Progress + A New Addition

What is this, you ask? Our chicken barn is nearing some stage of completion and now we have a "wing". Haha! I kill me. Anyway... Here are the ladies. The run isn't finished, but as something was eating them in their old home we decided we'd rather have chickens in cramped spaces than no chickens at all. (And no, this time is isn't the Bad Dog.) Here they are eating the corn that the dear didn't eat...

Ok. I would like to brag on Adam. The coop was one thing, but this is a whole other. He built the addition in two hours. For us, that is good. Eli, from the post below, called yesterday and asked Adam if he still wanted a dominicker rooster. Adam, of course, says yes. I then say, "Well dude, where are we gonna put him cause he's NOT goin in with my hens". He says, "Of course not, we're gonna put him in the rooster pen." This being news to me say, "What rooster pen?" and he says, "The one I'm gonna build. We talked about this baby." Oh me of little faith...

Here is the big guy. He's pretty, isn't he?

We finished up as the sun went down. And I do mean we. As soon as I finished teaching I hauled backside down there to help.

Slightly confused, but fairly happy rooster, I think.

Very tired, but happy and satisfied husband.

He didn't stay on the perch long. Our predator(s) made an appearance. Big boy here slept in the back corner of his uncompromised pen, though, and made it through the night. Anymore this is a huge accomplishment for a chicken around here!!!!

Happy day to all of you!!! Don't forget to smile... Smiling is a very important thing.

LOVE!

Malinda

Huck Finn

So we went to visit Eli, Adam's guitar student. He keeps busy, this one. He raises chickens, goats, rabbits and I'm sure other animals that I am forgetting and breeds them. Ha! This little rabbit will be around 30 to 40 pounds when it is full grown...

And if you know me at all, you'll know that I was REEEAAAALLLLLLY happy to visit the goats.

Here are the banty chickens. They are tiny. and full grown...

I think this is Ruby the mule. She was very pretty and TALLLLL.
The white horse is Wayne and I think the brown one is Roany (I didn't ask him how he spelled his name...).

That is Paul. I rode him and he was very nice to me. Didn't try to knock me off by riding under trees (like Roany did to Adam... just had to throw that in there) and was very understanding of my lack in riding ability. I like Paul. (Really, Cheryl, his name was Paul. I giggled a lot to myself about that during the ride.)

That is my husband swinging from a rope thirty feet above solid ground. Nough said.

Spring fed trough for horses...

and boys... (he's making it clean to drink out of...) :)

Hence the smiles. That is Kelly there with Adam. This woman deserves some sort of medal. She is an awesome mom.

drinking...

Thank you, Paul, for letting me ride you. You were a very nice horse...

And thanks to our new friend. We had fun, Eli!! Thanks for showing us your world. We really liked it.

I'll Be a Good Blogger Tomorrow...

I PROMISE




:)

to be continued...

I went horseback riding

with Huck Finn today...

Stiff, Sore, and Happy

The new coop. I told him we should just call it a chicken BARN. That is what it looks like to me. My Lovin' Husband does nothing in half measures. He just doesn't always measure... :) I don't encourage him to, either. Then we'd NEVER get done... Things like this amuse me. A bee in the beebalm. That makes me happy. Do you think that when beebalm was first called beebalm it was for this reason? I mean, bees like other flowers, too, right? So why was this plant INPARTICULAR called beebalm? Maybe they liked these flowers more than any other. I don't know. I'll have to look it up.

Peas for next year.

I am going to put a weathervane on the roof and hang a metal windchime from the "predator perch" as Adam calls it. I don't know why. I mean it's not like there is a cat climbing on the new coop as I type or anything... ;)

Squash, corn, sunflowers... and BoJangles. Let us not forget him... The garden is coming along nicely. We have been weeding like fools and have clean beds to show for it. Not pictures, though, because my backside was right next to Adam's and we weeded and weeded. We weeded so much that when I close my eyes I can see them!

We're off to a town far away to teach a boy who is learning to tear up the guitar. It takes both of us and that kid can flat play.. He is going to be a very versatile musician (already is) when he finishes growing up. I've never been so happy to have to leave and go teach. The weeds can just sit there and wait on us til tomorrow while we have fun with the kid and his guitar.

H.O.T.

It has been hot. HOT. Warm. 105 heat index and humidity through the roof kind of hot. We are getting used to the heat and working like crazy, but still. It is notably hot. These turnips were hot - we decided to have mercy on them and pull them up yesterday. Adam ate two of them for lunch today. Pretty, aren't they? The beans are hot... and hungry...and thirsty

Same for the watermelons here...

