Making It Meaningful

Update on A-frame Chicken Coop.....w/ pics

Today was very productive!

I layed the chicken-wire floor, stapled down the sides and cabled tied all of the seams.

Next I put up some nesting boxes (or should I say buckets?  ) These still need the dividers...

Next was some roosts and baseboards (to keep the bedding in place) ...

And here's an overview!

I also did some of the framework on the back of the a-frame but soon ran out of steam...and daylight!

Building an A-frame chicken coop....with pics

After a ton of research on coop styles, I decided to go with an A-frame coop. My most patient and wonderful hubby has been kind enough to sit back and let me build it....using his power tools! (And so far, all I've ruined is his skil saw...I kinda cut through the cord... Ooops! )

Now we aren't technically supposed to have chickens here (zoning law that is supposed to be changing) so I decided to build a greenhouse to put the chickens in. Hide them in plain site, and if I end up having to find other homes for them, I can still use the greenhouse.

With that in mind....let the pictures begin!

The first step was to clear the area for the A-frame and the chickens yard...

Next was to start building the basic frame,...

Then the rafters....

My helper...

Done with the rafters...

Then I used the corners we had cut from the 2x4 rafters and made little corner braces...

Next was the "firring strips".....

Then the palruf panels...one side clear...

This will be the chickens view..

The other side white...In this picture you can also see the cap that went over the peak. (Hubby had to help, I was too short to do it by myself!)

Then I loaded all along the base with rocks so sneaky coons/skunks can't get in... (I'm also putting chicken wire over the whole dirt floor to keep critters out)

Next was framing time....

Back wall framed...(Adam's testing it out for me...he had a blast getting filthy!)

Front wall framed...

Next was the plywood...Back, inside view...

Back, outside view...

Front inside view...

Front, outside view....

I still have a big to-do list to finish....

-Staple down the chicken wire over the floor

-I already framed out the pop door, but I need to cut it out and figure out how I want it to close/lock.

-Build a door and hang it.

-Build nest boxes

-Put up roosts (I have a maple we cut down while clearing the chickens yard and I'm hoping to use that.)

-Trim work

-Painting

-Build and fence in the chickens yard.

And I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of right now!

Sorry..just had to add these...

Little man trying to be a duck...

And my supervisors!

I'll try to add more pictures as it all comes together!

PS

We've chosen to buy an incubator and have eggs cookin' in it right now! The are due around Oct. 31. We'll be adding some more at the end of this week and are setting up a second incubator to be used as a "hatcher". This has been an incredible lesson in "school" for us. Very educational...more on that later!

By Chance

Is just how we got our new horse Chance. I saw him on freecycle and emailed the gal and it all worked out for us to get a great horse for free.

He is 24 years old (so not a spring chicken), old trail, show horse. He is a racking horse. Great chestnut color with a lighter mane and tail. Very gentle, nice horse. He has come to live out his retirment on the farm. We are trying to get him back into shape for some riding of him. The kids especially will be good for him as they dont weigh as much. DH and I have ridden him just a little too. He is a giant for sure!! But we are giving him a second Chance out here on the farm!!

Be blessed today

Melanie

Happy Birthday

To my precious 4 year old daughter!!

Melanie

Incubator....to buy or to build...

That is the question! So in true home-schooling style, we decided to cancel our order of baby chicks and try to hatch them ourselves. (Talk about an educational opportunity!) Now, the question arises...do we build one or buy one? For the sake of homeschooling, I'd love to build one with our children....but I'm also a bit afraid to have a homemade electrical appliance running 24/7 for 3 weeks! Also, I have to admit that I'm being lured in by the self-turning options out there....

Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Our trip to the orchard

2 bushels of apples!! Yummy! Our own apples were a bit wormy despite our effort at spraying them, so I figured I would go to the experts again to get apples.. Wesler Orchard in OH.  Last year they had to import their apples from Michigan as we had a horrible spring freeze. This year the apples looked beautiful!! DS11 already made caramel apples for dessert tonight. I want to try some baked apples. I am trying to avoid refined sugar and flour so I am not sure what else we will make with it.  I still have some applesauce from last year, but may end up making some more.

Melanie

Busy Autumn...Harvest and Babies!!

Baby chicks that is!

That's right, we've placed an order for some baby chicks and cannot wait to have them here! We've ordered (all pullets):

2-Black Australorp
2-Salmon Faverolle
2-Ameraucanas
2-Buff Orpington
2-Light Brahma
2-Barred Rock

and 1 Dominique as an early birthday present for our almost 10 year old.

