Home Sweet Home

Sloooooowly...

2008-12-21T17:11:00.002-06:00

A bit more...

2008-12-14T20:25:00.000-06:00

And some flooring is down...

2008-12-08T20:43:00.000-06:00

Even more progress...

2008-11-12T09:46:00.001-06:00

Elijah finished some more carsiding work before we exhausted our available funds. Now we wait for either more time (and motivation) or more money.

Egg One and Egg Two

2008-11-07T13:28:00.000-06:00

Our first two eggs from our four Barred Rock hens, pictured along side a store-bought Grade A Large egg for comparison. They have laid six eggs so far.

Uh-oh! Running out of time.

2008-11-07T13:25:00.001-06:00

Here comes the snow!

Henry can't wait for it to be finished, but he is enjoying it already!

Some more basement progress...

2008-11-07T13:21:00.000-06:00

Elijah is helping us finish the family room!

Henry's Home Away From Home

2008-10-31T08:58:00.000-05:00

Chickens in the Tractor

2008-07-28T08:52:00.001-05:00

P6290026
Originally uploaded by n9udl

Just realized that I had not posted evidence of habitation. Sorry for the lateness of this post.

Our "Chicken Tractor" is almost complete!

2008-06-28T23:17:00.001-05:00

Operational, Sort Of

2008-04-17T10:08:00.003-05:00

I still need to finish doors, trim, and flooring- but now I am working from the new office. Pictured here is my new experimental "standing-height" pub table and new monitor.

Lighting is Complete!

2008-04-17T09:51:00.001-05:00

Let there be light!

2008-03-31T21:03:00.003-05:00

After installing and wiring the first half of the lights we now have... light!

Aaron is helping me with the office ceiling.

2008-03-29T19:44:00.004-05:00

Tour of Basement Project

2008-02-27T22:26:00.002-06:00

Progress in the Family Room and Guest Bedroom, Part 1

2008-02-21T19:54:00.003-06:00

Elijah accidentally cuts a hole in the wall.

Actually, he was installing a wall "thimble" for the vent for our new gas stove.

Kendall was hanging drywall while Elijah finished insulating and chopped the hole in the wall.

Finishing My New Office, Part 3

2008-02-06T08:57:00.001-06:00

Further progress!

Finishing My New Office, Part 2

2008-02-02T00:56:00.000-06:00

More progress!

Finishing My New Office, Part 1

2008-01-30T20:29:00.000-06:00

On Monday and Tuesday Elijah worked on wiring and insulation, and today he started on the boxcar-siding. So far, it's looking great!

Framing in the Basement, Part 2

2008-01-26T20:13:00.000-06:00

After Chris finished on the east end of the basement, we moved all our junk into the newly framed rooms to make way for him to frame the west end. Of course, by the time these pictures were taken we had moved the junk into the west end again so that Elijah could begin the finishing work in my office.

Standing in the family room, looking toward the stairs.

Standing in the guest bedroom, looking toward the family room.

Standing in the family room, looking toward the patio and guest bedroom.

Standing in the guest bedroom looking toward the furnace room and the wiring/server closet.

Standing in the guest bedroom looking towards the patio.

Framing in the Basement, Part 1

2008-01-20T21:55:00.000-06:00

Our friend Chris has been framing walls in our basement!

Standing in the hall outside the bathroom, looking down the hall into the storage room.

Standing in the doorway of the storage room, looking in.

Standing in the larger of my office's closets, looking into my office.

Standing near the bathroom, looking at the "project area" next to the stairs and outside my office.

Standing just inside my office, looking toward the stairs and project area.

Standing in the doorway of my office looking in.

Standing in the family room looking past the foot of the stairs into my office.

Planting Flower Bulbs

2006-11-24T20:32:00.000-06:00

Here you see Emily and Victoria hard at work planting bulbs, which will hopefully bloom gloriously next spring.

A Roof For The Dog Kennel: Part 2

2006-11-04T11:38:00.000-06:00

Em and I finally got the tarps attached... Which was hard to do in a tidy manner, since I was conforming rectangular tarps to an arched surface. However, I think it is acceptable. All we have left to do is cover the kennel door with some clear plastic, which should keep wind/snow out but let some light in. Next year I think we'll pour a cement slab for the kennel. Here are some pics:

A Roof For The Dog Kennel: Part 1

2006-11-01T13:41:00.000-06:00

Last winter I built the dogs an insulated dog house with a flap door, and then tarped the kennel panels to block the wind and provide some more shelter.

I had also tried putting a tarp overhead, with a few 2x4 supports, but the weight of the snow was too much and it bent the sides of the kennel in and the tarp hung down into the kennel.

Then a few months ago my friend Lisa sent me a link to some goat butchering information. The article was interesting, and I explored their site a little more. One of the more interesting projects on the site was a "hoop house" hog shelter made by bending cattle panels into an arch and then covering them with tarps.

I imagined that a variation of this idea might work to support a tarp roof over the kennel, and went to work on the design.

Unlike my previous flat roof design, which pulled the walls of the kennel inward, the tension of the bent cattle panels will try to force the top of the kennel walls outward, so I braced the walls with some 1/8" steel cable which looped around the kennel frame and also through the cattle panel.

The roof is made from three 7.5' sections of 52" high cattle panel, one section at each end and the middle section overlapping the others. I fastened them initially with cable-ties, and then later with U-bolts and the bracing cables. I hope that my arch has enough rise to shed the snow and be adequately strong.

Next I will layer some duct-tape over the cut edges of the panel to protect the tarps, and then cover the roof and walls with tarps.

Here are some pictures of the project thus far (click for larger versions):

Swing Project

2006-09-23T13:42:00.000-05:00

About a week ago we received the swing we had ordered from Elijah. It was very nice and we could not wait to get it hung up so that we could use it while the weather was still nice.

After three different plans for hanging it (and several trips to the hardware store) I finally got smart and visited our neighbor Gerald, who has a salvage yard.

I bought a heavy piece of angle iron which, though quite rusty, was very strong and solid. After grinding off most of the rust, and priming and painting it, I mounted it to the overhead joists with lag bolts. I mounted eye bolts in the angle iron to hang the swing from, and Emily helped me hang the swing.