~ Retired and Starting My Future In The Foothills ~

[Kansaseq]

That porch/deck is lovely! You really have an eye for pulling things together in a unified and asthetically pleasing end product. Beautiful job!

 

[dsqard]

Linda that porch is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!! Big kudos to John. You have got to love a great handyman. They are hard to find and he has a great personality. Doubly hard to find. You must be looking forwards to sitting on that deck, sipping coffee or wine (depending on the time of day) and just looking at the antics in the yard.

 

[JulieNKC]

I love your porch, it's beautiful. And the boxes are a great idea, goose food and erosion control in one. Paint them to match your house and they'll look a lot better than them straw wattle things the chickens would have torn apart in hours anyway, lol.

 

[Casey3043]

Oh, I missed the pictures of the completed deck!! I had been anxiously awaiting them and BYC dropped the ball on notifying me of new posts!

It is so gorgeous, and absolutely perfect! John certainly does beautiful work, and you plan beautiful projects. In all honesty, I would have painted that end of the house before any other construction, because I am a rather sloppy and impatient painter. I start out careful, but then just want to heave the can of paint onto the wall, grab a brush and spread it around. Now you have to be super careful not to get a drop of the WRONG color paint on that lovely deck......

I guess you'll have to get a few (plastic) vines to give you shade. And I agree with you about frames to grow greens for the chickens. I have made some from 2x4s and wire over the top to grow some greens for them and it works like a charm. They can only bite off the tops, and the plants will keep on growing. Actually the termites have eaten a good bit of the 2x4s so need to make some new ones this year.

 

[gryeyes]

No deck photos to share today, although John finished painting it. The amazing thing: not a single poop on the deck when he arrived to put on the second coat!

HHandbasket and I went Down The Hill today for some tasks we couldn't handle up here. During the trip, she discovered I'd never eaten Vietnamese food, so she navigated us to a FANTASTIC Vietnamese restaurant in Sacramento's "Little Saigon." OMG. Why have I always thought I wouldn't like it? I do love sushi and sashimi, I've loved Chinese food ever since I went to San Francisco's Chinatown IN HIGH SCHOOL (when I was learning to speak Mandarin), so what made me think Vietnamese food would be something I wouldn't like??? Apparently the only time I had what I thought was Vietnamese cuisine was when I was taken to a Thai restaurant - which isn't a food I now relish in the least. Hmmm. Anyway, got to bring a "to go" box home for dinner tonight. Mmmmmmm.

John was up in the apple tree, pruning it, when we got back. I was a little freaked out by the number of branches he lopped off - and he kept going! - but he explained how he was shaping it and how much sweeter the apples will be this year due to the severe pruning. Something about how much of the root base was covered by the tree's crown (when it grew back). Then HH chimed in to say apple trees could be nearly cut down and still come back better than before. They agreed with each other for a couple of minutes, saying this or that, so I relaxed. Okie doke, then. If y'all say so.

He hadn't pruned the peach tree, but he said that's because he cut out the dead wood last Summer and it would be too much for the tree to be pruned back until next year. Okay.

Can you believe HH also agreed with him about PLASTIC vines - well, artificial ones, anyway - for foliage across that deck cover? "No bugs," she said, "no dampness, no mold, no dirt caught in it."

Sometimes I cannot tell if my leg is being pulled or not.

John showed me a photo of a small, (nearly) antique bistro style metal table and two chairs he thought he could pick up cheaply, which would be the perfect size for the deck. I've authorized that purchase. And I've got a couple of super-nifty, solar-powered, flameless candles in mosaic glass holders which will absolutely look gorgeous on the railing.

But wait until you see the water feature I am gonna put in one corner of that deck, no matter what anybody says. Humph. A self-contained, solar-powered, standing bird-bath type of fountain with the water bubbling up out of a pineapple-shaped top and down into the basin. Most of my bird baths or fountains have a a cement or grey mortar finish, but this one has an oiled-bronze finish. I'll set it up next weekend.

Plus I have to put the "Dancing Bear" fire-pit together under the pergola.

I was explaining to John why I have a plastic Barbie Playhouse Cottage sort of put together on the other side of the house, under the cedars and in amongst the periwinkle. Still need half a plywood sheet to put over the pallet, up on concrete blocks, level, for its foundation. "Ahh, I see - sort of like a Hansel & Gretel house." Yup. Except I won't be luring little kids over to eat them.

"Of course not - you don't cook."

Smart alec.

 

[NYRIR]

Very good handyman you've got!


Was wondering...has your goose started nesting or laying yet? I just posetd in geese about Chloey starting a nest tonight....it was the CUTEST thing

Although, her first eggs will not be fertile because her man is mating her backwards!

