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Saturday, December 31, 2016

The Mouse Cave and some chicken talk

Hard to believe another whole year is gone, and the older I get the faster the years go! If there is a New Year's resolution made by me, it will be to really appreciate and enjoy each and every day. To live in the moment! cause once it's gone, it's gone! 

I've got pictures to show you. I know, I know, it's the mouse cave teeny tiny sewing room again. Can you see the change?



Remember the white wall behind the shelves? Well, folded neatly away right there in my stacks of fabric was the sweetest four yards of material. Look closely...


and here...


covered in tiny pink posies and roses and hearts. Actually, the fabric was printed to make a quilt top. Wouldn't that be pretty? But, for now, it's a wall covering. I've added bows and baskets. Brambly Hedge, we're on our way. and do you see "Buttons" the bunny, standing in front of the button jars. She is a very special bunny and will live with me in the teeny tiny sewing room. Thank you Deb!



So, after playing in the closet for a good two hours, I finished making this scalloped, reversible apron...


and reversed...



this was a fun apron to make. I'm not completely happy with the scallops around the bottom front. It's not a flat smooth seam and that drives me crazy. I will be more careful sewing the next scalloped apron.

It was close to 9:30 last night and I was still working around in the sewing room when I felt the vibration...good grief! it was my "Fitbit". What the heck! do these things explode! no! it was fireworks, meant for me! 10,000 steps! :) My body was kind of telling me so, before the Fitbit ever did.

and Janet, about the chickens.



Goodness, I'm no chicken expert by any means, but I can tell you which are my favorite breeds. I love the Giant Brahmas, like the white hen standing in front. These hens are gentle and quiet and look like they are shuffling around in bedroom slippers, because of the feathers on their feet. Brahmas lay in the winter months too. 

also the Buff Orpington is a favorite, and the Speckled Sussex. The Sussex is the spotted hen standing in front of the Brahma and she must be at least ten years old. Her name is Annie...the only hen we have who knows her name. She lays white eggs.

Oh, and I love the Araucana hens. Two are in the picture, one with the gold striped chest and one with the silver stripes near the tree. These are good egg layers!  and they lay the colored eggs.

Actually, I love all chickens but my least favorite is the Rhode Island Red, poor babies, and these are probably the best to have for laying large brown eggs. A Rhode Island Red will peck the living daylights out of you if you try to get an egg from under her.

We are fortunate in that friends and neighbors have given us chickens. A few years ago, our neighbors Fred and Ann, gave us their entire flock of hens. Then a nice couple gave us six young Araucanas. Poppy once traded a pair of Guineas for two Giant Brahma hens. Gosh, I could go on and on and probably haven't been any help, Janet.

Thank you for looking at my blog, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!!

and thinking about my resolution of  "living in the moment", well, that will take some thought and some getting used to. I am terrible about wishing for the past, and worrying about tomorrow. 





Love,
Henny

30 comments:

  1. I love the fabric and your sewing room just tickles me to death! Love it all!

    Grace & Peace,
    Pam

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  2. Your sewing room looks like a lovely place to spend time. Your new apron is very pretty. Interesting info about the various kinds of chickens. I knew Rhode Island Reds were good layers but no that they will peck you. Yikes!
    Have a Happy New Year!

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  3. I love looking at your teeny sewing room Henny, it is so cozy and girlie :)
    Your aprons are gorgeous, you certainly are a talented lady.
    My daughter has hens, and keeps us supplied with fresh eggs, they all have their own personalities, the ones you have are such pretty colors.
    So another year ends, and time for new beginnings, PEACE IN THE WORLD would be my number one wish, I will do my part.
    Here's wishing you and Poppy and all the critters there at the farm, a Happy and Healthy New Year my sweet friend.
    Hugs,
    ~Jo

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  4. I love your new shelf background- that was a perfect pick! I'd love to try chickens again, but they are such a mess, and with my daughter in law giving me duck and chicken eggs..I feel lucky I get the goods without all the work! Lazy, I know! Well, I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend, and Happy New Year!

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  5. The shelf area in your sewing room is amazing. The background material is just beautiful, but you must have had to move ALL that stuff on the shelves in order to get the material fastened up behind them. What a job. I'm surprised it took only 2 hours! I need you here to help me organize the closet in my little room upstairs. I can't tell you what all is in there because some of it has been there (unmoved or sorted) for several years now. Sigh....

    Hope the upcoming year for you is full of really fun and happy things.

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  6. Henny, please tell us more about the hens and the eggs. Like, I hate to sound dumb but, why do some hens lay brown eggs and others lay white? Someone said it depends on the color of the hen, but they might've been funning me! And in regard to worrying about the past, I have a "ditty" you need to remember when you start to worry: Worry is interest paid on a debt not yet due. Remind yourself by repeating that saying. It has helped me to stop worrying. Hope it helps you.

