How to build a stick house for a Fairy Garden

The weather turned down right dangerous with air temps at -18F and who knows what the wind chills were. I bundled up, did the chores and made sure all the equine had plenty of hay and heated water.
Since I had to be outside for a length of time, I dressed for it.
I actually was comfortable doing the chores and hauling hay in the large sled.
Going for a hike was out of the question, if I slipped or started to get cold, I'd be too far from help.

I decided that I'd collect some of the sticks I'd gathered while hiking with Charlie and Sven the other day [when it was mild] and 'create' a new Squirrel House.

I decided to use my cell phone and then write on the photos as I went through each step so here it is:

This is an old sour cream container that I cut a window in. Since it is a squirrel 'house' he/she can climb in and out easily right?
I painted the container black first so that if there were gaps, the sour cream lettering wouldn't show through.

The gorilla two sided tape is weather proof and will hold up to 15 lbs or so the package says. It is so much easier to use the tape and then put the sticks on than trying to glue them in place.

I was fascinated that I could break chunks of bark with lichen on it and press it onto the tape in the gaps ... seems it will stay? Time will tell.

I used hot glue and more scraps to fill in some of the other gaps that didn't have tape on it.

I was going to make a fancy top with some clay or something else but I decided just to go into my scraps area and grab some old bark I'd found laying in the woods. I used Gorilla Tape to hold down a layer of scraps. Hot glue works best on a porous surface so I glued more scraps on top of that to make a roof.

There. But I still had some a few more touches to add.

I think the Squirrel likes the little shack.

I rather like these little projects. This will be fun to put in a section of the new mini flower garden I'll do this spring. I may have to think of something to make the stick house heavier so it will stay put.

The stick houses are a lot of fun to make and cost nothing as I can gather the materials needed when I take a walk.
This was a great little day project to do while the temperatures outside kept me safely indoors.

One of the reasons I liked this project is that it did not have to be perfect. Too many 'Fairy Houses' look perfect. If a person was to do this with a child, it could be just like this.
I think it is still cute in its very non perfect way.

Besides, if a squirrel were to make this?
Well, have you ever seen a squirrel nest?

I rest my case!

Apples. Simply delicious!

A friend of mine visited this weekend and they enjoyed some of our apple jelly and applesauce.

I explained to him that I'd picked apples and made apple juice and canned it. I also use the juice to make jelly. The pulp gets run through a mill and I use that to make applesauce.

He asked me to send him a recipe. So here is my method that is really quite simple.

Picking the apples.
I know~basic~ but I took some photos while up in the tree. I enjoyed the view in the tree!

The only thing I will do different next time is get a bag to sling over my shoulder so I won't have to climb up and down the ladder as much.

I wash the apples then cut them in half and dump them in a large pan. I add a little bit of water to the pan. It is an experiment. Sources on the 'internet' say to cover the apples. I find that makes the juice a bit watery. I found a happy medium of just adding enough water to get the apples to steam up.

I take an apple smusher aka a potato masher and mash the apples. I let them simmer on low for about 15 minutes.

I ladle the mushy stuff into a strainer and let it drain. I don't push on the mush too hard as I want some nice clear juice. Another method is to use is straining it through some material. I like to use an old cotton pillow case cut up. It gives the clearest juice.

Once you have your juice you can decide if you want to make jelly or simply can the juice. I use Sure-Jell to make the jelly. If I feel like making jelly this winter, I simply can the juice in a hot water bath for the recommended time.
I just canned a gallon of apple juice so I will have plenty to either drink or use to make jelly.

I believe the Sure-Jell recipe calls for 7 cups of apple juice.

I decided to run the leftover pulp through my food mill. It did a nice job of getting rid of the seeds and skins.

Since I had a ton of other things to do during this day, I added the pulp to my crockpot, added some sugar and some cinnamon to taste and set the crockpot on low.

That evening the applesauce was hot enough and had cooked enough to can.

From the tree to the shelf in about one day.

Oh and let's not forget that apples do very well in the dehydrator!