We've Got Chickens! [Almost.]

Warning - picture intensive.  

 This is what we have been working on since March.  Our chickens arrive next week, and summer has already arrived minus the humidity.  Some days have even been chilly, thank goodness, because building is HARD WORK!  We had no plans for this coop, the design is completely out of my head.  We have researched and visited a few coops, but I haven't seen one like this.

So first the layout.  We wanted fast and cheap.  Well, fast was not doable, and cheap?  Ha, no way.  We had seen photos of coops made completely out of pallets.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to take apart a pallet?  Those things are made to stay together!!!  You have to cut them apart.  And most are untreated, so would need water seal.  We thought about ready-made walls - OH, privacy fence panels!  Not too expensive.  Then we needed some plywood flooring, two sheets to make the coop 8x8.  I won't go into all the stuff we needed, but it was a LOT.  Some things we had, like leftover 2x6s from the deck.  And hangars from garage sales, chicken wire from CraigsList, etc.  Such fun treasure hunting!  But we hit Lowes at least once a week for one thing or another.  Never built a building before in our lives!

Taping the layout of coop and run

framing the floor and roof

The first metal panel goes up

Metal roofing is sharp!

 The three sides of the coop are up, and the roosting bars were put up after a hunt for cheap linoleum for the flooring (easy poop cleanup).  It's a lovely pattern.  Do you think the chickens will like it?

roost bars up

Barn Red Paint

 The coop is almost done.  We are not going to lock them in at night.  Therefore we need lots of protection around the coop.  Twenty six wood posts and four chain link posts at corners will secure the 6' wire.  We have every animal that loves a chicken dinner living around us, so first 150' of 3' hardware cloth sunk in the 1' trench and cemented with 350 pounds of cement along the bottom.  That took a couple days, uh huh.  We went through 4 nail/staple guns.  Fortunately we had bought the warranty, so we just kept taking them back.  The last one seems to be working.  But we still have that warranty just in case.

 We got a chain link gate and had the old cement platform from our old A/C unit laying around, so when we discovered it fit perfectly, we laid it in place under the gate!  More security and FREE - my favorite four letter word!

 Here the hardware cloth is cemented in and stapled onto the posts.  We also love zip ties, and used them at the corner posts. 

 These posts look so crooked!  But they're not, I assure you we used a level on each one. I think it was the photographer...sheer exhaustion, maybe?

150' of chicken wire stretched and stapled

 This is a sign that we were supposed to have chickens, don't you think?

Well, it's almost done.  We made it a little more private for the chickens and put up a lattice screen on the front.  We are not worried about our chickens being cold, they can stand snow.  But the heat and humidity can be daunting for them.  We still need to put on wire along the whole top between poles to support the netting to keep out eagles and hawks.  And we will tarp part of it for shade and rain. Chickens hate rain.  Now to keep the critters out.  We knew that from research electricity is a chicken's best friend.  But it's really pricey.  A find yesterday was a big tub of electric fencing, the box and the connectors, etc. at a road sale (impromptu sale on side of road).  Bought the whole thing for $20.  Best find so far.  :)))

The chicks are arriving by mail next week from Ohio and they will need to be warm (95 degrees) for the first week of their life.  So we got a refrigerator box from Lowes to make a brooder, cut it down and it is ready for their arrival.  We figure that by the fourth week of their young lives, it will be warm enough for them to go outside and play.  They will be too little for the run, so we made them a playpen.  We lugged around a tent in our RV for years, and never opened it.  What a great playpen!  We made a frame from some of those leftover 2x6s, braced it, put on wheels (garage sale find) and attached the tent to the frame.  Now we can move them from green grass to green grass during the day, and back into the run at night. And it's collapsible when not in use!

Voila!  Moveable playpen!

 We finished that this morning, then Gary made a bluebird house for our poor bluebird that is attempting a second nest in the garage corner.  Some other bird destroyed their first one.

Lots of hummers, new strawbale garden started, landscaping and planning our son's wedding in September is just a few of the other things we are enjoying.  Gary sure would like a tractor, so I jokingly said 'get a job, and we can afford one'.  The smallest Tractor Supply store in Florida is here in Lake City.  BUT they are building one even closer to us that will be the BIGGEST one in Florida so they are hiring now. So we'll see if he takes me up on it...

LIFE IS DARN GOOD!

Salad Time

Time for an update!

Salad anyone?  Things are still growing strong down here on Almost Farm.  We need to have a salad almost every day.  And it is all really delicious.  Come share some!  We've had all the carrots, that suddenly popped up in November, so sweet, and one whole cabbage, that was coleslaw and tossed in with corned beef, and still some left.  Next ripe one I will make sauerkraut as well.  I just made some apple butter today with some organic apples my friend gave us.  Canning is a new hobby, but it can be very time consuming.  I need to plan a day with nothing else going on.  However, it had to cook so long, that I managed to get that done and work on our shutters (see below).  I can hardly wait for the summertime and all our new veggies.  We're going to need some more strawbales, honey...

