*the Chick-Inn - vacancy

After many long laborious hours The Chick-Inn is finished!

Eric has worked tirelessly many days on in.  He is a researcher and a planner and skilled in many areas which makes him an all around great handy man!  I love him and I think I am gonna keep him.  Let me count they vast ways I love him. Oh, sorry- this post is about the chicken coop, not my hubby. 

The coop was made from recycled materials from various parts of our property.  You will see things we ripped out of the workshop, closet doors from the inside of the house, and even wood from the tree house that was in the back yard when we bought the house. We, of course, had to purchase chicken wire, screws, and a few pieces of lumber but most everything you will see are recycled materials.

Measure twice, cut once!

This is the back of the "egg boxes" as Eric so fondly calls them.  These are cabinets that were in the workshop that at one time were part of the kitchen in the house. Eric amazes me. He accessed what we had and then made his plan from there. The cabinets are installed as they would have been if they were hanging in a kitchen, but he arranged the cabinets as such so that he could use the doors on the back of the cabinets - aka nesting boxes- so we could lift up and gather eggs.  The coop itself has been built inside the barn where one of the stalls were at previously.  The coop will also extend to the outside as well. 

The flooring is going down!  Eric decided to put in a wood plank floor using some wood that was recycled from part of the workshop.  There was an area in the spacious workshop that had a loft built but was not necessary to us. Henry labored for a good while dismantling the loot floor and pulling out nails so these could be used as part of the Inn.

Almost all of the planks are down at this point. With the guidance of my hubby, I helped him snap a line on the planks so he could get a good straight clean cut.

Doesn't it look great?

Is it ready yet???????????

So perhaps you might remember me telling you about some closet doors that I recycled indoors for other functions besides the ones they were intended for? Well, Eric took a pair of the folding doors that are hinged and you can see that he screwed a board to the top and bottom so it would no longer fold, but instead create one solid door. In this picture it is opened and latched.

Yes, there are those doors again!  He chose to use a single one on the end as part of the wall framing.  Then he used a pair of the larger folding doors for the bottom part of the wall.  He once again used some 2 X 4's to go across the top and bottom of the door so it will not fold in like folding doors are designed to do.  If you enlarge the picture or look closely you can see the latch on the bottom center of the big door.  He did this so the door can be lifted up on its hinges and latched in place for cleaning the coop out. So smart!

Our next door neighbor harvest hay to sell to the public for their livestock needs.  He gave us this roll and told us if we needed more to let him know.  Good neighbors are a blessing. As he was leaving I gave him a bag of squash, I hope that was a good trade!  The hay will be used to cover the floor of the coop.

The last thing we had to get done on Friday night before we could let the chicks in was to get their roosting rack finished. I was so excited!  I know Eric thought I had lost my mind because of my giggly behavior.  I could hardly wait to get them in there. The roosting rack was made of wood that was in the recycle pile as well.  We used one of Eric's tools to rip the boards to the size we needed for the slats. 

The first group to come in was the younger chicks. They went right to eating, after all it was dinner time.

Then we let the bigger chicks in, and the bullying started. This picture does not show all of the younger chicks, but if you will notice to the left are all the "bigger chicks" and they had basically shoved the younger ones into the corner out of fear. I felt so sorry for the little girls.  I wanted to spank the older ones and tell them they should know better.. but I didn't think it would do any good. 

Yeh, Yeh, we know you all are the bosses...

The wire shelving rack over in the corner is sort of a test.. I am not hip about this particular item in the coop.  It may prove to work well for what Eric has intended, we will just have to wait and see. Oh, yes.. that is my foot. I had had my boots on all day and my feet were aching. I took them off, so excited to get the chicks in, I sat down in the coop with them and snapped a few pictures!

Thanks Darlin!  Thanks for working so hard to provide a "Fort Knox" for our chickens!  Look above the back corner of the coop and you will see one of our cats, Timon. He went up the stairs to the loft and then came walking over to the top of the coop. The chickens were making all kinds of noise at this point so he was quite interested in all the commotion.  There is a small door down near the floor where Eric is standing which is hinged and can be opened to let the chicks free range or go into their outdoor coop area.  We have not put straw in the nesting boxes yet but plan to get that done one day this week. We still have some time before they are needed, not long though.  It is our hope that none of them get the idea to spend time inside of those cozy little areas until it is the right time. 