He so loves his garden.

Mondo says see you tomorrow...

dulce swuenos....sweet dreams

Dog Days in June...

The dahlia's have been blooming for a couple of weeks, but the red ones are always later. I found them yesterday... Are these persimmons?? And if so, do raccoons eat them? If you know the answer to my question, please email me!! www.music.farm@hotmail.com

Evening on the front porch.

Adam is calculating for his chicken coop roof building. He said to me yesterday, "Baby, this is gonna be the most complicated roof I've ever built." Watch out. When this comes together well, he'll be wanting to make buildings just to try different roofs! I love him... and am quite proud. Neither of us are any kind of carpenter and despite ourselves it seems as though we're building something that a)won't fall down b)will keep the rain and sun off of the chickens and c)has a cool roof :) and d)will, when we are finished, deter predators such as owls and raccoons. (Notice this is not the first time I have mentioned raccoons in this post...more on that later...)

We measure twice and then hopefully only cut once. That has been the case thus far. See the new coop in the back kind of? The walls are done and we framed out a door. Now for the roof. Today is gonna be a busy day, folks.

We could buy stock in kiddie pools. This is the new "pond" for the chickens. We put the block in the middle so that it didn't blow over and it has turned into a little island. ("No chicken is an island", ya know... ) I don't know why it makes me happy that they stand on that concrete block. It just does.

The chickens have been so SO HOT in this hundred degree weather we've been having. They just pant. Did you know that chickens can't sweat? Really. I'm not joshin'. When they get really hot the hold their wings out from their little bodies and let them droop. It looks funny, but they might catch a breeze like that. They drink lots of water (we add fresh water a couple times a day) and they open their beaks and pant and just sit or stand real still in the shade until it cools off.

Bee Balm Blooming By the Barn

Have a wonderful day!

M

Mornings

This is my new morning spot. Complete with flowers, coffee, and a book. You can go out in the morning and hear all of the birds talking to each other, watch the deer and turkeys in the neighbor's pasture, and pretty much forget that anything else exists for a while. My little garden boquet. Chamomille, lavender, yarrow (white and yello), and bee balm. Sometimes the most unlikely flowers look beautiful when put together. The same could be said about people, I suppose.

I hope you have a beautiful, flowery day. :)

Love,

Malinda

what i have to say today...

Sometimes lemons are just lemons.


What makes you who you are is what you do with them....


Lemonade is not always the answer

A Name and A Boat

Adam calls me Lindy a lot. It reminds me of when I was little. My granny would call me Lindy Lou. I like it ok. He has a lot of names for me. (MOST of which are good.) Sometimes he calls me things just to see if I like it or not. For instance, the conversation will go as thus. "Hey, Sweet Potata, what's for dinner?" And I say, "I don't like that one, dear." And then he goes on and on about all of the valid reasons he had for calling me a sweet potato ... excuse me potata. Then I say, "Just putting an "a" on the end doesn't make it ok. You have tons of names for me that I like - just call me one of those." Then he says "Ok, my little chicken." And then I tell him that he can fix his own dinner and I'll be in the garden. By this time, we are both laughing so hard that it is impossible to pretend that what we are talking about is serious anymore.

So I am driving to a city far, far away to teach and I end up at a red light and I look at what is in front of me and see this:

I wondered if that man had any other names for his wife...

Call somebody something silly (not mean!!) today. See if they smile...

love,

Malinda

Busy is Good

The peas are but a fond memory... They were good while they lasted, but I tell you I am GLAD to have the room in the garden. Adam took down one trellis and I (yes ME) took down the other. He tilled the beds while I was teaching yesterday. The chickens got the vines...

The little chickies did, too. They are growing like crazy and we are mostly done with the coop. Have to get some shade cloth and chicken wire and that project will be OVER. Thank the good Lord.

Here is the garden from the back. I'm excited about the corn... mmmm....

Adam planted a new kind of cucumber this year called White Wonders. They are groing well and we are excited to try them.

The bee balm by the barn is blooming. It is so pretty.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Love,

Malinda

Umbrellas, Cats, and Jack

Meet Jackson Riley. Otherwise known as Jack. He is the son of our two good friends, David and Brandi. Their cute little family came over for dinner this past Friday and I was worried that Jack would get bored. But I think he had an ok time :) He was really excited about the four legged critters... The umbrella twirling was a big ordeal... I think they'd both still be there twirling if it had been up to them...

He got to see the "tats" and the chickens and a really, REALLY big dog (guess who?).

I do believe that a good time was had by all - even the two year old!!