June 9, 2023

Sewing Room: Lots of Progress

Continued from here.

It's been awhile since my last sewing room blog post, so I have a lot to show you. Pictures will tell it all.

Trimwork done, ceiling painted, walls washed.


For painting, I kept the same color scheme as the room originally had: white ceiling and crown molding, light green walls. The paint was leftover from when I painted our bedroom years ago, and amazingly, it was still good.

Hard to catch the actual shade of green.

One challenge with the trim was that Dan couldn't match the new with the old. We couldn't find the same crown molding for the ceiling, nor the cove molding to finish the baseboard. For the closet and now where he covered the old outside doorway, he went with something completely different. So, I painted it a bit differently too.

That's how a problem becomes a design feature. I think it looks okay. Actually, I can visualize turning that panel into a chalk or corkboard, except that I need the wall space for shelving and storage.

I also had to address the tiny closet.

Closet before painting

Its plywood walls were stained dark green and the floor was painted dark brown. Those colors plus the cob-webby ceiling gave it a creepy feeling. Being small and having no light, it was difficult to photograph. 

Closet after painting

Big difference, huh? I like it! I will use it mostly for tote storage.

Then it was time to start moving in, with shelving and area rug first.

Amazingly, the area rug fits perfectly. I found it at Ollie's ("Good Stuff Cheap"). I'm hoping it works well for a sewing and fiber room floor because the colors aren't solid. Every other stripe is two-tone. Maybe that will help "hide" random threads and fibers that inevitably end up on the floor!

Shelves, filing cabinet, and old-fashioned TV cabinet ready for stuff

After we got a flat screen TV, I almost sold the TV cabinet, but now I'm glad I didn't. I kept it because it's oak, and I figured it would be useful someday. I have storage containers that will work well there. The filing cabinet will be perfect for patterns, handouts, and loose leaf project instructions I've collected.

On the exterior wall of the room, I used my tall bookcase as a room divider because I didn't want to cover any of the windows. I painted the back of it the same color as the walls, so it makes a corner on that wall.

Still to hang - curtains, And the baseboard needs to be finished.

I want to put a work/cutting table in that corner, so I've started checking thrift stores for an old dining table for that purpose.

As you can tell by my using the bookcase as a room divider, I'm not using the entire room for my sewing area. The actual length of this room is 20 feet, but I'm using 11 feet of it. The other side opens up to the living room (original photos here), and that's the side where the door to the greenhouse will go.

The tall left-hand window will be replaced with a door.

After the door is in, Dan will finish the back wall too.

The next step is going through my fiber, fabric, sewing, spinning, and weaving boxes and deciding where to put everything. All of that will likely take some time, but eventually I will have a functional sewing room to show you!

Next: Sewing Room Sneak Peek

June 5, 2023

Hatch Announcement: Poults!

Last month I showed you our Spanish Black turkey hen hiding in the hedgerow and setting eggs. (That post here.) The incubation for turkeys is 28 days, so I had the end of May circled on my calendar. Sure enough, right about that time she got off the nest and Dan spotted three poults. The problem was that being out there meant that those babies could be easy pickings for a cat, skunk, or raccoon. We decided to put her and the poults in our big dog carrier and move her someplace safer - the turkey yard.


She also had about 8 unhatched eggs, which we put in the carrier along with the poults. These three were the only ones that hatched.



From what Dan and I have read, turkey poults are the most difficult of all poultry to raise. They have a lower survival rate that the other species. Jenny B is a good mother, but even so, one of them had problems. We're not sure what, but it seemed to pass out for awhile, recover and run around, and then pass out again. We separated it, keeping it where she could see and smell it, but sadly, it didn't make it. 

So, we have two and are hoping for the best. It's always hard to lose animals.

In the hen house, we have our other turkey hen, one of our Muscovies, and a chicken all hunkered down tight on nests. I told you about the egg fiasco, and it seems that that Jenny J won the battle over the eggs. When Dan checked, Mom Muscovy was sitting on an empty nest. So he gave her five duck eggs, which she twittered over and tucked into her nest. The question is whether she's got another 32 days of broody left in her. Of Jenny J's, we're thinking something should have hatched by now, but she's about a week behind Jenny B, so she may yet get some poults. Or ducklings. Or chicks. We'll have to wait and see.

June 1, 2023

Seasonal Shift: Summer

June, from my cross-stitch calendar Christmas present. :)

Summer is here. I have to say that I enjoy early summer the best; we've finished with the cold, but the oppressive heat hasn't arrived yet (we save that for July and August). Summer's arrival is notable because it signals a general shift in almost everything we do. Garden work is now in the morning while it's cool. Afternoons are for indoor and shade projects. We've switched from flannel to cotton bed sheets, and I've moved cooking and canning from the kitchen to the back porch. With the solstice coming up, we'll need to change the angle of our solar array too.

In terms of projects, nothing new is planned because "food first." Garden mulching, weeding, picking, and processing are the priority of the season. Summer is usually dry, so I concentrate on monitoring soil moisture and making sure everything has enough water to grow. We'll continue working on the greenhouse and sewing room. And there are always things that come up. So, were definitely going to be busy.

How's everyone else's summer shaping up? Gardens? Vacations? Building projects? Anything else?