This was going to be the big weekend. The girls were 5 weeks old, and way too big to be in their little tub we had made for them. The house smelled like a coop, they "flew the coop" every time we lifted their screen cover and the dust was like a crematorium had exploded. It was gross. They finally had their feathers, (mostly), and we decided we were going to do whatever it took to get them to the barn this weekend.
We got up really early on Saturday, around 7am, and headed to the local rental place to pick up scaffolding. Dixie's running lights still don't work, (it's not the bulbs), so we had to wait till the sun was up to leave the house so we wouldn't be pulled over again.
About an hour later we were down at the barn, setting up the scaffolding. It was a little bit windy, but at least it wasn't raining. We got the scaffolding up...surprisingly it wasn't too difficult. We then finished stapling up the tyvek wrap and started putting up the top row of T1-11. By the time we hit the second piece, we knew something wasn't right. P was getting pissed, swearing it was the flashing we had put up. The bottom right corner would fit, but to make it level the bottom left corner had to be lifted about a quarter inch. We knew the bottom row was completely level, so we began to wonder if it was possibly the sheets of T1-11 that weren't cut straight. We decided to move on, lining up the grooves and keeping the sheets level, and gradually the problem got worse. By the time we put the second to the last piece up, the bottom right corner fit tight, but the bottom left corner was raised almost an inch. We decided that we could cover the seam with a 2x6 when it was done, and make it look like "trim". "Trim" solves many problems.
At this point we were only 5 feet up. The contraption was huge, and we were both stalling on putting the second level up to reach the peak of the barn which is 17feet.
We decided the best way to finish the day was to finish the inside of the coop so we could get the girls in there Sunday morning.
Patty got to work cutting out the vent hole in the wall, and I started the platform for their waterer to go on. Both jobs went fairly quick and once again we were very impressed with our skills. All that was left in the coop was to wash the walls with vinegar water, (I read somewhere it was safer for the chicks than using bleach, but just as effective,) and to recaulk some of the seams in the walls and ceiling of the coop. Well, after searching for about 45 minutes, high and low, we realized our caulking gun was missing. Damn it...guess we have to go to Ace.
So we jumped in my Tahoe, and on the way to town, decided to get chai's and run by the feed store for some more pine shavings for the girl's coop. While walking around the feed store, I went to scratch my belly...(oh come on! who doesn't do that?!) and I felt what felt like a scab or like a drop of sap or something about an inch below my belly button. So without thinking I began to pick at it...only half wondering how I could have gotten sap on my stomach, because it was really stuck there. I came around the corner behind Patty when I managed to pull it off. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! (sorry if that offended anyone) it was a %&#$!#^ tick!!! And it was alive! I dropped it and the room began to swim. I somehow communicated to Patty (not sure if it was grunts or sign language) that I just pulled the tick out of my stomach and probably more out of reflex, she stomped on it as the little mother %^#$*@ tried to make a quick get away. I felt my saliva glands began to overwork, and my eyes filled with tears. "I'm going to be sick, I think I'm going to throw up." I told her. She must have believed me by the look on my face because she pointed her finger at me and said, "YOU ARE A FARM GIRL! YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" I was applying pressure to my stomach where the tick came out, because it hurt so bad, and I followed her to the counter to pay. By the time I got there a new wave of nausea overcame me when I began to think about if the head was still in my stomach. I grabbed her by the arm. "If the head is still in there you have to pull it out for me." I said. "Oh my God I'm going to be sick..." and I told her I would meet her out at the car. I went to the Tahoe and opened the door to shield me from any on lookers that may pass by, and I lifted my sweatshirt and looked down at my stomach half expecting to see another one waving at me or flipping me the bird. All I saw was a red spot of blood...ok ok it was tiny...but it was still blood and it hurt like hell. No little tick head to mount in my barn as a trophy. P came out with our purchases and asked me if I was alright. "No head" was what I managed to get out. We headed to Ace and I know we were both thinkin the same thing. You know how when you hear someone has head lice and just hearing it makes your head itch?? Well just knowing there was a tick that somehow found its way to behind the button of my jeans made my skin crawl...gave us both the downright heeby jeebys.
