Torn Trap, Restoring Antique Framed Family Photos, Rehabbing Ikea Trash, The Laying Has Commenced!!!

Torn Trapezoid- 
Well Spring is most definitely here! We had two days with near record high in the upper 60s and yesterday we got a good rain which we needed. Temperatures have dropped back down into the low 50's in the day and 30's at night. Lots of things are coming up in the garden front and back-

Tulips and Asian Poppies

Crocus

I haven't been posting much lately because I've had a really chronic shoulder problem with my right trapezius. It was so inflamed and painful that it was really wearing me out. I was really lucky that I was able to do acupuncture which helped a lot. Since my insurance didn't cover it I used a local acupuncture Co-op that has sliding fee scales. They're also open 7 days a week, just really helpful when you work weekdays So between that and Chiropractic I am about 90% good at this juncture. I've been doing heat/ ice, stretching, Arnica Gel, natural anti-inflammatories as well, so I did a multicultural approach so to speak. I have this happen a year or two ago and I think it's a little bit of overuse from doing so much keyboarding at work but that's a guess. Good news is, I'm on the mend. Then last weekend I god a cough and sore throat, not a good combo, just really wore me out. Cough cold almost gone, just lower energy still. Did my usual Homeopathic remedies, essential oils and stayed home Wednesday from work and rested. It all helped. 

Restoring Antique Framed Family Photos-
When we went to Portland in December for my husband Dave's annual family Christmas party he was able to bring home a couple of framed sets of photos of his father Tony. The frames were really old and the wood was dried out. Some of the pictures were askew and just needed some TLC. I basically took everything apart and here's what I did-

Flaws in the original placement

Wood dried and beat up

I slid the back off both and re-taped with some Scotch Create Acid Free Tape, costs $4.00-

Also found some good info buried under the backing- who was in the photo-

I used dark Old English wood oil and really coated both frames. Let dry and polished.

I washed the glass and put back together, looks much better! Hanging in our front hall instead of in a box somewhere...

Rehabbing Ikea Trash-
A few months ago I bought a few Ikea items online and had them shipped to the house. They're shipping is only $5 when you buy certain items so I was pretty excited at the great deals I got. One of the things I bought with it was a really large vase and it arrived in PIECES. Not only was I shocked that Ikea did such a poor packing job, but the fact that the box was mostly empty, didn't have a lot of packing left me scratching my head. I did send an email for a refund along with photos of the box with all the pieces of the vase inside. They gave me a full refund pretty quickly.  I decided not to re-order since I was afraid the whole thing would happen all over again. I started thinking that there was actually several very clean breaks in the stoneware and that maybe I could glue it back together. My thought was even if it look pretty rough most of the way around I could use it outside on my deck. I could fill with Ivy or something that would camouflage it. So last week I went ahead and glued it all back together. I think it actually came up pretty good! I found this glue that worked great-

I started with the front then did the back, then the handle-

Back

Front, not bad!!!

The Laying Has Commenced!!!
I was really shocked this week when I went out to close up the coop for the evening and found tTWo EGGS! Sadly around the time that two of our hens were killed, by what appeared to be a random local dog, the other two also stop playing. That was probably back in about October. So we have had ZERO eggs since then. Since both of our hens will be 6 years old in a few months I figured they were probably just done. But no!!! This week I had two eggs the first night, two eggs the next night and one egg yesterday. Bless their little feathery hearts, they are back into their laying mode. I assume some of it' the longer, warmer days. It is really nice and I told them how much I appreciate them. I'm planning on getting two or three new pullets (female baby chicks) in late spring/ early summer. We buy ours from a local hatchery a few days old and it always depends on what their supply is. When we first started keeping chickens I made the mistake of buying chicks on spring break which was a huge mistake. They need to be kept inside where it's warm until they feather out and that is always a mess. Not too bad for just a couple of chicks though. So the great news is we do have some fresh eggs again and I am SO grateful. I knew my girls were worth keeping even though I are thought they were retired. Who knew that they were not retired yet? They say that chickens are born with all the eggs they will ever lay and once they're done they're done so apparently mine are not HAHA!