Bonding with Mary Kate

So yesterday I came home to find Mary Kate (one of buff Orpington hens) in the lay box. First thought was sweet she's laying in egg for me. An hour and a half later went outside to check on my egg to still find her in the box. I was thinking wow she sure is working hard for that egg hope she's not egg binded. Then after nightfall when she was still in the box and don't roost for the night like she always does I knew she was Broody and then I thought...shit! 

Why this thought? Because I don't have a rooster since I don't have a setup for chicks and just have hens for eggs for myself. For non chicken folks broody means she is nesting on the eggs for them to hatch. And once hens go broody they stay that why until they hatch their eggs and will work themselves to death if the egg(s) don't hatch. 

So to snap her out of it someone online suggested I cool her belly. Since I like immediate action I decided at 9pm I'd go grab her and try putting a bag of frozen peas under her belly. After a couple minutes of standing outside holding her I decided I was bored so I did something I thought I would never do...brought her inside the house and sat on my couch with her & we watched tv. (while holding the peas to her belly) Mary Kate just sat there and watched tv and enjoying the strange looks the dogs were giving both of her and me. After about 20 minutes I removed the peas and I took her back outside. Sat her on the roost & to bed she went. 

I was happy this morning when she woke up that she didn't immediately return to the laying box to nest and joined the flock to free range. Came home from work to find her still free ranging with the flock :) 

Problem solved (for now until one goes broody again). So at least now I know what to do to snap my hens out of wanting to be momma's.  But now I have a new problem today...Mary Kate is hanging out by the back door waiting to come back into the house to hang out. 

DIY bathroom cabinets

This weekend I decided to tackle something I've been wanting to do since I looked at this house when it was on the market...paint my cabinets. I had read blogs and been on Pinterest for months looking at different articles on how to do this and what to use as a DIY.  

Sunday afternoon I finally decided it was time to tackle this project. I started small incase my painting skills were to be desired, decided to do my master bathroom since it's what I start my day with and relative small counter area.

In my haste of the decision to start this project I forgot just take a before picture so this is the listing pic before I bought I home. 

When I painted my entertainment center I had read to always use oil or latex based primer for wood. When I went to lowes for the paint, I asked the girl at the painting section what primer she suggested for cabinets and she told me to get zinsser and their 1-2-3 latex formula I could skip sanding because it would stick the the glossy cabinet finish. 

I got home with my supplies and cleaned the cabinets and little sanded them with the sandpaper piece I had leftover from my enteraintment center years ago. And I did this briefly basically just touching all areas. Then I got to taping, removing drawers, hardware and priming at 8pm on Sunday. 

This morning (Monday) I started putting on paint and by 10 I had a good second coat (letting it dry for 30 minutes to an hour between each coat). I guess I should mention i used a roller and not a brush for this project. 

For the color I chose valspar reserve and I chose the color Boysenberry jam. (Note outside pics make it look too purple-y which it's not in my opinion) 

And after 3 or 4 coats I sealed it with polycyclic coat just because I didn't do it with my entertainment center and it doesn't look bad but it doesn't have a professional sealed finish so I figured doing it here couldn't hurt. 

And by 3 pm everything was dry enough to put back in place and I gotta say I'm so happy with the finish look!! 

Not sure I'm ready to do my kitchen cabinets yet but I won't be so scared to when that time does come. 

Just a normal afternoon at my place

http://youtu.be/h0Ey499wgkE

(Doing this from my cell) no copyright meant by using music. 

Lucy's video with new toy

This is an old video but it was her first time with seekatreat toy http://youtu.be/kqW_ZC0U_l0

Syddalee's video first time with toy

This is an old video but it was her first time with seekatreat toy http://youtu.be/NY_9QAGcQVE

Dog calls 911

CNN LINK 
Check out the above link for a dog saving his veteran. 

Homeless Lottery Winner

Homeless Man Gets A Home