In Ace my stomach began to cramp pretty bad. I was nauseous and tried to do some deep breathing exercises moving down the aisle. I started thinking I should have captured the tick. What if I had to go to the doctor? What if it had lime disease? Or rabies for cryin out loud? Stupid tick. I thought about the time Bubba had the tick for over a year, (we thought it was a mole.) When we realized his mole had little legs and pulled it out did his stomach cramp too?
I was determined to move on with the day...refusing to let the now dead tick ruin our mojo. Patty came across a roll of linoleum and had the great idea to put it down on the concrete in the bottom of the coop. The existing concrete was stained with something that looked like oil and we were worried about the babies having access to it and getting sick. Plus, the thought of just being able to pull the linoleum out and spraying it down and putting it back was a plus. So we got the roll of linoleum, a caulking gun and some other goodies and headed home.
When we got back to the barn, we got the bucket of vinegar water, and began scrubbing the walls. After what seemed like forever, Patty used the caulking gun and filled the seams and small gaps in the walls and ceiling.
We checked the time. It had been ten hours since we left the house to get the scaffolding!! We headed up to the house, undressed and checked each other for ticks.
Fortunately, there were no more, and my stomach cramping was gone by morning.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
April 3, 2010 Every little bit helps...
It was pouring...but the girls are 4 weeks now, and not fitting very well into their tub anymore so we have to keep going. We headed down to the barn and looked at what we had left to do. The top row of siding was still looming ahead of us, but we still had no idea how we were going to get up there or make the complicated cuts to form the gable roof of the barn.
I started hooking up extension cords and hooked up the brand new tri-pod work light I got us. "LET THERE BE LIGHT!" The spotlight showed on our work table and lit up the inside of the barn. I already felt like something was accomplished....
Patty was determined to get the measurements for the first upper row piece...
We went out into the rain and I held her ladder while she went up to get the measurements. She kept her body as close as possible to the barn, and I lowered my face to keep the rain from hitting it. After about 5 minutes of measurements she came down.
We went back into the barn and grabbed a fresh piece of T1-11. Measuring and cutting was a piece of cake under our new work light! We took the piece back out into the rain and almost killed eachother trying to get it up the ladder and in place. IT FIT!!! We brought it back into the barn, deciding that we would wait until better weather to do the top row.
About 20 minutes later the rain eased up a bit, and we ran out to put the flashing on top of the bottom row of boards. (Something the Great Oracle told me we needed.) We argued the whole time about if we really needed it, if it fit right, and if it would mess up the top row of T1-11. I told P the Great Oracle doesn't lie and that he knows better than we do so she finished nailing it up...growling under her breath.
I knew we were both irritated at this point....With the rain, how cold we were, how much we had to go, that the house still had to be cleaned, grocery shopping and laundry had to be done, etc etc etc.
But we had to keep going...had to make some kind of progress besides flashing and cutting one board.
So we decided to build the perch inside the coop. We bickered about that too. I was trying to calculate in my head. I had brought our "Barnyard in your Backyard" book down with me so I wouldn't have to memorize measurements and so I could show P the picture. 8" of perch per bird x 26 birds, 12" between each perch vertically and 18" between them horizontally. I drew a rough sketch and P started cutting 2x6s. We bought 2" diameter railing for perches and cut them each 64" long. We had 3 of them, which made enough for 24 birds. Oh well, they would have to take turns. Besides, chances are we have at least one rooster, so it would probably be perfect. I was still trying to calculate in my head when P grabbed the nail gun... Ok...we'll put them up now. I bit my lip and pointed where I wanted the perches. POW POW POW and the first one was on. It actually looked pretty good. POW POW POW POW POW POW POW and the other 2 were on. It actually looked pretty good. I wanted to grab the tape measure, (and did when she walked out). I wanted to verify they were 12" and 18" blah blah blah. It didn't matter anymore....they weren't going anywhere. It looked pretty good anyway.
Before we called it a day we added a perch and a front rail to the nest box we made. We then hung it to the wall. It looked so cute!!!
We didn't bother cleaning up since we were planning on coming down the following day. We headed up to the house arm in arm. It had been a long, but good day.
Around 6 o'clock that night I felt a sharp pain in my throat and felt it starting to swell... By the time I went to bed I could barely swallow. I was on my second week of antibiotics! I couldn't be getting sick!
