Chicken House

Backyard Poultry

Checking Things Out

Did you guess which chick has tried out the high roosts? It’s Acorn again! Before long, all nine were flying up to those roosts to sleep at night. They soon began to like their beautiful house, too. Built in the corner of our shed, the four-by-eight-foot house has a scrapwood floor raised on skids. The right-hand window is covered with screen and a glass shutter. I wasn’t sure at first, but it has proved to be completely predator proof!

The New House

Backyard Poultry

Still Babies

Welcome to the brand-new chicken house! We were very pleased to move the chicks in the night we finished it. As we found out, they weren’t as pleased! Once inside, they began cheeping loudly in the dark, unfamiliar house. After we gave their box and light back, they finally all perched on top of the box sides and went to sleep. In the picture, they’re huddled on their baby roost the next morning rather than the new roosts above . . . Chickens are sure slow to change!

Fun Outdoors

Backyard Poultry

Up on Top

There’s nothing like a bird’s eye view of your play pen! We actually had to lift up the chicken run to get this box in and then crawl inside with the feed and water. Getting the chicks back in the box was even harder: luring with treats, scaring with a broom, and climbing in to catch them didn’t work; eventually we created a cardboard/string system to herd them out. Now I know, this is the first reason not to take chicks outside! (Did you spot the chicks huddled in the back corner? They look pretty scared of Acorn!)

Chicken Run

Backyard Poultry

Moveable Poultry Pen

This is our first chicken run. It was designed to be portable, predator-proof, and economical. Two-by-fours, scrap wood supports, and one-inch chicken wire did make a cheap four-by-eight-foot pen. No raccoons have ever even approached the thing. The catch is the “portable” part—it takes two strong people on each end to move it! Not being wiser, we hauled it around anyway. We’d take the chicks out to fresh grass every warm day and sometimes even move them while in the run!

First Time Outside

Backyard Poultry

Venturing Out

At three weeks old, the chicks were still growing like everything. And with every day, they also became more eager to escape their cardboard box and get outdoors. So here’s the photo of their first time out on grass. From the safety of the box, Acorn’s getting its first taste of lawn weeds with my patient coaxing. Later I found out nobody lets chicks outdoors when they’re only three weeks old—these birds sure had it all!

Forest Fire Photo

Artist's Gallery

Original Scene

Did you think this is my painting? No—I’m not that good—it’s my reference photograph. It makes it clear really how little detail the watercolor has; that’s why artists often use pen and ink on top of watercolor. You can see how I made the green and blue in the painting less intense and buffered the orange. I think the vibrant colors make a more peaceful and interesting scene than the photo. I guess that’s what they call the artist’s liberty!

Forest Fire 3

Artist's Gallery

Final Detail

Now that everything’s dry, it’s time to finish up the tree leaves and pond ripples. I put even sharper detail on the fence posts since they’re in the foreground. After removing the rubber cement, I nestled in some nice barns and houses below the trees. The way to harmonize two contrasting colors in a picture like this is to buffer the intensity of one of the colors.By adding some of the complementary color, in this case blue to the orange, the red-orange does not clash with the intense blue and green. It sounds complicated, but really makes a nice painting!

New! You can now purchase this painting as a greeting card here at my Countrygirl Art shop on Etsy.com!

Forest Fire 2

Artist's Gallery

Darker Colors

Next layers give depth to the light washes—paint a little, let dry, add a darker color, let dry, and let dry! The tree is just beginning to get some good body in the leaves. In contrast to the bright orange, the background trees are shades of brown and blue. There was a trick I used on the background buildings to keep them nice and white: apply rubber cement with a toothpick to those areas, let it dry, paint over it, and then peel up the rubber cement. Much easier than trying to avoid the little houses with that wet paint!!

Forest Fire 1

Artist's Gallery

Pastel Washes

Here’s another watercolor painting—this time a landscape. I’m going to be working each part of the picture in layers. First are the pastel washes. They establish the color relationships and undertone, create the mood, and lay out the division of space in the painting. And, if you don’t put too much paint on top, they’ll even show through in the final painting as highlights. This is an important stage!

