Green with Envy

Another project is off the list! The container is finished, and is now Army green. My sister and brother in law came out to help finish painting. Wow, was it hot! The Moose looked like a drowned rat, but it was sweat! Yuk, it really sucked to be him! But it's done and over.

Other than that, like that wasn't enough, we picked vegies and fed the Hooligans. We made a major trip to a big box hardware store to load up on supplies like 2x4's, lanscaping posts, compost, fertilizer, and a dog kennel. The dog kennel will be transformed into a hog pen. Details will follow as we get this organized.

We're off on vacation next weekend, so no posts until we return. Lookout Niagra Falls!

Shouting from the Rooftop!

There really was very little shouting from the roof top, I just thought the title might grab your attention. Last weekend a pretty good storm blew through and knocked off some of the roofing from the tiki hut. So this weekend my Dad, the Moose and my brother in law Jeff came out to help set things right. It took my Dad some doing, just trying to get up there and then balancing himself at the very top, to roll out the new material and place the support pieces. The job did get done, with no injuries. Just a close encounter with a giant bumble bee from hell!

The other project for this weekend was to get started on painting the container. Remember the beautiful orange color?! Well, it's now Army green! My uncle Herb, my brother in law Jeff and the Moose worked on this in 95+ degree weather until they ran out of paint. Thanks to the guys for their help. I'd have more photos, but the batteries ran dead, so next weekend I'll try to get them posted.

I weeded and watered my garden, and finished hilling the potatoes.

To help repay them for their help, we had a cook out. Burgers, and brats with fully loaded potato salad, and a cold vegie salad from our garden. My Mom brought some cookies and a watermellon. Yum! The Hooligans finished off the remaining watermellon.

It was a three t-shirt day on Saturday. It would have been more, but the Moose ran out of shirts. Have a good week everyone!

Hooligan's are 8 weeks old.

The Hooligan's hit the 8 week mark. They are so much fun, and worth every penny. It's amazing how attached you can become to chickens. Who would have thought?! We went out after work Wed. night to check on them and water the garden. I was amazed I was able to capture a group photo of all 11 together at one time. They were catching the last rays of sunshine.

The rain last weekend was a God send. The garden really took off. We collect a container of fresh veggies twice a week. It's a good feeling making a meal using your own produce. It's even better realizing that with some sweat equity, you can grow your own. No more tasteless produce from the grocery store!

The Grass is Greener!

Typical weekend that it was, we spent Saturday sprucing up the garden, and mowing the acreage. I was only done with one small section when the Moose called me over to help him build a temporary fence for the Hooligans. It basically extended out from their current home giving them some additional grass and bugs to scratch and eat.

You see, like typical children they are never happy with what they have. They always want what's on the other side, and in this case it was the greener grass. So when the Moose opened up the door, the Buckeyes literally flew out the door! The Red Star's soon to follow. They had a blast, and were not happy when we decided to head out for lunch and had to herd them back in the run. As you can see by this photo, they are again looking out to see what they are missing.

We finally had some rain, about an 1-1/2", which was a blessing. Although the winds that came with it were an issue. It actually ripped off some covering on the tiki hut, that now needs to be repaired. We're still trying to figure out how to get up there. We're not convinced it will hold our weight.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

We're well on our way to having the Compound ready for when SHTF. Below is our list of projects we wanted to complete this year, and since we're five months into it, I decided to look back and see what's left;

Must haves;
-Paint the container, it's a lovely orange color right now. It's going to be green, so it will blend in better with it's surroundings.
-Build the chicken coop, no I haven't forgotten about MY chickens!CHECK
-Till and get ready the garden for plantingCHECK
-Put up our greenhouse, it's small but should help get things started.CHECK
-Plant seedlings CHECK
-Clean out the wild blackberry area, so it's easier to pick. Right now it has grasses and weeds growing in the same area.CHECK

Wish list;
-Plant some additional fruit trees and bushes. I think we lost some of the ones we planted last year due to the freezing temperatures we had in December.CHECK
-Build a railing on the dock. I always feel like I'll fall off. I know it's an optical illusion, but I want the safety.
-Build a pizza/stone oven
-Expand the garden to include a separate herb gardenCHECK
-Build a mini dock by the boat launch area, to help with loading and unloading of our boat from the trailer.

Not too bad if I say so myself. Considering the projects were completed on the weekends. Throw in some normal maintenance like mowing, watering and weeding the garden, and a few additional not planned for projects like expanding the garden area to completely surround the pond, the solar panels and lighting, not to mention our day jobs, prepping and keeping up with things at home. I wonder sometimes how we got this much accomplished! Slow and steady wins the race!

One Year Anniversary

Yesterday was our one year anniversary at the Compound. Things have really changed and lots of projects have been completed. Thanks to the extended family for their help.

Another Busy Weekend

I won't go into much of the boring details about our weekend. Most of it spent getting another section of garden ready, and keeping watch over the Hooligans. Here are some photos;

They are making good use of their auto waterer.

Izzy keeping guard over the Hooligans.

The Hooligan's enjoying the outdoor buffet.

A couple of Hooligan's enjoying the weed pile the Moose brought in for them to scratch around.

A section of the garden.

The Hooligan's roosting outdoors.