Now it's time to set up the brooder and plan out the chicken coop...wow, this almost feels like being pregnant and nesting!! For the brooder, we've been blessed with a 100 gallon aquarium with cover and heat lamps (Yay!!) and it'll be in the bathroom (a huge room with lots of wasted space!) My Dad's a carpenter and he's offered to help with the coop....I'm soo excited! LOL 

Now onto the harvest...canning, freezing, dehydrating..oh my!

We've been blessed with a couple of bushells of squash, several sugar pumpkins (to can),  2 bushells of apples,150 lbs of wheat berries, 150 lbs of potatoes, 25 lbs of onions and 20 lbs of carrots....oh and another 4 bushell of corn for the freezer. I'm exhausted just thinking of the work to be done over the next couple of days, but feel sooo blessed to have this bounty of fruits and veggies for our family. We're also going to re-stock our supply of dried beans and brown rice to make sure we have plenty for the winter. Between the winter/economy, I think it would do a person good to make sure they have something set by for harder times....I know my husband has heard rumors of layoffs at work...and he works at the railroad! Supposedly one of the most secure jobs you can hold! 

Luckily, we have nothing to fear......we know our Lord will provide for us and get us through tough

times !

Be blessed...

Window update, and the art of decluttering, or why my back hurts.

Whew. I have had quite the day today, let me tell you. For some reason I have this urge to purge -- and I'm not referring to an eating disorder. I have been decluttering and re-organizing everything in sight! And not a moment too soon, either. I know that Mrs. Michelle Duggar once said that she didn't really get organized until her fourth of fifth baby came along. I understand why!

I am not naturally an organized person, exactly, but having five small children living in a limited space has really brought the necessity for organization to the glaringly obvious forefront. My brain can't handle the stress and strain of all this *stuff*. Once during a previous decluttering spell, my husband complained that I was getting rid of too much, but I gently explained to him that this *stuff* was challenging my mental health, and he relented. This time around, I know he was feeling the strain too, and so he was actually eager and enthusiastic about my efforts to streamline our belongings. Actually, I am not sure "streamline" does my efforts justice. I think I'll go back to the word, "purge".

Here is a photo of the clothing of four of my five children (not including the clothing that is still on the line outside, or in the hamper. I will deal with that as I process it). I went into their rooms, and threw every single item of clothing into laundry baskets, and then dumped it all on the couches in the living room. This is not including the clothing that I organized yesterday -- the non-current sizes that are being saved for children to grow into (although you can see some of that on the coffee table, all boxed up and ready to go back into storage). This is just the current stuff that they have been wearing, or throwing directly onto the floor, or whatever. I think it is pretty impressive.


Probably even more impressive in person.

So, I actually got that all organized, and here is the photo of all the clothes that are ready to go to the charity store (as well as a few toys that made their way into the outbox):


Anyhow. The above photo is not nearly as amazing as a current one would be (which I would post here, except it is now dark and I don't like using the flash, and plus I just can't be bothered). Because now I have seriously culled the kids' toys, every last one. That little room is now, literally, half full of stuff. I mean, it is full half way to the ceiling. Seriously. So yes, I am awesome. Thank you.

In other news, I finished my window makeover yesterday. It is hard to get a good photo of a window with the curtains open because (at least with my stupid camera) the light coming in makes for a dark photo. I'll tell you what I did: I washed the window and the screen, took down, laundered and rehung the curtain, and made some braided, rag rug style tie-backs. Nothing fancy, but that's the way we like things around here.


Yeah, it works. I dig it.

So what did YOU do today?

Gravity Box

Yippee, DH got a gravity box at the auction on Saturday. So now he is set to have the corn picker put the corn right into the box. It has really made the picking of the corn go much smoother. So far he figures we have about 4000 pounds of corn on the cob.. It will be wonderful when we start to see the savings add up by not having to go to the feed store for awhile. I figure we spend close to $300 a month on feed for animals, and that will be greatly reduced with our own corn. We are also going to switch the layers to straight corn for the winter. They aren't laying much right now as they are getting older, so to spend the extra money on laying mash isn't getting us a favorable result. I don't think they will lay much this winter so we will just feed corn and later in the spring try to breed and get some chicks for spring and start over with a new batch of layers.

Melanie

Crochet food pattern links...