Ten Dollar Bathroom Sink

Ten Dollars can go a long way. My daughter Lesley and I were "barn saling" and we stumbled on a great sale where someone had literally cleaned out an old barn and wanted to get rid of a lot of stuff. I bought this black drop-leaf table for $10.00. Later, I got the sink from a nice family in East Lansing through the local Freecycle Yahoo Group. If you don't know about Freecycle, then you need to go and learn. The sink (circa 1920) came with a really cool pedestal, but our plumbing was so ridiculous that I decided I was in no mood to re-plumb everything. Ruth had the idea of cutting out the inside of the table and inserting the sink into it. Voila! We think it is really cool and will look perfect in our 100+ year old farmhouse. (are we delirious?)

The above photo was taken in the barn and NOT the bathroom!

The photo below is of one of the original faucets on the sink. It is probably original and we plan on re-building the insides and using it. Since the sink pre-dates modern bathroom plumbing fixtures, we will use the mix and match faucets that came on the sink, but try to find the ceramic handles like the one pictured below.




Duckies Update!

Don't they look cuddly?! They are really bonded and are never more than three inches apart. When one of them eats, they all eat. When one of them drinks, they all drink. When one of them... you get the idea. They are growing so fast.

You can see one of the chicks I hatched in my classroom about 6 weeks ago keeping watch over the flock of duckies by night. The eight little chickens I hatched think they are so tough and try to boss the duckies around. They usually succeed. I have a feeling a week or two will see some "changing of the guard" as the duckies gain a little confidence.

Hot Chicks

I bought 35 chicks the other day to replenish my layers and to fill some meat bird orders, and saw these bantam chicks and I just could not resist! I don't know what breeds they are, but I do know that they are pretty danged cute!! I am going to do some research and see if I can figure out what I have. Ruth took some photos for me.

Enjoy the pics!

I want geese!

Things Are Just Ducky

I have resisted getting ducks until now. I am not sure why I didn't get any before, maybe I didn't have the mental energy or something. I have a little woodland pond that I am sure they will discover and enjoy until it dries up in late August. I bought nine little ducklings, three each of Rouens, White Pekins and Indian Runners. My plans for them are mostly farmyard ambiance.

Now that is quite a face right there!

I have a one gallon waterer for them and they go through that twice a day. I think I am going to have to give them the five gallon container! It is amusing to sit and watch them in the brooder box go from thrusting their heads all the way under water and then waddle over to get a mouthful of food and then head back to the water.


This is the little "crate" in which they came home to the farm. They didn't want to stay in that for one minute longer than necessary. They spent their first two days in a 20 gallon aquarium in my third grade classroom and created quite a stir. We had lots of visits from other classrooms, and most of the younger kids at my school got a chance to hold one of the ducklings. After getting a chance to hold and cuddle with one of the ducklings, I had a little six year old tell me, "This baby needs a mommy and that mommy needs to be me!" I didn't point out to him the obvious, but that was a nice moment. My school is in a suburb, and most of the kids only have contact with dogs and cats, so a few moments watching chicks hatch, of holding and naming a duckling can be a good connection back to our roots; back to days when we had gardens and animals because we needed them in order to survive.

Sitting and watching these ducks is so fun! They have such little antics. I am going to let each of the students name a duckling. This will be interesting as some ducklings will have multiple names. However, I want to help them make a connection with a little life that is different from anything they have experienced. Maybe we will write in our Reflection Journals about how it feels to name a creature that will live forever in our memories.

"Take a good look," I told my class as they were leaving for the weekend. "These ducklings will be all feathered out and look very different the next time you see them."

After school on Friday, as I was getting the ducklings ready to go home, three 15 year-olds, whom I had in class 6 years ago, came into my classroom for a visit. I realized that the words I had told my class earlier takes place with people too.