Hutches

Finallyyyyyyyy! The long-awaited (by me) HUTCH update!!!

Winifred: "Wait, what? What are you doing? I thought I liked you, but you're not bringing food this time. What is that? Is it food? I don't think it's food. It's not green. Is it going to kill me? Sometimes not green things eat bunny things. Green things safe. Not green things bad. Except you. You're usually okay. If you bring food."

"Cordelia: "What is that? Food? Everything is Food, right? Food is all that matters in life. I only love you if you bring me Food. That better be Food. If it is Food, drop it in here and back away slowly. If you try to touch me while I'm dealing with Food, I will destroy you."

It took a long time, because...

1) There are SO MANY potential designs out there. Seriously. What's a wanna-be homesteader to think? Colony style? Digging? No digging? Moveable shelters that allow grazing? Stationary? Vermicompost underneath? Yea? Nay? Whaaaa??

2) I really don't know anything about building anything, at all, ever. Like I said before, I can use the measure-y thing. And maybe a screwdriver. Staple guns confuse me. And saws...are a little bit...scary.

3) I'm bad about remembering to go out and take pictures once the project is actually done.


In the end, I decided that a stationary structure is best for my current situation. My lawn is FULL of bumps and lumps and odd hills and holes, so it's really not practical to have a moveable "rabbit tractor". Once I finally decided that, the rest came together fairly easily, because I have an amazing, brilliant, perfect husband whose brain I was able to pick and whose skills I was able to take advantage of emulate.

He really is the best. He's been so patient with me during this project!

The tarp roof is meant to be temporary, as we just couldn't find barn tin anywhere at the time of construction. As it is though, I've been pretty pleased with the tarp. We've had a couple of good storms since they've been in this, and they've hardly gotten wet at all, even though the overhang isn't great. Hurrah!

I also decided against a colony-style setup, because of my undeniably controlling nature. I want to know exactly who breeds who, and whose babies are whose, and which mamas are best, etc. etc. I love taking notes on stuff like that. At the moment it kind of looks like a colony-style setup, but that's just because I haven't made the divider-thingy to go down the middle and split this into two cages.

Because I don't know how. Still waiting for the Darling Husband to have mercy on me with that one. :P

But you guys!! YOU GUYS! I HELPED MAKE THIS THING! It was super cool. I learned how to use a saw. Actually two different types of saws. I don't remember what they're called. One of them had a plug. Some of my cuts were less than perfect (read: my husband laughed. a lot.), but I DID IT. I feel liberated.

I also learned how to use the drill more effectively. Like, how to get it to make the screws go in. Instead of just stripping them out, followed by cursing.

Ahem.

Ohhh, and I hammered in staples. That was fun. I'm not so bad at hammer stuff.

This one looks pretty, so it was probably Tim's. :P

SO. Now all I have to do is get the divider in the middle (I didn't want it to be a permanent part of the structure, in case I ever want to make it big again), make some nest boxes, get another water bottle, and take the girls to meet their new boyfriend!! I'M SO EXCITED!!! :D

If things work out, and Winnie and 'Delia turn out to be good mamas, and rabbits do in fact turn out to be delicious, the next step will be for me to build another hutch and start looking for a good buck of my own!



This post was shared on the HomeAcre Hop and the Homstead Barn Hop!

Make-do Monday

Use it up

Wear it out

Make it do

Or do without

I love that little rhyme. I find it so inspiring! Makes me think of Victory Gardens, darning socks, floursack aprons, and all the things that go along with the good ol' days when nothing was wasted. Of course, some of those "good ol' days" were actually in the Great Depression, which from what I hear wasn't all that nice, but I digress...

The message, still, is one that means a lot to me. It goes along with everything I believe so strongly in. Using every part of the animal whose life was sacrificed to sustain yours. Skin, bones, brains, etc. Everything has a use, a place, a purpose. Saving seeds carefully for the next year, so that you needn't rely on the (admittedly beautiful, and always tempting) seed catalogs. Composting food scraps and manure so that the garden can have fresh life, and the landfill can become slightly less enormous than it otherwise would have been. Frugality. Ingenuity. Creativity.

This weekend I threw a baby shower for one of my dearest friends in the world. The theme was nautical, and I wanted a banner to hang. I had a pile of old fabric odds and ends that my dear mama gave me a year or few back, and so I set out to make something new out of something forgotten. :)

such potential...

a rough sketch and some freestyle cutting...

 

I have literally no fancy sewing equipment. I've been meaning to get a cutting mat and ruler and such for ages, but just haven't put it on my list. So far I've been pleased with the results of totally winging it, so why not "do without" for a bit longer?

 

I'm not a super good sewer (seamstress? much too professional-sounding...). 

...a bit of an "oopsie"...had already cut out the first buttonhole when I realized it was not even close to the right spot...we'll call it "rustic charm", shall we?

I do so love how the little ship turned out!

 

 

Ta-da! There you have it! Here's to keeping the scraps out of the landfill, y'all. Find a way to be frugal today! Use your kitchen sponge until it has holes in it! Wear rags, or become a nudist! Don't wipe!

 

Er, wait...

 

Now, if only I could fashion some sort of a working brain out of my final scraps of sanity...hmmm...

 

 

 

(shared on the Homestead Barn Hop, and the HomeAcre Hop!)



Workshop Wednesday

My boys LOVE working in the shop with their dad. I have to admit, it's one of my favorite things as well. Tim gets out a project, whether it be metalworking or woodworking, and the boys get out their hammers and nails and start creating anything and everything their hearts can conceive to make out of the scrap pile (usually airplanes, or heavily modified swords with nails sticking out at odd angles).

I have absolutely zero skills in the shop. But it's fun to learn! I can finally sort of almost kinda use the drill now, without it leaping from my hand to run down the alleyway screaming in its little drill voice: "rape! raaaaape!! help, someone! I'm being abuuuuused!!"

*cough*

I'm better at using sandpaper. Or the measure-y thing. I can use that!

This week we finished work on a new bunk bed for Ezekiel and Isaiah. I *LOVE* how it turned out. It took approximately fifty hundred million thousand years of sanding, but it was worth it.

Isaiah was sad that he didn't get to sleep on the top, until his dad showed him how his bed can become the coolest fort EVER with nothing more than a tucked in sheet and a flashlight. Whining turned to cheerful chortling and peace was restored.

Way to go, Tim/dad. You're the best!!