Radicchio

Russian Kale

Arugula

Romaine

Broccoli

Cabbage

A few weeks ago we traveled down to our daughter's home to look after the children while her hubby had hernia surgery.  They left at 5:45 am and arrived home at 9:45 am.  Everything was fine, and he felt good enough to come down for my birthday dinner and cake made by Lauren (11).  Beautiful AND delicious!  [MomPom is my grandma name].  Those little blue decors are Cinderella Slippers!  I feel SO SPECIAL!  Needless to say, we (10 of us) ate it all - a la mode.  A birthday to remember.

Back at home, we have been busy painting the living, dining and kitchen walls, and are now making shutters for the kitchen windows.  Gary is enjoying all his boy toys. We continue to go on 'treasure hunts' each weekend and have found some good things.  Cheap chicken wire for the chicken run, small tires for the playpen, waterers and feeders, lumber, shingles, paint, a little of this and a little of that.  Some things are totally free, like the 2 8' wood bookcases in an alley with a sign that says "please take".  They fit perfectly in our work room.  Only because they were built-ins and were ripped-out, so not inside quality.  Thanks goodness for a pick up truck, and they rode home with us to Lake City.

Right now we are making kitchen shutters.  Gary blames Pinterest for all these ideas I think we can do, and he's right.  They will be adorable, but most importantly, keep that hot summer sun outside.  I hope we can get them done by summer...just kidding.  They're coming along, and I will post pictures as we go.

My woodsmith

All the cut boards

We sanded all edges, and primed them.  Then we needed some cross pieces.  We chose a 6x2x1/2" piece of trim, but I thought that paint stir sticks would be easier to cut.  And free.  I asked for and received 8 sticks which we cut and sanded and primed today. (Thanks, Home Depot) 

primed

crosspieces

 

More pics to come as the shutters unfold (hahaha).

So, that's our life right now.  And life is sure good.

Another New Year

That special time of year again.  We barely got our home decorated in time for Santa.  And I'm glad our 9 foot tree just fit.  We had 20 foot ceilings in Sarasota, and room for an angel, but this time Angel had to attach to the front of the highest tip.  Our stockings were hung by the chimney with care, but, does that tree look a little crooked to you?  Hmmm. Or maybe the photographer?

Our usable front door because of new deck

 Our daughter Mandy and family stayed overnight on their way to their Christmas Disney Cruise.  They let Granny stay with us for a 3 week vaca.  We actually spent Christmas day with our other daughter, Michelle and family in St. Pete.  Their 8 stockings were hung by their chimney too!  Even Daisy (the Mastiff) got her own stocking.

 Christmas Day arrived, and we had a cool Santa to hand out presents.  This is Charlie, number 4 in line.

 One fun gift was a tent.  The boys try it out.  Then it went up into the play room, and we didn't see the boys for an hour.  Sweet.
 

 At dinner, we had Christmas Crackers, an old tradition from when our kids were little.  Gary, wearing his crown, read his Christmas fortune.  Health and prosperity for the new year.  YAY!

 This was Granny's 91st Christmas.  She was just a little thing on her first Christmas, and the kids asked her what she remembered getting as a little girl.  Her earliest recollection was a red wagon and a china doll with movable arms and legs.

Between the kids, they have six sets of grandparents and Granny is the only great grandparent.  Not to mention Aunts and Uncles.  READ:  LOTS OF PRESENTS!  But how often do you receive a thank you note for a Christmas gift?  All these kids need to write thank you notes to each giver.  (They also mentioned that was their least favorite part of Christmas).  I know I will treasure mine forever.

The day went awfully fast and we ate awfully much.  But it was fun, as usual, and we were glad to get home.  However, before we left, there was a glitch.  Michelle and family were headed to Atlanta on Saturday, and forgot to book a kennel for Daisy.  Would we take her for a few days?  Sure, we said.  So they stopped by on their way north on 75 and dropped her and her food off.  Well, Daisy is a great dog.  However, she did have a little separation anxiety, and Michelle kindly offered to have our carpet cleaned, which we did.  And Daisy was happily reunited with her family on Wednesday.  

The best news is that our son, Tristan, asked Tracy to be his wife, and she said "Of course".  No hesitation there!  She will graduate with her PhD at Miami University in May, and then we will finally get to meet her parents.  They reside in Kansas City, KS, and will plan to throw an engagement party at the same time as graduation.  We are so blessed to have Tracy in our family!

