Run Rikard! Run!

Life keeps marching - or running - at break neck speeds. Rikard started middle school this year and is adjusting quite well. His class load includes all the regular required classes with the added bonus of a robotics class.

 

He tried out for the cross country team and finished in the top 10 for his grade level. His first timed run, a practice race last week, was 7 minutes, 30 seconds.

 

His team hosted the first meet of the season yesterday at Mountainside Middle School. There were hundreds of boys from more than a dozen schools at the starting line, and the ranks thinned out along the route.

Rikard is in the center of the photo, wearing very bright blue shoes with orange laces. All races at this level are 1 mile.

At the finish line, he poured on the speed and finished with a time of 6:43, placing 79th in his first race. A great personal improvement and a great first race!

Veterans Day at Green Bluff Grange

Earlier this year Rikard crossed over and became a Boy Scout. He is really enjoying the Scouting experience. This morning started out with the Scouts collecting food donations and delivering two pick-up trucks full of food to the local food bank. The day ended with the troop conducting the flag ceremony at the Green Bluff Grange #300 Veterans Day event.

The Scouts had a few challenges with this event. The greatest challege was that the Grange building has some structural cables stretching across the room that the flag had to navigate under as it made its way to the front of the room.

 Once the colors were posted, the Scouts led the entire gathering in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Club Pursuit

We are in the midst of club volleyball season and it's been a whirwind of fun for all of us. This is Tatum and Maddie giddy with excitement at the first tournament of the season.

Their team is made up of mostly 12-year-olds, but a couple of older players forced the coaches to register them as a U14 team. They are struggling in tournaments, playing against bigger girls with more experience, but they are sticking together as a team. 

 This is Tatum at the net. She is playing setter (my favorite position on the court) and is learning a lot as she plays all the way around, but only setting from the front row.

I've had a great time as I've met up with a couple of old high school friends whose daughters are playing in the same tournaments. In fact, last weekend we played in a tournament against a team from my hometown and against the club team I belonged to so many years ago. Fun times for all!

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.