Pocket Pause

March 7, 2014

Fiber Friday: A Big Announcement!

There has been a LOT of excitement in the world of Fiber Friends lately…. have you heard the news? We have a new website!

Visit us online, free of Etsy shackles (though you can still find us there, too) at www.FiberFriendsOnline.com!

I spent the better part of February slaving away on my not-so-spry computer working on a brand new platform to build a spick and span, e-commerce website to act as portfolio, shop and all around headquarters for all things Fiber Friends. This website will still act as the Fiber Friends blog, but you can now browse an easy to use shop, read testimonials, and find out about upcoming workshops and events (that page is coming soon) all in one easy to navigate place. Yipee!

Along with the roll out of the new site comes a few new ways to order custom Fiber Friends, including some new price points to fit all budgets. I’ve come up with some fun new products including “Nubbins” Fiber Friends that are 2 inches tall and simply cuteness overload! I’ll have the ‘in stock’ shop filled with holiday cuties and other farm inspired Friends for quick purchases and am currently taking custom orders with a fairly short waiting list!

To share my excitement with you – i’m currently offering two excellent specials! Save 10% off any purchase with the coupon code “GRAND10” or save 20% on any CUSTOM order with the code “BIGDEAL20”. Both coupons are valid through the month of March – now is the time to order that Friend you’ve been dreaming of!

And even though Corgis are Welsh, not Irish – I’ve got a whole passel of “lucky dogs” who would love to come home with you in time for St. Patty’s day! Grab ’em while they’re hot! I’ll be working on some Easter cuties soon and am always looking for new ideas, so feel free to comment with your special “Nubbin” request!

I hope you’ll stop by the new site, take a look around. Fiber Friends has been built almost completely by word of mouth and Pinterest love – so please consider sharing our websites with your pals and maybe pinning an image or two that you most admire. I’m scheming up a big Pinterest promo party in the next few weeks and i’d love it if you’d join the fun! (There will be prizes!)

Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for letting Pocket, me and all my little Friends be a part of your life!

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Filed under Felting, Fiber Friends, Fibers

Tagged as custom pet, felt animals, fiber friends, fiber friends online, pet portraits

March 4, 2014

Homestead Update: March 1st 2014

February was cold. It snowed kind of a lot and we spent most of the time just keeping warm and eating food and less time on projects. That being said – we did do a few fun things in February… despite the efforts of idiotic Home Depot employees. Ask me how much i love the Home Depot.

March 1, 2013:

March 1, 2014:

I love these before and after pictures from the early months – i almost don’t remember how scary the place looked: nasty, rotting tile roof, ancient windows, no fence for the yard. Man. We’re taming this place! We started with the major ‘needs’ of the house: roof, windows, well, septic, yard, flooring and now we’re beginning some cosmetic stuff, inside and out.

Our master bathroom is huge. HUGE. And very masculine with black counters, a weird black tub and a tiny little sink stuck in the middle of the huge counter. While i was in the barn mucking about (literally) i perchanced to notice something large and heavy mired in the mud…. What’s this….. a SINK! A lovely, cast iron Koehler sink in darned good shape! Why don’t we rip out that nasty little sink and replace it with this huge one? So what if it’s a kitchen sink – i can always use the bathroom for soaking fleeces, right? And since the sink was free, we splurged on a lovely new faucet that turns on with the flick of a pinky finger. Swoon!

Here’s to my husband learning about plumbing and doing a great job on his first try! And by first try i mean after 8 trips to Home Depot after being advised incredibly ineptly by even more inept employees. Yeah: the answer is i HATE Home Depot.

I had my own little project going outside. Our house still looks pretty nasty from the outside- new siding slated for summer 2015, at least one wall of it, so i thought it would be nice to plant a nice little shrubbery in the front, a la the nights who say NEE. The Benton County Native Plant Sale comes around every February and i took teh opportunity to plant a mess of Mock Oranges to add to my big hedgerow in the front yard and to make a lovely stand in front of the kitchen window where i’ll also plant some Alyssum, pansies, and a nice row of bulbs (starting with some birthday Crocus from my sweety). I used some of the old facia from the roof repair to begin the grass/planter boundary and stirred in a mess of rabbit poo for fertilizer. Love having a barn full of ‘free’ fertilizer!

More information on hedgerows to come! Last year’s trees are coming back great and i can’t wait to see how the mock oranges add to it. On the animal front – Sugarplum the duck is still nesting and we hope for ducklings on the 27th! Woot!