Summer Festivities 3

Artist's Gallery

Final Touches

What do you think would be a good background color for this scene? Red sure does make it pop. I like how the wash dried with splotchy dark places that look like shadows. Now is the time for details, once the first coats of paint are completely dry. I’ve put in highlights on the cups, speckled the apples, and added texture to the cake. Watercolor is really a tricky medium to work with; it’s so watery that detail must be done a little at a time on a very dry surface. I’d say this summer still life came out well!

Summer Festivities 2

Artist's Gallery

Coming Together

Here come the fruit bowl and tiny cups. I mixed a lot of yellow with the green and grays to make them warm colors. The brick-red brown pot, apricot yellow cake, and scarlet apple are on the warm side too. Even the white cake base is an ivory shade. Warm colors really aren’t limited to that red-to-yellow half of the color wheel; almost any color can be warm if it’s mixed with red or yellow rather than blue.

Summer Festivities 1

Artist's Gallery

Sketching In

I enjoy art almost more than history trips! I’ve been painting for as long as I can remember, in both acrylic and watercolor. Here’s a still life I did in eleventh grade. The hardest thing about still lifes is picking out/arranging the objects to paint! This watercolor was easier since I limited my palette to warm colors and used my own miniature clay sculptures. In this first stage photo, I’ve sketched in the cake, flowers, and fruit.

Boats on the Ohio

Ohio History

A Day on the River

Here’s another picturesque scene with sunlight dancing around bobbing boats. West Virginia actually owns this part of the Ohio River up to the low-water mark (that was Virginia’s original boundary). We traveled down the Ohio River past Buckley Island and then turned back. There was once an amusement park on the island—till it was destroyed by a flood! What a lovely ride!!

Paddle Wheel

Ohio History

Valley Gem Paddle Wheel

I can just feel the cold water splashing up from the churning paddle wheel in this picture! The top deck of the sternwheeler gave us this view right into the wheel. It was fun to sit up there as we passed under highway bridges over the river! On the lower deck, we got to stand next to the water rushing around the boat. The Ohio River was currently seventeen feet deep, according to the captain.

Valley Gem

Ohio History

Sun on the Confluence

Then we boarded the Valley Gem sternwheeler, just downriver from the Snyder, not just to look but for a ride! The one-and-a-half hour cruise took us down the Muskingum out to the confluence with the Ohio River. The river, dotted with little fishing boats, sparkled in the shimmering sun. There were dredgers working in the confluence, seen here as we enter the Ohio River from the Muskingum. 

W. P. Snyder Jr.

Ohio History

Snyder Paddlewheel

This boat was a workhorse in its day. The W. P. Snyder Jr. ferried barges of coal for Carnegie Steel and Crucible Steel Co. for almost 30 years. It was the last stern-wheeled towboat to operate in the U.S. We marveled at the four 28-foot-long boilers below that powered the engines to run the paddlewheel, towing the barges at only eight miles per hour. You might be surprised that Snyder still runs; at least after the latest repair to the hull (which only cost $1.5 million!).

Model Riverboat

Ohio History

The Pioneer

Is it hard to believe this model steamer actually worked? It’s 1:12 scale, 24 feet long, resembles a packet boat used to tow barges, and sports miniature railings, rigging, and even window sashes. The paddle wheel contains 412 wooden pieces! It was hard to imagine the man who built it actually sailing it down the Muskingum River—but we saw a photograph of him riding on it!

Ohio River Museum

Ohio History

Buckeye State

Stepping forward in time less than a century, we saw the river transformed by the steamboat. Burning coal to run a steam boiler which turned the paddle wheel, this locomotive of the river slashed time and cost in transporting farm goods and coal. The Ohio River Museum had lots of nice scale models of the classy boats. This one, the Buckeye State, holds the speed record of 43 hours from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. Wow, that seems like a snail’s pace to us!