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  7. Nothing impresses me like a tidy sewing room - not easy to achieve!
    I know nothing about hens, but I do love the ones with fuzzy feet.

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  8. Oh Henny...what a delightful post! I just love chickens :0) ... your apron is beautiful lady! Don't be such a perfectionist ... it's an apron! :D Happy New Year Sweet Lady! ... may our Lord be with you always! :0) mari

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  9. I love how you decorate your sewing room, your grown up play house!
    I do not love chickens, having grown up on a small farm where we had to take care of them, gather eggs, and help pick pin feather on the ones we butchered for meat. Your chickens, however, are lovely.
    Your resolution is a good one. I hope to continue to find the gift in each day.

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  10. What a delightful sewing room you have. So cozy and warm looking. I love it.

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  11. Those two hours you spent "playing" in your Teeny Mouse Cave must have been so much fun. So nice to have your own space where you create lovely things.
    Your hens are so pretty. I wish our by-law would change so we could have some again. ( When we did keep hens it wasn't legal but we did it anyway. Now we have a neighbour who would certainly report us so we don't dare. If only hens wouldn't cackle so loudly when they announce a newly laid egg the neighbour wouldn't know we had them).
    Happy New Year dear Henny Penny. May 2017 bring you only good things.

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  12. Your blog is so pretty . . . it takes me out of the busy world and into such a peaceful and calming surroundings . . . you have certainly created a charming and cozy home :)

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  13. I never knew there were so many different kinds of chickens! Interesting info. I sure wouldn't want to be pecked trying to get an egg. I love the reversible apron. Pretty colors. I think the wall covering is beautiful. It would make a nice quilt top some day but for now, I like what you did to it. Have a wonderful New Years.

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  14. Happy New Year Henny and Poppy! Hope you have a wonderful year! Love you both!

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  15. Happy New Year to you and all the best for 2017.

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  16. Happy New Year!! Looking forward to sharing 2017 with you in Blogland.
    xx oo
    Carla

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  17. I wish you all a safe, blessed New Year!

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  18. I love your sewing room and all those special touches you give it that makes it uniquely you! The fabric behind the shelves is just lovely!

    Happy New Year!

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  19. Your sewing room is a delight to look at, I could just lean in a touch the fabrics and perhaps try on a bonnet or two.The reversible apron is lovely, I would be sure to stuff those pockets full. I kept chickens and bantams many years ago and thought about having some quail here but we have a thriving fox population that I do not want in my garden.

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  20. Beautiful sewing room, happy new year in 2017.

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  21. I have a terrible weakness for fabrics and it's a good thing that our house is still under such severe remodeling or I'd be indulging myself. :) I love the idea of using that pretty piece for a wall covering.

    Our Speckled Sussex was a huge favorite here too. It was really sad when wandering dogs took her down. Love that breed - very intelligent.

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  22. You really have created a beautiful little work station, the perfect environment for sewing it was a delight to see. Wishing you a wonderful 2017 and everything you wish for yourself.

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  23. A cozy corner is a fine place to sew, as long as everything stays put in it's own cubbyhole. It appears that yours is quite tidy. AH, CHICKEN TALK! I love chicken talk, because i love chickens...sometimes I hate chickens; but only when they fight. My favorites are the Buff Orps, as they always make me think of an Old English Village with fat blond hens clucking around the town. Rhode Island reds love to fight, that's a no no. I've found that my Lavender Americaunas are the most interesting looking, fluffiest and biggest chickens I've ever owned. Their necks are full of fluff and even their faces are as full and fabulous as ever a chicken could be.But the disappointment came when it turned out they hadn't a lick of lavender coloring, only a silvery grey.

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  24. The new bunny looks very much at home among the button jars and the fabric behind the shelves looks very pretty.
    I love your "chickens from all nations" flock of hens, and a hen with bedroom slippers on her feet is just the bees knees!
    Happy New Year, y'all!

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  25. The sewing room looks cute! I must continue on with my Brambly Hedge plans, but it involves peeling wallpaper borders which is not fun, you know?
    The chickens are very pretty!

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  26. You have been busy! Love the fabric behind the shelves...and the jars of buttons! Happy New Year! :)

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  27. Henny, I love it that you have such a sweet teeny tiny sewing room where you can go and be creative. Your aprons are treasures and I'm keen on that new pattern, too. The animals that live at your place should certainly feel loved. You take such good care of them.

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  28. I love my hens too, so long as they are laying eggs. How did you get one to lay eggs for ten years? Mine always peeter out around three years. And when we had Road Island Reds they didn't peck but a little, just startled us a little is all. Your apron turned out well, I think it's cute. *smile* Sincerely, Mommy of two growing blessings & so much more!

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  29. I love your Mouse Cave and all the beautiful fabrics you have, a fabric store can be a dangerous place for me. Buttons is very cute, I love her name. The chickens are adorable, I wish I had some. Interesting to know about the different behaviors they possess.

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