The Chickens are Taking Over....

Taking over my back yard, my extra time, my lettuce supply...but I love it!  They are so much fun, I can't believe I waited so long to get them :)

They have changed things around here; there is no more sleeping in; at about 6:30 am, the ducks start skwacking (combination of squawk & quack) until I stagger outside & let them out.  I have learned to make a cup of coffee & take it with me: otherwise, when I go back in to make said cup of joe, the skwacking commences, louder then before, until I come back out...

This is the new chicken/duck house--in the morning, the ducks are at the door & run out as soon as I open it up; the chickens spend the night upstairs in their house with the little door closed.  When I open it up, they are all lined up, waiting to get out & hunt bugs :)

I used an old wood tool box, rescued from the burn-pile up in Crouch to make the nest boxes, & old game mallets for perches :)

Anyway, back to the morning routine: once everybody runs out of the house, they trot around & look for bugs, scratch the ground, & look at me like they know I have something good to eat for them... The ducks wander about & vacuum the grass & the cats watch the whole scene, usually from a distance.

At this point, I try to get the ducks through the gate to the front yard, without any chickens.  Sometimes, they just follow me, a lot of the time they get distracted & I end up herding them, & sometime I have to catch them & carry them--they don't like being picked up & wiggle with all their might...  Once we make it through the gate, I shut it quickly, & then the cats start to climb the fence: notice in the above pic; the cat on the fence on the right, & back towards the house--Skwishy Cat is looking over--he is sitting on top of the chicken house...

The ducks then resume vacuuming the grass--they suck up slugs, worms, & anything else they can get their bills on...  After wandering about for a bit, they usually find their way to the pond & climb in.  They swim around & eat & splash & dunk; talking the whole time; if they can't see me: more loud skwacking...

When they have had enough playing in the pond, they climb out, flap their wings & groom their feathers; at this point, I try to get them to go back through the gate (without any chickens escaping); usually more herding, skwacking, & wiggling...  Once they rejoin the flock, I can make my escape for another cup of coffee.  This whole affair takes about an hour, at least: it's alot of fun & I get my containers watered, weeds pulled, & everybody fed during this time too.

So far, everyone is getting along: Bootsy chases the little chickens every once in awhile, but the other cats just watch them & run if the if the birds come their way :)  They crack me up & I can spend hours just watching them do their chicken/duck thing.  I'm looking forward to eggs; don't have a clue as to when that might start...  No names yet, besides chicken-birds & puddle-duckies. 

I hear skwacking...gotta go :)

Amber

Father's Day at the Cabin

Spent Father's Day at the Cabin in Idaho City this year; check out the pics here: http://hortonhideout.blogspot.com/

Amber

Foothills Learning Center; Fire Node Proposal

Just dropped off my proposal for the Fire Node yesterday: turned it in a 4:00 (it was due at 5 :)  The three finalist proposals will be on display at City Hall for 2 weeks; so stop in check them out--they are open to public comment.   July 1st we will all make our presentations, and then the project will be awarded: so wish me luck! 

Sunset Storm

 The view this evening....

The clouds rolled in just before sunset; with a bit of thunder & lightning & just a sprinkle of rain...

Amber

Hobble Creek Park--Project Approved!

Yay!   My proposed giant weather vane for Hobble Creek Park is finally officially approved :)  It's taken a couple months to make it through the whole process--and now we can start making a plan...funding will be on the way, & then the real work begins! 

This one is going to be fun; I think its going to look amazing when its done & installed in the park: I cant wait to see it move with the wind :)   

Soon, we will begin transferring my sketches into CAD format to make the cut files for each element.  Drawing everything out like this is very time consuming, but it also aids in the engineering side; with the computer, we can put in the exact weight of every single element, including the plate steel, copper, etc & use this info to figure out exactly what is needed for foundation.   Just like a house, the sculpture will have to be anchored into a concrete foundation under the ground: once we have all the materials & design finalized, we take the numbers to my engineering consultant & he reviews everything & draws up the plans for the concrete & anchor system, and gives us the final stamp of approval on the structural integrity of the sculpture. 

 The steel, copper, & stainless will be cut either on a water-jet or by plasma-cam: have not decided which one yet: water-jet is more pricey, but we can have all the bolt-holes & everything precision cut to fit together like a puzzle.  With the plasma-cam; the pieces are still cut with the aid of the computer, but it's not quite as clean; there is more finish work to be done, & the smaller bolt holes will have to be drilled by hand...  I'm leaning towards the water jet, but we'll see...

Right now, all the little details have to be worked out to make sure we can have everything cut at the same time.  I will go on the hunt for materials--already have the base pole & the steel for the weather vane & have some nice big sheets of stainless located: still need to find some good copper sheet, & hopefully the hardware to attach everything...  Can't wait to get started!

Amber

More Truck Adventures....

