New Coop Finished/Weird Weather, My Free Skywarn Storm Spotter Class I Took With The National Weather Service

 

New Coop Finished/Weird Weather!

We finally finished the coop! We had a lot of really weird weather in April thru July. We had hot weather, cold weather, Monsoon rain, thunder, lightning and wind. It really held up the coop construction, we just had to wait it out. In April Dave decided to bite the bullet and get started. We set up a temporary coop for a few days for the chickens, which worked out great! They even used the cardboard box I put in there as a nesting box and laid. Dave and I talked a lot ahead of time about what we wanted to do and basically we used the same footprint of the previous coop. Our main thing that we did different was the roof line, and we have the nesting box with inside access only because we like the way it looked. Dave did most of the construction, I had to protect my back. I helped with a few two person holds! Old coop below showing the damage, ready for a tear down. Here are the photos!

 

 

 

 

 

Dave started the tear down, we recycled what we could

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My last picture of Debbie, she lasted 2 years after the Vet said she would, passed peacefully in the house with me, RIP  

 

 

 

 Temporary coop with rain cover

Dave wanted to build the foundation with concrete blocks on the ground but I suggested that it would be really hard to level. So he used recycled bricks that we had with pressure treated lumber on top of that, then leveled. Then he did concrete blocks on top of that. Should last a long time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girls using the nesting cardboard box!

 

 

 

We bought a used window and used storm door for the coop. Dave cut up the old storm door to create a window vent which is great to get cool air in from the north side in the summer. We also have the glass for in the winter when we can close it up to keep it warmer. The storm door also has a panel that goes up and down depending on the weather so it's nice cross ventilation along with the little window, also has a metal vent on the southside-

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to paint the coop the same color as the house, and leave the cedar trim natural for contrast. I basically did all the painting except for the part that I couldn't reach, love the color! 

 

Plastic roof over the plywood, Dave added soffitts

  

I repainted the "Eggs 5 cents" sign that we got from a yard sale years ago

 

We put the wind vane back up, and added some Japanese wind socks as they go with the ones in the garden!

Garden windsocks, love them! 

Bye bye old coop, she lasted 13 years or so mostly from recycled materials-

Interior pictures coming soon...

 

My Free Skywarn Storm Spotter Class I Took With The NWS-

A few months ago I took a free live online class with The National Weather Service. It was fun and very informative! Lots of good info. For more information go here NWS SKYWARN Storm Spotter Program for classes near you. They gave us all a nice packet afterwards with other resources we could use. It's great to be able to know who to contact if you see something important. 

Sickness & Shortages, Teaching Kids A Good Work Ethic, Eggs and More Eggs!

 

Sickness & Shortages-

It was 7 degrees a few mornings ago! Cold and clear, nice change from the inversion in the valley. Cold dirty air for the last two weeks on and off, yuck. Luckily we had a little bit of wind blow through. I got a yucky bug but I'm feeling much better. I woke up on a Wednesday in the middle of the night with the worst sore throat of my life. I called in sick the next day and felt really terrible, luckily I had lots of things on hand! I've always kept a good supply of homeopathic remedies oh, cough drops, pain meds Tylenol, etcetera. I still felt pretty icky the next day so I went to my doctor's office and got a strep test and the C Test both of which were negative. My doctor was checking my ears he said- oh you have an ear infection, then checked the other ear- oh this ear is infected too! He sent me home with a prescription for antibiotics which I dropped off at the pharmacy. I felt pretty lousy and Dave was out of town that weekend unfortunately. I thought I'd pick the RX up the next morning, but decided to go back that evening and pick them up. I called the pharmacy and it turned out instead of being open for 24 hours they had closed at 8 p.m. recording said "due to a severe staffing shortage". Bummer for me. I picked up my horse pills the next day and got started. Luckily I was off that Saturday, Sunday and Monday. That gave me three more full days to just stay home and rest. The interesting thing about shortages was this-  in the last week and a half I have gone to three different pharmacies and two grocery stores, (different chains), they were completely sold out of every single cough drop on the market, shocker. I know it's cold and flu season, but you never think something simple like cough drops is going to run out. I was able to find a few small bags of Ricola, my favorite brand, and grab those. Sadly I may have to resort to actually buying some off of Amazon, which is pretty funny on a certain level. You always think of something minor like cough drops as being readily available. Just a good reminder that we're not in Kansas anymore Toto. Make sure and buy what you need ahead of time and don't wait until you need it. Luckily I had plenty on hand for when I was actually sick, I was just trying to replenish my stock. I also had lots of chicken noodle soup on hand, soft foods, etc. It's easy to stash some cans of soup and other items, not very expensive and take up little space.

