Mending Fences

We have owned this house for one year as of March 12th, although we didn't actually move in until about a month later. The fence in the back portion of our lot has been broken since we first set eyes on the place. We have no idea what happened. Maybe a car hit it? We have a lot of dirt bikes and four wheelers in the neighborhood, but I don't see how a smaller vehicle could have done that amount of damage.

We temporarily put up a couple posts and some leftover chain link, but it was still an eye sore.

Since the chickens will be moving out there soon we had it fixed last week. It looks so much better! We still have to paint the steel to match the rest of the fence but even unpainted it is a great improvement.

When we moved in a there was a fence along the guest house driveway that could contain any animals (or kids!) in the grassy part of the yard. That fence was removed when they put in the pool. So to keep the backyard enclosed we also had them install a gate across the guest house driveway.

The company we hired gave us a discount (almost $100) for paying in cash. Like real dollar bills in an envelope cash. I'm not really sure why, but I was kind of nervous about it. It just seemed shady since with cash there is really no record of payment (except in this case the guys initials on our contract). As much as I like Dave Ramsey's ideas for building savings and reducing debt, I could never be on board with his suggestion to pay "cash only" for everything.

We have made lots of improvements in the year we've owned the house, but there's always something more to do. We have a couple of things I really want finished before it gets hot: landscape rock and build a planter to cover the septic caps. We're hoping to get the rocks delivered later this week so if you want a little exercise come help us haul rock. The weather should be beautiful and if it gets too hot you can jump in the pool for a quick swim!

The Coop (Part 2)

From 3/17/13:

After a week off we were up and running again. We started by framing the back wall. Then we leveled the floor frame on some concrete supports. I should back up and say after we decided where we wanted it and mowed the back lot we leveled the floor. Originally, I envisioned the coop in the far back corner. A few things made me change my mind: the neighbor dog and access to water and shade. This location also makes more sense as far as keeping an eye on the chickens throughout the day and access to future eggs.

With the floor frame level(ish) we were ready to lay down the floor. It looked like a stage at this point and we all tried to think of at least one line of Shakespeare to share "on stage".

The walls went up pretty fast after that!

Since we were out of materials we decided to call it quits for the weekend and do some other yard work. I'm looking forward to seeing the real form take shapes when we add the siding next weekend!

Pool Building Flashbacks

Am I dreaming? Did we go back in time? It was hot today and felt like summer. My pool was half empty and there were guys working on it.

No, we didn't go back in time and, unfortunately, I'm not dreaming. Way back when the pool table was installed, they were in a bit of hurry and had someone - NOT the table crew - install it. When they were done we noticed a "chip around the umbrella hole". We mentioned it to the pool superintendent right away and he told us they would get a little repair kit to fix it. After not hearing anything for months, we finally asked them what the hold up was and it seems there is no repair kit. Guess they were not going to mention that and see if we ever cared. The remedy: a new table top. Okay. The procedure for a new table top: drain the pool to the first step. Ugh.

It's been a struggle. They didn't show up the first time the "drain and fix" was scheduled. Then the gal in the office had "computer problems" that suspiciously affected her phone as well. Uh huh. Jerry finally insisted it be taken care of this week. So yesterday a guy came to drain our beloved, perfectly (chemically) balanced water and pump it out into the back field.

Pumping out the water (FYI: Those are solar rings to help warm the water.)

Then early this morning the three man install crew (the real ones!) arrived and literally broke the old table into pieces and removed it. Old table, we hardly knew ye! After cleaning up the pedestal edges, they got the new top all situated and were on their way.

Removing the old table

Installing the new table

The boys wondered why the pool crew couldn't just put on their swimming trunks and fix it. It does seem like a waste to drain all that water for an hour of work. But the water was cold (about 65º) and power tools and water don't mix. The good news is the water going into the pool is at least 80º so I think between that and the warm weather (high of 90º today and 92º tomorrow) we will be swimming this weekend! We had planned to turn on the heater and I think the addition of warm water will give it quite a jump start!

As you can see my pool-filling helper really enjoyed the warm hose water! We spent a good half hour our there splashing and spraying.

It was kind of funny how word spread. Soon Eli joined us and then Wesley, Hayden, and JD appeared with their suits on. The boys actually stepped into the deep parts where the water was still a bit chilly. Us girls stayed up where it was warm. Everyone is READY to be swimming again. Looks like we will be very soon!

Squawkward

The chicks are growing fast! They are also eating a lot more. I can't believe how much more they eat now than just a week ago. The growth spurt has caused a kind of awkward appearance. No longer cute like a chick, but not a full grown hen either. It's like they're in bird junior high!

