First BIG Storm of the Season, Easy Frugal Autumn Decor, Chicken Molting & Protein Treats

First BIG Storm of the Season-

Sorry no blog post last weekend since there was nothing to exciting to post! Now, here's somne big news! I never thought living in Boise we'd see part of the remnants of a typhoon! Named Songda it hit the Oregon/Washington coast 2 days ago and is moving inland as we speak- Pacific N.W. Storm  There were 2 tornadoes on the Oregon coast yesterday, CRAZY!!! We hope our families in Portland will be okay. I woke up yesterday to gusting winds and 70 degrees, yes 70 degrees, at 7 a.m.! It was a warm front ahead of the cold front. The temperature dropped to about 55 by noon, and with windy rain. Dried out a bit, then cloudy. More breezy rain this morning and now it's 65 at 5 p.m. wind is picking up, with more wind/rain expected tomorrow. We really need it in the mountain, but after our horrible Pioneer forest fire, landslides and mudslides are a risk. I LOVE the rain, it's been so dry since July. We have more rain in the forecast for the next week, so I loving it. I'm washing our flannel sheets to put on today. It's till too warm for our winter comforter. Right now we're using our summer quilt with a polar fleece blanket. Soon though, it will be winter! It did drop into the upper 30's a couple of night ago, with some minor frost damage to my squash,plants, but nowhere else. My basil and tomatoes are fine, go figure!  More about the storm here, with great graphics Weather.com We'll slowly put our veggie garden to bed and will start winterizing the coop. For now I'm enjoying the Autumn rain and hoping the coming winds won't be too bad...

Monster typhoon

Local forecast

Leaves have been falling all day!

Easy, Frugal Autumn Decor-

I get more minimalistic decor wise as I get older. I used to think more was better, but I like having more accent pieces and less clutter. There's also storing everything when not in use. I like less stuff in general! I have my fall things out, and I will put up some inside Halloween things tomorrow. I wanted to do something with one of my kitchen topiaries that was Autumn-ish. I was at Hobby Lobby and found these, perfect for my idea-

burlap leaves and faux nuts

I decided after seeing those little accents to use them on my sifter topiary.  I made it out of an old vintage sifter, and it's one of my favorite up cycled kitchen decorations- 

Before picture

After picture, simple re-do and easy to change back

I did goof up thinking that the little leaves were a garland, but they're hanging pieces. I may make them into that. Sometimes I like to live with things a bit before changing them.

About 90% of my fall things I have picked up at thrift stores, the rest at lost cost places like Home Depot or Ross. Fresh pumpkins and gourds are always pretty cheap. Here's a few things around our home-

My fave little owl reading his book from Starbucks years ago :)

I'm an ex-librarian, what can I say!

Love my chicken!

Just some fall leaves

Anya is peeking from the other side of the table!

Simple

Since it was mild and dry Dave put out most of the Halloween goodies, lights and stakes-

Poor Gwynne!

Chicken Molting & Protein Treats-
This year was an odd one, all my hens started molting at the same time! Our white hen started first, then the other 2-

Poor girls!

With colder weather coming and feather loss I knew it was time for some protein snacks! Feathers are mostly protein so they need more to recover better. You can buy supplements but they can be pretty spendy. I did some research here Raising Happy Chickens.com as well as other places. I started off with some high protein kitten chow "that chickens love!". They looked at me seeming to say "you expect me to eat that!" No luck. Then I tried drained large sardines packed in tomato sauce, broken up and they inhaled it! Problem solved. You can do meats, cooked eggs, fish, etc, but most suggest not more than 3xs a week. Gwynne's feather are growing back already, good news-

 Here's a nice generic Chicken Treat Chart, with both winter and summer treats, good ideas there!