An Egg-cellent Update!

It has been awhile since I've posted and even more so since I've posted about the girls! By which I mean the chickens, obviously.

This summer we got our first egg from the chickens!

Huzzah!

  I had been reading up on the egg part of chicken ownership, so I was ready for the event.  It turns out, you are not supposed to eat the first few eggs.  The chickens need "practice" and usually have a few kinks to work out.  Many times, early eggs have thinner shells, cracks or even holes in them allowing bacteria to get in so the rule of thumb is to wait about until they have laid about 4 eggs to start eating them.  Could you eat the first one?  Probably, but I was in no hurry.

A perfectly unfinished egg.

But it looks good from this side!

                                                     


After we found the first egg, the next step was to decide from which chicken it had been laid.  I had my suspicions because I knew that the chickens laid different colored eggs.  The Orpington and the Barred Rock both lay brown eggs, although the Orpingtons are a little lighter, the Dorking lays white eggs and the Barnevelder lays dark brown eggs which have become speckled as of late.

From Bottom to Top: the Orpington, the Dorking, the Barred Rock, and the Barnevelder

After we found the first one, we would get one single brown egg each day for the next week.  Then we found two.  Chickens are only capable of laying one at a time in any given day.  It takes them about 18-36 hours to produce an egg, so averaged out that ends up being one per day.  We knew there was a second culprit.

Our first and second egg layers out in the yard!

After that it wasn't long until they were all laying.  Having four layers means we get about four eggs every day, so now we have an abundance of eggs!  So, if you have a good egg recipe, let me know!  I am currently trying to sell the idea of quiche to my husband, who says it's gross (although he's never had it) because it's like an "egg pie."  He's not technically wrong, but it does sound worse that way.  Sigh.

Nighttime on the farm.

A List of Future Projects.

We've finally hit a wall.  There is just not enough time, or money, to do everything we want.  It feels a little overwhelming to think about all of the things, so I'm going to make a very public list and hopefully turn it into a completed projects list over the next year or two.  To make myself feel better, I'm also going to make a list of things we've done so far.

Outside:
We've already....
1.  Built a chicken coop.
2.  Put in a horseshoe pit (not a necessity, but fun nonetheless!).
3.  Assembled a raised bed garden.
4.  Planted things in said garden (specifically: onions, green beans, cherry and roma tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, watermelons, kale, lettuce, arugula and beets).
5. Planted tulips out front.
6.  Weeded the brick walkway.
7.  Weeded the brick walkway.
8.  Weeded the brick walkway.
9.  Put up new exterior light fixtures.

We need to...
1.  Weed things beside the brick walkway.
2.  Put down that weed cloth and mulch around the house.
3.  Finish the herb garden project.
4.  Pressure wash all the things.
5.  Reattach a shutter that I found in the yard after a particularly windy storm.

Inside (get pumped):

Living Room still needs:
1.  Ceiling Paint.
2.  Outlet/light switches
3.  Some kind of storage solution for DVD's (built-ins?)
4.  New carpet (which, by the by, I just found out how much that costs... Eek.).

Living Room has:
1.  New paint
2. New throw pillows/blankets
3.  New decorations.

Dining Rooms needs:
1.  Storage for serving dishes, china and table linens (built-ins or hutch?)
2.  Ceiling Paint.
3.  Large Curtain Rod
4.  New window treatment.
5.  Hard flooring.

Dining Room has:
1.  New table and chairs
2.  New paint
3.  New large curtains.

Kitchen needs:
1.  Ceiling paint
2. Finish the regular paint
3. New sink (...Okay, I want this, our sink is technically fine).
4.  New counter tops (Soapstone... someday!).
5.  Storage window seat.

Kitchen has:
1.  New appliances
2.  Pendant lights
3.  New snazzy spice rack thanks to handy husband.

Hallway needs:
1.  Paint.
2. Decoration.
3.  Some kind of mail center/key rack concept.

Half bath needs:
1.  New sink/vanity or storage.
2.  New toilet.
3.  Touch-up on the paint job.

Half bath has:
1.  New paint!
2. Pretty decorations.

Stairs need:
1.  New runner/carpet
2. Paint
3.  Possibly paint on the rails/steps?  I've seen some neat ideas I want to try.

And thats just the downstairs!!

Upstairs we have four bedrooms and two baths and some miscellaneous closets.

Master suite:

Has nothing.