I started hooking up extension cords and hooked up the brand new tri-pod work light I got us. "LET THERE BE LIGHT!" The spotlight showed on our work table and lit up the inside of the barn. I already felt like something was accomplished....
Patty was determined to get the measurements for the first upper row piece...
We went out into the rain and I held her ladder while she went up to get the measurements. She kept her body as close as possible to the barn, and I lowered my face to keep the rain from hitting it. After about 5 minutes of measurements she came down.
We went back into the barn and grabbed a fresh piece of T1-11. Measuring and cutting was a piece of cake under our new work light! We took the piece back out into the rain and almost killed eachother trying to get it up the ladder and in place. IT FIT!!! We brought it back into the barn, deciding that we would wait until better weather to do the top row.
About 20 minutes later the rain eased up a bit, and we ran out to put the flashing on top of the bottom row of boards. (Something the Great Oracle told me we needed.) We argued the whole time about if we really needed it, if it fit right, and if it would mess up the top row of T1-11. I told P the Great Oracle doesn't lie and that he knows better than we do so she finished nailing it up...growling under her breath.
I knew we were both irritated at this point....With the rain, how cold we were, how much we had to go, that the house still had to be cleaned, grocery shopping and laundry had to be done, etc etc etc.
But we had to keep going...had to make some kind of progress besides flashing and cutting one board.
So we decided to build the perch inside the coop. We bickered about that too. I was trying to calculate in my head. I had brought our "Barnyard in your Backyard" book down with me so I wouldn't have to memorize measurements and so I could show P the picture. 8" of perch per bird x 26 birds, 12" between each perch vertically and 18" between them horizontally. I drew a rough sketch and P started cutting 2x6s. We bought 2" diameter railing for perches and cut them each 64" long. We had 3 of them, which made enough for 24 birds. Oh well, they would have to take turns. Besides, chances are we have at least one rooster, so it would probably be perfect. I was still trying to calculate in my head when P grabbed the nail gun... Ok...we'll put them up now. I bit my lip and pointed where I wanted the perches. POW POW POW and the first one was on. It actually looked pretty good. POW POW POW POW POW POW POW and the other 2 were on. It actually looked pretty good. I wanted to grab the tape measure, (and did when she walked out). I wanted to verify they were 12" and 18" blah blah blah. It didn't matter anymore....they weren't going anywhere. It looked pretty good anyway.
Before we called it a day we added a perch and a front rail to the nest box we made. We then hung it to the wall. It looked so cute!!!
We didn't bother cleaning up since we were planning on coming down the following day. We headed up to the house arm in arm. It had been a long, but good day.
Around 6 o'clock that night I felt a sharp pain in my throat and felt it starting to swell... By the time I went to bed I could barely swallow. I was on my second week of antibiotics! I couldn't be getting sick!
March 29, 2010 Visiting the Great Oracle...
It was a blustery day at work, but I knew I had to go see him. The Great Oracle, also known as our pal "Fibbs". Fibbs is the smartest person I know in the whole wide world about all things construction, landscaping or HGTV. P and I were absolutely perplexed on how to do the roof for the chicken run...and Fibbs is great at breaking things down Barney style, and topping off all conversations with a pep talk, so it was off to see the Great and wise Oracle I went.
I walked almost a mile I think...in and out of buildings, across bridges, against the pouring rain...barefoot...backwords...just kidding.
The smell of saw dust let me know I was close...I opened his office door and saw his wise face...happy to see me.
I pulled an office chair up to his wheelchair (gang fight)...(kidding), and pulled the wrinkled piece of paper out of my pocket. I made him a crude drawing of what we planned. Where the barn was, where we were planning on putting the run, dimensions etc. The Great Oracle got the look on his face that he ALWAYS gets when I share my ideas. Something along the lines of "Becky why the hell do you always want the biggest, craziest most difficult contraptions?" BECAUSE IT'S FOR YOUR 26 NIECES FIBBS!!! They need the best!
So he began to tell me what it would take to build my chicken run...I heard the words "lagbolts", "supports", "load supporting", and "every 6 inches". And that was only the first paragraph. My head began to swim and I asked for plan B. He said we could build the run and roof free standing so the posts held the weight and not our old barn. That sounded like a better idea. So I put in my order for a drawing and some Barney style directions and he said he would get on it.
