Showing posts with label why. Show all posts
Showing posts with label why. Show all posts
Why Not the Nest Boxes
Why Not the Nest Boxes
When we so lovingly built our chicken house, the nest boxes took some thought. What wall to put them on to minimize a possible draft? How high in relation to the roosts? What size to build them dimensionally? We thought it out well, we consulted books and the internet. Well, the chicken ladies have other ideas.
We painted them red so they would be fun to lay eggs in. And about half of the girls use them regularly. The other half..... not so much.
This girl is laying in a nest they built out of a straw bale in the barn. About 6 to 8 eggs per day are found here.
Another three or four are found in this garbage can full of chopped up goat floor and hay. This will go into my compost tumbler this spring. I just dont seem to have the heart to take away a favorite nesting area. They dont seem to mind the fake fawn much either. That thing is another story all together.
This is a one ton grain tote that I filled with clean wood shavings for winter use in the chicken house. The chicks climb right in and down into it about 3 foot. I find a couple eggs per week in this thing. Silly chickens.
And finally we have our first broody hen. She is one diligent mama wanna-be. She has been at this sitting thing for weeks. I thought she was sick and dieing when she first started and even took her to the vet. He got a good laugh out of it, refused to take my money and thanked me for being one of the first to ever bring him a chicken. I guess folks around here eat their questionable birds. I happen to like mine too much to do that but I can see their point. Plus my muscle is in Alaska and I cannot do that kind of deed myself. I have toyed with slipping some day old chicks under her at night so she will finally stop this madness but I dont have the heart to possibly go out and find that she wasnt a good mother after all. Seems a little like murder if the experiment does not work. I have been kicking her off the nest all day long on the days that I am home. She seems to like it in there.
Why Not the Nest Boxes
Why Eating Organic Foods Is Good
Why Eating Organic Foods Is Good
Dr. Alan Greene of Stanfords Childrens Hospital neatly summarizes the argument for organics: "Eat organic produce. Your immune system wont waste energy trying to fight off the toxins that are sprayed on conventional fruits and vegetables." Eating organics frees up your immune system and antioxidants to do their evolutionarily evolved job, which is to fight off pathogens, cancer, and other diseases originating from natural environmental sources. Your bodys natural defense mechanisms are incredible strong, but like anything else, they can only handle so much attack. To keep your defensive line from being spread too thin, you should therefore limit exposure to toxins (and stress) as much as possible. Its important to realize that consuming pesticides and herbicides — even if they have not been found to be directly cardinogenic — can, in effect, lead to cancer if they use up your supply of antioxidants, which would otherwise have prevented cancer that was generated from another source.
Its true that organic foods typically cost more than conventional, but this may be true only in the short-term. After you adopt a healthier lifestyle with healthier food choices, including organics, you may find yourself frequenting the doctors office much less and spending less on medications — over the counter and prescriptions — and not to mention a lower chance of being prematurely dead. Its important to know that organically produced foods have to meet rigorous governing regulations in all aspects of production. Its labor and management-intensive, usually produced on smaller farms, which dont benefit from economies of scale. These factors combine, causing the cost to be higher. But as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for."
Organics typically cost about twice as much as conventionally produced food. To put things in perspective, consider bottled water. I know many people who would just about die of thirst before drinking tap water; for them, its bottled or nothing. But when you do the math, bottled water is about 300-600 times more expensive than tap water, and for good reason. But, depending on which municipality you live in, your tap water might actually be safer and healthier than eating conventionally produced foods. It really doesnt make sense to spend money on bottled water and then eat foods that are not grown organically.
Some of the many benefits of eating organic foods are:
Superior nutrition: Organics have up to 300% more vitamins and minerals than conventionally grown foods.
They have greater flavor. Many top chefs use only organic foods.
Reduced intake of chemicals and heavy metals.
Decreased exposure to carcinogens.
Better working conditions for farmers and workers.
No genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Much better for the environment.
For more information on organics, visit www.ota.org
I only buy organic. The most disappointing thing to me is that most restaurants dont use organic food, due to the higher cost. However, if customers demanded organic, more producers would produce it, and prices would come down. So, start voting with your dollar. When you go to a restaurant and youre paying the bill, take a moment to fill out the comment card, or write directly on to the receipt, that you would eat there more often if they offered some organic foods. This is how we begin to make a difference.
If you need some recipes books on how to make raw organic foods recipes or how to add raw food recipes to your diet or menu, this would be the best place to begin.
