Goodbye to the Guinea, Prepping for Winter,How to Make the Floating Tea Cup plus a craft from the past

 We had one guinea left from the last coyote  massacre when all our chickens, turkey and guineas were killed.  We fell in love with it as it followed us and the dog around the yard. It began to love to tap on the front door each morning to tell us to wake up. Today I noticed there was no tapping. I looked all over. 

It was no where to be found. 

Just a pile of feathers every where. It is so sad when something like this happens. It will be missed.

Today all the summer plants were pulled from the kitchen garden. We are left with strawberries, herbs and two fig trees.

A deep soak was given.  It was definitely the warm before the storm at 80* today.

We gave everything a layer of new dirt and a layer of mulch.

Fire wood was brought in and the rest covered. 

Dude worked on the well this weekend. We have a filter at the well, a whole house filter at the backdoor and a reverse osmosis in the kitchen yet, every 3 months Dude has to clear the faucets of any bits of debris that is blocking the flow of water.  Over the weekend he tried something new.  He put chlorine tablets down the well and then ran the hoses outside for a good long while.

 He tested the faucets indoors at first it seem disastrous but he said no, that it just needed more flushing out outside. Now everything is super clean, no more egg smell and no bits of rust and Sulphur.  We get our water tested about once a year.  It is potable but high in sodium so we put all the filters in place. It can be a pain living on a well.

We did get a dog door put in but we giggle since the dog only uses it to look out. 

Both Dude and I set out separately for lunch meeting old friends. 

Then home to work and craft. 

I prepped for folks coming to make floating tea cups and other things this weekend. 

Here is how I get the cups ready.

I use a strong coat hanger.  One hanger will make two supports for the cups. 

If you cut them just below the twist at the first curve you can still you the two bent parts for the saucer. 

Here is how I bend them.

Start with the cup. If you try to start with the saucer then the hot glue will just drip out of the cup and make a mess. I use a glue gun.  Put a big glob of hot glue in the cup. 

Put the end with the two prongs in the cup and hold. It will take a few minutes to harden. 

I was able to lean it in another cup to dry. 

Then put glue on the saucer .

Hold the end firmly in the glue and put more glue over the wire, crisscrossing it over both sides. This gives it added stability.  Bend the wire to find the center of gravity so it doesn't flip over.  I lean mine a bit forward.

I rested it on another overturn cup while it dried. This only takes 2-3 minutes since it dries quickly. It doesn't matter if it all gets messy since it will be covered later.

I have a table all set up so family can decorate the cups however they like. 

These cups and plates are from the Dollar Store and fairly heavy but the hot glue holds well. 

Ready.

Here is a craft from the past....

Found a label online and dirtied it up. Mod podged it on the bottle , added a hand that I tried to make old, spiders and webs.

peace