I gave him a hug, and he said he was proud of us.
I headed back out into the weather feeling super smart....just because I knew someone super smart. Thanks Fibbs....for all you do, all your support, and for just being you. :)
I walked almost a mile I think...in and out of buildings, across bridges, against the pouring rain...barefoot...backwords...just kidding.
The smell of saw dust let me know I was close...I opened his office door and saw his wise face...happy to see me.
I pulled an office chair up to his wheelchair (gang fight)...(kidding), and pulled the wrinkled piece of paper out of my pocket. I made him a crude drawing of what we planned. Where the barn was, where we were planning on putting the run, dimensions etc. The Great Oracle got the look on his face that he ALWAYS gets when I share my ideas. Something along the lines of "Becky why the hell do you always want the biggest, craziest most difficult contraptions?" BECAUSE IT'S FOR YOUR 26 NIECES FIBBS!!! They need the best!
So he began to tell me what it would take to build my chicken run...I heard the words "lagbolts", "supports", "load supporting", and "every 6 inches". And that was only the first paragraph. My head began to swim and I asked for plan B. He said we could build the run and roof free standing so the posts held the weight and not our old barn. That sounded like a better idea. So I put in my order for a drawing and some Barney style directions and he said he would get on it.
I gave him a hug, and he said he was proud of us.
I headed back out into the weather feeling super smart....just because I knew someone super smart. Thanks Fibbs....for all you do, all your support, and for just being you. :)
Friday, April 2, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Rain rain go away, come again some other day...
The girls (chickens) are 3 weeks old now and are so ridiculously ugly! They are half feathered and half fuzz and I think this is their ugly teenager stage that we all go through. It takes both of us to change their food and water because the second we lift the screen they start flying everywhere...it's like the movie chicken run. :) They are a reminder everyday that we need to keep on trucking on the chicken coop!
It was raining way too hard to work outside, but we decided to set up inside the barn anyway. I was so thankful the barn roof didn't leak! We ran the extension cord into the barn and set up our cutting table. The only problem was I haven't yet re-wired the barn, so we only had the one outlet coming from the extension cord. So the inside of the barn was pretty dark, and after a few cuts with the circular saw we decided we weren't working safe.
I texted Mariah up at the house, and asked her to bring a splitter down to the barn and an extra light bulb for the droplight we had down there. A few minutes later I looked up the hill and down came my daughter in the pouring rain, in shorts, tennis shoes with no socks, and a dinky hooded jacket. I joked with Patty that we should make her a poncho. So while we waited for Mariah I grabbed a contractor garbage bag, and Patty cut a hole in the top for her head. When she reached the barn I showed her the new poncho. I wouldn't say she was excited about it, but she put it on and it went down to her knees. The head hole was a little too big, so I grabbed some florescent orange string that was for marking the fence line and Patty laced it up the back of Mariah's new poncho.
We plugged the splitter in and quickly hooked up the droplight. What a difference!
Before Mariah left, I asked her to take a picture of the back of the barn with her phone so we could have some record of our process. Patty gave her an arm hole and Mariah walked around to the back of the barn swishing in her garbage bag. She looked hysterical trying to photograph the back of the barn from within her tent. She headed back up to the house and we continued with our work.
It was coming down pretty hard, and even hailed for about 15 minutes so we decided to take on the nest boxes for the chicken coop. We had left the picture of the sample up in the house, so we guessed the measurements and used scratch pieces of plywood and T1-11. With the little stapler that came with our air compressor we quickly put together the two nest boxes. It turned out awesome!! We have four more to go and I think it will be a snap!!!
The girls (chickens) are 3 weeks old now and are so ridiculously ugly! They are half feathered and half fuzz and I think this is their ugly teenager stage that we all go through. It takes both of us to change their food and water because the second we lift the screen they start flying everywhere...it's like the movie chicken run. :) They are a reminder everyday that we need to keep on trucking on the chicken coop!
It was raining way too hard to work outside, but we decided to set up inside the barn anyway. I was so thankful the barn roof didn't leak! We ran the extension cord into the barn and set up our cutting table. The only problem was I haven't yet re-wired the barn, so we only had the one outlet coming from the extension cord. So the inside of the barn was pretty dark, and after a few cuts with the circular saw we decided we weren't working safe.
