Folding furniture

I heart IKEA and their folding furniture. I got rid of my standard dining table and replaced it with one that has two wings that fold out, and six deep drawers in the middle. Add four folding, bright red chairs.

Plus one outdoor chair.

Finally, a folding stepladder so that I can stop climbing onto my kitchen counters to reach the highest shelves.

Look at all that extra space now!

This will all be going with me to my future tiny house.

Spinning

I am taking a yarn spinning class at Purlescence Yarns. It is fun to work with fiber in a new way, and I always love producing things with my hands. The best part is that the store is lending us wheels to work with at home for the duration of the class! I got an Ashford Traveller.

Early attempts at spinning were, predictably, lumpy "art yarn."

But look at me now!

I bought some cheap extra roving for when I run out of the white they provided. Fun!

Spring!

The first ripe strawberry of the year was, of course, delicious!

I got a good spinach harvest before the plants started bolting.

I purchased ladybugs to help control the aphid population. I was happy to see them still hanging around and copulating for the next few days.

I digitized a ton of old client files and am in the process of shredding the paper and adding it to the worm bins.

Plus I finally harvested the one bin that was full of worm castings (and a small number of sticks). I still have 3 bins going.

Lemon juice

My parents have a lemon tree and always end up with more lemons than they can use. Since I'm trying hard to drink 8 cups of water a day, I like to add a little squirt of lemon for flavor. (Or some slices of cucumber, which make it deliciously sweet.)

The "olive oil" type bottle makes it easy to add just the right amount. I decided that it was worth it to buy a little juicer as well. Most of it went into little jars in the freezer. I'm getting into the homesteader mentality of getting stuff in bulk when it's in season, and storing for later.

Chicken fight

I'd only seen minor posturing between my chickens before, but this morning the Ameraucana and the Welsummer were just getting into it when the Rhode Island Red ran between them, pecked the Ameraucana back a few steps, pecked the Welsummer back, then promptly returned to scratching and eating. The two fighters eyed each other but kept their distance. Go Red.

Canning jars

I went to Urban Ore to pick up some PVC pipe and, as usual, went by their kitchen supplies section. I've found some nice glass containers there before. This time I was pleased to find 10 clean canning jars!

I had already been planning to explore pressure canning. One aspect ready to go!

Chicken birthdays

My girls are about a year old now. Happy birthday!

Enjoy it - you've got about two more years before you go into the stew pot!