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!