The chickens come home to roost

Say hello to our new additions! A trio of red hens, just about four months old. I'm glad we kept DaVinci's old puppy crate from housebreaking; it was just the thing for transporting three young chickens.

The chickens were in the car because the adorable little coop was brought home in the truck. What a great Craigslist find!

These birds are very happy to be free-range, so we turned them out for a bit. They promptly found the freshly trimmed fence row with lots of hay, and apparently lots of bugs.

Just how free-range they get to be will be based on a certain male carnivore (he's really more omnivore, but that's by our influence; left to his own devices, it would not be the case). We'll be working on training over the next few days (and praying that God will aid in an Isaiah 6:11 change). Jeff began a subliminal message technique with DaVinci a few days ago; every time he walks by him, Jeff repeats "Don't eat the chickens". He even gave him a lecture about how keeping the chickens around will result in endless eggs, sort of a "teach a man to fish" maxim. We'll let you know if the lessons stick.

Busy, busy week

It's been hectic around here the past week. Just a few updates:

We have a pet spider named Charlotte (Jeff remarked "how original" when I suggested the moniker but didn't have a better idea ;-). She's not exactly a pet, but she lives in the same place and we check up on her. Every night, she comes out and constructs a huge web on the back porch. She has "struts" that anchor from the top of the ceiling all the way down to the concrete. She's gone by dawn, leaving no evidence of her web. We've been watching her every night for a week, and I'm saving dead houseflies to throw into her web, so that kind of makes her a pet!

Jeff took me to dinner and a minor league baseball game on Thursday. We had a lot of fun eating popcorn, drinking lemonade, chatting with seatmates, and cheering on the home team.

We went to a church picnic this past Sunday and enjoyed fellowship, food, and volleyball. I wish I had brought my swimsuit, as the pavilion site was on a beautiful lake with some man-made beaches.( I have the fondest memories of swimming and playing in the lake with my family as a child). I won a bean bag toss against a very worthy opponent. For a supposed kids' game, it was surprisingly fun. Who knew there were real rules (it's quite similar to horseshoes)!

The laundry room is coming along, but things in the living and dining rooms are "looking up" also. That was my subtle attempt at a joke given that I finished painting both ceilings this week. I wish I had a before picture, but imagine 85 years of yellowing paint and nicotine stains and you'll be pretty close.

Please ignore the odd ceiling fan effect from too much bright light and too much motion.

We are preparing for chickens, so I've been working on the little coop/run already constructed behind the shop. Like so many parts of our mini farm, it has the promise of beauty and function, but it needs a lot of help. This one is covered in wild vines, has a few rotted boards, is missing a section of fencing, and the door is wedged closed from years of dirt, debris, and grass. Nothing a little time and material can't fix!

Can you see the coop under there? At least the hens will
be able to enjoy Dish TV while they labor to produce eggs!

I finally got the door open!

The End of the Space Age

Food, fun, and fireworks for five dollars capped off the NASA shuttle era. It was a bitter sweet celebration held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville this past Saturday evening.

Jeff and I enjoyed our time in the museum chronicling the development of the rockets that would get us to the moon and back. The huge Saturn V displayed horizontally inside is the biggest eye-catcher. Lots of families with young children were out, and I watched a little boy in an umbrella stroller roll under the Saturn V, clutching his tiny rocket model in his hand as his eyes took in the huge life size version overhead; a breathless "wowww" was the only thing he said. I think I know exactly how he felt!

Picking My Battles

Remodeling is often about prioritizing. What projects, to what extent, in what order. Sometimes (rather, oftentimes) what I thought was going to be simple becomes involved. Or a straightforward objective blossoms into an ever-growing endeavor. But I try to limit those things.

So it was with surprisingly little regret that I reeled in a moment of excitement. I came home last week to find that the workmen had finished up their first day of deconstruction on the laundry room. As I inspected the empty room, now with a few holes here and there, I spied something that made my heart quicken just a bit. Could it be!? I peered closer, and, yes in deed, there is beadboard under my paneled ceiling!

I immediately was filled with visions of a darling sun/laundry/mud/entry room with painted brick and charming beadboard. I already have plans for a beadboard ceiling in the adjoining kitchen, so what a perfect transition. But as Jeff and I reasoned together and investigated, we discovered several issues. All the trim would have to come down, all the paneling and batten boards, three sheets cut away, hundreds of tiny brads pulled, original tongue and grove beadboard patched, scraped, and painted, and the trim reinstalled. All to get me back to a functional ceiling like I have now (and this is assuming that there isn't a perfectly good reason why the beadboard is covered, like big rotten areas or something).