Needs:
1.  New paint
2. Window Treatments
3.  Closet update to be more useful
4.  A shower in the master bath (it's only a tub!).

Hallway needs:
1.  New paint

Bedrooms need:
1.  Paint
2.  Window treatments
3. Light switches
4.  Miscellaneous furniture items.

So I'm off to research all over Pinterest, Craigslist and Homegoods!  If you've found a site or other place you like for house updates, let me know in the comments section!

50 Shades of Gray Paint

As I previously posted, it has been very busy around here.  Although we've been able to maintain the house, we've had to take a break from projects for a bit to just have a life.  Before all of the chaos, we painted the living room!

It was the perfect weekend for it since it rained almost all of Saturday.  We ran a few errands in the morning, then took one of our regular pilgrimages to The Home Depot to get paint.

I've been planning my gray living room for months.  Even before we had the house I KNEW I wanted it to be gray.  The problem is/was that I have no eye for color.  I was seriously concerned about the right gray.  I didn't want purpley-gray, or blue-gray, or something too dark so that it sucks out your soul, or something so light that it wouldn't even look like we'd painted.  There's a lot of deliberation that goes into picking the right paint (and the more you deliberate, the crazier you sound.  I actually said the words "Yeah, but is it TOO gray?" out loud).

This led to bringing home paint swatch after paint swatch and slowly weeding through them.  Each time we went to Home Depot we would grab a few different grays that we liked and then bring them home to post in the living room.  Of the gray swatches that made the cut we would acquire a paint sample from the store.  The samples are a brilliant idea!... In theory.  They are about $3 and allow you to paint a good portion of the wall to see how it will look.  We ended up with seven samples up on the wall.  Of those, we would paint our favorites on other spots around the room to see what they would look like in different light/dark spots in the room.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have that has any of the crazy swatches on the wall.  Try to look beyond the cat.

There was a lot of gray paint in the room.  A lot.

We finally just... Chose one.  After all of the talking and looking and swatch-ing and painting, we just finally picked and said "At least it's only paint!"  We looked at all of the samples on the wall and picked a middle shade that was not blue or purple and went with it.  A lovely gray called Manhattan Mist from the Behr collection at our favorite hardware store.

Manhattan Mist

We also did a few small things to prepare for the gray room.  We (and by "we" I mean "I"... Although I did offer them up for approval) purchased new throw pillows and curtain panels from Target, and wonderful new throw blankets from Restoration Hardware (a luxurious purchase for sure).  I also made my own curtain rod for the curtain for roughly $12 (tutorial to come).

Purple Rouched Pillow from Target

Embroidered Pillow from Target

Luxury Plush Throw from Restoration Hardware (in Graphite and Ivory)

We spent eight hours that cold, rainy Saturday painting.  And painting.  And painting.  We did two coats of white on the trim followed by two coats of Manhattan Mist on the walls.  It doesn't sound like it would take much time or effort when it's written down like that, but the living room is easily the largest room in the house, and it took a good amount of time to get it all done.  (Side note, the next day my legs and shoulders were killing me).

Take a look at what a nice change a little paint made (I'm on the hunt for the before photos)!

Pro Tip:  Open windows keep you from dying when you paint.

Fancy DIY curtain rod

Something will have to be done with the fireplace/mantle but I'm not sure what.

Blogger's note:  The living room is a work in progress.  We still have to paint the ceiling and we have big plans for built-in shelving for DVD's and games, pictures and decorative touches.  If only we had unlimited time and money...

The Long Break

It has been almost exactly two months since I've updated this blog.  Here's a short list of all the things that I have been doing in real life that have kept me from the blog:

1.  Arts Appreciation Night (May 1st)
2.  Bridal Shower
3.  Music in the Parks Trip
4.  Mother's Day
5.  In-School Spring Concerts
6. Retirement Celebration
7.  Spring Concert
8. Bachelorette Party in Atlantic City
9.  My Mother-In-Law's Birthday
10. My Birthday!
11. Revolutionary War Days at School
12.  Talent Show Auditions
13.  Comicon to Meet William Shater (Blog on THAT coming soon because it was awesome!) (June 1st)
14. Retirement Dinner
15. My Father-In-Law's Birthday
16.  Washington D.C. Field Trip
17.  Online Graduate Class Started
18. Field Day
19. Kenny Chesney Concert (A birthday gift for John)
20. Talent Show
21. In-service day
22.  Faculty Party
23. Piano Lessons/Dentist Appointment
24. Wedding Set up
25. Wedding Beauty Appointments/Rehearsal Dinner/Bridal Sleepover
26.  WEDDING ALL DAY
27. Father's Day
28. Visit from out-of-town Friends
29.  Mom's Birthday.


