it might make a good spot for a removable spice rack that would fit in front of the pipe. Maybe this winter I could do that.

It was a good thing I started with this cupboard because I made a lot of mistakes: chipped the paint when I drilled too close to the edge, picked a spot the drill couldn't fit at a right angle, and picked the top board that turned out to be too narrow. I needed to use the board on the side which thankfully was thicker. After I made all the oops here I put the other catches on without any problems. But now I find that the doors need knobs. The catches really work and make it difficult to open the door. Kristine said she would look for some tomorrow when she was out and about.

Kristine and I have been watching One Piece online. It is an anime that has been running in Japan for over ten years. Once I got past the poor translation and got used to the animation style I find that I am liking this show very much. 

Peek at the Past

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(August 8, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

1 thin shelled broken

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Smiles

Finished Painting The "In Between"

It's mid afternoon. I can tell by looking at these chickens in what I call "the huddle." The hens have their daily routine and don't vary from it very often. The rest of the hens are close, but these hens fit in the photo.

Later, when it is almost dark just before the hens go in the coop to roost for the night most of the chickens will gather near the coop door.

But the huddle is a time to fluff and straighten feathers and make themselves beautiful. I guess it's like a bunch of girls heading off to the powder room together.


I mixed up the paint (3 gallons) and finished painting the room. I even had a half gallon left over. I love this paint because it is so easy to wash the brush and roller with water, covers in one coat, and the container has a side handle and screw on lids. 

There are some places that are just not meant to be cleaned. The back of the water heater, behind the washer and dryer, and behind this vacuum canister thing. I decided not to try and paint behind it either. I'll try and get the cobwebs, but that's it for cleaning. 

I'm really supposed to be finishing up working in the kitchen. I still have the top cupboard to paint. But, I wanted a place to put all my tools, so I painted this room so I could move my little work table in here and fill it up with my stuff.

The middle of this room is finished. It still needs some kind of flooring and the top of the room needs something. It is very high and I'm a bit afraid to climb up there and try and paint. So, for now the cobwebs I can't reach will have to stay. I would like to have scaffolding.

I love the light from skylight!  This room is an enclosed walkway... not really a room. We call it "the in between."But, I like it painted much better than the way it was before.

Next project is to go back to working in the kitchen. Tom picked up some magnetic catches for the cupboard doors. I can put those on tomorrow. That will be enough... I'm tired. I'll take the day off.

I've come up with some new ideas for finishing the top cupboards. Open shelving. I need some more boards. Hope I can find some around here.

Kristine wrote up her experience about when a bear tried to get our chickens (and some other home alone stories) and she chased the bear away. I didn't know there were two dog pans and that she drove around the property. Click here if you want to read her post.

Peek at the Past

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(August 7, 2009)

[6 eggs today]

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Smiles

Chickens Dusting And Me Cutting Up Trim Boards

This morning the chickens marched out of their coop, across the driveway, past their regular dusting spot and found a new spot in the sun to dust bathe.

The hens are camera shy.

As soon as I got my camera ready to take pictures

most of them got up and left.

I spent some of the day searching up trim boards and cutting them on the miter saw. Morgan wanted to come in the house. Please. I kept going in and out carrying the boards back and forth to make new cuts. She wanted to come in too.

She is in the house now rolling around on her back on her bed.

She's so funny.

I didn't do any painting today. Just cutting boards, climbing up and down the ladder, and trips outside to make cuts. The miter saw makes this a lot easier. I used to make the cuts by hand.

I have a couple of little places to fill... maybe. If I can find some boards the right size.

My brother and his wife used to use this space as a really neat place for their parrots to live. They had large planter boxes on both sides with plants that were parrot friendly. It was a wonderful place for the parrots. I remember one they called Turnup because when you put him on your arm the parrot would always move his feet until he was hanging upside down. Cute.

It is hard to tell from this photo that I did anything. But there is trim around, above and over the slider. I put trim in the corners and around other places. I should have brought the miter saw inside and saved myself a lot of walking, but I don't like the sawdust flying all over and I hate to wear masks.

A nail gun would make life easier. I had a lot of bent nails until I started drilling holes first. I still bent some of the nails.  I'm not that good with a hammer, but I finally got the boards nailed up.

Maybe I will paint tomorrow or I might take the day off... or I still need to change the nest boxes. There's always stuff that needs doing. Happy weekend.

