Progress on Chicken Coop

Hey guys, been working on the coop AND the garden trying to get it put in.  Sorry I've been away for awhile.  This is the busiest time of year on the farm.  I've got a few more rows of beans to put out and my cukes.  Also have some raised bed boxes that I'm going to put some things in.  I just don't have enough hours in the day with my job.  Know what I mean?

Above, first we laid the boards around the base of the run so we'd have something to attach the chicken wire to and also to give it more stability.  Same thing with the boards supporting the middle.  The coop and run will have a slanted roof so the rain will run off the back.  Here Dad is measuring for the floor of the coop.

Now, my sweet husband is attaching the top supports around the run...

AND... cutting off the tops of the uprights when they get the angle of the slant all marked off.

Dad's putting the door to the run together here.  It took some finagling to get the angles right due to the slant of the roofline.  But my Dad can do it - He still hangs the moon for me.

Above and below - here's where we left off.  Roof, wire and finish coop.  And oh yeah, we have to bury some wire or tin around the bottom so the varmints can't dig in.  Soon, I hope to fence off a portion of the orchard area so the hens will have a place to free-range...

Below, some dark clouds rolled in last week, don't remember which day, but it's always beautiful when the sun is out - it makes the clouds even darker, and the spring-y green of the oaks coming out really stood out against this dark sky.  I thought it was so pretty...

Gyp is really enjoying this weather.  Note to self...  go to Walm*rt and pick up a slicker brush and comb to help ease that undercoat out.  She's getting a little matted and I felt some grassburrs stuck behind one ear...

Well, tomorrow me and Dad are working on the coop.  I'm hoping to get it finished before the weekend is out.  I have bought some hens and they are about 3 months old.  The lady I bought them from is going to just hold them for me until my coop is finished, but I'm so anxious to get them I could just jump up and down!  Boing, boing, boing!!!

Will give you an update and let you know how much we get done on the coop!  I remember how excited  Farmchick Paula was when she got her coop built and got her hens.  There are probably several of you gals that were just as excited as I am now.  I've always wanted chickens and it's finally going to happen!  My mom told me the other day, "I just don't know why you want those nasty things."  Mom, you just don't understand. But she grew up with them - they had a bunch of chickens and a huge henhouse, and she hated going into the coop and gathering eggs and squishing chicken poop between her toes.  Maybe cuz I never had 'em growing up is why it excites me so much to get them now. 

Gotta run, gals - take care - I hope to be back soon - I need to come visit you all and see what you're up to!
Keep your dress down!

Ketchin' Up...

I'm still here!  Really, I am.  Just been SO busy this past couple of weeks!  Adam came home one week, Hayley came home for spring break the next week, my sister came up a couple of days, trying to get my garden in, work....AND  Finally....

Dum da da Dummmmm!  We're building my chicken coop and pen!!!  Yea!  After 3 years of waiting and waiting for the right time, I guess the time is NOW!

Tony and my dad got the posts set Saturday and later this week after our deluge for the next couple of days, we're going to begin work on the coop.  I'm so excited I could jump up and down!  My whole family thinks I'm completely bonkers but I don't care. I've always wanted chickens and now I finally get my chance! I'd like to find some older pullets that are about ready to lay.  They are just SO hard to find this time of year. Most everyone has chicks - I need instant gratification - I've been waiting all this time!  Hopefully, in a week or two it'll be done - depending on the weather of course.

Tony got my garden all tilled up and I started planting Sunday afternoon.  I got 4 rows of purple hull peas done, BUT the next 2 1/2 days it's going to be storming THEY say, so I didn't plant any more.  If it comes a frog strangler, it'll wash all my seeds away, and I'd sorta like to keep 'em planted.  So, the rest will have to wait til later on this week.  I have two raised beds planted with onions, and haven't decided what to put in the other 5 yet.  But I'll figure it out!

The bluebirds are picking out their nests for the year...

The martins have returned and are deciding about living arrangements, too...

The "Mrs" is undecided and she fluttered around for quite awhile until she decided which floor she wanted for her babies...

The turtle family comes out to sun themselves, but if they see us, they'll scatter into the water silently.

Can you believe how GREEN it is already this year???  We've been having 80's during the day.  The azaleas will be spent soon - hopefully, they won't be gone before the end of the Azalea Trails here!

There is a pair of bald eagles nesting in a tree on the lake that belongs to some friends of my parents.  They are so majestic. We watched them for quite awhile - they're very private and secretive.  My sister was here for a couple of days and she takes photos of birds.  So this is one of her beautiful photos. 

Here's what it looks like around here right now.  I just love it - it's my FAVORITE time of year!  Spring!

I hope your week is fabulous, dahlings!

Keep your dress down!

Josh & Lindsey in New Zealand

If you're following along, Lindsey has updated their blog - their adventure finding a place to live!  I get to see a whole new side of my son as a young husband, a young husband that truly cares about the needs and desires of his sweet wife.  Makes this mother's heart proud...   sniff...  sniff...

I'm A WINNER!

Lucky, lucky ME!  I entered a give-a-way over at Dawn's Comfy Corner (she's a fairly new blogger and buddy) and she sent me the news that I won!  And what a nice gift - it came in the mail yesterday and I'm so anxious to give them a try...  Seeeee?????

They are thick and absorbent and she made them very generous to scrub and wash all my dishes and pans!  Can't wait to use them.  I imagine I'll be gettin' to that shortly cuz I've got NO dishwasher other than myself and a sinkful of dirty dishes from breakfast!  Thanks so much, Dawn!  (Just noticed my "Butt Rub" seasoning for BBQ back there behind...  oops! - Promise that wasn't staged.)