This is NOT how it is going to go for the whole year I hope! Everyone needs to earn their keep around here!

BTW, Can't wait to see your water feature

 

[gryeyes]

I have found the random duck egg, here and there - "Whoa! An egg just fell out of my butt! How odd! Guess I'll just go for a swim now."

I did notice what looks like a nest inside the dog house I put in the coop for exactly that purpose, hoping Kate would feel comfortable and cozy there. Tonight I'll take the time to feel around in the shavings. She is not sitting on the nest during the day, though.

Mr. Amazing Eyebrows just called me to provide a report on the bantam boys and the hens I gave him a couple of weeks ago. In the interim, someone else has given him some more hens. And somebody else gave him some geese and ducks. I've been invited over to check out the property, the small lake, his flock and their living quarters. He also wondered if I had any extra ducks, because he now has nine drakes and one poor duck. Unfortunately, my five drakes only have four ducks for themselves, so I couldn't assist him in that department.

He also wanted to know where I bought BOSS. He enthused about Alex's perfect plumage and laughed about George's "larger than life attitude.". No problem there; he just picks him up and carries him around for a while.

I think I'll zip over there next weekend....

 

[EweSheep]

Such a wonderful, talented handyman! A guy like him are farther and fewer in between! I hate to find out his going rates per hour or per project! Great job!

What color will your house be?

 

[HenCrazyMom]

OH I soooooooooooo love this thread. I love checking in to see what you are up to. I would love to think of retirement watching my chickens, drinking some coffee or wine whichever was appropriate for the time of day! I think that John does beautiful work and that you Linda are amazing!!!!! I love the stories about your life with all your critters.
thanks for posting

 

[gryeyes]

I am home today; had a vision problem: Just couldn't see myself going to work.

(Not really, just not up to snuff today - needing a lot of rest.)

And it was serendipitous! The retired couple next door had gravel delivered for their parking pad, and the man of the house asked if I wanted to talk to the Gravel Guys (for my driveways). He also wanted some eggs..... And he told me it's been great since the "extra" roosters left. He still hears Carl, but there aren't any Crow Competitions any more. He knows there's "another" rooster (there are a total of five) but he said it sounds like Carl and "that rooster" are just doing flock work instead of crowing all the time.

So, on top of that wonderful news, I got an acceptable quote to gravel my driveway! Mr. Retiree said it had been YEARS since any gravel was put down on my property and he was glad to make the referral. When that's done, I won't have to park at the bottom of the drive and walk up when it's been raining!!

I'll hire the kids on the OTHER side of my property to spread the gravel. (Spreading the wealth around within the 'hood.)

Moved the silkies out into a "daytime" pen ("coop" kit) next to the house near the deck. They've been blocking my polish chicks from the food and water. It's nice to see the polish chicks use the whole brooder now, instead of spending most of their time under the EcoGlow and peeking out, making the occasional dash for food. I've lost a couple of them, either from pasty butt coupled with maybe dehydration, I don't know. But they should thrive now. I'll move the easily-dragged coop kit of silkies into the BIG coop tonight. Although the silkies did use the EcoGlow some of the time, they've feathered out enough to not need it. The polish chicks DO need it.

Various members of the flock have been checking out the silkies in their pen. First, Cagney.

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Then Carl checked them out. Followed by Cinnamon. She went beak-to-beak with one of them through the wire.

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There's some color starting in the yard! The "chicken bush" has blossomed! No clue what it is, but the blooms are really nice. And the first buds are opening on the peach tree next to the pergola!

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Here's a picture of Cindy, the gal who laid her blue egg in John's work van. Some of the eggs in the dog-house are Cayuga eggs! No evidence of goose eggs.

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Mr. Retiree came over with some empty egg cartons for me, which I promptly filled. He'll use one as a "thank you" gift for a friend who will be helping him with leveling his gravel. He had a bottle of wine for me as a thank you gift for taking care of the rooster noise! He also picked up the cat carrier to return to the folks who had been feeding Lizbeth during her "lost" time.

Then, the propane company truck stopped by and I had a very nice discussion with the driver. He showed me the gauge ('cause I didn't know how to tell if I was low on propane - DOH!), told me I didn't need a refill until it was around 30%. Then we talked about my plans to repaint the tank. Dark green wouldn't be good because of its placement - it gets direct, hot sun all summer and fall. I own the tank; it's not leased, so I could paint it any way I wanted, but he explained about the relief valve and how much the gas could expand from the hot summer sun. Lighter colors would work better. But a medium green would be fine.

I sure like staying home. Such interesting things happen around here.