10/17/11

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10/17/11

Hot and sunny, some wind. Put out all the wooden duck eggs [12] we picked up in Atlanta [Michael’s - $.79 – painted white] in the 4 nest boxes in the morning. The same two in the coop, one made from a plastic bin on the floor for the ducks, and one I built of wood/osb sitting out in the duck pen. Out of 5 hens we got 4 eggs – 2 in the big popular box, Little Bit the first to lay in the duck box in the coop, and one in the small box. So the eggs work if not just to motivate the birds to lay in the boxes, but also to try different boxes they’re unfamiliar with laying in.

Had a massive amount of duck/graywater to distribute throughout the garden from having the birds cooped up while we were gone [5 days – 5 chickens, 7 ducks, 13 guineas].

Girls barely made the bus by Harley running ahead of Gwen to flag down the bus.

Aired out the tents from our camping trip. Rachel’s tent still wet and she hung it up on upper story of barn.

Took a trip to Sunbright and picked up a small piece of pipe for a garden door, popcorn bowl, rubber spatula, small knife, and two bookcases [$15 a piece]. Had the truck to fit it. Also mailed the girls their phone they left in the back pocket of the seat in the truck [$6}. Didn’t get walnuts – too much to do at home. Also bought milk and ice cream treat.

Rachel picked tomatoes from the garden and lettuce, kale, chard, pepper, and radishes for a big salad which we had for a late lunch. Used up the rest of our blue cheese dressing – need to start making our own. Rachel made croutons from homemade bread and we also added roasted sunflower seeds.

Wasps and ladybugs were everywhere in the house especially upstairs. I had to swat 30 wasps to make it livable up here. Rachel got stung in the foot when one got trapped underneath her sandal. Wasps were milling everywhere underneath the eaves. We can only guess they’re waking up with the warmth or looking for a place to hibernate before the coming cold front - which will probably be our second stretch of light frost.

Coyotes yipping late evening.

Spent hours reorganizing the loft to fit bookcases beside the computer table – had to cut a wedge out of nonstructural stud to fit it all. Brought Bastian’s dresser up here. Put the toilet along the loft railing. Looks good with much more storage space. Put up magazines [Mother earth, Countryside, etc] in one case, books in other. Cleaned and vacuumed. Room now microorganized with library, dressing room, bathroom, tea station, living room, and bedroom. Need a floor lamp for the library area – hard to find cheap.

Read Rachel from A FAREWELL TO ARMS at night. Talked about history.

Rinsed and later washed the dishes in the morning. Cleaned out the truck some. Car battery dead from the trunk having been left open while we were gone. Rachel organized produce in kitchen.

Called Northline about chimney order – shouldn’t expect anything until late next week.

Looking in to ordering rolls of hay to mulch on massive scale especially since mower is currently not working. An ad on Trade Times says $10 - $15 per bale . . . will call.

Brought back helpful things from Atlanta – Rachel got 2 big roles of unbarbed wire from her mother, a ricer, large metal bowls, magazines, 2 big pots, and I got a $100 check for my birthday and $25 gift certificate.


[We've had many issues with chickens laying outside the coop who knows where. There's also the possibility a snake is getting the eggs in the coop. The clutches of wooden duck eggs in each box should help both problems.

The Habitat for Humanity thrift store in Sunbright is an awesome place to score just about anything.

We camped up on Pigeon Mountain with Rachael and Brooke at the end of our Atlanta stay last weekend - they left their phone in the back of the truck.

Sebastian is Rachel's 17 year old son who moved up with us in March. He just got his GED up here and moved back down to Atlanta permanently last weekend. Harley and Gwen are Rachel's 13 and 9 year old daughters who live with us up here and go to school in Sunbright. Their bedrooms are in the addition.

The city park in Sunbright has an almost unlimited supply of black walnuts. We've gathered two trunkloads so far and have them drying up on the upper story of the barn. They so far cover a space 12'x24'. There's another trunkload to get. We also have a good amount of chestnut oak acorns up there we gathered in Pickett State Park about an hour from here.

The loft now has a railing and is Rachel and I's bedroom. I've joked that it's our headquarters for 'Operation Homestead' as we have a commanding view over the entire property.

One of the guards came loose under the deck on the mower, and the blades caught it and tore it up. We have a nice Honda Quadra-Cut mower that cuts a very fine mulch. I replaced the gaurd but now the vibration's so bad we're worried the blades are either out of balance or the crankshaft is bent. We found a small-engine repair guy in Jamestown to look at it. While the mower's out, and until we can obtain some large hay rolls, we're out of cover material - just have to take mulch from future garden beds.]
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