Henny Penny's House, Est. Jan. 2012

The roofing crew came and finished putting the tin on the roof. We recycled the old roofing from the shop for the chicken coop. The tin was removed from the shop as the wind had damaged it in several places. But, the shop is much larger than the coop and we had undamaged lengths enough to cover the coop.

This is the final product. In the spring it will get the finishing touches of caulking, paint, window screens, a chicken door at the back and landscaping. We will be adding a fenced and covered run behind it, along the goat pasture fence. The additional space will be necessary as Keeli wants more hens that lay clean (AKA white) eggs and Tatum wants to try raising turkeys. 

 Inside it is warm and toasty, compared the to the rough living the chickens have had the past few months. They have several roosting options and these vintage tin nesting boxes. I found them on the curb as leftovers waiting for the second-hand store to pick up after a local tag sale.

 The girls - and Bob the Rooster - can also access the window for a view of the great outdoors, or at least a view of the goats wandering around the pasture.

C-C-C-Cold Construction

Although we are in the middle of winter, it is - apparently, according to Rick - time to build the chicken coop. It all started with constructing the base and wall frames on the driveway.

 Then, we moved the platform and all four walls out to the "building site" and started assembling. At first Rick wanted to just carry everything across the yard. But, his construction crew consists of me and the puppy. The platform includes 10 4x4s and there is no way I'm carrying that anywhere! We loaded all the parts on the trailer and drove across the yard.

 After the platform was leveled, the walls went up. The door of the coop will face the yard and the chickens will have access to the pasture from a little chicken door at the back of the coop.

 The roof supports and siding went up quick and easy. Thankfully! The wind had picked up and the temperature had started to drop drastically. It was time to call it a day.

Rick was left to contemplate installing the window and how he will provide access for an extention cord for a heat lamp in cold weather. Construction will resume and conclude this weekend!

I found some vintage tin nesting boxes at a junk sale this summer. These will be installed, along with a roost or two, a hanging feeder and a chicken nipple watering system. Can't wait to get the chickens back in a coop and on a regular laying schedule.

Cooter the Crazy Dog

The newest member of our little farm, Cooter, is now 3 months old. Isn't he a handsome little fellow?!

 He is a border collie, Austrialian shephard cross. He currently keeps us on our toes at all times.

Over the past two weekends as we have been constructing the new chicken coop, Cooter has attempted to be as involved as possible, like all the other family members. For him, this meant chewing the corners off random 2x4s, carrying off boxes of screws/nails and engaging Rick in a game of keep away with small hand tools like measuring tapes, pencils and saws.

Another V-ball player!

The 5th grader boys completed their volleyball season the last week of classes before Christmas break. It was his first time on the court trying to master this sport and he did AWESOME! Must be genetic.

He is very focused on learning sports, but struggles for acceptance among the other players as he is usually the smallest on his teams. Size is such a big deal to boys!

 He isn't afraid to show off his mad skilz! LOL. He thinks he is setting, but doesn't quite have all the motor skills happening in the right order or combination yet. For those who think volleyball is easy, it actually requires your entire body to be doing the right things in th right order to move the ball. It isn't an easy sport to master.

But, Rikard gives it his all everytime!

We have a few weeks before his basketball season starts up at school. Tatum's club volleyball season starts up the first week of the new year. She was moved up to a U-14 tournament team (she's only 12), so the heat is on.

Christmas memories

Christmas this year was fairly low-key at our house. No visitors. Just us. An an agenda to rip open all the presents we could and eat all the cookies and candy in the kitchen!

After what seemed like hours and hours of getting chores done (can you hear the whiny pre-teen?), throwing the turkey in the oven, attending a quick church service and getting some breakfast, the kids finally got to attack their presents. Rikard wanted to take a few minutes and organize all the gifts into piles for each receiver so it was quicker handing them out later. It was quite comical to watch him compare the sizes and sounds all the boxes made.

Keeli, in true 7-year-old fashion, didn't need much more than the first gift she opened. She has been "arting" (as she calls what she does with an art set) up a storm ever since. We didn't see or hear much from Tatum all day as she found an e-reader under the tree and is now absorbed in an endless supply of books.

Before the morning was over, the kids pitched in and cleaned up the mess. I don't decorate much and the trees will remain up during Rick and the kids' break from school.