In other news, my oldest son, Adam, is home for a few days to enjoy the farm, the tractor, AND most importantly - Fishing with his Pop (my daddy).  He said the rest of the spring is going to be very busy in the music industry and he probably won't be able to come home anytime soon after this.  EVEN THO it's supposed to rain torrents later this week/weekend.  He and Pop may have to find other things to do besides fish!  My middle son, the Kiwi son Josh, is a photographer, and he did some publicity shots of Adam last time they were home together...

 Josh is doing a great job, I think!  They took these photos down at the old train depot here in our town...

New topic...  about 3 years ago, a friend of mine gave me several starts of her white iris.  I spread them out in one of my flower beds behind the deck, and planted them and they've done really well at spreading and filling in and making new leaves.  They lived through our drought last summer, too.  I was about ready to pull them up and move them because in 3 years, they hadn't bloomed.  I thought maybe they weren't getting enough sun in their locale.  I even threatened them out loud that they were about to get yanked out of the ground if they didn't bloom this year.  Well, lo and behold...

THEY BLOOMED!!!

Think it was just time?  or think it was the threat???  Who knows, but I'm glad they decided to show their pretty faces!  Yes, they're all white, but I think I'll add some more colors to them.  I had intermixed them with some blue hydrangeas, but they died during the drought even tho I really babied them to no end.  So, iris it shall be!

Fruit trees are blooming their little hearts out...

My lovely onions.... Do you see some bare spots?  Well, my sweet little Gypsy decided to do some digging in the boxes.  I repaired as best as I could, but will have to get another bunch or so and fill in.  I can see some fencing in the near future around the garden, but that's okay.  The last 3 years, the coyotes ate most of my watermelons. Drat.  I've been asking for fencing since the first year, but THIS is the year for a garden fence!!!  Gypsy is one of those puppy dogs that buries her treats, her bones, her chewies, and goes back later when no one's looking to dig 'em up and eat 'em.  Another lesson from being a stray I suppose.

Kathy, you know what this means, doncha?  WAR ON GOPHERS!!!

Gypsy tries to dig them up, and if she finds one on a trap, she pulls the trap out of the ground and carries it off to eat the gopher.  Yuck.  (note to self - get worm medicine from vet...)  So... I've lost several gopher traps and at $6-$7 apiece can't afford that.  We've taken to driving a piece of rebar into the ground and wrapping a wire connected to the trap around the rebar to save our traps!  Works pretty good...

I've already caught two, and possibly 3 more that were eaten off the traps.

Ok, my peeps - love you all and I wish you the very best of weeks!  We have beauty outside right now, but rain is promised.  Only thing to deal with today is 30 mph winds!

Keep yer dress down!

South Light Art Blog Updated...

Updated my art blog in case you're interested!  I'm getting very close to the finish of the painting!

Time for Gardening!

At LAST!  It's officially time for gardening!  At least here in East Texas, altho I wouldn't doubt that we might have one more bout of nasty cold before it's all over with!  Usually Easter weekend, but it's in April this year so I think we're safe.  I've been bustin' a gusset to start my garden.  I'm doing something different this year - Square Foot Gardening - at least on part of it.  I'll still do my row crops like peas and beans in rows, but other things are going in raised beds.  I've been reading Mel Bartholomew's book "Square Foot Gardening" and it really makes alot of sense.  So...

Who do ya call?  Why, Daddy, of course!  Oh, hubby could do my bidding, too, but he's working, and Daddy needs something to do.  He's my partner in crime (or whatever else) and my go-to guy for all my little projects.  He built me some garden boxes from some old oak 2x8's and 2x6's, and I'm working on getting my planting mixture all ready for the beds.  Below is our new compost bin that Tony and Dad built last fall and we've got some super composting going on over here.

Here's my mixture of products - compost, vermiculate and peat moss.  I have to mix it all up barrow by barrow and put it into my raised beds...

Below, two of my beds all filled with the growing mix.  I've already got my onion starts planted in them but I haven't gotten their picture taken yet... I put out about 250-300 onions.  I know it sounds like alot, but we eat alot of green onions and that'll start in a few weeks, and then we'll leave some of them to grow to full size.  That'll take us through the summer, fall and part of winter (if I put them in the fridge).

Here's me, below, with my trusty Deere.  Our compost is pretty big so we turn it with the bucket.  Lots easier...

After all the gardening going on, these beautiful almost spring days call for a trip to the lake to do a little fishin'.  The bass were hungry and we caught about 20 each.  Unfortunately, Dad caught the only two big ones.  The rest were under about 10".  Oh well, we both had fish in the freezer, so it was fun catching them and letting them go - plus - no cleaning!  The bass are beginning to move up into the shallows to spawn.  Give them a couple more weeks or three, and we'll be able to just sit in the boat and watch them big lunkers jump in with us!  Just kidding, but the prospects for BIG bass will improve significantly!

My oldest son may be coming home from Nashville for a week or so, so I may be out of pocket for a bit.  Plus, WE (me & Dad) ARE FINALIZING OUR PLANS FOR BUILDING MY CHICKEN COOP!!!  At long last!  Hoping to get Adam in on that little project  - unless it rains.  They are predicting rain for 4 days this week, so we'll see how that goes!

PS -  For all you gals that commented about my last post on my husband's family's farmstead, I really appreciate your comments.  Unfortunately, we can't buy it as much as I'd like.  It does belong right now to one of the cousins and their family wants to possibly sell it - not sure yet.  He has Alzheimers disease and cannot really tell us anything about it.  We know very little about the early history of the property - only what's on the family records at the courthouse.  But thanks so much for your comments - it's a neat place and I'm sure it would have been SO interesting to know more about it!

Keep yer dress down!