A Week On The Farm

   Monday rolled around again, before I was ready! I have the privilege to escort this sweet, little ballerina to her dance class every Monday night. I am so pleased that Peyton is enjoying dance, this third time around - she has a tendency to have a lot of passion in the beginning and then lose interest. With tap and ballet alternating this year, she seems to be excited to continue. It reminds me of shades of Megan! Skating (1/2 a year), swimming (2 lessons), piano (a lot of kicking, screaming and crying)...

   It was like, "Been there. Done that. Time to quit!"

    All this week, I seemed to be chasing my tail - everything took longer to complete than I had time for! Mike and I were in an all out race to finish retro-fitting the log barn, we had to be ready for my new chickens. (More about them in a minute). The first thing that we had to do was assemble the two side walls and the front to the second chicken pen in the barn.

  I nearly frickin' died! Seriously!!!

  I do not do manual labour. I have no upper body strength.

  Period.

   So, there we were. A weakling and a strong person, who just happens to have only one leg. With HEAVY walls and a cement pad in the middle of the barn, which we had to manoeuvre around. Did I mention that the walls were built to match the height of the ceiling joists? Without an inch to spare. The walls had to be angled in, stood up and then the bottom of the wall had to be knocked into place with a sledge hammer? F*** me!! I just could not lift my side. Mike called me a "turd" about a dozen times. I tried and I tried to be strong! I GAVE IT EVERYTHING I HAD!

   AND THEN SOME!

   It just could not be done. I had nothing left. Mike let me rest for about ten minutes. That did not help! It just could not be done. I was thinking about phoning Greg and asking if he could pop up for a few minutes. Then Mike had a brilliant idea and removed the door from the front wall. With just that little adjustment in weight, we were able to man handle the wall into place. An hour later, a fistful of five inch screws, some shovelling of gravel and a little levelling, the outside perimeter was up! I thought I was going to puke! I was soooooo done! Then we had to build the roosts, attach the ladder, screw a "hop up" bar for the chickens to be able to access the nest boxes, fill all the feeders and waterer. Then it was time to catch the chickens and introduce them to their new winter accommodations! They loved it!

   Then we were back to working on the barn. We needed to install the eight hole nest box - the "mother" of all nest boxes. It was pretty heavy too, but we could at least set it on pails while we worked on it. I lined all the boxes with nesting pads and lovingly placed the wooden "decoy" eggs, while Mike built the "hop up" bar. We hung the big aluminum feeder and filled it. We were ready!

   This is what the fuss was all about! On Saturday morning, I met my "chicken dealer", Jayme, in Fort MacLeod and picked up six Plymouth Barred Rock girls and six Partridge Chanteler ladies. Twelve more chickens for my flock! It felt like a drug deal. Two pick up trucks meet, money is exchanged for goods, one drives away quickly! LOL

   When I got home with my chicken fix, Mike had moved the top soil into position beside this year's garden. He also added a little to top off the older garden. Holy shit, Batman!! When I said I wanted a bigger garden, I had no idea that it was going to end up this big! By counting the spaces between upright poles in the wind fence, I calculate that it is over 40 feet wide and at least half that long. Now, THAT IS A GARDEN! Mike also moved gravel into all the pathways to the barns and chicken house, and built a winter door for the log barn, to keep out the howling wind. While he worked on the farm, I worked on the veggies that were still in the gardens down by the house.

  As of today, there is nothing left in the gardens! I pulled the onions and braided them into ropes and hung them in the greenhouse, along with the sunflower heads (winter boredom busters) for the hens. I cut all the parsley, washed it and hung it up on the drying racks. Lastly, I tackled the beets! They are pulled, topped and clean - thanks to Mike and his Hotsy pressure washer. The gardens are totally empty! The gardening season has come full circle - glittering jars are lining the pantry -summer goodness, saved for cold blustery days.

     The gang is hanging out in the sunshine today - as long as it is not windy, they do not seem to mind the cold. (Unlike me, who could not feel her fingers while braiding onions). At some point in the day, they head back to their coop for food and water, lay a few eggs and then head off, to explore in a different direction. The roosters are very vocal - I love to hear them throughout the day, as I am working outside. I also have to admit, I can hear them inside the house as well!

     That gang is LOUD!

  

    This is my favourite picture of the week - Emma giving Rosie some love and getting a cow selfie! I did not take the picture.

     I am having difficulty holding my arms up! LOL. This "turd" is stiff and tired!!