It’s amazing to see how much our chicks have grown over the past month. They definitely don’t look like this any more:
Over the past week, all of their energy seems to have gone into bulking up …
tricking out their tail feathers …
And replacing the baby fuzz on their heads with feathers. They haven’t quite gotten rid of all of the fuzz yet, so they’re currently rocking old man hair dos …
Apparently the teen years are awkward for chickens, too.
Make a batch of lip balm, and you’ll wonder why you were ever willing to pay $2-3 for a tube. Seriously, lip balm is just too cheap and easy to make to hand over that kind of cash for it. Follow this recipe, and you’ll have 17 tubes (give or take) in less than 15 minutes time.
To make your own lip balm you will need:
, cocoa butter
, vegetable shortening, etc.)
, coconut
, almond
, canola, etc.)
, pots
or tins
Step 1: Measure out one part beeswax, two parts solid oil and three parts liquid oil. I used one tablespoon of beeswax, two tablespoons of Shea butter and three tablespoons of coconut oil for this batch (enough to make approximately 17 tubes).
Step 2: Heat the three ingredients in a double boiler, until melted (a Pyrex measuring cup in a pot of boiling water works perfectly for this). Do not leave the stove unattended.
Step 3: Add several drops of essential oil, and stir to combine. I added peppermint oil to mine.
Step 4: Pour the mixture into your containers. Let them sit for a minute. Then, top them off (the balm will shrink a bit as it cools).
Step 5: Allow your lip balm to cool and harden. Then, it’s ready to use. It’ll be a bit soft the first day, but will continue to harden over the next few days.
Tips and Hints:
Solar. Canning. Jars. Do I really have to say anything else to convince you that you need a set? Yeah, didn’t think so, which is while I’ll skip directly to the part where I tell you how to make them:
What You’ll Need:
Steps:
1. Take a canning jar to the store with the ring attached. Use it to pick out a solar garden stake that’s the right size for your jar. You want the top of the solar light to be the same width as the ring or slightly smaller, and the light to be small enough to fit inside the jar (when the stake is removed)
2. After you’ve purchased your solar lights, remove the stakes, and set them aside.
3. Run a bead of glue along the top of the canning ring. Then, stick the solar light down through the hole in the ring, and press down firmly.
4. Let dry. Then, take your solar lanterns outside, and give them a try.
The kids just finished another school year over at the local college; and as usual, they left tons of great stuff behind. We found all of the following sitting next to the dumpsters:
It’s been a cold and wet spring, but there’s still a lot going on in my garden. Check it out …
I ran out and picked this bouquet of peonies ahead of yesterday’s rain. I use most of my growing space for food, but it’s nice to have a few flowers, too.
Our bell pepper plants have grown quite a bit since I planted them last month.
So have our yellow onions. We added this raised bed this year.
I’ve mulched our potatoes twice, and they already need it again. Hopefully I can find a minute to do that today.
Our pea plants have been slow to take off this year, but they’re finally starting to climb up the maypoles.
The blueberry bushes that I planted earlier this year look very healthy, and there are even a couple of blueberries on them. I should have pinched off the flowers, since I just planted them, but I’m enjoying seeing a few berries on there after our high bush blueberries proved to be such duds.
And the big news in our backyard: there are actually apples on one of our apple trees this year! If all goes well, this will be our first harvest.
Our grape vines have been growing like mad …
and they’re absolutely covered in bud clusters. As soon as they start flowering, I’m netting those babies. Last year the squirrels/birds ate all of our grapes, and I’m not about to let that happen again.
The strawberry patch along our driveway is having its best year yet.
I’ve been picking several quarts of berries each day.
Our prickly pear cactus is busy growing new pads, which means new pears aren’t far behind.
And our herb garden is doing really well, even if it is looking a bit shaggy these days. There’s a potted rosemary plant buried in there that I need to find a new spot for.
To save time, I allow a lot of my herbs to self-seed. This year we have volunteer cilantro, dill and chive plants …
which is good because I’m behind on planting as usual.