Peek at the Past

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(August 6, 2009)

[5 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Painting Slowdown

There is something living near the water pan and it has dug a hole that makes a great drain for the water. There would be a big puddle here if the water wasn't running down the hole.








Morgan and the chickens meet up at the watering spot. On the hot mornings I turn on the water and let it run while I collect eggs. The only bad thing about this is that sometimes I forget to turn the water off.

This is the fat wyandotte. 

There is a mean wyandotte

and a poorly wyandotte that is doing much better.

And this is the skinny wyandotte that was the first chicken trapped under the fence. She was already a skinny hen. Good thing I guess.

I  made a start on the painting

and found out that I need to cut

some trim boards and trim out around the slider

and some other places before I continue painting.

Tomorrow I'll nail up the trim

and then use a roller 

and hopefully cover the walls quickly.

I have been painting with a brush and that is a lot slower. I thought I would paint the grooves and trim before I did the roller painting. I'm tired and got hand cramps from using the brush. Early to bed for me.

Peek at the Past

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(August 5, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Chickens, Paint and Fresh Garden Vegetables

This morning I was in the chicken coop collecting eggs when I heard the little fence fall over. I spun around and there was the fence on the ground with a buff orpington struggling between the slats trying to free herself from the evil fence. Before I could reach the buff she had freed herself and scurried off under the trees.

Who ever locked up the chickens the night before had unhooked the fence (I had put up a hook so it couldn't fall over again) and leaned it against the straw bale. The fence is in front of the door during the day to keep Morgan out of the coop and chicken pen so she doesn't eat the chicken feed. Morgan loves chicken feed. The buff must have gone behind the fence to scratch at the straw and then got caught  and whoosh, bam, almost smashed chicken.

The first time the fence fell it was a wyandotte that almost got flattened. Kristine came to the rescue that time. She said the comb and wattles were turning blue. It's hard to believe that a chicken can push the fence over when they go through the opening between the slats. I guess I am going to have to put up a hook on the outside of the coop to hook the fence on when the door is shut.

I finally decided what I'm going to do about the painting project I'm supposed to be working on instead of finding other things to do like fixing the couch. I'm going to be brave and pour all this paint in a big bucket, mix it up and paint the walls with what ever color results. I hope there will be enough paint. Yes, that is a worry. I suppose the color could be a worry too. I love the screw off tops on these paint containers. I mixed two of the colors together and the color was not too bad. Tomorrow, the painting begins. I hope.



Kristine brought home bags of fresh vegetables picked today from local gardens. She was gifted with this wonderful produce. We enjoyed fresh green beans for dinner and I sliced up the cucumbers and mixed them with wine vinegar, olive oil and a bit of salt.

I hope next year we will have a garden and produce that we can share.

Peek at the Past

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(August 4, 2009)

[5 eggs today]

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Smiles

Chickens And Morgan Help Me Fix A Squeaky Couch

I was vacuuming which meant that Morgan and the chickens were watching me through the slider. I brought Morgan inside and gave the chickens some lettuce. Then I asked Morgan to pose for a photo in front of the sofa. Couch, sofa?

I leaned against the couch when I shut the slider... squeak! That was the last squeak. I don't sit on the couch because of the squeak. Why have a couch you don't use except to hold afghans, pillows or take up space? And I never wanted company to sit on the goofy thing.

OK!

No painting today. Instead of fighting with the cobwebs I did battle with my little fifty dollar couch. I was told it used to be in the lobby of a hotel in a little mountain town.

I bought it at an antique shop and although the upholstery is in wonderful condition I'm sure they sold it for such a low price because it had a broken leg. Tom fixed the leg, but the couch squeaks .

Fixing this couch has been low on the list of stuff to do, but I finally had it with the squeak. I've been afraid to work on it because I didn't know what was causing the noise. But for the moment I felt brave.

So, I flipped over the couch, got out my drill and different sizes of screws and hooked everything together that looked like it could be drilled and hold a screw. I tightened screws. I put in extra screws next to the ones that were already there and some in new places.

Happy to report that it is now a silent couch. So nice! The couch was a great excuse to not chase cobwebs and paint. It's too hot.

