fullofstitches.com Blog

Monday morning, I called the Post Office to let them know I’m expecting chicks in the mail. The lady seemed a little nervous, she asked several times if there’s a phone number on the box. We then continued our day. At 5:11PM, the phone rang. The P.O. lady told me that the chicks have arrived, but the P.O. is closed. I asked if I may pick them up. She said I could, but the P.O. is closed. The lobby is locked up, but there’s a side door with a door bell. She didn’t specify where the door was. When I got there I glanced around the lobby, didn’t see a door, went out and looked at both sides of the building.. One door, no bell. Said a little prayer, headed back in and there it was.. A big obvious blue door. I rang and heard the quiet behind the door fill with peeps. They scanned by box and I took the little chicks home.

The minimum order is 25, and the hatchery usually puts in a couple extras to keep the numbers up. Plus, they often have a ‘rare chick’ thrown in. The chicks seemed to be alright when they arrived. Lost only 2 in transit, but there were some that didn’t eat or drink well right off. Before bed last night, we lost 2 others. This morning I awoke to 4 down and 3 not looking well. I’ve changed the water out and put milk in to hopefully keep them from Coccidiosis (a bacterial infection which can kill them easily at this size and season). Summer’s not the best time to get baby birds.

The rare is a full sized chick, the ones we ordered are bantams. I’m a little nervous the big one will squish the others. We have them in a box for now, Ben placed it in a closet (no doors, so I think they’re still getting a good air exchange). By the weekend after this, I’m sure they’ll need a bigger space. They should a a bit heartier, too, so they’ll get to live in the kitchen. For now, I’m focusing on keeping them as healthy as I can and trying to stave off any more listlessness in the tiny chicks.

Do you ever feel like there’s so little that you do? Here’s a little that I did:

It’s a simple cushion for the miniature garden set. I have the other 3 cushions and the table cloth cut out, they’re so little and quick to sew up!

Yesterday, we picked up some sprouted bush beans, a squash and a bell pepper for the garden. I’d like to make space for some carrots somewhere.

When we lived in England, the neighbor girls taught TJ about “wish fairies.” They would catch the fluffy seeds blowing by and say it was a wish fairy. Then, they’d make a wish and send it up to the clouds. TJ just found a fluffy yellowish seed and asked what plant his wish fairy comes from. Any one know which plants make fluffy seeds?

I bought a new set of patio furniture today. It was labeled “ice cream parlor set,” but it looked to me like the perfect bistro set for my new garden. The “cushions” on the chairs were easily removed by BB (2yo), and that gave me the idea to replace them -which I’m working on (one was made for trial, looks good, 3 to go plus a matching table cloth!).

I thought I’d also note on here that last year Ben asked me to avoid high fructose corn syrup. That was difficult at first! Today, as we were drinking our HFCS laden sodas at lunch at Aqui’s, we discussed buying some Sigg bottles so that we could bring our own water or what have you. This will save us money (it’s $3.30 for 2 refillable drinks) and quench our thirst (is it just me, or does soda leave you thirsty, too?).

This last week, I also made the decision to not knowingly have white sugar any longer. That is going to be the toughest! I will not be able to eat dessert most places. I *love* dessert. Yesterday, I ran out (on purpose) of white sugar at home. I’ve purchased Sucanat, and we like Rapadura, so we can still bake things, but we will slowly change what sort of things we bake. Muffins will be made more frequently than cookies soon, though we’ll still have our share of cookies.

I’m going to begin menu planning to budget healthy meals, and I’d like to start going regularly to the Farmer’s Markets (My friend, Mrs. A-, suggested one not too far from here on Wednesdays). The children love going to market, I usually let them pick at least one new or favorite item to bring home. When we get something unusual, we go online to find out how to prepare it in a way that sounds appealing. Then, we work together to make up the new recipe. This often makes it easier to treat them to new foods that otherwise wouldn’t be as appealing!

Today, I made up some laundry soap. The local Safeway carries Fels Naptha, so my soap is yellowy (next time, I’ll either make soap or buy a white one for looks, I think), and they didn’t have the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, so I looked in the pool supplies for sodium carbonate (used to up the pH) and found it there (not labeled as washing soda there, though on the front it’s labeled as sodium carbonate and the back it does say soda ash). When I run out of my store bought detergent, I’ll begin to use the soap (should be just a few days). I’ve cleaned out the previous detergent bottle to put it in and when I run out I’ll have one more bottle, I think I’ll have enough space for most of the new soap that way!

It’s interesting to ‘watch’ my progression towards the ‘natural’ cleansers and things. My hair looks good, but is a bit oily to the touch currently. It’s been 2 weeks or so since I used product on it, though I try to shower and massage my scalp each day. I’m trying to use up the products I have and replace their use with more environmentally friendly cleansers. I saw suggested on another site (may have been sewgreen.com) to use the bath/shower water in the garden. That works great in the main bath, there’s a tub and I can just scoop out most of the water in a bucket and carry it out when the children are done. I may need to get a shower basin for collecting it in ours because there’s no tub in the master bath. My tomatoes and citrus will be quite happy this summer if I water them regularly!

Just playing with tickers

Embroidering

Originally uploaded by fullofstitches.

I was blog hopping yesterday and came across this adorable site. I saw this pillow she made and jumped out of my seat searching for a good fabric for embroidering!

In 2004, TJ had made this list and it just touched my heart that he thought to include the unborn baby. I hung it up on an empty nail on the wall. When we moved, it was packed with my sewing supplies and journeyed to the Midwest. Again we moved, and again it ventured. Last night, I was able to get it about 3/4 done and I finished the sewing this morning.

Now, I just need to figure out what to do with it.. Pillow or little blanket? I may make it into a quilt to hang in my sewing room.