Husband & I made the drive up to Crouch again to pick up a parts truck for the crane...yes, another truck--that doesn't even run....   We took the new boom truck up to tow it back down to Boise...   It's sooo pretty up there :)

So, the yellow thing is what we came to get; had to drag it out of the weeds & then do some fixing to get the tow-bar attached.

this is where I got bored & wandered off....there wasn't much I could help with anyway.....

Still fixing.....

More meadow flowers :)

And then I noticed that the shop was open: so I had to check it out---they have all sorts of stuff, from antiques to vintage clothing, camping stuff, jewelry, etc.  And, if you can read the little white board out front---it says chickens & ducks for sale.....

Yep; 2 little puddle ducks---sooooo cute!  Of course, I had to inquire about them, beings how they were only $4.50 each....    After finding out that they will look like a mallard, but bigger & they don't fly, I couldn't resist!!    They got boxed up & came home: all in all, I think they were a better deal than the parts truck; but that's a different story :)     They are now happily running around the back yard enjoying the little creek we have--omg, like little vacuum cleaners, they try to eat everything :)  And they follow me around like little puppy dogs; so cute...

Anyway, after hours of fixing, we finally got the trucks hooked up & on the road.  Made it back to Boise all in one piece, with the 2 duckies peeping the whole way :)    The old yellow truck will be scrapped out once Husband gets all the use-able parts off it & the ducks will be put to work eating bugs in the garden.  Such strange adventures we have.... 

Live input from the eco-efficiency conference

The 3rd International Conference on Eco-Efficiency on Modelling and Evaluation for Sustainability:Guiding Eco-Innovation and Consumption in Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands can now be followed via blog messages and short youtube contributions from key-note speakers at The Broker

Metal Wedding Bouquet--Featured on Blog

One of my metal wedding bouquets featured on a lovely Steampunk blog today :)  Check out http://totusmelswunderkammer.blogspot.com/

 A lovely collection of wedding accessories with a steamy edge :) 

1. Steamside - Steampunk / Vintage Wedding Invitation - royalsteamline

2. Wedding Cake Topper Wood Statues with Base - buildersstudio

3. Alternative Aluminum Wedding Bouquet - REFINERII

4. Victorian inspired bridal gown Customisable to best suit you - BoundByObsession

--love the little robot cake topper; so cute!--

Amber

Garden Walk-about

Join me for a stroll around the house & garden....things are starting to grow (especially the slug population) It's been a wet & cool spring so far; the lawn is sprouting mushrooms...not something that happens often around here :) Anyway, we'll start at the front of the house....

looking towards the neighbors; new sculpture on the corner that I made yesterday; not done yet..

And the other new one found a happy home in the planter...

This is the side garden in the front; used to be all grass. Now, I have a little herb patch, & just planted lots of tomatoes, peppers, & a small corn patch :) And some vines to grow on the reject sculptures :)
Chives; I love the purple pom-pom blooms :)

And the first roses of the season...

Looking into the back side garden through the gate; the thyme is filling in nicely between my recycled stepping stones :) Potatoes, lettuce, onions, kale, radishes growing; just planted beets, carrots, some flowers, & some other stuff I cant remember---I'm very free with the garden; I plant lots of stuff just where ever...

Kitty is following me... The corrugated pipe planter is a new addition this year; there are several around the place :) I have a thing for corrugated steel; for some reason: love the way it looks in the garden.

Chickens are happy. I hope they are practicing; they are soon going to be on bug patrol :) No names still: besides black chicken, grey chicken, etc.

Clematis on the shed...so bright & cheery

Peas are growing along; they are planted on the fence behind the chicken coop :)

Around the other end of the house in the back is the wild side.... (please ignore the hose that I was too lazy to pick up) Out here, I have a mix of shrubs, wild flowers, & edibles. Red currants, cherry tree, gooseberries, giant hollyhocks, a few herbs, sunflowers, strawberries, & a fair amount of weeds :)Columbines; so pretty. Amazingly enough, this wild jungle of stuff is much easier to take care of than the lawn; everything out here just grows: I weed maybe 3 times during the year. No pesticides or synthetic fertilizers; I just let things go & they take care of themselves :)

And thats about it; hopefully the sun will come out soon & help the tomatoes grow--I'm looking forward to canning up a bunch of fresh organic sauce again this year. Will update again soon with whats blooming :)

Amber

Dam Cats....

Fuzzy truck accessory.... (kinda takes the coolness factor down a notch) And he looks so innocent.....after leaving muddy tracks all over the hood of my shiny truck....and I petted him for it, cuz he's so cute, lol :)

Amber

Show & Tell--new garden pieces

I had a free afternoon yesterday to fiddle around in the shop....made a couple smaller garden pieces :)This one is about 6 feet tall & has this huge purple & blue glass piece--I've had the piece of glass for a long time & have been meaning to do something with it... Turned out pretty cute--it's not perfect though--the top piece ended up slightly crooked, but that's OK: this one was just for fun--I think it might go live at the new shop at Grampa's house :) And this one; it's been sitting out front for months; I just added the swirly cable to it; a bit of an experiment :) I like it; not sure if it's finished yet, though--we'll see....

Amber