I texted Mariah up at the house, and asked her to bring a splitter down to the barn and an extra light bulb for the droplight we had down there. A few minutes later I looked up the hill and down came my daughter in the pouring rain, in shorts, tennis shoes with no socks, and a dinky hooded jacket. I joked with Patty that we should make her a poncho. So while we waited for Mariah I grabbed a contractor garbage bag, and Patty cut a hole in the top for her head. When she reached the barn I showed her the new poncho. I wouldn't say she was excited about it, but she put it on and it went down to her knees. The head hole was a little too big, so I grabbed some florescent orange string that was for marking the fence line and Patty laced it up the back of Mariah's new poncho.
We plugged the splitter in and quickly hooked up the droplight. What a difference!
Before Mariah left, I asked her to take a picture of the back of the barn with her phone so we could have some record of our process. Patty gave her an arm hole and Mariah walked around to the back of the barn swishing in her garbage bag. She looked hysterical trying to photograph the back of the barn from within her tent. She headed back up to the house and we continued with our work.
It was coming down pretty hard, and even hailed for about 15 minutes so we decided to take on the nest boxes for the chicken coop. We had left the picture of the sample up in the house, so we guessed the measurements and used scratch pieces of plywood and T1-11. With the little stapler that came with our air compressor we quickly put together the two nest boxes. It turned out awesome!! We have four more to go and I think it will be a snap!!!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
We had agreed to watch our friends' baby Tyler for the morning, so we spent the morning entertained by him. It was weird having a baby around considering our kids are grown. But babies must be like riding bikes because Patty was a wonderful baby sitter and little Tyler just loves her! (He doesn't really like me, but I think that's because Patty told him I bite or something so she could hold him the whole time.) He is the sweetest baby ever and looks like a little turtle and he kept scooting around the floor trying to catch the cats. Aunt Patty has already promised him his own goat and has bought him his own carhart overalls for workin on the farm. Becca and James came to get him at one o'clock and we changed into our work clothes.
Rain Rain Rain....Barn here we come.
We quickly set up our tools and the radio. We put in Patty's new cd she got for her birthday, (the Zach Brown Band) and hurried to put the bottom two pieces of ply wood up on the barn. We used our framing nailer hooked up to the air compressor, and it went really quick! We then used the left over house wrap from when the house was resided, and put up the bottom sheet of wrap. We looked like we knew what we were doing! We pulled out the ladder and Patty climbed up so she could start putting up the second layer. I heard a rustling in the woods and I saw Buddy, (Buddy James when he is in trouble,) our neighbors unnaturally large yellow (more white) lab. Buddy is always happy to visit and is the sweetest thing. Him and Bubba are best friends and neither one of them can figure out how to stay on their own 5 acres. Buddy's dad Bruce (one of the best neighbors ever) came to retrieve Buddy and admired our residing job. Bruce helped originally build the barn almost 30 years ago so he appreciates our efforts to bring it back to it's full potential. After a short visit Bruce headed home with Buddy James in tow, and we continued with the house wrap.
We didn't lose any speed as we put up our first piece of T1-11. POW POW POW and it was up. Before the day was over we had almost the entire bottom row up. We stood back to admire our work and couldn't even see where the seams were. Not sure how we were going to do the next row up, and since it was starting to rain, we cleaned up and headed up to the house to have some of my home made split pea soup! It was a very successful day!!!
Rain Rain Rain....Barn here we come.
We quickly set up our tools and the radio. We put in Patty's new cd she got for her birthday, (the Zach Brown Band) and hurried to put the bottom two pieces of ply wood up on the barn. We used our framing nailer hooked up to the air compressor, and it went really quick! We then used the left over house wrap from when the house was resided, and put up the bottom sheet of wrap. We looked like we knew what we were doing! We pulled out the ladder and Patty climbed up so she could start putting up the second layer. I heard a rustling in the woods and I saw Buddy, (Buddy James when he is in trouble,) our neighbors unnaturally large yellow (more white) lab. Buddy is always happy to visit and is the sweetest thing. Him and Bubba are best friends and neither one of them can figure out how to stay on their own 5 acres. Buddy's dad Bruce (one of the best neighbors ever) came to retrieve Buddy and admired our residing job. Bruce helped originally build the barn almost 30 years ago so he appreciates our efforts to bring it back to it's full potential. After a short visit Bruce headed home with Buddy James in tow, and we continued with the house wrap.
