Warning "Don't piss off the fairies"....

.....and the housemates are still smiling!

Not much to report from this last 2 weeks although lots has been accomplished!

Firstly, I have kitchen cupboard doors - not painted and no handles, but I have doors and what a nice job Mr M did!  It was weird at first as suddenly my kitchen looked tidy!

Once that job was completed and seeing as how we have been having some spectacular weather he painted our "temporary" wall so that it matches the rest of the barn!

The rest of the last 2 weeks Mr M has been focusing on getting his garage all insulated, boarded and ready to "be a workshop/garage" etc.

Firstly he finished insulating the end wall, and added some electrical sockets..

 

The he taped and skimmed the ceiling... (his MOST favoritest of jobs ever)...

 

Painted the big dividing wall...

 

And he then put plywood up over the end wall! Plywood is cheaper than plasterboard, doesn't need painting and you can screw things onto it at any point...



This week he has painting to finish up and a workbench to build then he can put all his machines where he wants them and voila - all set! 

Not sure what is next - we have finally decided on a design for our "house proper" and we are in the process of buying the plans off of the internet :) :) amazing what you can buy online nowadays! we are just waiting to make sure everything will meet Oregon codes and what, if anything, will need re-engineering etc.  Then we can get them submitted to the planning office - once approved Mr M wants to crack on and get the footings in and completed! That is his only plan for the "house proper" for 2016!

There are many, many, many jobs on his "to do" list, it changes daily on what he is doing next :)

This weekend we also built a bigger chicken/duck run! The babies are graduating up to the top with the big ladies! they no longer have a heat lamp and need some more space! 

 

Does my bum look big in this?

BUT my little coop and enclosed run is too small for all of them, we have to have somewhere we can leave them when we go out for a walk, away camping etc. that keeps them safe from predators and lets them have plenty of room! We had always planned to extend the enclosed run and so now we have! 

Firstly the babies will be kept separate from the older ladies in this new run and the older ladies will be out and about.. apparently after a couple of weeks they should integrate nicely - I am intrigued to see if Fred and George (the ginger chick twins) will realize they aren't actually ducks and migrate into the chicken coop - or if they will continue to sleep in the duck house!

Tomorrow we need to move up the duck house, the babies and put hardware cloth on the roof! and then that is it - the nursery area will be seeded with grass and another experiment will start.

1. Will the grass grow greener and faster after all the tilling and fertilizing that area has seen?

My veggie garden is continuing to grow well and we FINALLY had some rain today! crazy that after ALL the rain we have had this winter I was hoping it would rain! but we hadn't had anything for about a month!

We have been finding wild foxgloves popping up all over our property..... so so pretty... we also have a bit of a wildflower garden going on along our cedar fence...

Forget-me-nots.....

mmmmm not sure cow vetch? maybe?

 

Buttercups... 

 

This has a square stalk - could this be a mint? we have lots and lots of it all over and mint does spread like crazy!

 

And more foxgloves...

 

No idea - anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller? yellow eyed grass?

And finally....mmmmmmm - completely lost on this one? So any help much appreciated.

We have also been over run with wild iris popping up everywhere, and violets, lots and lots of violets!

Everything has been a complete surprise and I am amazed that so much has appeared - feeding the birds all winter has paid off, they have basically seeded my garden for me!

Lastly I am working on a place in the garden for the fairies, it's a little alcove between 2 tree stumps and I have seen the fairies in here spreading their magic....

What, wait?? what?? you don't believe in fairies?? WOW - you need to start rethinking that and get your house prepared! Seriously.. you need a door for them, they need to be able to visit you whenever they want to...

And get your garden in order!

Mr M builds a house in a week!!

Welcome back... 2 weeks fly by almost as fast as 1!

Since I last updated the blog Mr M has been busy finishing up the kitchen storage, he firstly built a few more shelves.. (I made the valance!)

Then he cracked on with the drawers, not a nail in sight, all lovely dovetailed joints! He is planning to build the kitchen in our house "proper" so this is all good practice!

He does have a special dovetailing magic machine...

 

Fit the drawer runners - and voila! you have drawers....

 



 

 

He is currently in the middle of kitchen cupboard doors, they are all made, they will all be fitted this week and as soon as the weather co-operates and the wind drops he can get them painted! we are going for a sleek shiny finish and so he wants to use his spray gun - hence waiting for a non-windy day!

 

A pile of doors...

 

Some hinges.....

 



 

Nicely routed edges...

 

And voila... we have some doors....



 

And finally Mr M has built a house, a whole house in just 2 weeks - setting himself a bit of a precedent!

 

First you frame it....

Then you clad it, in cedar no less...

Make sure there is a back door, and a front door...

 



 

Add the roof and make sure there is plenty of ventilation...

 



 

And voila.... duck house.....

 



 

The babies are growing fast and are now outside full time! they still have their heat lamp on at night but during the day it is all dabble, dabble, quack and quack!

 



Finally the garden is coming along a treat, it is pretty much all planted up now, I still have 1 bed left that will have runner beans, I will be planting them up in the next week or so!

 

But for now we are enjoying some glorious weather and I am just sitting back and waiting for something amazing to happen!

 

Beets, turnips and parsnips (you can't see them but they are up and at 'em!)...

Yellow corgettes (zuchinni) and 4 tomato plants, they all just got planted this weekend...

Green corgettes and a row of nasturtiums, growing like weeds....

 

Peas, lots of peas, peas on the left and peas on the right just poking there heads up....

Potato bins are going well, they all have a lot of growing going on in them..

Nasturtiums.... lots and lots, am hoping for something spectacular here..

Garlic and strawberries are looking good, just a few more months and my garlic will be ready to harvest, the plants have very thick stalks so I hope they are working on their bulbs now!

Inside the greenhouse my tomatoes are shooting up, I am hoping they don't get too leggy....

Cucumbers, they grow almost as fast as ducks!

Finally the pole dancing gnomes have been doing a fantastic job keeping us supplied with salad greens! chickens will be getting these soon as they are starting to bolt and I have another 2 bowls stage right, just waiting for their gnomes!

So that is the vegetable garden, next time around I will show you what else I have been working on!

But for now, it is good night from him and good night from me!!