Teaching Kids A Good Work Ethic-

Dave and I were driving by his old employer's building today and it got me thinking. When our kids were about 10-13 my husband's boss was trying to get a small area weeded in their corporate yard. He couldn't really find a gardener that would tackle such a small project. There was basically a big weedy strip by their parking lot. I told Dave- why don't you tell him that I will come with our three kids if they will pay us and we will weed it. He asked his boss's boss said sure! Now it was summer and extremely hot, about 100 degrees. So we got there, took several hours, each of the kids made $10 an hour. They were hot and sweaty and filthy when we finished. We stopped and got ice cream on the way home, set up their little pool in the backyard, they all took a dip and cooled off. They also earned some money! Now it would be really easy to just not to have paid them, but I think working in blistering heat, doing a good job and getting paid was a really good lesson. All three of my adult girls have really great work ethic now. This is the kind of stuff people need to be teaching their kids instead of having them stuck in front of devices. If kids don't contribute to their family helping with chores, etc. as part of the group,  never may never have a chance to work for somebody else when young. Even a small one-time job they they can learn about the value of doing a good job for the sake of it, and also doing a good job for other people.

white egg not in shot

Eggs, Eggs and More Eggs!

Our eggs are back in production! We had only been getting about 1 egg per day for quite a while. One of our hens is a brown leghorn and she's the only one who lays white eggs. We haven't gotten an egg out of her for four months or so and all of a sudden we got a white egg. Since then the last couple days we've been getting three eggs per day! I'm so proud of my girls they made it through the winter and are  ramping up production. I celebrated by making my favorite chocolate bread pudding using a full 10 eggs! 

This is another reason why more and more people, given the current state of the economy and access to food, should really get chickens. As long as they're willing to take care of them appropriately and have the correct space it's a really great investment. And they pull weeds and eat bugs in the garden! Selling or bartering extra eggs is always nice to be able to do. Enjoy! 

Finally Garden Veggies! Preparedness 6.0 - Calories vs Nutrition, September Is National Preparedness Month!

 

Finally Garden Veggies!

With our late start (due to crazy weather) and then HOT crazy weather our veggies took a beating. We have finally cooled down into the 80s and so things are settling in. All the watering paid off! I harvested one lemon cucumber a week or so ago. Tonight we got two wonderful tomatoes, two slicing cucumbers, several pickling cukes and a medium sized zucchini! The tomato plants are really loaded and there's some paste tomatoes that are orange, almost ready. Will go out into the garden today and trim back a little bit of the foliage to help the tomatoes get riper faster.  We're still getting eggs, apples are not quite ready for Labor Day weekend I think. I will be doing peaches instead for canning. Because it's been so busy on the weekends so I decided to freeze the peaches until I could can a bunch of them. So that's the plan!

Preparedness 6.0 - Calories vs Nutrition/ What I Bought This Week-

There's lots of preparedness foods, like freeze dried, out there. Some are pre-mixed foods, some are single food, like fruits, veggies and proteins. I started looking at ingredients, reviews and taste tests. Here's a few things I noticed right out of the gate: lots of lots of empty calories, lots of dairy based products, white flour and a lot of salt. Obviously there's a difference between starving to death because you don't have anything to eat versus maintaining your health. If you're in a real emergency situation if you're really active you need plenty of protein/crabs and calories. One of the things I saw was a few different brands that specialize in freeze dried foods that have one ingredient. For instance freeze dried chicken chunks. Big difference between that and a chicken flavored casserole meal with white rice, salt chicken flavoring and dairy. With the chicken chunks you can make all kinds of different meals! So if you're looking for different foods to store for true preparedness, whether freeze-dried, dehydrated, or canned,  check the label and think about what you're buying. Dave and I are pretty allergic to most Dairy. I can eat a small amount with a meal but if I overdo it I really pay for it with major acid reflux. If Dave eats too much Dairy he also has some issues but they're different. So I was good to realize what your options are. There's also taste, good review here-  

Glad I haven't bought  any ReadyWise!

What I Bought This Week-

Two books, used on eBay, both by the same author- 

and 

I used to follow Wendy's old blog (now defunct) wanted to read her books. I found her new blog Milkingsquirrels.blogspot.com  Great stuff! Nice interview with her here Failuremag.com

A little inspiration-

Went back to Grocery Outlet and bought some more unbleached King Arthur self-rising flour. I also found some other organic unbleached flour. Bought some organic spelt berries for grinding for a different kind of flour, two more containers of crunchy peanut butter to stash and some cocoa powder! I won't survive the apocalypse without chocolate! The great thing about cocoa powder as you can use it for almost anything, baking, hot chocolate, Etc. Bittersweet chocolate chips, great for baking in the winter, a big loaf of a whole grain rustic Artisan 1/2 price. Got a nice box of cans of fat-free refried pinto beans, some more canned sliced carrots. I bought a new steam canner, one with a thermostat. The other one I have worked perfect, but you have to sit and wait for a steam plume to start your time. I thought this would be more efficient. There's quite a few University Extension office's that recommends steam canning. I've also done water bath canning but it's a lot simpler, not so much water with steam canning. There still seems to be quite a few canning jars in stock locally, just zero lids. Also got extra cat food! Anya has a sensitive tummy, has to eat super soft food/pate.  

September Is National Preparedness Month-

With Louisiana being hit by another hurricane, Ida, good reminder you just never know when things can happen. Food, water, meds, basics are really critical, as well as being able to get info. When cell towers go down good to have a hand crank radio! 

