Name The Duckens

This post really is for the birds.  

It's all that it's quacked up to be.  All that and a sack of seed.

Nameless new Ducken

One son has chickens and one daughter has duckens.  What is a ducken you might ask?  It is a combination of how a certain 2 year old refers to chickens and ducks; duckens.

And two of them are living at my house.  Two Duckens, not two 2 year olds.

Klous & Clyde as babies

Clyde and Klous arrived last year this time, and this year we have a problem. 

Klous died a couple months ago.

That's not the problem.  Well... actually it is sort of.

That's Klous there on the left in his better days, back when he and Clyde used to plot how to crap on my porch together.



Don't worry I wouldn't really eat them.  There is now a nice duck home and they leave my porch alone.  Well, Klous leaves it alone since he's gone to the big pond in the sky.
 
The problem is that since Klous has been gone, Clyde has been lonely.  So lonely in fact he has become one with my sons chickens.  Clyde spends too much time with the girls in the hen house and now Clyde thinks he is a chicken.  He mimics the chickens, and I fear this is causing psychological issues with his identity. 

So in effect, Clyde really has become a ducken!  I will probably have to use my vacation money to hire the Duck Whisperer to help him.

Like any good mama bird, I took my 22 yr. old duck queen, along with a 5 yr. old and a 2 yr. old and off to the farm store we went where a fresh batch of baby Pekin's was waiting for us.

My daughters friend met us there with her dad and they got four ducks.  Word on the street is that duck eggs make baked goods fluffier.

I wouldn't know about that fluffy thing, Clyde and Klous never produced any eggs, but I'll tell 'ya my son's poultry is being good to us.....

See that?  Those brown ones there, next to my giant bottle of ketchup, started arriving just after I bought a dozen at the store Sunday morning.  Guess fresh eggs was my Mothers Day gift.  I think I need to learn better quiche making skills.

So in honor of all my fine feathered friends, and in memory of Klous, I turned a bird seed bag into a BIRD SEED BAG.  Did you just roll your eyes on that one?  I said at the beginning that this post was all that and a bag of seed.

I wasn't joking.

Because if feeding chickens and ducks wasn't enough I do like to keep the Robins and Bluebirds happy too.

I walked by the plain sack that already held my bird seed - which mostly the squirrels eat - and 5 minutes later with the help of stencils, black craft paint, and broken pottery as a dabbing tray,  I had a bird seed bag.

I also had bird seed all over my dining room table.

Fastest craft ever.  So fast I was inspired to pick up 3 new canvas bags for a quarter each at a garage sale. 

Anyhow, the two new ducks need names.  The 5 yr. old suggested Scratchy and French Fry.  I offered up PteroDUCtyl, (get it - like the flying dino bird?) and Marshmellow since they grow up to be big white birds.  I also mentioned Kirby and Electrolux. They laughed at me.  Brawns ideas were just as bad as mine, I guess we ran out of good names a few kids ago.

All this bird talk will see me flying the coop.  I'm heading out of town and when I get back the family is gonna vote on names for our own little duck dynasty.

So what say you?  My daughter wants two female names or gender neutral ones, so what would you suggest?  I will add your suggestions to the list we will vote on.  If she actually uses your suggestion I'll have a prize for the winner(s).  Like maybe one of the awesome cake testers she makes.......

Sample of Beth's jeweled cake testers

I mean seriously...... you've read our suggestions.  Your odds of thinking up the winning name(s) are good.

I See Benches

You know we own an old building right?  It was once a barber shop with an upstairs apartment where the owners lived.

Forever and ever they lived there.  And nothing changed, they lived very simply.

Their two sons had one small room with a bunk bed.  The bed was stained in a 1950's blonde wood color, old but in pristine condition.

For a brief time the bunk bed went to live at our oldest sons house where he painted it black.  When he was done with it (because he made two new beds for two exceptionally adorable kids) the beds came back to our garage.

There were two head boards, and two foot boards.  When it returned to us I no longer saw old head and foot boards, I saw four benches.

I blame Gail at MyRepurposedLife for what I saw, because seriously she can make a bench out of any headboard ever made.  I take that back, she can make a bench out of anything, period.

The first bench was sized for an open spot on our front porch.  Old wood was used from the junk wood pile, making this redo cost zero.... unless you count the price of the building that came with the bunk bed.

