Bold Blue Jay Felt Ornament
A Blue Jay that won't raid my bird feeder and scare the dinky birds away. You can download this Blue Jay pattern here. If you make this little guy, comment herewith a link to a picture of yours!
A Buff in the Box Revisited
Here's a little camera experiment to compare my new cool SLR camera to my old cool camera. This is a buff in the box picture taken a week or so ago with my Kodak Z981 set on automatic. This is a buff in the box taken yesterday with the new Canon...
Downy Woodpecker Felt Ornament
On our walk through the woods yesterday the only bird we came across was our resident woodpecker. He gets the honor of being featured in my felt ornament collection. You can download the pattern here. I'd love to see your ornament. If you make him,...
The Ultimate Granny Gadget Gift
My cameras have always been point and shoot. Recently, I told Mom that my next camera would be a digital SLR. Shortly after that conversation I received an email from Amazon - a Canon Rebel EOS T3i had been shipped to me, courtesy of Granny (and...
A Winter’s Sunset
Duck Tracks
I went out to check for eggs this afternoon. This was my first clue that the ducks were not tucked away safe and sound in their yard. I followed the tracks and found a duckie super highway. They had been very busy ducks. It didn't take great...
What little visitor is this?
These are cute little tracks leading right up to the edge of the house. I'm just hoping whoever it is hasn't taken up residence!
Yummy Split Pea Soup
Snowy cold weekends are the perfect time for one of my new favorites - Split Pea Soup. I made this for the first time last year after many hints from Paul who loves Split Pea Soup. Me? I'd managed to avoid it for all of my years. I had no idea what...
Longing for Spring Felt Robin Ornament
It's going to be some time before Robins make an appearance here. Spring is a ways off - according to the calendar and to Mother Nature. A snowstorm has everything cancelled in our little corner of Maine today, so I whiled away the afternoon making...
Baking Egg Bread
This recipe has been on my mind for a while now since I've been looking for recipes that use eggs. A snowy Saturday seemed like a good time to finally make Challah, or braided egg bread. I studied a number of different recipes and worked up this...
Scrambled Eggs for Chickens?
There seems to be something fundamentally wrong about feeding chickens scrambled eggs. The thing is they love them! Today is only the third time I've offered this treat to The Girls. I’m not so taken with these chickens that I cook for them on a...
Looking Tough
She works her way up the court - a scowl on her face - a fierce competitor to be reckoned with. She looks like she's one tough cookie. The truth is she's such a nice kid that she worries about being aggressive on the court!
Choose My Plate for Healthy Eating
As part of her seventh grade health class, Hannah created an account at ChooseMyPlate.org. Choose My Plate is a web site produced by the USDA that helps you track your meals and encourages you to make healthy eating choices. It dovetails well with...
A Solitary Stroll in the Woods
An odd thing happened today. I found myself home, alone, and all caught up on my work. Amazing. My conscience said that I should use the time to catch up on housecleaning, but 40 degree temps in February lured me outside. With cell phone and camera...
Great Horned Owl Felt Ornament
We share our property with a great horned owl. On nights when the window is open and I'm doing my 2:30 a.m. night owl routine, I can often hear her "who-who-who." Despite my searching, I've yet to spy this elusive critter. This little felt owl may...
Rooster Wearing Out His Welcome
Pepper, the Banty Rooster, is close to loosing his happy home. He’s one of two roosters in the Banty B&B. I think Pepper has a Napoleon complex – little in stature and big on aggressiveness. He cock-a-doodle-doos at o’dark-thirty - before the...
Oscar Laid an Egg!
Oscar laid an egg!?Turns out Oscar is a girl. A renaming may be in order. Oscarina? Not sure that works. I think she'll be forever Oscar to us. Here's her egg along with a Bantam egg (green one), Buff Orpington egg (brown one), and the beautiful...
A Buff in the Box – Felt Chicken Ornament Pattern
This little felt chicken ornament was inspired by our own Buff Orpington chickens. Often when we check for eggs, there's a Buff in the Box - that is a Buff in the nesting box getting settling to lay an egg. We have 12 chickens, six nesting boxes,...
An Eggcellent Surprise!
Look what Hannah found this morning when visiting the Banties. Our first bantam chicken eggs! We got these little chickens in August. They were on clearance at the Blue Seal store. Who could resist $1 chickens? Six months after their arrival at...
The Seven Year Slump
We've been living in this house we built ourselves for seven years now. Suddenly it seems that we are having a rash of appliance failures. First, there was Hannah's television, just a couple of months out of warranty (of course). She does not have...
Atlantic Puffin Felt Ornament
In Maine, the Atlantic Puffin resides on a few islands off the coast. Almost gone from Maine in the early 20th century, their populations are now thriving or stable due to the help of Project Puffin. These cute little sea birds have a colorful,...
A Fox on the Farm
Mid-morning, as I was making brunch, the Banties on the porch started making a ruckus, wildly bock-bock-bocking all together. We laughed at their antics wondering what had gotten them so stirred up. Suddenly, Paul called out, "There's a fox!"...
A Dozen Day!
The Girls are at maximum production! Nine weeks into egg laying we had our first day with one dozen eggs. That's 12 eggs from 12 hens. Good job, Girls! This is exciting stuff for a first-time farm girl.
Dilly the Duck Felt Pattern
Dilly is a special duck at Downeast Thunder Farm. She inspired this little felt duck ornament. You can read more about Dilly here. Click here to download this free duck felt ornament pattern.
Snowshoeing Through Narnia
Overnight Mother Nature dropped eight inches of snow resulting in Snow Day #2 of the year. Once the front moved out, Hannah and I strapped on our snowshoes and headed out exploring. We trooped up the woods road and then ventured into the woods. I...
