Spring, Flowers and trees

Sorry that it took so long to get back with this post! I have a new Internet provider and they do not seem to be able to get it right

But it looks like Spring has! Flowers and Trees are in bloom and and planting of the same is a work in progress!

This is a River Burch. I planted two of them near the ditch in the front yard. I choose this type of tree because they grow in groups from the same root ball and I like that the bark peels back from the trunk.

And we planted 4 flowering Pear trees along the ditch in Terri's yard. We still have two Dogwoods to plant in the back of her house. I learned a good bit of information about planting trees..."Plant them high and they won't die, Plant them low and they won't grow"! The roots need to breath, so plant the root ball a little higher then the surrounding ground!

"Daffodils are in bloom and the Deer do not like them!

Can't say the same for the "Tulips! This is a double "Peach" one they missed!

This pot of Tulips was a lot closer to the house and they left them a lone.

"Daffodil's" and "Pansies" near the house.

The new parking area and paved walkway at Terri's. We have been working on this project for weeks now! It seems to rain every few days and that puts a stop to the work until it dries out again!

The Chickens are still living in the Projects. But the inside work in the new Hen House is done and as you can see the Door and ramp for them is in. All I have to do now is find the time to get the temp fence up.

And now it's time for you to meet ISSY!

 She is a 1 1/2 year old "Pit Bull" mix and had a litter of 5 puppy's that were 6 - 7 weeks old and had been separated from her at the shelter. All of the pups looked just like the DAD, A Beagle !

Isn't she something? I was impressed that she hadn't messed in her kennel and waited till the Lady at the shelter let her out into the exercise area to do her thing! She will not mess where she lives. But she did get after the Chickens the first morning home and killed one of the RI R's!

She did not know that they were not food and she had been on her own for some time eating what ever she could find. She is a sweet hart! Just look at the strips! You can not see it in any of the pictures, But she has a double "Halo" on top of her head!

And not to leave the GIRLS out! The 11 are doing well and looking forward to the "BIG MOVE"! Egg total as of today.....875! That's in 3 1/2 months!

 Well that's some of the things that have gone on around here the past few months. I am so glad that winter is over and the days are warming up. I can now start working outside and I even got the tractor running, so cutting grass is in my near future.

So I will close for now. Happy Spring Everyone!!
Tom

Is Spring Really here?

Hello Everyone,
The road to recovery is long and full of ruts and pot holes. But it looks like Spring has finally arrived here in the Coastal Region of N.C. and I have gotten back to some of the projects that were put on hold for the past few months.

I will spend the day getting a tire for the tractor repaired and try to get some grass cut. And help Mark continue on a project that we started a few weeks ago. A paved walkway and parking area at his house. I will be back tonight with pictures of that and the trees that have been planted.

Also I will have pictures of the newest member of the family, A Pit Bull mix named Issy (the people at the SPA were calling her ZIG-ZAG, But that did not fit, so I changed it to Issy!) She is a sweet hart and gets a long well with Daisy and the other dogs at Terri's.

So I will be back tonight with another post and pictures.
See you then.
Tom

No Fooling

Yep, It's April fool's day......
But this is not an April fools joke, I'm really still here!

I know it's been a long time sense my last post (TO DAM LONG!) And I'm sorry about that and I hope that all of you have not given up on me! The recovery from my stay in the hospital has been slow in coming and the Med's the DR. has me on has one side effect where I tired a lot easier and It takes much longer for me to get back to want to try to get something done. So all the projects that I have been working on have been put on the back burner!

I did get a few things accomplished.
With Terri's help we got 4 Flowering Pear trees planted in her front yard and 2 River Birch trees planted in my yard near the ditch.
We have also been working on a new path way and parking area at her house. But we can only work on it when the weather allows us to. And all of the work has to be done with hand tools! The whole area has to be dug down 8" and back filled with gravel and sand before we can even think about laying the brick paver's. But we are making progress. The other day I spent2 hours removing all the rain water from the site using a "Shop Vac" and that really kicked my Butt!

I also have a new Family member to tell you about! Her name is "Zig-Zag" (Ziggy for short). Daisy needed a new friend and I have wanted another Dog for a long time. She is a Catahula - Pit bull mix and is about 1 1/2 years old. I got her at the SPCA and she had a litter of 5 puppy's that were old enough to be no their own. I borough her home and I learned that she can not be allowed out side on her own! The second morning home she got out the door before I could get the leash on her and she headed right for the Chickens! She got one of the RIR's and killed her before I could get to Ziggy! So that leaves 11 birds in the flock!

The Chickens seem to be the only thing that have not slowed down at all! They are still producing 8 - 10 Eggs a day and the total for this year is up to 736! The H.H. is one of the  projects I was talking about putting on hold. I have gotten a little more done on it, But I still need to get the fencing up before I can make the big move.

Anyway, Like I said. This is not an Aprils Fool's joke! I really am still here! The next post I will try to get pictures taken of Ziggy and let you see what she looks like!
Until then, Remember, It really is Spring!
Tom

Another stay in the Hospital.

Hey everyone,
I am sorry for being absent for so long. But health issues have taken their toll and the only think I have been doing the past few weeks is staying at home and sleeping a lot!
A few weeks ago I was able to get some work done on the Hen House, But Terri came out and did most of the work. And it's almost done!
Tomorrow I will be going back into the hospital for a Hart Cauterization (SP?) and if every thing works out, I should be home tomorrow night. If they have to place a stint in, I will stay over night and come home on Friday.  They think the chest pains I have been having may be caused by a partial blockage of an artery.
One of the Med's that they put me on has a side effect of the worst headache  I have ever had. And I have taken some personal leave until it's taken care of. So out of work for the past 10 days and I hope to go back on Monday!
Just wanted to get a post in to keep you updated!
Tom 

P.S.
The Chicken are still going strong! Another 11 Eggs today and the total from 1/1/13 is 451!! From 12 birds!!
Tom

No Progress

The best laid plans of Mice and Men!?

