Hot Fun In The Summertime

Such a busy summer so far, not to mention hot and humid! But I’m not one to complain about the weather…okay, maybe just a little but sometimes it interferes with my plans!

Most of our projects have been outside this year but we have done a couple of small things inside as well. Robert put recessed lighting in the living room. It is wonderful to have no lamps and so much light!

We also wanted a barn door for the pantry and this old screen door was here when we moved in. Tried to come up with something to replace the screen with but not sure what so I put some poly urethane on it and we are giving it a try, not sure how I feel about it.

We discovered the door is larger at the bottom than on the top so it doesn’t look straight and I’m not sure how or if we can fix that. We’re going to live with it for a bit and decide later.

There is still a seventeen page list of things to accomplish inside so maybe we can get some of those done this fall. Except that fall weather is so beautiful and now I have a greenhouse so who wants to do the inside stuff then?

Speaking of the greenhouse, it has to be one of my all time favorite things. Ever. It started with Robert looking for used windows to buy for the new chicken coops and goat barn (we’ll get to that later). He found a guy that had fifty for sale, he only needed six but had to drive an hour to get these so he decided that as long as he had to go that far he should just go ahead and get them all. I may have implied that if he bought them all I would require a greenhouse and by “may have implied” I mean that I told him “if you buy fifty windows you’re building me a greenhouse”. So a few of those old windows, some two by fours, and some reclaimed bead board from a 1930’s house in North Carolina later I have this adorable greenhouse. I have to give it a coat of paint and put in some shelves and it will be finished!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the new chicken coops and goat barn. We decided to get a couple of Nigerian Dwarf goats to raise for milk so we needed to build them a shelter.The original chicken coop was not in the best location (full sun and chickens are a bad idea) and chicken math hit us hard this year so a larger coop was needed. Right at the edge of our wooded property we built a twelve by twenty four foot building and divided it into a new large coop, a small coop, a feed storage room, and a goat shelter. We made some improvements to the new coop to provide better light and to make cleaning easier. Having the small coop to put babies in is MUCH nicer than keeping them in the spare bathroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starling and Raven have plenty of space, there’s probably even enough room in there for three or four more goats…just sayin’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While Robert kept busy with the greenhouse and goat barn I have been keeping busy with my garden which is about double the size of last year. Hard to believe I started with just two raised beds and a few pots in 2014!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I just keep looking at this big expanse of grass that is adjacent to my garden. We don’t use it for anything and it just has to be mowed all the time…I’m thinking there is a garden expansion in my future!