Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Home at last!
This has been a whirlwind of a week. Back and forth from the apartment to the house, moving bits and pieces of our stuff to the new place. Today we rented the moving truck and moved the storage unit contents over. We are all pretty tired!
Oh, and we have chickens! A friend who has chickens graciously gave us 7 hens to get us started (she says they aren't well trained- not that I care at this point) and we've already collected 7 eggs since Wednesday when I brought them home. The last couple days though they slowed down with the cold snap we got. They have been having a hay-day (nevermind the pun) in our barn, picking through the old hay stash for bugs and worms and stuff. They also are quite fond of table scraps and we are thoroughly amused by all their happy chicken sounds.
I've been removing wallpaper with the help of some friends; what a task! Right now that project is on hold because my husband's office has now taken priority since we were trying to have a bit of overlap on the cable hookup for internet but the company who supplies it says we can't. I still have to get the final bit of paint on the walls, get the desk bought, assembled and outfitted and then back to the rest of the house.
We've really been enjoying it here. The big windows make for fantastic mornings, much like being at a vacation home with its sweeping views. I still need to clean out the wild bird feeders but even without seed we are visited by nuthatches, purple finches, blue jays and cardinals. There is one male cardinal that likes to tap on my son's bedroom window. We think he might be fighting a competitor aka his reflection. What fun! I'll put up new pics next Wednesday...maybe pick up the wordless Wednesday trend.
Oh, and we have chickens! A friend who has chickens graciously gave us 7 hens to get us started (she says they aren't well trained- not that I care at this point) and we've already collected 7 eggs since Wednesday when I brought them home. The last couple days though they slowed down with the cold snap we got. They have been having a hay-day (nevermind the pun) in our barn, picking through the old hay stash for bugs and worms and stuff. They also are quite fond of table scraps and we are thoroughly amused by all their happy chicken sounds.
I've been removing wallpaper with the help of some friends; what a task! Right now that project is on hold because my husband's office has now taken priority since we were trying to have a bit of overlap on the cable hookup for internet but the company who supplies it says we can't. I still have to get the final bit of paint on the walls, get the desk bought, assembled and outfitted and then back to the rest of the house.
We've really been enjoying it here. The big windows make for fantastic mornings, much like being at a vacation home with its sweeping views. I still need to clean out the wild bird feeders but even without seed we are visited by nuthatches, purple finches, blue jays and cardinals. There is one male cardinal that likes to tap on my son's bedroom window. We think he might be fighting a competitor aka his reflection. What fun! I'll put up new pics next Wednesday...maybe pick up the wordless Wednesday trend.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Its officially ours now!
Whew! Glad that parts over, now we can finally get to work! (can't believe that's me saying that) We have a lot to do out there...for starters, we need to build a chicken coop because it appears we are getting some nearly grown birds (layers) this next week unless something comes up. Either way we still have chicks coming in April so that coop is better to be built sooner rather than later.
We also need to seriously prune the fruiting trees. There is a sour cherry, an apricot and five apples that all need work; at least two of the apples need to be cut down because they have some serious issues and they were all planted about 2 feet apart so they are way too crowded. There are two grape vines, to which I have two young grapes to add that need pruning. I picked up four blueberry bushes that need a space where we can amend the soil with acidifier and plant them; we have five other blueberry bushes that I have to decide if we are going to move or let fail at the 9 acre lot (its too alkaline at the lot for them). I think on those we'll wait to see if they put out leaves since they are bare at the moment. We also have all those other fruiting trees out there to consider moving; we are leaning toward leaving them out there though since they've been in the ground for two years.
Also soon, we need to get a garden started out there. Currently there is not a tilled space for a garden and the most ideal place was flooded earlier this year so I'm debating if I want to brave it. My understanding after talking to the sellers today is that it doesn't normally flood that high up. There is another elevation that did not flood that we could put in a garden but it really chops up the yard so its not ideal either.
Around the house there are lots of bulbs and rhizomes peeking out from the leaf litter giving us clues as to what is under there. We've been able to identify tulips, crocuses, daffodils, irises, coral bells and some day lilies. I have a feeling once we clear out debris this place will really shine.
I don't expect to be posting a lot in the next week with so much going on but if anything exciting happens I'll put it out there at least on facebook.
We also need to seriously prune the fruiting trees. There is a sour cherry, an apricot and five apples that all need work; at least two of the apples need to be cut down because they have some serious issues and they were all planted about 2 feet apart so they are way too crowded. There are two grape vines, to which I have two young grapes to add that need pruning. I picked up four blueberry bushes that need a space where we can amend the soil with acidifier and plant them; we have five other blueberry bushes that I have to decide if we are going to move or let fail at the 9 acre lot (its too alkaline at the lot for them). I think on those we'll wait to see if they put out leaves since they are bare at the moment. We also have all those other fruiting trees out there to consider moving; we are leaning toward leaving them out there though since they've been in the ground for two years.
Also soon, we need to get a garden started out there. Currently there is not a tilled space for a garden and the most ideal place was flooded earlier this year so I'm debating if I want to brave it. My understanding after talking to the sellers today is that it doesn't normally flood that high up. There is another elevation that did not flood that we could put in a garden but it really chops up the yard so its not ideal either.
Around the house there are lots of bulbs and rhizomes peeking out from the leaf litter giving us clues as to what is under there. We've been able to identify tulips, crocuses, daffodils, irises, coral bells and some day lilies. I have a feeling once we clear out debris this place will really shine.
I don't expect to be posting a lot in the next week with so much going on but if anything exciting happens I'll put it out there at least on facebook.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Garlic and other signs of life (from the 9 acre lot)
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| hooray for garlic! It has new leaves from the last time I saw it |
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| my wolf-y looking dog and my kid (dog is not in any way part wolf) |
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| Honeyberry baby putting out a couple of leaves |
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| flooded a bit here too. Not bad though, this lot has really decent drainage |
House pictures
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| utility room |
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| bedroom 3/ office |
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| bedroom 2 |
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| ugly yellow hall bath |
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| entry |
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| living room/dining room |
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| ugly fireplace insert |
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| awesome kitchen |
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| master bedroom |
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| master closet |
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| master bath |
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| master built-in cabinets |
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| front of the house |
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| see the shiny stuff back there? That the flooding from the storms as of Monday |
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| looks like a pretty lake huh? |
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| This was as of Wednesday....much improved! |
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| another view, again though much better |
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