Whew!  Now that there's less stuff going on, I am hoping to get back into this a bit.  I did manage to get my garden going and I do have that William Shatner thing to talk about...

Home Depot

I have a bone to pick with The Home Depot.

Now, I should preface this entire post with a little background information before I launch into what will undoubtedly become a bizarre tirade.

Firstly, John and I LOVE Home Depot.  The first thing we did after we settled on the house was to make a list, drive it to Home Depot and promptly empty our wallets onto the checkout counter. Well, we exchanged the money for goods, but it's basically the same feeling.  Since that first day, we have made a pilgrimage to the Depot nearly every weekend.

The paint guy at Home Depot knows me by name.  He asks about my projects and recommends colors.  I know him as "My Paint Boyfriend", a term John accepts with the same eye-rolling tolerance he has for all of my shenanigans (I also have a "Coffee Boyfriend" and a "Car Boyfriend"). All of the "Boyfriends" make my life easier in various ways.  For example Coffee Boyfriend knows my order and thus speeds up my trips to Dunkin' Donuts.  I have a Coffee Ex-Boyfriend at Starbucks, but we had to break it off after I moved out of West Chester and discovered that it was Dunkin' or bust on my new route to work.

Anyways, about my issue with Home Depot.  I consider myself to be fairly handy.  I know a lot of the tools by name, thanks to regular quizzing by my husband, and am capable of using them safely.  I am also capable of performing my own tasks around the home (besides making sandwiches, something at which I also excel).  I do these things because I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.  After I finish doing something, no matter how menial, I always feel a little better about it knowing I have done it myself.  Sure, I could call a carpenter/electrician/plumber/other maintenance person, but I am logical and intelligent and don't particularly feel the need to do so.  There's obviously some exceptions.  While I could potentially learn to wire an entire house, there's no need for me to potentially electrocute myself in the process when there are perfectly good, trained electricians just waiting for a job.

Home Depot has a stance on teaching women about tools that I cannot ignore.  I can't.  I can't even talk about it without rolling my eyes (another talent).  I am, of course, talking about their "Do-It-Herself Workshops."

Meanwhile, the children are building an herb planter.

The signs for the "Do-It-Herself Workshops" are all in pink.  Thank goodness, because if it's not in pink, it's not for me.  When my husband leaves me the list of things to do around the house while he is out drinking beers and playing golf he is always kind enough to write it on pink paper so that I can find it.  I also only buy things that are pink.  Thank goodness for the Victoria's Secret PINK collection.... Clothes just for me!

Just kidding.

The pink signs are just the beginning.  The Workshops themselves are equally useless.  A few weeks ago they promoted a Workshop on framing a mirror with tile backsplash.  Seriously.  How is that helpful in any way?  Sure, it may be a nice decorative touch or way to freshen up your bathroom, but what about something that a woman could actually use?  What if the sink is leaking or the toilet won't flush?  What about power tools?  This weekend was all about "Gardening in Small Spaces!"  Even the last kids workshop involved a hammer (they built a birdhouse).

I guess that's what men are for.  Thank goodness all women just have big, burly, manly-men waiting around to fix stuff while they delicately powder their noses and tend to the house!

I don't mean to go all 1900's suffragist or anything, but just once I'd like to see a Do-It-Herself project that says "Build Your Own Shed!" or "Guide to Power Tools: Horsepower is Everything" or even just "Construction Basics" that would teach the interested party how to use basic tools and what some of the terms mean (countersink?  wall anchors? miter? It's a jungle out there!).  I can't be the only one.

In the mean time, Home Depot, I will continue to mock, eye-roll, and buy tiny paint samples in your establishment.

Maybe I'll write up my own DIH(erself) post for my lady friends (and potentially less inclined but shy gentlemen friends).

I'll use green.

Tour de Coop

It's like the bicycle race but not quite.

Okay, it's nothing like that, I just thought it sounded clever.  The last post was getting excessively long so I figured I would make a second post that was just pictures and happy thoughts.

Behold, the coop from the inside out!

