CHICKENS!

I was looking back at some of my posts about hatching chicks and I thought I'd give a little update on my flock. The majority of my current feathered family hatched in early September 2016 - that makes them about 5 1/2 months old. Many of them are beginning to lay now and I am thrilled with the rainbow of eggs I am getting!

Here is a pic of my messy counter over flowing with eggs. (I spy some home made kombucha too!)

I have a total of 23 chickens, a little less than half of them are bantam and the rest are standard size egg laying breeds.  Although I hatched (and purchased) a lot more chicks, I ended up selling many of them.  Most people have backyard chickens for the sole purpose of getting fresh eggs.  I love the eggs, of course, but I also love having a variety of breeds for different colors of eggs as well as for enjoying the simple beauty of my pet chickens.  This crew really brings me happiness.

My smallest hen, Tiny, is on the very right of this picture.  She is a full grown Serama (and standing next to her rooster counterpart).  They are unbelievably adorable - and walk around as if they own the place!

Because mother nature is what it is, I ended up with a total of 6 roosters.  3 are bantam and 3 are standard.  It's more than I would like - but they are getting along fine (so far) and are all so very different and handsome, that I honestly don't think I could bear to part with any of them.

Here is Cosmo Kramer, the gorgeous Brabanter rooster.

This big guy is (I believe) a Welbar.  I think I'll call him William.  He is so handsome.

French Blue Copper Maran Rooster, Jacques.

Here is my tiny Serama rooster, Pee Wee.

One of the Cochin Bantam roos, Red.

This other handsome Bantam Cochin rooster (in the middle) still needs a name.

I think I lucked out with such a beautiful flock.  I am still looking for a few dark brown egg laying hens.  I had several in the past - but sadly lost them all to predators.  Jacques is a Maran - the breed that lays the darkest chocolate colored eggs - and he needs some more company.  Besides that, my ratio of hens to roosters is a bit off....and I really need to round out the colors of eggs in my basket, right?   (THIS line of reasoning leads to a little thing called CHICKEN MATH.)

Here is one of my three cream crested legbar hens getting up close and personal.  She lays beautiful blue shelled eggs.

Milk Paint Makeover

The weather was unseasonably warm this weekend - so I took advantage of it and made over an old dresser that had definitely seen better days.  I am a big fan of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk paint - so this is what I used on my dresser.

For those of you who have never used milk paint, you never really know what the outcome will be until you use it.  Sometimes the milk paint dries smooth and other times it gets chippy and crackly.  To me, this is the beauty of it.  If you prefer a smooth finish with no chipping, you can use a bonding agent.  From my experience, if you paint over an already finished item and the old finish is intact, you will likely get a chippy finish.  If the item is dried out or has never had a previous finish (bare wood), your paint will likely dry smooth without any chips.  If you want only minimal chipping, it may help to sand your item first before applying milk paint.

As I mentioned, it was unseasonably warm for February in Pennsylvania (around 68 degrees F) and a beautiful sunny day.  I worked outside and I believe that the bright sunshine dried my paint more quickly causing the chipping to be pretty significant (in addition to the fact that my dresser had a thick coat of crackly varnish). It chipped so much that I actually began to get nervous.  I was worried that none of the milk paint would stick and that I had just wasted my time and milk paint!  However, I kept telling myself what I know to be true about milk paint - it always looks worse before it gets better - so hang in there!

Before.  This dresser has great bones and is very sturdy - but has definitely seen better days!

For this piece, I used a custom mixture of two shades of MMSMP - I didn't measure, but I would guess it was about 2 to 3 parts Kitchen Scale to 1 part Boxwood.  I always take a deep breath before slapping on the first brush of paint.  I do not take painting a vintage piece of furniture lightly.  I love and respect antiques.  When I purchased this piece had already had one drawer partially stripped and the top was damaged with lots of scratches and various stains of paint and what I believe was a glittery nail polish.  I did sand the top a good bit to remove some of the odd paint colors as well as the scratches.  The varnish was very thick and crackly - especially on the top and front of the drawers.  Perhaps it sat in direct sunlight for many years.

After.  It is VERY chippy. A look that is not for everyone.  But I happen to LOVE it.

After the milk paint dried and did it's chippy thing, I lightly sanded with a foam sanding block, dusted off all the excess paint chips with a dust brush, and finally sealed with two coats of Minwax Wipe On Poly in Clear Satin.  This sealed in all the chippy goodness and texture that makes this dresser a one of a kind beauty.  The sides chipped only a little in comparison to the top and front.  This unique piece would not only be great in a bedroom, but also in a dining room to store linens, or even in an entryway.  It's simply too cool to hide away.