I painted it outside instead of in my entry way, and I was as surprised by this fact as anyone.  Yes I was in my jammies and had one ear tuned to the South in case the UPS man were to drive in.

 

I stained/and/or/painted every slat slightly different shades of whatever we had around, then I did a wash of dark stain, wiped it off and varnished it.  If you look to the right in the above photo you will see two sample pots of paint.

Let me say right now I don't like waiting for varnish to dry.

Until I get to the nursery for some porch flowers there is one outdoor pillow to keep the bench company.  The weatherman says only 38* tonight.   Geeze!

The camera caught an apparition on the right.  See it?  The hazy smokey white shape?  Or are you like me and see benches?

Now the UPS man has a place to set my packages.

Vintage Headboard bench is linking on up at:

Blitzed on Pinterest w/DebbieDoo

It's Party Time @Three Mango Seeds 
Wow Us Wednesdys @Savvy Southern Style 
Budget Decorating Ideas @Creative Cain Cabin 
Time to Sparkle @The Gunny Sack 
Project Inspired @Cupcakes and Crinoline 
Creatively Tuesday @The Rustic Pig 
Show and Share @Southern Lovely 

Proud to have the headboard bench featured at:
The Rustic Pig

Yonder at the Ranch

Red food coloring in water because we sampled the soda all gone b4 pics

Where's Bliss?

Stop over at Kirb Appeal and check out Kirby's new feature, Women Who Blog.  She is interrogating yours truly and I'm just saying she might have asked me some exclusive questions, and you don't want to miss finding out what I really think of bead board.

Then...... after you learn my inner most bead board thoughts, please stop in and say hello to Angie at Knick Of Time.  I have a guest post at her place where I took a cheapo dollar garage sale crate and turned it into something cute to store our beverages. 

Cheapo Garage Sale Crate

There is no snow predicted next week in Minnesota.  That's the best news I've had in a while so I might go outside and paint something.  Or maybe, just maybe I'll finish my dining room chairs.

I said MAYBE!

Console Radio Cabinets

Radios circa 1930 - 1950, Song circa late 70's

OK, so these two beauties go back a bit farther than that song, 

but I'm tired after doing yard work 

and that's the oldest radio song I could think of.

More importantly......

What one should I keep and what color (s) should I paint them?

Upcycled Planter to Dog Feeder

Last summer I took an old planter/tote thingy and turned it into a dog food feeder for my constant companion.... Mo.   

Just look at that chippy finish and forget that I wanted lime green.  I settled for metallic orange - because of the 999 little bottles of craft paint I own, I have no lime green.  998 shades of blue - yes.

I probably should have used blue since it's an appetite suppressant, and based on the amount of scooping Brawn needs to do in the yard, my dog could use some appetite suppressing.  (It was in our wedding vows that I don't do doo).

*DISCLAIMER: There are no plants on my porch, this photo is last summer.  I still have Reindeer on it.

The food caddy started out as some sort of a one sided birdhouse planter at a garage sale.  It had green plastic pots in it but I left those at the sale and only took the terra cotta ones stacked with it.

Off came the houses, and I painted a coat of ASCP in old white.  I was less than impressed picturing dog food drool all over the white.  So I painted on metallic orange, used steel wool to sand it back off, and finished it with a coat of dark wax.

The holes are a perfect fit for the stainless steel dog dishes that Mo eats out of.

But I took his stainless steel dishes out for these photos and inserted our white cereal bowls.

Why did I do that?  There is nothing wrong with stainless steel dog dishes. 

So to recap;
my dog has dog dishes....these are Corell cereal bowls....he does not eat out of these.... we do.

Mo was sort of mad at me, this project didn't turn out at all like I described it to him.  

I told him I had to take his picture because he should be in the post. 

These are his bedroom eyes.  Is it working Amy, is Riley going crazy?

*This post was originally a guest post over with Linda at ItAllStartedWithPaint.  I'm not desperate for new stuff to write about, just desperate for the time it takes to write it!

Linking up too:
Pet Inspired Upcycles @FunkyJunkInteriors
Freedom Fridays @MyTurnForUs 
Inspiration Gallery @CraftyScrappyHappy 
Wildly Original Party @IGottaCreate 
Pet Parade @FunkyJunkInteriors

Tongue In Cheek Tuesday; Dii would tell me

If you're lucky, you've got one.  The one friend who tells things to 'ya just like it is.

