It’s that time again. You ask, and I pretend to know things and answer your burning questions. It really is so much fun to open my inbox and see the wide variety of questions you guys have. Reminds me that my readers are so diverse and pretty dang awesome. So keep those questions coming and I’ll keep racking my brain for answers.
Mavis, Where did your husband get the plans for your coop?
~ Thanks, Mary
Hi Mary,
We found the plans for the chicken coop off Etsy. My husband was able to put the chicken coop together without any problems {we’ll besides grumbling about having to put a coop together. Ha!}
- Chicken Coop Plans
- Windows
- Hardware Cloth {installed inside the coop windows}
- Vents {installed on the back of the coop}
- Wood and cedar shakes: The Home Depot. We used 4 bundles of the lowest grade cedar shakes.
Hello Mavis, I’ve been following your blog for quite some time now, and I like your content and the lessons you share with your readers. The reason I’m reaching out is to ask if you are accepting guest posts.
~Aiden
Yes. We love guest posts around here!
You can Share Your Gardening & Canning Photos, Share How You Save Money, Share Your Pantry Photos and Tips, and So Off Your Trash and Treasures. The requirements are super simple too.
You’ll need to send in a Minimum of 5 HIGH QUALITY pictures and the stories to go along with those pictures. Please do not send in a couple of grainy photos and a sentence about them. I can’t post that. It doesn’t make for an interesting or informative story.
If we feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to Amazon.com. You can send your submissions to me at onehundreddollarsamonth @ gmail.com {spaces removed} and be sure and put Mavis Mail in the subject line. Thank you. I’m looking forward to your submissions.
Go HERE for the official rules.
I tried to send this before – I don’t think it was delivered. Where did you buy the dog booties. My little dog is having trouble with her pads in this freezing weather (upstate NY). Do the booties stay on? Thank you
Yes! The booties have a nice Velcro closure and stay on.We bought the booties at a local pet store but you can also find them online. Lucy’s winter wardrobe:
- Lucy’s Magic Shoes –> Ultra Paws, Cozy Paws Traction Dog Boots {Small}
- Lucy’s Fleece Vest –> Gooby Fleece Vest {Large}
- Lucy’s Harness –> Ruffwear Web Master Harness {X-Small}
Hi Mavis! I was wondering if you could tell me where to get the small canning jars that you show in your Cranberry Apple jam post? I don’t see a name on them, but like the shape of them.
~ Thanks, Kathi
Walmart. Yep. I am totally not a Walmart shopper but I stopped in one day for a $0.50 bottle of acrylic paint and as I was walking to the checkout station I happened to walk by a canning display. Those quirky little half pint, almost square jars are made by the Anchor Hocking Company. I LOVE them so much, I ordered 8 cases for the upcoming jam season. 🙂
I love the smooth sides {they would be perfect for labels} and the way the jar feels in my hand. It’s a stout little jar and wonderful for gift giving.
Hey, I just came across this article about a photographer who built a tiny village for the mice in his garden and takes some amazing photos of them. I thought you would get a kick out of it. He also has a Facebook page called “George the Mouse in a log pile house.”
~Stephanie
Excellent! I may have to build one for our backyard voles.
Hi Mavis! Thank you for creating such a wonderful blog, I’ve been a reader and occasional commenter since 2012. I have question to ask that I don’t believe you’ve ever addressed before. I love having edged flower beds and vegetable gardens. I use a straight shovel with lines drawn to try and make my edges look neat. I am looking to see if you have any time saving tips for edging a garden or flower bed. Thanks for your help!
~Cristina
Hi Cristina,
I too like to use a straight shovel to keep my garden beds in tip top shape. The thing is though, if I’m out there fiddling with the border for too long, my husband will run out with his Edgehog and tidy up the edges for me. Personally, I like cleaning up the beds with the shovel, there’s just something therapeutic and calming about slow gardening to me.
I know you can buy plastic edging material {the previous owners here installed it around the back patio} but I am hoping some readers chime in and tell us what they use to keep their garden edges looking good.
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Have a question for me? Submit them HERE and I’ll try to answer them.
Have a wonderful Friday everyone,
~Mavis
E in Upstate NY says
Hi Mavis,
None of my flower beds have straight lines–all curvy as they are all edged with local round stone [think glacier era] raising the beds a little to a lot. On the inside, I use that backer board, putting it low enough not to be seen. This helps keep out some of the grass roots and keep in some of the soil, where I want it to be.
With this installation, I am ‘resigned’ to every spring sitting on the grass, pulling the stone away and yanking out the intrusive grass roots. The beds look wonderful and the process is therapeutic for me. If I yank enough, this will hold for the summer growing season. There will be spots come August/September that I may feel motivated to check/redo.
Hope this helps answer your question. Thank you for your time putting this blog together. Since discovering it, it has given me great joy.
Elizabeth
Tina P says
Oh good gracious! I just LOVE George the mouse. Thank you for sharing!! It has made my day!
Do you think those square jars would work for candle making?
Keep living the dream and sharing with us!!!!!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! I think they’d be great for candles.
Sue says
Another store for a myriad collection of canning jars is Ace Hardware. We found this out years ago and now we have too many (can you ever have too many?) to count in assorted shapes and sizes.
LaToya says
Hi, Miss Mavis.
One of my goals this year is to try my hand at canning.
I just went and checked out your tutorials about supplies and whatnot.
I found the recipe for cinnamon anise jelly (I can’t stand anise, but I think everyone else in my fam does). Is that a pretty easy/good starter for my first outing in to canning?
Mavis Butterfield says
You’d be fine with the cinnamon anise jelly but I would try the Christmas jam recipe first. IT IS AMAZING!!!! The carrot cake jam would be my #2.
LaToya says
I saved the link to the carrot cake one as well – I know my son will love it. Thanks so much, I’m excited
Linda says
I’m sure that the blue vintage dress Lisa picked up is exactly the one I wore to my 8th grade graduation dance. I remember it vividly because my parents friends had a son a little older than me and they would allow me to go with him, because they were worried about me going to a dance with anyone they didn’t know. They needn’t have worried. He never danced with me all night. Somewhere I have a picture of the two of us standing in my parents driveway, ready to leave, wearing “Oh this is going to be a blast!” expressions. That was probably in 1965. Good times- NOT!
Connie says
You mentioned voles. How dp ypu keep the little buggers from eating all your ropt veggies? They pretty much destroyed my carrots and are starting in pn my turnips.
Have any advice fpr me?
Robin says
I have the George the mouse Facebook page on my feed, it is cute. The photographer is also in talks about a possible film I believe.
Gigi says
If you plan to sell jams at your stand this summer ( or flowers with vases) will you be asking for the empty containers to be returned? Reduce and reuse.
Mavis Butterfield says
No, I do not ask for them back but I’ve had a few jars returned as well as berry baskets.
Julie says
Hi Mavis,
Your canning in seasonal order page has inspired my 10 year old son to learn how to can. He has personally canned about half of the recipes you shared. Thank you for sharing your recipes!