Putnam House

Ohio History

Rufus Putnam's House

The museum was actually built around this two-story house, right where it stood as part of the Campus Martius stockade. The fort looked like a row of apartments, forming a protected inner courtyard; blockhouses on the corners made it even safer. Remember, this is Indian country! The bell on the right was a gift from French Queen Marie Antoinette (hence the name “Marietta”). Interestingly enough, all the other houses were moved to other locations when their owners got land—Rufus Putnam is the only one who left his on the original site.

Campus Martius

Ohio History

Fort on the River

Are you tired of baby chick photos yet? Well, back to another historical trip, we’re taking the two-and-a-half hour drive to the southeast edge of Ohio: Marietta and the Ohio River. First we visited the Campus Martius Museum and saw a Conestoga wagon, surveyors’ equipment, and pioneer tools. This topographical model shows the Campus Martius fort built here on the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers in 1788. I thought it was pretty impressive!

Sleepy Time

Backyard Poultry

Another Nap

These birds look even more tired here than the last naptime photo! They’d just flop down anywhere and go to sleep. And no wonder, with all those wing feathers growing out, as well as little stubby tails. Of course, they quickly put their wings to use, launching up to the feeder and water tops, and the edge of the box!

First Perch

Backyard Poultry

Little Climber

Would you try climbing up on a ledge twice your height when you were only four days old? It’s a new adventure for these chicks! As admirers stand by, Snowflake the Barred Rock hops bravely to the top of this little wood roost—and soon others follow the example. What little acrobats!

Cute Baby

Backyard Poultry

Acorn Eyes the Camera

Here is Acorn, the star of the show. Sporting a little brown cap, this cute Araucana chick had a very friendly disposition. The curious acrobat would climb up our arms whenever we reached in the box and fly up to perch on the feeder top! Acorn didn’t seem to notice it was the odd one out, as the only other Araucana was all yellow.

First Treat

Backyard Poultry

Dandy Greens Snack

At the start, these chicks seemed to double in size every day. At least in terms of housing! By the third day I’d made the first of half a dozen expansion boxes for the growing chicks. The feathers came out even faster, displacing lots of powdery down, which somehow settled all over the living room . . . It was worth it to watch the miracle of those tiny chicks though! They loved nibbling these chopped dandelion greens from our hands, which has given them a life-long love of all green plants.

Naptime

Backyard Poultry

All Tired Out

It didn’t take long for those babies to tucker out and pile on the floor for a nap. I can’t get over how cute they are in this picture!! The brown, chipmunk-striped chicks are Rhode Island Reds, a hardy winter breed, and the black ones are Barred Plymouth Rocks. I also got two Araucanas that are supposed to lay—yes!—blue eggs. That seems like a long time from now!!

New Arrivals

Backyard Poultry

First Meal

The ten fluffy balls in this picture are the beginning of one of my favorite hobbies: raising chickens. Little did I know what was ahead that chilly day in April of 2010 when those little chicks arrived! In this photo, they’re checking out the salad bar in their new home: a small cardboard box with a light bulb above for heat. I’ve just given them each their first drink from the water (and had my first experience holding a chick!!).

Buckeye Lake

Ohio History

Clouds over the Lake

The picnic supper spot for this trip was Buckeye Lake, conveniently close to I-70 which we were taking home. This is a beautiful lake and even sports a cruise boat taking passengers for a ride. As you can see, stormy clouds were forming and it started to rain just as we left.

Flint Arrowheads

Ohio History

Flint Cores and Arrowhead

Here are some fine examples of the flint once it's been removed from the rock. These are the cores left over from large pieces of flint that have been chipped off to make tools. The arrowhead in the insert has been napped down to a razor-sharp blade on each side and tied to the stick with deer sinew (yuck!!). What is your favorite color of flint? I like the beautiful pinks, as well as the unusual deep blue you sometimes find.