Hamilton Finds a Home

I ended the last post with my first attempt to build a cupola with a weather vane for the chicken coop. I realized that I needed a place to hide the nickel battery pack that I will use to to light the house, so I remade the cupola, this time making topless box with a lid. I also cut the size down to about 1 1/4 inch cube. Instead of attaching trim to the box, I used it to make a lid by cutting a coffee stir stick sized craft sticks, mitering the corners on the ends to make nice corners. I left the top of the box unpainted so that the lid would fit. I cut the rooster from "Country Life" Cricut cartridge.

I may make yet another cupola now that I know how and I found a protractor in my garage workbench that will help me cut better angles that will fit the roof better. More on that later. Maybe.


With their ready supplies of  feed, chicken houses attract mice, making it necessary to eradicate the vermin. My husband takes care of the livestock here--the two horses, 14 hens, and a half dozen homing pigeons, except when he goes fishing then I am on chore duty, which I don't mind. Except when I find a mouse. Leaving the lid off of the metal trash can that holds the chicken scratch invites invaders, so you can imagine my surprise when I reached in to get scoop of scratch only to discover this little guy who was more scared of me than I of him.

I'm not exactly sure how he found his way in there, but there was no way out for him and I certainly was not going lift him out. I did consider lifting him out in the grain scoop, but I had visions of him running up my arm. NO WAY.  Instead I stood a broom in the can, hoping that he would climb out on it. After a few failed efforts, he finally wedged himself inside the broom. I was able then lift him out. You can barley see him lodged in the bristles. He shut down his entire little system as he played dead, hidden the broom. I couldn't see that he was even breathing. When I went out the next day, he was gone.

I texted the girls my photos of this poor little mouse and as iMessage does, it spell checked something and the mouse some how ended up the name Hamilton. I should have saved the texts as the story of Hamilton began to evolve on my phone.

So of course the mini chicken coop had to have a mouse, so I built a little trap using what I have in my stash: jewelry making wire that I wound around a skewer and bent and folded to resemble the trap's mechanism. I glued to a scrap of wood, decorated it with a red Sharpie and while it is a bit large--a rat trap maybe-- it tells the story.

When my dollhouse passion ignited, I bought a large farmhouse that came with so many accessories, including two little mice. 

I swear this mouse is smirking at me. 

And now the little chicken coop. I still have some finishing touches to add, like a door knob and hinges and a door decoration.

The removable roof doesn't fit the best. I'll figure that out.

The best view of the screen door.

I love how it turned out, despite its imperfections. The garden tools came finally from HBS along with Banana Cassidy, happily sitting in her nest. The feed cans need to be finished. 

I found the flock of hens on Amazon. It took forever for them come because they were shipped from through the Royal Mail--the UK, I assume. I worried that they would be chintzy, but they really are very nice little figurines and to scale.

I used speed shingles and I love the results, though they they are puckering because of the humidity in the basement. Now I am worried about staining them.

Yes! Yes! He smirks. 

I like this little star that I painted, but for some reason I'm not commented to using it yet.

The chicken coop will be located on the side of Bellingham.

I am imagining a garden around it.

And I've relocated Boon's dog house from the front porch to garden area.

I like it.

And that's how Hamilton found home.

Stay well. 

Thanks for dropping by.