This Tongue in Cheek Tuesday post is dedicated to my one friend who knows about this blog (hi Dii!) and she tells it to me just like it is. 

Dii actually reads my blog and I never even threatened her.  I "hey girl'd" her husband without asking, what a friend I am.  At the end of this week I've reserved a day to hit some garage sales with her.  IF it doesn't snow.  Yes, really.  Snow.  In April.

{source}

Dii has a daughter who collects owls.    

I don't know if the one above is the exact owl purse Dii saw, I just remember it was a pricey little bird, the well over $100 green backs kinda pricey.

A lot more than she was going to spend feeding her daughters owl addiction.

So Dii decided she would make one herself.  Guess she is a wise old owl.

Dii's owl purse knock off

I asked for a picture so I could see how it turned out.  She collected some of the bling on it from garage sales.  Her daughter loved the purse and I'd say it's a pretty good knock off for a lot less $$.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, like I was saying, Dii tells it to me like it is.  I have known her for 34 years, well before babies and husbands.

For April's Tongue in Cheek Tuesday I'm suppose to poke fun at how I look in what I wear around the house.  I'm pretty sure my family would think I went insane if I suddenly asked them to snap pictures of me wearing stuff I usually run and hide from the camera in.  Opps - forgot it's tongue in cheek, so... I mean I usually look like a million bucks in my high fashion hausfrau look.

So back to Dii.

On our last jaunt to Good Will Dii said to me with a bit of a chuckle;

"your profile picture really doesn't look anything like you".

.....I happen to like that sidebar picture!  

Unlike this one taken the same day wearing my who-gives-a-rats-behinder look. A few mothers are now thanking their son's for not marrying this crabby looking woman.

When I make this expression I know exactly what I'm thinking.  Idiot. 

The worst part is, I'm looking in the mirror at myself taking this photo.  Idiot.
And trim your bangs.
 

So Dii, just for you, some Bliss Paper Dolls so you can pick the look you like, let me know what face really looks like me and that's the one I'll put on my sidebar.

I wear this shirt till it's not white anymore.  Chalk paint and stain splatters add character.  Then I get mad at myself because I wore white to paint and stain.

How I think I look in that sweatshirt.

I probably look more white and hairy like this:  Dii would tell me if I did.

If I'm not wearing white, or black formal attire around the house, I'm in some form of jammies or clothes I pretend are jammies because I sleep in them. 

What's not to love about my pink-ish robe ensemble?  Does this look like me Dii?  I wear this alot to work around the house, maybe I'll wear it to garage sales with you.

When I wear jammies to wax a project this is how I think I look in pink.

And this is how I probably look.

I really thought next time Dii and I got together coats and scarf's would not be necessary but there is a snow storm heading our way tonight.

April 22nd, 2013.... 4 - 8 inches on the way.

(Seriously Bliss trim your bangs.  How come Dii never tells it to me like it is about my bangs?)  Dii please tell me this last one on my way out the door looks like me?  Because unless I trim my bangs before I see you this is what I will look like at the end of the week.

Now it's everyone's turn to link up what you wear while you hang out around the house.  Have some fun, make me laugh.  If you need a great example of tongue in cheek, check out this post from last month's party by MissFlibbertigibbet.  She nailed it, hands down the best tongue in cheek post.  Tongue in cheek isn't really suppose to be true, and I'm not so good at it, I have Pinocchio complex - the fear of my nose growing from telling lies.  But maybe I really do look like that girl in the pink when I wax projects?

Visit the other ladies of Haute Couture at:

   Silo Hill Farm

Kirb Appeal

Mellywood's Mansion

Simply Vintageous by Suzan

Linked up to WhileWearingHeals for the 'this is me' party, because I took every single one of these photos of my head either on the timer or through the mirror.  And I never in a million years thought I would be linking them anywhere!

Heard of Blogger Homes or Looksi Square?

Have you heard of the web site Blogger Homes?  How about Looksi Square?  Well if you pop over to either of those places  you will see a couple of Bliss Ranch features.