And finally, in reflection of the snow: we discovered that yes we DO need 4wd and thanked our lucky stars we had the woodstove to warm and feed us and a pile of firewood to keep it burning hot. We both enjoyed the quiet the power outtage brought, but the lack of refrigerator hum was troubling at the same time. Luckliy the 13 inches of snow acted as a good cooler for our milk and the chest freezer barely raised temperatures since it’s so full of meaty meats. We both took the time to partake in simple things: my husband sketching and me on my spinning wheel. I sure didn’t mind having the coffee maker back when the power came on, though! Hot tea and toast on the woodstove is fine, but electric bean grinders are a useful tool. 😉

Lots of fun projects on the horizon! And check out my latest big indoor project- a new website for my Fiber Friends! It’s been a labor of love that i hope pans out… working as a full time artist and part time homesteader/farmer type is not exactly…. lucrative. 😉 Let’s hope it can be!

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Filed under The Homestead

February 25, 2014

Building a Duck Coop

Here at Birdsong Farm we pasture all our poultry and thus far run them together: chickens and Muscovy ducks. Our guinea fowl go wherever they please and have begun patrolling the entire spread for nasty insects – good guineas! The ducks and chickens coexist fairly well…. until it is time to nest. Chickens like to lay eggs wherever they see an egg and they really like to kick apart the best laid nest. Naughty chickens. Because of this and the heavy pressure of aerial predators i decided to build a little duck coop for broody duckhens.

Despite the early month, Sugarplum has decided it is time to lay eggs… maybe she knows something we don’t. Though, she did begin laying right before the big snow – so probably not. 😉

I wanted to be sure our duckhens could have the privacy they desperately want while setting and that i had a place for the ducklings to hop about when they are too small for the electric netting and most susceptible to the kestrel and other hawks/crows. This little coop is open at the bottom so i can move it can move it over the ground and provide fresh grass for cleanliness and grazing. The nest area is covered and the entire coop is covered in poultry netting- not sufficient for keeping out round predators but good enough for stopping aerial pounces. Since the coop is inside electric netting or our yard i’m not concerned about the flimsy wire. Inside the coop is a small feeder and a tiny ‘pond’ – oil change pan (new, of course!) just big enough for mom to get wet and for babies to learn to swim.

One thing i will change for the next coop is to add fencing under the nest end so that i can use my dolly to lift and pull the whole coop without disturbing the nesting materials. I had been leaving one end open so that Sugarplum could come and go but Snowflake began ripping out her nesting materials and the chickens would stand near and irritate her all day. She seems fine with being cooped p all day, esp since she gets fresh grass every few days.

Here are two ridiculous videos of me adding eggs to her nest: She’d been laying but not setting and i saved her eggs indoors, as it was cold as heck out there! Once she began setting I brought her eggs out to her… i hope i didn’t overdo it! She’s sitting on 20 eggs as a first time mama, though i’m sure at least a percentage of them won’t be viable simply due to age. If you haven’t heard muscovy ducks when they go broody, you must watch these videos – she makes the sweetest little peep noises! (Muscovies are otherwise mostly silent).

This little coop was super simple to construct – i use my air compressor and air guns/staplers for construction and used all recycled materials from around the barn. I may draw up some plans for the second one and post those here – comment if you’re interested in plans for this easy, lightweight broody duck/chicken coop!

Do you provide a safe place for your ducks to brood or do they stuff themselves wherever they feel like?

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Filed under Critters, Ducks

Tagged as brooding ducks, broody coop, broody hen, broody muscovy, building a pasture shelter for ducks, duck coop, hatching duck eggs, muscovy ducks

February 21, 2014

Fiber Friday: Miles and Molly

I had such fun working on Valentines this year. My little “stumpy” corgis were such a hit i’ve decided to make them for every holiday as well as keeping little ‘corgi love’ Friends in stock at all times (plus other “i love my ___” critters). “But there aren’t any ‘in stock’ Friends in your Etsy shop, Miranda?” Yes, that’s true – because i’m STOCKING UP for the GRAND OPENING of my brand new website!!!!! More on that coming soon… for now –

Happy Valentine’s Day, Molly and Miles:

Unfortunately, i heard from Miles’ daddy that their new kitten got her hands on little Molly. Gasp! Kitty claws are NOT good on felted wool, let me tell you. Hopefully she isn’t too far gone so i can fix her: I stand behind my little Friends and am always happy to try and fix one that has been damaged or shown signs of wear over time. Poor little Molly!