Photo attribution Martin Cathrae
Why Eating Organic Foods Is Good
Writing A Craft Book Why Its Important To Share Your Ideas
Writing A Craft Book Why Its Important To Share Your Ideas
(Note: I originally wrote the following blog post on March 3, 2014...since publishing this
post, I have now published my second book, Soldered Alchemy):
A few days ago I got an advance shipment of my new book, Boho Chic Jewelry,
and I couldnt be more excited! Yay! Its finally here!
Hot off the press!
Writing the book was tremendous work, but so worth it. To be able to share ideas
and inspire other people to create is priceless. I know that many of you who follow
this blog are artists of one medium or another, so I think you can understand what I
mean when I say that you cant rush creativity. Working under writing deadlines
is hard work and can be very stressful, but the rewards of having a finished book in
your hands are greater than youd think. Its all about sharing what you know
with others, so that they can learn and create too!
Back and front covers of BoHo Chic Jewelry book
When my publisher first approached me about writing the book, it was a lot to think
about. A couple of friends and relatives asked me things like, "Do you really want to
give away all of your secrets and techniques?" and, "You worked so hard to build
your business up to what it is today, why would you want to give all of that away to
strangers?" But I didnt have to think about it for very long at all.
First of all, writing a book is a huge opportunity, and most folks go about it by putting
together proposals and approaching publishers on their own. Because the publisher
approached me instead of vice versa, I actually felt completely honored that they thought
my work, designs, and ideas were good enough to warrant publication. I had been creating
my china jewelry for many years. But I also create other types of jewelry too!
Probably the one thing that ties all of my work together is that I use unusual
materials in most of my designs. I saw this (publishing a book) as not just an
opportunity to show others how to create jewelry from broken china, but to
show others how they can create jewelry from all types of other materials too. Writing
this book was a chance to help other people explore and use their own creativity!
What could be better than that?
Pendants made from an antique glass buttons by Laura Beth Love - DIY instructions can be found
in the book BoHo Chic Jewelry
For this book, I had to put together twenty five different projects...that isnt just a lot
of ideas, its also a lot of different ways to give people to look at things creatively!
So most importantly, in writing this book, I had the opportunity to inspire others.
That was reason enough for me.
But little did I know of the rewards that would come once I started writing and putting
the projects together. They were greater than I ever could imagine.
(continued...)
Read on to the next post in this series:
Writing A Craft Book: The Fascinating Rewards That Come From Sharing What You Know
post, I have now published my second book, Soldered Alchemy):
A few days ago I got an advance shipment of my new book, Boho Chic Jewelry,
and I couldnt be more excited! Yay! Its finally here!
Writing the book was tremendous work, but so worth it. To be able to share ideas
and inspire other people to create is priceless. I know that many of you who follow
this blog are artists of one medium or another, so I think you can understand what I
mean when I say that you cant rush creativity. Working under writing deadlines
is hard work and can be very stressful, but the rewards of having a finished book in
your hands are greater than youd think. Its all about sharing what you know
with others, so that they can learn and create too!
When my publisher first approached me about writing the book, it was a lot to think
about. A couple of friends and relatives asked me things like, "Do you really want to
give away all of your secrets and techniques?" and, "You worked so hard to build
your business up to what it is today, why would you want to give all of that away to
strangers?" But I didnt have to think about it for very long at all.
First of all, writing a book is a huge opportunity, and most folks go about it by putting
together proposals and approaching publishers on their own. Because the publisher
approached me instead of vice versa, I actually felt completely honored that they thought
my work, designs, and ideas were good enough to warrant publication. I had been creating
my china jewelry for many years. But I also create other types of jewelry too!
Probably the one thing that ties all of my work together is that I use unusual
materials in most of my designs. I saw this (publishing a book) as not just an
opportunity to show others how to create jewelry from broken china, but to
show others how they can create jewelry from all types of other materials too. Writing
this book was a chance to help other people explore and use their own creativity!
What could be better than that?
in the book BoHo Chic Jewelry
For this book, I had to put together twenty five different projects...that isnt just a lot
of ideas, its also a lot of different ways to give people to look at things creatively!
So most importantly, in writing this book, I had the opportunity to inspire others.
That was reason enough for me.
But little did I know of the rewards that would come once I started writing and putting
the projects together. They were greater than I ever could imagine.
(continued...)
Read on to the next post in this series:
Writing A Craft Book: The Fascinating Rewards That Come From Sharing What You Know
What do you think?
Check out my new diy jewelry books on amazon!
Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!