At Blogger Homes my guest bathroom is making an appearance.  I knew I should have dusted, and a good blogger would of had some before photos.  If you look up bad blogger in the Blogging dictionary, my face is there.  So close your eyes and picture pine that had yellowed, a brass faucet and a hammered brass sink.  Dean and Shannon are the bloggers at AKA Design as well as Blogger Homes.

Then there is Looksi Square.  I haven't even completely figured out face book yet, so I won't lie and say I am a Looksi guru.  But Julie @ RedHeadCanDecorate is a Looksi Ambassador and is taking over the site for a day and asked if she could feature my Kodak dresser.  I happen to like that dresser myself, so sharing it with new folks was a no brainer.

Also, in other news.....next week is time for the April edition of Tongue In Cheek Tuesday.  The theme this month to poke fun at ourselves is "Total Couture Tuesday" and there's lots of room for making fun of myself when it comes to my wardrobe.  What does Bliss really wear as she types a blog post or paints?  It will be blatantly obvious that I am NOT a fashionista. 

If you want to join in, (and we hope you will) just snap a picture of your oh-so-casual "haute couture", write a post making fun of yourself, and link it up here or on any of the blogs listed.  There are no special rules or anything.  We just like to make fun of ourselves and be entertained by your humor.
  

Pine Cabinet Door Gift

A name is a gift.

A last name as well as a first. 

Many of us as married women have a last name we didn't grow up with. 

I like my married name, and I liked my maiden name.  Our youngest son has my maiden name as his middle name.  I wanted it to be passed on somehow.

Our first born, #1 son who leads my gaggle of six offspring in age, celebrated a birthday and I wanted to make something for him.

Last minute of course because I seem to be operating that way lately.

He recently gave himself an office in his home.  He carved out a useful space in what was their nursery.

He made himself a desk...... aged the boards, sized it for his space, and gave it a patina to match a locked cabinet that his dad made for him.  (His dad - my husband - in case there was question who he belonged too!).

The antique dresser in the background is all that remains of the former nursery.  The dresser was converted out of being a changing table and might be coming to reside at my house.

#1 son built some shelves, giving them round bolt head details on the corners.  And without asking him or my daughter in law I took photos.

I tried not to capture the big suitcase in the corner packed with swim suits for the Florida vacation they were leaving on.

I must be every woman's mother-in-law nighmare huh?  Show up with my camera intruding on their life, all so I could show you how the sign I made will fit in with it's surroundings. 

#1 has turned into quite the DIY'er.  Of course he knows where to go for help and questions, his dad can build anything.

This cabinet is made out of all sorts of cast off junk wood laying around in Brawns half of the garage.  My half of course is covered only in treasures from garage sales.

I kindly asked Brawn if he would find me an old cabinet door in his junk.  No problem - he gave me three dirty choices to pick from.

I started painting and layering colors, thinking to myself, "how it ends up it ends up".

My regular readers know I have a lot of sample size pots of just about every brand of chalk or clay paint made, and I mix them all on projects.  The different brands get along quite well in my opinion.

This particular project happened to use all CeCe Caldwells paint and wax.

I mentioned this was last minute.

I started the project 3 hours before I needed to gift it.  A dirty old blow dryer became my BFF to move the already fast drying chalk paint along a little faster.

I used my Silhouette for the letters.

I will be adding some rusty metal, probably in the form of barbed wire, but that part didn't happen before it needed to be gifted or photographed.

A little reminder for #1 son to hang in his office.

The real gift was from his father - the last name, not the sign.

Linking my son's sign gift too:
Make it pretty Monday @TheDedicatedHouse
Tweak it Tuesday @CozyLittleHouse 
The Scoop @CedarHillRanch
Time to Sparkle @TheGunnySack 
Creative Inspirations @EmbracingChange
Project Inspired @CupcakesandCrinoline 
Tutorials & Tips @HomeStoriesAtoZ 
Make the Scene @AlderberryHill 
Craft-o-Maniac Monday 
Budget Decorating Party @CreativeCainCabin 
Show & Share @SouthernLovely 
Wildly Original Party @IGottaCreate 
Thursdays are Your Days @52Mantels 
Made You Look @MadeInADay 
Party Time @36thAvenue 
Tutorials, Tips & Tidbits @StoneGable 
Under $100 Link Party @BeyondThePicketFence 
Open House Party @NoMinimalistHere