Link here Ready.gov and here Redcross.org , there's tons of site online for lots of info, don't forget your pets! 

Things I'm Grateful For, Easy Coop Winter Sunroom Upgrade

 

Things I'm Grateful For- 

I didn't really have time to do this before Thanksgiving since things were kind of crazy. Dave and I wound up having Thanksgiving by ourselves. We had a small turkey with all the trimmings, apple pie, and some nice appetizers, smoked Salmon, crackers, olives, pickles, meats and cheeses-

I have been thinking since summer how grateful I am for how things have been going for us and our family. So for (belated) Thanksgiving here's a few things I'm very happy and grateful for........

Both Dave and I have been able to stay fully employed with our jobs through Covid. I started working from home at the end of March, and I'm still working from home. It's nice, but there is a certain lack of communication in my organization. Working from home I think exacerbates that, not a surprise. I do have kitty to keep me company! 

I have a lovely view, can moderate the heat/cool as needed and it is a truly unscented workplace for me, which is awesome! 

I'm really grateful that two of my children and one son-in-law got much much better jobs this summer. With better pay and benefits! One was hired into my organization and the other two into a large national insurance company. They all are doing very well in their jobs and the pay raises they got were very helpful, since two of them have children. Kids can be expensive! 

Our house is doing well. We did have to replace our hot water heater (leaky pipe) recently but we were able to do that ourselves, so that saved a ton of money. It lasted 3 years past it's warranty too! After Dave drained it and we took it down it had 2 big rusted out areas on the back!!! Dave bought it, brought it home and with the help of my daughter put it in a place and it's working great. We saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars not getting it delivered and having a plumber install it. Dave had done it before so it was an easy install-

Leaky pipe

Dave added a heavier steel base and leak tray. Works great! He added earthquake strapping as well. 

The chickens have done well. We now have a full size flock of five and the eggs kicked in a few weeks ago. They're averaging about two per day with the shorter days, here's the flock! 

We're happy that we live close to all three of our children. We see our two grandsons off and on which is great, they grow so fast. Oliver will be 4 in December!  River's 4 and 1/2 and doing really well in preschool, yakking up a storm. Oliver is doing great, loving preschool as well, spelling and loves reading! River came by recently, Mom Tami reading to him-

The garden did really well this year even though we got a really late start with the weird weather. No peaches sadly,  maybe about 10. We had a really small crop of apples, but the pears did great, enough to can! 

 I was able to freeze a lot of fresh organic tomatoes in our freezer, pretty full now! 

I'm a planner! When Covid hit I started buying a few extra meats here and there to freeze. Already used one beef roast-

I had a full body skin cancer check-up recently and I was really happy! I was completely clear, except for two little tiny spots on my nose (pre-cancerous). The dermatologist froze them off and hopefully that will take care of it. 

Dave and I just celebrated our 27th anniversary! I'm lucky to be married to my best friend and he's a outstanding father and grandfather. When I decided to get married I definitely picked the right person!

Easy Coop Winter Sunroom Upgrade-

We built our coop "sunroom" several years ago out of recycled glass panels, shower doors and a custom frame attached to the coop. Basically it gave more room for the chickens in the winter when it was really snowy or pouring rain. After all the years the pressure wood frame started rotting and we talked about what would be a better replacement. The glass was very heavy and it's really awkward to put together. Basically after the winter's was over we could take it down and store it. It did work great for heavy snowy weather! Original-

The other downside was it cut off the shade area in the winter, losing a bit more room for the girls. I mentioned this fall that I'd seen some other hoop houses that were used for chickens in the winter. I thought maybe it was time for a simple, low cost, easy re-do. Here's a few examples of my thinking, the first design that really got my attention several years ago- 

Two photos from Sugar Mountain Farm

From Makingwillowbend.com

Dave and I really liked the idea, with it being lightweight, easy to put up/take down, as well as inexpensive.  Dave shopped around and brought home his materials, total about $40.00.  He bought six x 10' long flexible 1/2 " white PEX tubing (for plumbing), a roll of heavy clear plastic and built a frame base of 2 x 4's we had. First he cleared out the old materials, then recycled them. Next he built a base of 2 x 4's, and attached the PEX to the coop using scrap wood with a hole it it. Next he created the shape. He attached the PEX pieces to each other form the shape with tie wraps and drilled holes in the 2 x 4's. He put the PEX in the holes to brace the PEX-   

It reminds me of an igloo! Note the gap on the left, allowing the hens to go behind the coop and have more room to roam-

Roll of plastic on the ground

Now getting ready to spread out the plastic. We spread it out, he cut it to fit, then stapled it down to the base of the 2 x 4's. It works great! The chickens have been using it in the pouring rain, wind and snow. I can't really see through it since the plastic isn't that clear.  I see them in there moving around and taking dust baths. It's nice to have that extra space when the weather is really nasty. In the spring we can just take it down and it goes back into garden growing space. Lightweight but doing the job!