Posting about the couch made me think about Chicken Divan. I looked it up here and what do you know, divan is the German word for couch. This recipe makes it sound more like the couch is on the chicken. I've never made Chicken Divan and didn't know the name meant Chicken on the Couch. Well, anyway, I'm glad the couch is quiet!

Peek at the Past

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(August 3, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

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Smiles

Chickens, Straw And Cobwebs

There is a problem in the chicken coop. There is some egg breakage going on in the nest boxes. Either the thin shelled eggs are breaking on their own or a hen or more have found out they can have eggs for breakfast.

I like collecting eggs for my breakfast, but being greeted with the smell of rotten eggs when I open the coop door really doesn't make my day.

This afternoon Tom brought a bale of straw and leaned it against the coop. In a day or so I will use it to replace the smelly straw in the nest boxes.

I also asked for some DE.  I didn't realize there were so many uses. I always get worried when I read the directions on the package of DE.


Too bad the photo of the chickens is so dark. My fault. I didn't go out until later in the day when it was shady and cooler. The chickens sure like the straw bale. They walk up to the straw, stand back, stick out a foot and scratch away at the bale in hopes of getting something good to eat. Chickens can be so funny.

Kristine made me take the day off because my cough came back, but later in the day when it cooled off a bit she held the ladder for me and I vacuumed down some of the cobwebs. I couldn't reach them all. I'm going to keep the table and my work table in this little room. After I paint, I will have to figure out something to do to the floor. Deck paint?

P.S. Kristine posted about another of her adventures in Phoenix (click here video).

Peek at the Past

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(August 2, 2009)

I'm still using my chicken flag!

[4 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Noisy Hen/Roo And Noisy Me Clearing Stuff Out

 Hen/Roo has been very upset today for some chicken reason known only to herself and her coop sisters. Kristine caught her in a nest box yesterday sitting on an egg. So, did she lay the egg or appropriate it from one of the other hens? We wonder? But we know Hen/Roo is the noisiest hen... rooster... ?

Click here for an article about a rooster who became a hen. So, it works both ways. I wonder if Hen/Roo could change back. I suppose it depends on why she changed in the first place.

Today I made a video of her squawking, but it wouldn't load. (I'm using the new editor) I did take this photo of Hen/Roo and click here is an older video of Hen/Roo in a post about my teddy bear chair. Her squawking has gotten louder.

There was some very loud squawking from several hens going on earlier that had me and then Kristine running out of the house to see if there had been a fox attack.

But, no, we  counted the chickens and they were all there. Maybe they have figured out that I give them scratch (so I can count them) when they make a commotion.


We should have believed Morgan because she wasn't upset. She knows chicken language and knew there wasn't a predator after the hens.

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it. ~ Anonymous

I guess I am the only one who cares what it looks like under the kitchen sink. I'm glad I had already used some vinyl squares to cover the cupboard floor. That saved me some time because the vinyl makes it easy to wipe clean.

Well, as part of my cleaning/clearing out program I tackled the "stuff." I got rid of things (sorry no photo) I wasn't using, consolidated others (why did I have two boxes of Brillo,) and moved the salt and dog food to the new cupboard.

Earlier in the day I was noisy as I was dragging and moving "stuff" and clearing out a storage room and got it ready to paint tomorrow. But, first I will need to do some clearing away of monster spider webs. I can see me on the ladder tomorrow wielding the vacuum wand high over my head. Maybe I can get Kristine to steady the ladder for me. 

My next place to empty out is the closet next to the front door. I'm going to take everything out of the closet and only put back in things I'm using. The closet will no longer be a place to store "stuff."

There is some interesting stuff in that closet like my Dad's old fishing rod that is over 60 years old. I wonder what else I'll find? No spiders, please.

This corner cabinet on the end of the island used to be the upper kitchen cabinet over the counter. It is much more useful here. Sometimes I can't believe I tore all the cabinets off the wall and used them to build out the island. I tore down the laundry cabinets and put them up on the wall in the kitchen, took off the doors, painted and presto cheerful cabinets. And I don't have to keep fighting with cabinet doors. That's a plus.

P.S. Thank you to Marie Anne at In The Garden With Sow-n-Sow for the blog awards. She has a great blog about gardening and her chickens. And she writes! 

Peek at the Past
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(August 1, 2009)
I still use the pins.
I painted the table top.

[5 eggs today]


~:>
Smiles