In addition to their appearance, they are going through a bit of a phase where they completely freak out and squawk like mad every time I reach into the cage for any reason. I now know where the phrase being a "chicken" comes from... it seems they are afraid of every little thing. But if you sit and talk to them for a minute they calm down and work their way over to you. Sometimes I bring them little treats (they LOVE craisins!) and sit to chat with them for a minute. When they aren't in a panic they are quite curious. Now that I've added little perches they have a better view of what's going on outside their cage. Sometimes when I'm out switching loads of laundry (both the birds and the laundry area are in the garage), I see a little head peak over the cardboard to see what I'm doing.

I cleaned out the brooder today and Eli helped me take the chickens out and set them in a plastic tote. I jokingly called him the "Chicken Whisperer" because he was so good with them. They seemed to like him too! While I was cleaning he held one at a time and petted them. They didn't freak out or flap off like I expected. It really was fun to watch. Justus and Hayden also took turns holding them and they did a great job too. When it was time to return the chicks to their clean cage the boys transferred them for me.

Since they are growing so fast we got a move on their future digs today. They are going to have a one of kind coop! After searching the internet we never did find the perfect set of plans. So we decided to combine the features we liked in a couple and design our own. I'll post more about it later, but let's just say any eggs we get will be far from "free" for a very long time! Man, is lumber expensive these days!

The Coop (Part 1)

This is from 3/9/13:

We finally got to work on a more permanent home for the chickens. I see the wisdom in the whole "have a coop ready before you even get chicks" thing now. They do grow really fast!

Part of the delay was figuring out what kind of coop we wanted. It seems that most plans we found are a small box like coop with an attached run. That wasn't what we wanted. Our chickens will be able to roam around our back lot so our coop didn't need an enclosed run. Coops in AZ are quite a bit different than coops in colder parts of the country. We need to worry about chickens overheating not keeping them warm.

We found two plans we liked and basically took things we liked from both to design our own. We wanted a decent size (go big or go home!) and fairly simple to build (carpenters we are not). The two plans we melded together were this Chicken Shed from Ana White and this one.  We knew we could trust Ana's plans... we used her plans to build our bunk beds and they turned out great! Her coop was just a little smaller than we wanted. The other one was too big. Yes, we're like the Goldilocks of chicken coop builders!

After a trip to both Home Depot and Lowes for lumber we got started. First we framed the floor. Easy peasy as JD likes to say. Next up: figuring out how to use a Swanson Speed Square to cut an angle. YouTube to the rescue!  Once we figured that out, we got the front wall done in no time. You can't see from this photo but the top is angled (at 15º) to slope the roof. We still haven't decided how tall the door will be or what the front will be made of. I am leaning towards leaving it completely open, enclosed only with chicken wire, since it gets so hot here. Or maybe a half wall. We'll see. Like I said, we are a lot more concerned about keeping the gals cool than keeping them warm.

Of course, we had a very large work crew helping. Annabeth was on clean up.

Here she is giving Jerry some helpful advice while he works. She blinked every time the hammer hit a nail.

Then she helped move the finished wall out of the way. She is a really strong!

Hayden and JD picked up all the scraps for us. Then they used them to build various things.

Jerry is an excellent foreman. He also does most of the heavy work and the math. I never was good with angles and fractions!

By the end of the weekend we had three walls (front and both sides) framed.

Then the weekend ended and we had to put the project on hold for other things like work and school. Next weekend we'll be back at it!

Fun at the Park

Friday morning we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go to the park. A few of the boys brought scooters (or a skateboard) to ride around on. One disadvantage of living on a dirt road is lack of sidewalks for scootering/skating.

I think this was the first time Annabeth remembers being at a park. Of course, she has been to one before but it was long enough ago she doesn't remember. Since we don't have a park within walking distance we just don't go that often. That and it's too hot to go half the year.

Well, we'll have to go more often because she loved it! She enjoyed the swings, but she really loved the slide. She even figured out how to climb the little steps and go down by herself. By the time we left I was just a spotter making sure she didn't get hurt and she was doing the rest herself!

Annabeth will now demonstrate her sliding method:

Step One: Climb up the stairs

Step Two: Crawl across platform

Step Three: Go down! Optional: Say "Wheeee!"

The boys had a good time too, but I didn't get many pictures of them! They were off enjoying scootering on the sidewalk and a game or two of hide-n-seek as well as playing on the bigger playground.

The park was a little busy when we got there due to a "boot camp" but it cleared out and then we almost had the place to ourselves. We didn't bring a picnic lunch this time, but will have to do that soon before it warms up. Wesley pointed out we were at the park almost one year ago to the day for our "Leap Year Picnic".

Speaking of Leap Day, this year's lack of a February 29th means Annabeth didn't get an official day to turn 18 months. Maybe that means she'll stay this age... wouldn't that be nice! She is such a sweetie!