The interior door that will allow the chickens to enter the run or coop at their leisure during the day.  At night they will be locked up because they are delicious.

The door opens up to a ramp for the chickens.

The nesting boxes.  Somewhere in June or July I will start finding eggs in here!  I'm not really sure how the chickens know to lay eggs in here, but apparently they'll just do it.

The windows.  John used 1/4" acrylic because its really durable and has a less likely chance of accidental breakage.

The hardware cloth in the eaves of the coop allow for ventilation in all seasons without compromising the interior temperature.

Coop from the outside.  I love the fancy hinges on the people door, and you can really see the ramp.

With the run attached.  They can go in and out all day even if I'm not here and nothing can eat them.

Nesting boxes.  We used carabiners to secure all of the latches instead of locks.  They require thumbs to open, so as far as the animal kingdom is concerned, they're locks.

Looking into the coop from the nesting boxes. 

Other side of the coop with the run attached.

From the front of the coop.  We attached a people door to this as well (shown later).

All finished!  Just paint and trim to go yet.  We cleaned up all of our tools after this picture.

Roof sides and vent.  

Pine shavings for comfort!

Adding the chickens!!  They really enjoyed this part.  Not.

It was a bewildering time considering how large their brains are.  We didn't know how to explain what was happening.

Inspecting the door to the run with some trepidation.

It looks like they went down here on their own and are happy, but really I picked them all up and shoved them through the hole in the floor one by one.  Now they can't get back up.   If chickens could pout, that's what they'd be doing.

Happy times!

Gilbert's favorite show is always on.

The people door for the run so that I can access it if necessary.

Possibly the most fun color I will ever get to pick from Home Depot!  Licorice Stick!  We are going to add white trim to make it look like a barn, but this is it for now.

And there you have it.  Two months in the making and probably more money than we should have spent, but what a fun project!

I did a little math and to re"coop" our losses (sorry for the bad pun, it's genetic) on the coop and chicken set up in eggs alone it would take roughly 15 years.  At which point we will have cycled through two or three more batches of chickens.

Still worth it.

The Coop Saga is Finished!

So we took a brief break from building to accommodate some chilly, rainy weather and some much needed down time.  Then the past two weekends we had beautiful weather which gave us a great opportunity to work outside and get things finished!

The first weekend we finished the inside walls and the outer door.  Not too tricky, but lots of cutting and assembling, so it was time consuming.  We also got some of the digging around the coop done since we planned to bury chicken wire in an effort to deter digging predators.

The second weekend we did EVERYTHING else to get the coop finished.  We put in windows, attached doors, put a lid on the nesting boxes and added the pen.  By the end of the day, we were about ready to drop, but the chickens could officially move out of the guest bedroom and into the coop!

Take a look at all of the work!

 Finishing up the inside walls.  We insulated them and put in a vapor barrier to help keep them warm and dry in all kinds of weather.  We get really chilly here in the winter and this way they will still have somewhere warm and comfortable to sleep.

 I know that just looks like a portal to the underworld, but it will actually form the doorway to the run so the chickens can get in and out safely.

 The coop as it stood by the end of the first weekend.  Still lacking a few things, like windows and doors and other security measures to keep out the predators.

 The nesting boxes have a garbage bag temporarily stapled to them to keep the water out in case of rain.  I hear that plastic is tres chic this year.

 The second weekend started off when we added a door to the side.  This is what we called a "people door" and it's for me to have access to the coop and to be able to clean it out.

 I wish I could take credit for these hinges, but John picked them out.  He's got pretty good taste I suppose.

 My dad helped me finish up the nesting boxes and get the lid settled.  Turns out the nesting boxes are Gilbert's favorite place too.

 This ramp is for the chickens.  Although their brains are slightly smaller than the average pea, they are capable of learning things like ramps.  Also, I put food at the top and put them into the bottom.  They picked it up pretty quickly.

 You can see where we laid the wire down under the coop, we'll bury the rest of it.  This should discourage the digging predators.

 Attaching the wire to the coop.  Chicken wire is actually the worst material for chicken coops because it can be easily manipulated by animals looking for a chicken dinner and it will rust after a while.  But it is cheap and effective in the short run.  It is terrible to work with and we all had battle wounds afterwards.

A close-up of the attachment technique.  The washers ensure that the screws actually hold the wire to the coop.

Fancy interior door.
 














Stay tuned for an official tour and a last look at the coop!