We didn't lose any speed as we put up our first piece of T1-11. POW POW POW and it was up. Before the day was over we had almost the entire bottom row up. We stood back to admire our work and couldn't even see where the seams were. Not sure how we were going to do the next row up, and since it was starting to rain, we cleaned up and headed up to the house to have some of my home made split pea soup! It was a very successful day!!!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
I stayed home from work today because I had a few appointments to take care of, and it was coincidentally suppose to be 70 degrees!
I dropped Mariah off at school and the headed to Home Depot. I was worried they wouldn't be open yet when I pulled up, but to my surprise they open at 6am!!! How freaking awesome is that?!
I kept my head down when I walked in...not wanting to be recognized from the flashing incident from the week before, and headed for the gardening section. It was P's birthday and she wanted the Topsy turvy tomato plant thingy "as seen on tv." Wanting her to have the best I grabbed it for her and threw the strawberry topsy turvy thingy into the cart too. I cruised around and grabbed some birdseed, a new feeder for down by the barn and some landscaping borders.
I ran a few other places for last minute gifts for Patty, (otherwise she peeks and looks) and headed home.
After wrapping her presents, (in case she decided to head home early), I headed down to the field. The orchard trees had been neglected since last year, and the bases of them were overgrown with weeds. So I plopped down in the grass by the first tree, (A is for apple), and began pulling the weeds.
The sky was blue, the clouds were huge and puffy and there wasn't a spider to be found. I threw quite a few rocks in the river bed, donating to the cause...
After weeding a 4 foot diameter around the tree, I put down fertilizer and put a ring of landscaping border around the tree. I then filled it with about 2 or three inches of mulch. Lastly, I sprinkled this special stuff I found around the tree that is suppose to keep away rabbits and deer. We'll see if it works.
I got the first three trees in the line done before I had to head to Mariah's school for a conference. I did notice before I came up to the house that our fig tree "Fig Newton" was pretty much dead...rigamortis had passed. I'm pretty bummed considering that was the only tree that gave us fruit last year, but it was still tiny. :( The fig was suppose to be cold hardy but something about the winter was too much for it. I think I will just leave it in the ground for now, until I decide if I am going to put another one in it's place or not.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TSUNAMI LOU!!!!
I dropped Mariah off at school and the headed to Home Depot. I was worried they wouldn't be open yet when I pulled up, but to my surprise they open at 6am!!! How freaking awesome is that?!
I kept my head down when I walked in...not wanting to be recognized from the flashing incident from the week before, and headed for the gardening section. It was P's birthday and she wanted the Topsy turvy tomato plant thingy "as seen on tv." Wanting her to have the best I grabbed it for her and threw the strawberry topsy turvy thingy into the cart too. I cruised around and grabbed some birdseed, a new feeder for down by the barn and some landscaping borders.
I ran a few other places for last minute gifts for Patty, (otherwise she peeks and looks) and headed home.
After wrapping her presents, (in case she decided to head home early), I headed down to the field. The orchard trees had been neglected since last year, and the bases of them were overgrown with weeds. So I plopped down in the grass by the first tree, (A is for apple), and began pulling the weeds.
The sky was blue, the clouds were huge and puffy and there wasn't a spider to be found. I threw quite a few rocks in the river bed, donating to the cause...
After weeding a 4 foot diameter around the tree, I put down fertilizer and put a ring of landscaping border around the tree. I then filled it with about 2 or three inches of mulch. Lastly, I sprinkled this special stuff I found around the tree that is suppose to keep away rabbits and deer. We'll see if it works.
I got the first three trees in the line done before I had to head to Mariah's school for a conference. I did notice before I came up to the house that our fig tree "Fig Newton" was pretty much dead...rigamortis had passed. I'm pretty bummed considering that was the only tree that gave us fruit last year, but it was still tiny. :( The fig was suppose to be cold hardy but something about the winter was too much for it. I think I will just leave it in the ground for now, until I decide if I am going to put another one in it's place or not.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TSUNAMI LOU!!!!
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