Cast your vote

well, it hasn't been that cold yet, but somehow I got roped into some indoor projects already, not that I mind, but would rather wait until I am done for the season outside. I replaced my living room carpet, it was actually pretty easy to do, this carpet is only intended to be down for 2 or 3 years, the long term goal is to put in hardwood. We are also looking to tile over the ugly linoleum we have hated since the day we moved in....right now we are leaning toward the brown tiles on the end, it kind of reminds me of beach sand...what do you think?

Barn Charm - MA

My contribution to the topic of barn charm

The Garden is still Going

Another coop update...almost finished!

The coop is getting much closer to being finished, all that's left is setting up a pull cord for the door, hanging the feeder, adding a perch, making a gate to access the back run area, adding some electrical so I can put in a heat lamp and warmer for their water, and lastly will be to do some landscaping around the coop, but that may not happen until next year

My wife is the artist in the family and gets all the credit for the door. We wanted to add something fun to the coop

Here are a couple of pics showing the back run area

I still need to add a gate here. This will allow for wheelbarrow access so I can clean up the area

If you look closely you will see I built two doors for the coop, one in the front and one on the backside. The idea is to allow access for us through the front. When we are not home the girls can stay safe within the fenced in coop and when we are home I can open the backdoor and let them out into the back run area.

This hatch will allow me to clean out the inside of the coop

And I added two doors for the nest box

I also picked up some cheap linoleum, I am hoping the will make it easier to clean!

so I still have a few things left to do, but have made a lot of progress, it has been a fun project and good learning experience!

Dracaena Marginata Plant aka Madagascar Dragon Tree.

Madagascar Dragon Tree....I just love that name. We went over to our friends new house last weekend to watch football and saw this beauty out on the deck. When I asked about whether or not they were going to start bringing it in at night because of the threat of frost they told me they were not because they just did not have a spot for it. After years of tending to it at their old house they were either going to find a new home for it or let it die.....well I couldn't let that happen so I some how fit it into my little economy car and brought it home that day. I am still trying to find the right spot for it myself, currently it has taken up residence in my half bathroom. It's still in rough shape from neglect, but seems to be coming around. Hopefully it will bounce back over the next few weeks!

just hanging around

I spotted this guy just hanging around when I was cutting the grass....

Garden Glory

Woodstock Fair, Woodstock, CT

We went to the Woodstock fair yesterday, it was my first time going, tons of food, a lot of animals, and watched a concert, overall it was a very good day!

Can chickens fly?

I say yes...because we certainly didn't put her up there...thankfully she flew down on her own...but I definitely think I should add some netting to the roof of their run

Riders on the Storm and the After party

I didn't want to take a chance and leave the girls outside so they rode out the storm in our garage in this make shift cage

A little post Irene clean up party, we managed to burn all the debris in what was a beautiful next day



Party crasher....a little guest decided to drop by, this is the first snake I have seen since I moved to this house



Tropical Storm Irene

We were very lucky, not much rain, we had a lot of wind, but no damage. We lost power for about 24 hours, but from talking to friends and family that wasn't bad at all as most of them still are without power and had trees come down. I spent today picking up the debris in my yard and then went to help my sister who had 4 trees fall in her yard

Getting ready for Irene

I have been doing whatever I can to get ready for the storm, I packed up everything outside that could be packed up, did some extra staking in the garden, brought the potted plants inside, and moved the chicken tractor up against the coop hoping it will provide some extra protection from wind/rain. I have a dog crate and am debating whether or not I should take the girls out of the tractor and put them in the crate and let them ride out the storm in the garage...