Almost Spring/Another Bug, Saving Money/Bread Machine, New Coop Coming!

Almost Spring/Another Bug-

*** FYI, I made the font BIG to fit on cellphones screens and read. If too big please leave a comment. I work off a laptop to blog, but also read on my phone. Thanks! ***

Spring is almost here, maybe! Temps have been up and down, snow then thaws. Today very cold gusting winds! Brrrr.....  Just when I was feeling better (after my cough and cold in January)  Dave got sick again (same bug) and then I got sick again. Oh brother. The only good thing was I didn't get a cough this time. I had a cold, minor scratchy throat then I woke up on a Wednesday with my right ear really, really hurting. Luckily my regular PCP was squeezed me in that day so I didn't have to sit in Urgent Care. I had a good ear infection, with the left ear percolating. Onto the antibiotics! I'm feeling much better now almost normal. Will start some probiotics as soon as the antibiotics are done doing their job. I'm going to work on trying to de-stress a bit more, if that is possible given the current state of affairs in the US. Will work on boosting my immune system and staying healthy. Being prepared for this kind of thing is also really good.  We had all kinds of OTC and homeopathic remedies at home, so when I did start coming down with something I didn't have to go anywhere to buy anything. 

Something fun!

Saving Money/Bread Machine-

As usual I'm always working on saving money, but I really upped it the last couple months. I did buy the cute tea cup with a bamboo lid and spoon (the blue fish on top) just for fun, makes me smile! I knew the tariffs were coming and so I wanted to do some strategic buying in January. I have to mention- I'm very grateful that Dave and I bought our new (to us) slightly used Subaru Crosstrek in October. Got a great deal, runs perfect, lots of warranty left, super safe. Very thankful, especially now. I did load up on some things on Amazon, especially ones that were also on sale. Costco too. I've been getting some great deals on eBay. I was looking for a lighter down coat for spring. I found a great deal a few years back for my super warm LL Bean down coat. Luckily I stumbled upon another great deal! An LL Bean down jacket, was $130.00 on the website. The seller had it listed for $35, like new. I got it down to $22.00! Lighter weight, really comfortable, nice and toasty-

Bonnie photo bombed!

 

Sadly my second thrift store bread machine did not work well. It was older than the last one I had. I decided to invest in a new one that makes the larger size loaves. I did some research on Amazon and looked around and bought this, on sale on Amazon for $115.00- 

Has two paddles for mixing

It works fine, nice size, took me several tries to get the loaf right. One didn't really rise, second one collapsed when it cooled too fast, my fault. Finally on about the 4th or 5th loaf  I got a good one! I simply doubled my honey oat/whole grain recipe I had used before. It made a big loaf, had a little bit of cracking on the top but I let it cool really slowly which seemed to have fixed the other problems- 

Well it did have a shallow crack along the top, but at least it rose really well and is a standard size sandwich loaf. Really nice and moist (photo makes the bread look weird, it's not)-

 I stocked up on some things at Costco. I like their new Kirkland rolled Oats, hadn't seen those before-

 

I went to Ross a few days ago and got some pretty decent gardening tools for $4 each. I really like the trowel since it was much deeper and you can pick up more dirt/compost with it, also bought some rope for tying materials down on the Outback-

 

When we were going through Home Depot looking at a few things they had some really nice house plants which I've been wanting. $5.00 each. One dracena in the pot actually had two plants! I always put a primrose in the spring on my windowsill and then the others went into pots around the house-

We did a little reorganization in our office spare bedroom/ pantry closet area. We had a small stainless steel rack that we had bought several years ago for extra storage. It was just getting to be a catch all though. It dawned on me that we could probably sit it under our counter buffet area in the dining room and just get it out. Dave and I move some things on to our pantry rack, donated a few things and then Dave was able to move it under the buffet where I can get things a lot easier. Now the office doesn't look quite so crammed and gave us room for our second desk chair. We donated our other desk a while back since we really didn't need two desks at home anymore-

 

Poor Dave had to move a few things first under the buffet, which was a desk originally-

Someday I want to pull the counter out, replace with butcher block, Dave can build some nice shelves

 

 

 

 Silver rack on left moved and filled 

I used the same fabric in the kitchen for the buffet skirt, still love the print!

New Coop Coming!

I've been keeping an eye on the coop this winter and was really seeing a lot of damage from all the years. Considering the fact that we built the coop with MOSTLY recycled materials it has held up for 12 years! Not bad. Dave and I talked about investing some money that we came into and decided to building a new coop. We will recycle a few components but most of the other materials are pretty shot. I'm not unhappy with how long it lasted but it does need to be replaced. We really like the siting of it, gives the chickens shade in the summer and a break from the storms in the winter. We're going to do a little bit different design with a shed roof, move the door to the front facing the house, and have a nesting box that doesn't protrude. Will keep basically the same footprint. We're also going to incorporate a little bit of storage for the feed. We've just kept the feed in a steel tote in our garage. Here's a few shots of the current state- 

Frame on bottom of window rotting/warped, Sunny and Luna photo bombed!

OSB de-laminated

 

We're getting lumber this weekend and will start building soon, photos coming!  Chicks coming in a few months, but at least we're getting 1-2 eggs most days now. Good girls!

 

Bulbs from early December finally bloomed!!!

Bonnie enjoying the winter sun-