While Jeff was at Spokesman Club on Sunday, I had permission to experiment with a small panel. It took me about half an hour to remove an approximately one foot by three foot section due to the tiny-headed two inch brads, only to discover glue on the backside of the panel, and on my beadboard! This was a no-go. Some finish work is expected, but sanding off glue stuck to lead-based paint over my head in a 13 x 20 room is just a bit much, even for a preservationist like me.

So now you're in on our little secret. The beadboard actually looks better in these pictures than in real life, but it will always be there for us (or some future occupant) to uncover and restore down the road if desired. But I have a whole war to wage here, so this battle will not be fought today by me!

Dewy Daylight

The mornings are getting a little cooler, the dew a little thicker, the breeze a little heavier. What a lovely way to start the day!

Hoedown!

I have to give Jeff all the credit for the witty title. This morning I was chopping down the fireant hill and the clump of weeds at the base of the lamp post welcoming one to the front walk. Well, I was chopping until the wooden handle of my hoe broke! I left it in the front yard while I went to retrieve a replacement. Jeff happened upon my carnage and snapped a photo; he shared with me the first thought that popped into his mind when he saw it: hoedown!

(I find him very, very funny, just in case anyone was wondering. It's often in the inflection or deadpan delivery, so don't think it's just you if some if it doesn't translate in blogged text.)

Snakes and Mice and Spiders, Oh My!

Well, we're definitely in the country now. Earlier this week we found a baby rattlesnake just outside the back door curled up on the porch. Then we found mice droppings in the kitchen. And just now we rehomed a large garden spider from a storage box in the house to outside where he belongs.

In all honesty, I have no idea if the snake really was a rattlesnake. He was quite small, maybe a bit over a foot long. But he sure thought he was a rattlesnake. He shook his little tail at me and tried to strike a few times. So Jeff did what he was raised to do: get a hoe and take care of the problem. The little guy was so small and tried to act so tough that I felt rather sorry for him, but he was too minuscule to make out his markings clearly (eye shape, pits, rattles, etc). All the telling signs I had studied for in the National Aududon Society Field Guild to Reptiles and Amphibians were obscured by his aggressive behavior. So, better safe than sorry, given that he was literally inches from the door. So much for the Field Guide!

The mouse scat was rather unpleasant, but I suppose expected since we live in the middle of a 40 acre field in a rather large, drafty house with far more entrances than just the welcoming front and back doors. We'll have to address that issue, but I don't think Jeff will go for my suggestion of a fun furry kitten.

Lastly, the lovely garden spider. We have already relocated one large fellow, so either he found his way back in or he has friends and relations. These are big black guys with yellow markings and they make the most fabulous webs overnight. Fabulous in the garden, that is. The spider was hiding out in a small plastic shoebox storage container in which I keep all kinds of tape. So Jeff snapped the lid on and took it out to the porch. But when he removed the lid, we couldn't find the spider. We suspected that he had slipped out of the box and was preparing to shut and lock the door behind us. Given that these creatures had the house to themselves for over a year, I'm not sure who the actual intruders are in this scenario!
But since we pay the mortgage, any suggestions for non-chemical techniques to keep the uninvited house-guest population down would be appreciated. We have already seen two of the largest brown recluse spiders ever hiding out in our shop, so that may require heavy handed intervention. But I actually don't mind most spiders in the house. Snakes and mice are a different story, though, so if you have ideas I'd love to hear them.

Slave Labor

I absolutely promise you I didn't make the girls do this! Jeff and I do feel it is important for children to have jobs and duties around the house, simply by reason of the fact that they live there and are members of the family. So we had my nieces do some light cleaning, daily dish duties, etc.

But I certainly didn't force them to paint outside for hours in the sun and humidity; they volunteered for it! Both girls are very artistic, and I guess the novelty of getting to choose and apply the paints of their choice was a real thrill (at least for the first hour).

I had mentioned that one (of our many three) porch swings needed a coat of paint because it was weathered and a bit rusty. The girls immediately asked if they could do it. So I got out my paint deck and we selected coordinating colors for the frame and swing. After spray coats of primer and paint to the chains, they were ready to let loose on the rest of the swing. You can't tell from a distance, but the wooden bench is a soft cream (SW Antique White) and the frame is a subtle sage green (BM Nantucket Gray); we think it will really look beautiful in the spring when the nearby tulip magnolia tree is in full bloom with showy lavender blossoms! Jeff positioned the swing to look out over the pasture so we can enjoy the view in the meantime.

The birds enjoy it, too. You can just make out a dove sitting
near the top of the swing frame taking in the morning!

Easier flooring

I posted about the linoleum removal last time. That is slow going! But a more rewarding flooring choice fell in my lap last week.