 The Chick-Inn had vacancy for a limited time, but now we have have put the NO VACANCY sign out!

*home sweet home

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. -Jane Austin

I must confess, the first time we looked at this beloved property that we now call home, I hated it. Really, I did. The land was great, and so many things we were looking for in a property were right before our eyes.  The house - left a lot to be desired.  I have changed a few things such as painting, flooring, rearranged some light fixtures and general scrubbing and cleaning.  Those things have made a difference.  What has also made a difference is my perspective or perhaps my motives.  I will not bore you with all the long drawn out details on how my priorities or motives have changed, they just have and you'll just have to trust me.

Since the Sanders abode is currently clean, I thought I would take a few pictures and give you a before and after look of some the common rooms in this lovely place we now call home.  

This is the large laundry/pantry room.  We removed the make shift table structure at the back of this room.  We removed the linolum from the 1970's era which was dry rotted and crumbling.

Another view of the same room. We took the cabinet doors off of the cabinets, making it more use friendly.  These are the cabinet doors that we used when we made the "Chicken Tractor".  I love recycling materials! 

A can of paint, a screw driver, a helpful teen, and new tiles - voila!  

Before.  The flooring was cracking and pulling up in many areas due to some water damage, so much so that you could trip over it if you weren't careful.   The wall color.. not my favorite at all.

The only thing I loved about this room was the fireplace. It is amazing.

This was NOT a good day for us. We drove 12 hours to close and the sellers had not done some things they should have done prior to our travel.  Sadly we had to drive back to NC and come again in 30 days for our closing which took place a few days before Thanksgiving. 

After. We removed the flooring and put down tile, changed the wall color and moved one light fixture from one room to another.  I love this room, it is the hub of our family as well as our living room.  We still have molding to get in place, and in time that will be completed. 

This room has had a big transformation too.  This flooring was peeling up as well due to the water damage, so it was also ripped out.  Eric being the diversified handy man that he is, framed up and closed off the opening between these two rooms. The far room was the dining room area, but serves as Eric's office.  The room Eric is standing is is now our living room.  Eric also did an excellent job constructing a build in to hold all of our blessed books. 

It seems that Julie was following me around, she is in several of the pictures of the different rooms. After many months of looking and I do mean many, I found these awesome couches on Craigslist. We paid $75 per couch and though the set is used I feel like we walked away with a super deal.  The color is not my favorite because soiled areas will show up more easily, but I suppose it helps us to be more conscious about keeping it clean. 

She thinks I am holding a photo session all about her - because that is how she rolls.  Julie's world revolves around Julie. 

After reading Franziska's comment below, I went back and hung the quilt rack (then added this pic). Thanks for that direction. I love it!

One day we might get some artwork hung up, or maybe not. It seems that most of my daylight hours are spent outside these walls. I do so enjoy being out doors working with the animals or tending the garden, so it is a joy and not a chore.  When our days work is done we often retire to the front room for some reading or possibly sitting together eating dinner while watching  Pawn Stars or American Pickers or possibly Deadliest Catch!

It seems that my thinking has changed a bit since we moved. I am not saying that the move itself has caused my changes, simply that it is happening.   I feel totally spoiled and overwhelmingly blessed by this home/property and many times have had to repent for my poor attitude about the house.  If I was who I am today back in September when we were looking at houses we would not have looked at any of the other houses besides this one. I would not have turned my nose up at this house because the light fixtures didn't all match, or that the door knobs were brass which matched (still matches) the brass light fixtures from the mid 70's. One of the first things that I was demanding when our house sold in NC was that we changed all the light fixtures out to polished nickel, as well as the other hardware throughout the house.   These kinds of things are not of high importance to me any longer. These things will not be change out (unless someone give's us the hardware).  Oh, I said I wasn't going to bore you with all the details of my mind change, sorry. 

But every house where Love abides 

And Friendship is a guest, 

Is surely home, and home, sweet home;

For there the heart can rest. - Henry Van Dyke

This really is my desire, that all will find a place in our home where their hearts can rest.  I am coming to the conclusion that everything does not have to be perfect for rest to be found.  My heart did not rest much when I was growing up because my father was an alcoholic, a loving kind alcoholic, but nonetheless plagued by the power of the bottle which certainly had an effect on all of us.