Writing A Craft Book Why Its Important To Share Your Ideas
Mother Nature Why Do You Hate Me
Mother Nature Why Do You Hate Me
I was not very excited to see this scene this morning. Mother Nature has a cruel sense of humor or maybe none at all. I thought I had been good this year. I tried not to be mean to people, not even my family. I opened doors for people, I even donated my time on a few projects in my community. Why then, am I being punished? I had plans this weekend. I want to plant my cool weather crops. I intended to put the pea zig-zag in use. I even planned out how to build a nice little compost sifter. And now this. On a brighter note, it did melt over the next few hours and warmed up without blowing wind. These are all good things around here. You know what they say........ If you dont like the weather in Idaho, just wait a minute. Actually, my sister said they say this in Texas but according to the weather channel, they are probably saying it all over the nation. Hope your day was filled with sunshine and good dirt!
Mother Nature Why Do You Hate Me
Why Look at Cabin Porn
Why Look at Cabin Porn
This is a marvellous essay (and I mean essay, its not a 2 minute thing to whizz through on Buzzfeed) about why we like looking at shedlike structures by Finn Arne Jørgensen, associate professor of history of technology and environment at Umeå University, Sweden, and published by Duke University Press (you can download a pdf of the whole thing from their site here).
Heres a couple of snippets to whet your appetite:
The rise of cabin porn as a visual genre reflects a growing international interest in cabins, shedworking, and rustic, exurban living off the grid — most of it romanticizing rural and low-tech lifestyles.Image from the Cabin Porn site by Peter Weiss
The images seem to say that we once lived in simpler conditions, in architecture closer to nature. We lived more productive and more honest lives. In the peace and quiet away from the distractions of modern life, we could listen to ourselves. The images of cabin porn whisper to us of this lost state of grace, of an age of wood and earth and things that were real and true. The cabins of cabin porn are as much ideas as actual places.... On the surface, the disembodied architecture of cabin porn seems to be a form of nostalgia, where the dream of the cabin becomes an arena for resolving an ambivalent relationship to technology and all the bothersome things of modern life.... In looking at cabin porn, trying to articulate exactly what is essential and desirable about the cabin, we are also looking at ourselves and who we aspire to be.
----------------------------------------------------
Why Look at Cabin Porn
Why Not Another Island Bed
Why Not Another Island Bed
I have been working on a new three wall flower bed all summer. It has been a long project mainly because I wait for heavy equipment to dump the dirt over the fence for me. My two dump truck loads of dirt were dumped 5 acres back on our property and my flower beds that need dirt are in the front. Thats a lot of trucking with a whell barrow. So I wait.
But I thought, after those are done, why not add another island bed in the open area in the middle that doesnt have anything but lawn? I am trying to eat up lawn, after all. Flower beds hold water longer than lawn does.
So my design phase always consists of the longest garden hose I own. I like to play with the shape for a few days before doing anything drastic. And since one of these days I am going to get the rest of my dirt dumped over the fence, now is the perfect time to build another one right near it. Yes, my husband shakes his head at me and gracefully keeps his mouth shut. I have no idea how he has such restraint.
You can see the outline of the new bed in progress behind the outline of the hose. I thought taller plantings in the middle of the island bed would tie in nicely to the taller plantings I plan for the back edge of the new bed behind it.
The white areas in this drawing signify the new flower beds I was already working on. The big green expanse of lawn in the middle is where the new island bed will go. I never did get the stone walkway done and now I am glad I did not. Plans always change in my world if I dont hurry. I am trying harder to be patient because sometimes better ideas come to me if I am forced to wait. I havent actually taken Round up to the lawn in this new idea or the tiller or sod cutter but I am darn close. Just want to be certain first. But now my best friend since kindergarten is coming in September so I have a time frame. And yes, my whip is out. No one slacks until this is done!
Why Not Another Island Bed
This is Why We Garden
This is Why We Garden
Meet Baylee..... our 19 month old granddaughter. She really loves the goats and eating tomatoes fresh out of the garden. Not a big fan of the chickens.
This summers garden season has nearly killed us. We built a huge new garden and quite possibly took on a little more than we bargained for. Dont tell my husband I just admitted that a little. He would smirk. But towards the end, when all I do is can and water and can and mow, I often ask myself why exactly we do what we do. Well, here is the epitome of why. You have to love being able to hand a child a fresh tomato, rub the dirt off and tell them to have at it. And they do, because it tastes good. And its sun warmed and yummy. And shhhhhh...... its good for them too. Cant say that one too loudly.
Doyle grew what he hoped would be giant pumpkins. They turned out pretty well, not quite as giant as he would have liked but they are still huge to little people. There are three on the vine and they are about to go to their homes on a porch to be carved for that spooky holiday coming up. Baylee has hers all picked out.
This is Why We Garden