I absolutely love Craigslist. I don't know how people furnished their homes before it existed! But it is often hard to find good things since we are in a relatively small metro area. So whenever we travel, I try to find time to peak at the CL postings in my destination city to broaden my choices. Since we were hitting so many states last week, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

And wouldn't you know it, but I purchased a large handmade wool Indian dhurrie for just $30! The lady agreed to meet me at an easy-to-find location, since I wasn't very familiar with the city, and she was driving a silver BMW (I guess wealthy people like to buy and sell on CL, too). We had a nice chat and she disclosed the thousands of dollars she has spent on rugs, only to decide she doesn't like them after all. So I was the beneficiary of her fluctuating taste!

When I was later telling Jeff about this type of rug and its value, he wanted to know why we were standing on it! It's really a great piece and it has just the right colors for my kitchen (once it's remodeled ;-). And it also has the added benefit of disguising the current floor until I have time to pull up those vinyl tiles and refinish the wood beneath. I think that's a fantastic multipurpose deal for just thirty bucks!

Achy breaky hands

Have you ever worked your hands so much that the muscles were actually sore? I now have a much clearer understanding of the intrinsic muscles of the palm and phalanges than I ever received in anatomy and cadaver college courses. I believe I can actually feel them all at the moment ;-).

The reason for my increased knowledge (and pain) is the fact that I've been stripping the last of the linoleum from the concrete floor in the laundry room. Our first big project is waiting at the starting gate! The workmen are coming next week to begin the masonry, plumbing, and electrical work necessary to have a proper laundry room.

The room has, up until now, been a neglected former porch that was closed in. It is on slab, unlike the rest of the house, so changes mean a lot of work! It currently houses the exposed water heater and the dryer, but the washer is in the kitchen. It will all be consolidated into better locations with a furred out wall to hide the water supply, drain, vent, and electrical needs. Then I'll tackle the miscellaneous walls (composed of at least three types of brick and two colors of mortar) with paint and etch and stain the concrete (hopefully). If the subfloor is too subpar for that, I'll do a faux finish.

Either way, I'm really excited to have some major progress coming down the pike! This room has lots of potential (aesthetically and functionally), so I can't wait to uncover it. I just hope it doesn't require much more scraping to get at it!





You can't see the old, odd green linoleum in these photos, but it's probably better that way anyhow. We got up about half of it with a reasonable amount of effort, but the remaining islands of stuck flooring might as well be continents! They are really, really well-adhered. So I'm using a four inch razor blade to scrape up the top rubbery layer in tiny shreds in the hopes of exposing the underneath to noxious chemicals that will persuade it to surrender its grip.

Reminiscing

It certainly is quiet around here without the girls! I've been catching up on some needed house work, but reviewing these photos from my nieces' stay was a welcome break in the labor.

A "wild" butterfly from our yard took a liking to Julia


Sharon commiserated with a stone Native American statue on the Trail of Tears

Uncle Jeff gave the girls driving lessons in our old Neon


Picking 15 quarts of blueberries in one short morning
(it was a bumper crop this year)!


Riding the roller coaster

Watching the amazing cloud formations over the pasture


Uncle Jeff made this "jewelry basket" for a stone Sharon picked out

The grass is always greener on the other side...

If I ever feel as though my measly one acre isn't enough land, I'll just go mow the whole thing with a push mower. That will reassure me that my 43,000+ square feet of lawn is plenty!

As we've only been "city folk" since marriage, we don't own a riding mower as yet. Our lovely friend (and mortgagee) from whom we purchased the house was kind enough to mow the whole thing just before we signed the contract. But with all the sun and (needed) rain, the green blades have been shooting up.

So this Sunday Jeff trimmed and mowed the front and large side yard. All that remained was picking up limbs and mowing the backyard. So that was my morning. And it almost stretched into afternoon! I even had to mow it on the highest setting the deck would allow because of how tall and thick the grass was in places. But if we can just make it through another month or so, I'm hoping we can find a great riding mower on clearance or Craigslist this fall. Here's to getting our exercise and vitamin D!

Seven States in Seven Days

Jeff was just counting in the car yesterday and realized he had been in seven states in as many days. North Carolina (layover); Virginia (business trip); Mississippi (church); Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana (trip to return my nieces), and Georgia (spokesman club meeting). If you count Alabama (by reason of residency), that's eight!

I've been with him for all but two of those states. You would be right in thinking we are a bit weary of travel at this point! I've spent over 24 hours riding or driving in a car since last Sunday. I'm ready to get my feet on the ground and get some work done!

P.S. I do have a small backlog of photos to post from our final fun days with the nieces, so I'll try to get those up.