*picking time

Momma and I planted our gardens mid March and prayed for no more severe frost that would damage our seedlings as they started to sprout.  We did have a few nights that were close, but no cigar Charlie! Whew!  We just missed it! 

I was ready to get the seeds in the ground when we planted so they could soak up that water and sunshine inviting life to burst forth.  I was ready to pull weeds and grass when they started to creep in to our precious seedlings areas.  I was ready to water, fertilize and use my home made mixtures to keep pest off our plants when needed. What I am not so sure if I was ready for or not is the production that is bursting forth each day.  Grateful, indeed - ready, not so much.

Sunday a 3 gallon bucket of flat snap beans were picked and I put 7 quarts in the freezer (cha-ching) and TODAY I picked another 3 gallon bucket. I did not get to the putting up part yet though.  I washed them and got them ready for snapping but seems time got away from me before they were taken care of.  They are resting nicely in the fridge, and on the top of my "To Do List" for tomorrow.  Besides canning and freezing, how do you preserve your pole beans (or snap beans)?  Possibly dehydrate? If so, how do you like or use them when it is time?

So glad this is not on my harvest list!  Several fields of wheat grow on roads we travel often in the countryside and I just love the sight each time I pass it by, so I decide to photograph it!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do..

*the JOY of gardening

I am super excited about these!  We planted both white onions and purple onions this year. It is our first year for growing onions and now I am wishing I had planted more!

We have already lost several squash plants to the cut worm, but we planted a bunch so we are good. 

Butter beans in bloom, it wont be long before I will be picking these too!

Potatoes, onions, and tomatoes - Oh my!

Aren't the blooms on the potatoe plants pretty?

This is the first year we have had a garden as grand as the two we are currently caring for and it really is a joy. Gardening brings me joy, being able to work with my hands and labor to produce something wholesome for our family is such a blessing.  We are growing things we have never grown before and learning as well go. We are trying our hands at horseradish root, garlic, peanuts, asparagus as well as many common garden plants such as peas, beans, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, cukes, squash, onions and etc.  I hope you are just jumping in and planting a few things you never thought you would or could grow just to learn from that experience and produce a few things for the dinner table.

How is your garden growing?

*a cackling good time

This is one of our two Buff Leghorns, they are the runts in the bunch.  She will grow to about 4 lbs, while some of our  breeds  will be 8 to 10 lbs.

Here is Henry and Susan, the only Giant White we have.  She is the same age as the little Leghorn above. This particular chicken will likely  grow to 8 to 10 lbs full size.

The mostly white and black chickens to the left are Brahmas, some of my favorite coloring in a chicken.  The mostly black and white you see to the right are one of our three Barred Rocks.

Our chickens have been set free!  Every day since Eric has been "home" the chickens have been free ranged and they are loving it!  In the mornings, provided we are not going shopping in town, the chickens are allowed to roam the land as they please til dusk at feeding time.  It is great fun to watch them scratch, search for bugs, flop around in the dirt cleaning themselves, and chasing each other from time to time.  We have gotten so friendly with them that they will follow me around- they know where their bread is buttered. I often will get a handful of scratch and let them eat from my hands.  Yes, sometimes it does hurt a bit when they get so zealous in their pecking for the feed, but I endure because that is just what momma's do.

I know Eric feels so blessed to have both his boys helping him in the barn on this day.  Many hands make work light!  Today we had many hands. While the boys were in the barn working, I was in the garden picking pole beans, summer squash and zucchini squash.  We later snapped the beans, blanched them and put 8 quart bags into the freezer.

Eric has been so busy with too many task for me to list, but his most recent project has been the chicken coop.  It is coming along nicely and the chicks are close by throughout the day to check on the progress.  He has even had to run them out of the area a few times as not to step on them.   Today while he was working on the coop, both of our boys were in the barn helping.  Greatest gift a mother could ask for.

The coop should been nearly complete by the weekend, I look forward to updating you soon!

*HI!

Just a quick note to say, "I am alive and doing really well!" I look forward to sharing some things with you very soon. Have a super day!