Soooo, I needed to time the arrival of our baby chicks until after we get home. Somewhere between May 12 and 14 we will be expecting 10 little girls and one little boy.  Meanwhile, we need to get a coop built.  We are slowly acquiring pieces of wood and feeders, and reading like mad.  

I do plan to sell the eggs at the farmers market.  Along with some garden goods.  Our garden is looking wonderful!  We can hardly keep up with eating it all.  Can't wait till our first cabbage is ready - maybe next week.  But it will have to wait till we get back from taking Granny back to Raleigh on Monday.  We will be visiting our family and friends again.  And it will be COLD.  Brrrr.  Gotta dig out warm clothes from somewhere.

Meanwhile, we hope your holidays were wonderful, and wish everyone a prosperous, healthy and FUN 2015!

It's a GOOD LIFE!



 

In

Holiday Season Upon Us

Catchup time!

First, produce from the garden:  Arugula and our first baby tomato:

 Next, our deck was replaced:

Then the frost and freeze hit us for two nights, and no more cukes or beans.  :(  We do have broccoli, cabbage, collards, radicchio, kale, spinach and romaine still growing, though. They have done well through the frosts.  Still have some tomatoes holding on.

Not only did the frost hit, but our fridge went out and our H/VAC system!  It was an expensive month.  Fortunately, we had heat just in time.  This is the fourth time our fridge has gone out in the last 4 years.  What is it with us and fridges???

Then Thanksgiving came and we went to our daughter Michelle's home for a few days.  Our son, Tristan, and his girlfriend, Tracy drove down from New York with their dog, Lilly (bulldog on the left) and they stopped at our home to see it for the first time.  They also helped move some furniture around.  That night we watched old home movies around the time Tristan was 5 just to show Tracy what a cute kid he was.  Tristan is in the middle back with Tracy on Gary's right.  Michelle is in pink and her hubby, Brian, and 6 kids (4-14) are in front.  The Mastiff is Daisy.

 We ate a lot, but exercised too and the weather was perfect on Thanksgiving Day.  

Now we have to do some landscaping around the deck and front and get ready for Christmas.  That will entail a trip to North Carolina near New Year's.  But more on that later.

Oh, and yesterday, for the first time since we got the house in April, Gary and I managed to make it back to the end of our very woodsy five acres.  It was very grown up with briars and probably some critters we didn't want to see during the summer, so we waited till now that things have died down a bit.  We need to get it fenced so we can get our goats this spring.  However, we had no idea what it looked like.  Now we know and it's not as bad as we thought.  We are hoping to do the fencing ourselves with a person who has done fencing before to help us.  Should be an adventure.

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and relaxing.

Life's still good...

Little Green Things!

After I arranged the hay bales, Gary helped tighten wire between three T-posts, one at each end of the bales and one in the middle.  The wires serve two purposes: to hold the plastic sheeting and act as a trellis for the climbing veggies.

 

tightening the wires

 

All planted and waiting for magic

 A layer of organic soil was placed on top of the bales about 2 inches thick.  I patted it down, and began planting my seeds.  A few days later - MAGIC!

Pole beans!

Cucumbers!

 To keep them warm at night and keep the moisture in, I spread the plastic sheeting over the bottom wire and tuck it in at the bottom.  Every morning I uncover them and give them a big drink.

Protection

 Also happening around the "almost farm", we needed our beautiful oak trimmed over the well pump in the back of the house.  Bobby came and climbed all over the tree taking out limbs that took me weeks to burn.  But we saved some beautiful logs for a CAMPFIRE, all you RVers that are coming to visit!

Man in tree

It is not all work and no play.  The Sunbelt Expo was coming to Moultrie, Georgia, and we attended on the last day.  Six hundred acres of BIG machinery and little machinery like this 1904 Hit and Miss Vertical Engine that churns fresh icecream!  My brother, Bob, has one just like this.  I sent him this photo and suggested that at next year's reunion, he do the same thing!

There were animals, seminars, gardens, tractors, food, and tons of stuff to see and do.  We spent all day there until they closed up, then drove the 1 1/2 hours home exhausted but with lots of fun info floating around in the brain.

Hubby enjoying himself!

 So how's the garden?  This was taken today.  Some things lasted, but some things needed replanting.  I have never had a garden, so this is all new to me.  Trial and error (a lot of that). These are cool weather crops, so I'm hoping my tomatoes make it to fruition. 

I have very little bugs, just some mites on the beans, which I spray off with a jet of water, them coat with Neem oil (also organic).  I'm trying to keep everything Organic - so much healthier.  

This week, we are getting an estimate on our rotten deck, going to a farm tomorrow to see pregnant goaties and some landscaping plants and ordering chickens!  They won't be here until the spring as they are MAILED through the USPS - yep.  

So more fun things will be happening at the "Almost Farm".