In my last post, I showed pictures of the wood and Pallets I got early this last week. And because of the cold and Snow, I did not get the wood out of the truck until Saturday afternoon. I was going to spend some time in the CH, Finishing the wall and getting some of the bird netting up. BUT....!!

As I got about half of the wood off the truck (storing it for now on the front porch), I started to get some chest pains and shortness of breath. I stop working and sat down to relax for a few minuets to see if the pain would go away. And it did... But as soon as I got back to the wood, The pain came back. As I got the last of the wood off the truck, I was in a lot of pain and really short of breath. I came into the house and laid down on the bed. The pain did not go a way this time and I called Terri to tell her I was going to the emergency room. She would not let me drive myself and took me in her car instead.

To make a long story short, I spent the whole week-end in the hospital. They ran a few tests and did not find anything wrong with my hart, but my blood pressure was elevated and they put me on a moneter to keep an eye on it.

They sent me home tonight and want me to stay home from work until Wednesday and I will be going in for more test later in the week. The think that the pain was caused by the "Acid Reflex" I have had for years. And that is what the other tests will determine.

So no progress on the CH for this week! I will spend tomorrow just resting and try to catch up on the sleep I missed out on in the hospital (They would wake me at all hours to draw blood and check vitals). So I did not get much sleep while there.

So I need to get cracking on the CH later this week and get the Chickens moved over as the weather is really playing hell with the old coop and Chicken yard. The tarp I put over the top of everything has been torn off by the high winds we had the other day and the rain did not help either! But the Girls are still putting out the Eggs! Terri took care of them and collected 23 Eggs from them while I was gone! This years totals are up to 266!

That's about it for this post. Talk to you later!
TOM

Weather and update

Hey everyone,
Is the weather crazy or is it just me?
Last Friday we got 1 1/2" of snow and the temps dropped into the 20's!! And two days later it was in the 40's with rain. No more snow. And yesterday it was 75 degrees with high winds and lots of rain over night! And now they are telling us that we may get more snow tomorrow! CRAZY!!

As far as the update....
I have not gotten much done with regards to the Chicken Hotel. Work and the weather have had an impact. I tried to get some work done the other morning after work, But after less then an hour, I couldn't even feel the screws I was holding in my hand! It was past time to get in the house and warm up!

I had Tuesday and Wednesday off and I was able to make two major SCORES for the Homestead!

Score # 1

3 truck loads of pallets!

And as you can see,  they are not your typical pallets. 2x4 and 1x4 are what most of them are made of!

And there are a few of them that are over 10 feet long!

They are building a new "Walgreen's" in town and they had a dumpster full of them. I had to unload the dumpster to get to the ones I wanted and then put the ones I did not want back in. It took 3 trips to get them all home and they are on the back deck for right now. When I get the work shop delivered, I will have a place to store them and break them down.


 Score #2

Below is a picture of the inside of the truck bed. And what is that in there? 38 2"x3"x8' Pine posts and 6 2x"2"x8' oak posts. Also several shorter sections of 2"x4"

Some nails still need to be removed.

And over the top of all of that are 1"x4"x8' boards! And some shorter sections of the same.

I got all of this at the import company that I have mentioned before. They had 3 shipping containers of marble  that were packed in this lumber and I had to wait until they could off load each stack. Then I broke it down, pulled nails and loaded it all into the truck. It took all day just to get what I did. When I left, there was still several stacks that had to be unloaded. They asked if I would be back next week for another load. When I said that I would, they said that they would set the rest of the wood off to one side for me. Normally they just burn it all.

And why do I consider all of this a big score? It only coast me the time to pick it up!!! Yep...Free!!!! And that's the right price! I will find some projects to use all of this in!

Tom

Chicken Hotel Update

Hello Friends,

I finally got started on the construction of the inside of the new Chicken Hotel. It has been a work in progress and I have not been able to work on it much, What with Overtime at the Job and all the rain/cold that we have had the past few weeks!
Yesterday was supposed to be the start of my 3 day week-end, But I got drafted for overtime yesterday morning and after 8 hours of scheduled time, I got 8 hours on the same post! 16 hours on SUICIDE WATCH! No fun, and the worst part is I have to make two separate log entries every 10 minuets, describing what the inmate is doing....Sleeping, Standing, Sitting or Banging his head against the wall ! Like I said, No fun!

Anyway, What I got done in the CH....

Nesting Boxes

 Five Milk crates that I have (I do not remember where or when I got them!) I built the shelf out of recycled wood and attached across the front is a 1/2 inch PVC pipe that runs across the front.

Here is a close-up of one. You can see the PVC better in this one. Also installed a narrow board across the bottom to keep them from kicking out the bedding and so eggs can't roll out.

This is the shot taken before I placed the Crap Board on top. The board is there to keep some of the hens from Crapping on the hens that use the nests.

Tomorrow I have to go get some hardware to finish a wall I'm building to the left of the boxes. This will be what I consider the work area and storage area. And the wall will keep the Chickens out of that area (I hope!)
I still need to finish the wall and install a door for it. And still in the planing stage are the Roost's and Chicken door to the outside. Also I'm still working on the fence panels that will make up the run for them. They will also be built out of PVC and Chicken Netting. I will make sure I get pictures of all of that as they go in!

Egg numbers are still at 8 - 10 eggs a day and as of today 110 sense the  first of the year...... They do not seem to be slowing down at all!

Next post... More construction on the CH!
Tom