In the last couple of days, there has been a lot of this going on, really. On different levels and regarding different aspects of the farm life, but going on none-the-less. So, when tossing about for today’s blog theme, this is where I’ve landed. Let’s see if we can make that landing stick.
When Sue purchased the property, there was not a roof over the back deck, it was simply open with an area off one end that once held a Jacuzzi. Over that was this odd little structure that may, or may not, have had a cover at one time; perhaps it was unfinished. The top
cross bar that you see was higher than the roof that’s now over the deck, easily 12 or 14 feet high. It 
was very unstable and would sway in the winds, and we worried about it coming down and smashing into the roof, or injuring someone or some dog. So, it had always been one of those things we were going to tear down eventually. Well, yesterday, “eventually” arrived; it came down! With help from Dustin, we were able to gently lower the top heavy part down onto the lower portion which allowed us to take everything apart, piece by piece. In doing this, we may be able to re-purpose the wood.
This project came up the line of importance because we want to start building the run for the coop that Sue initially planned. We were looking around trying to see what we had on hand that we could use/re-use rather than having to go out and purchase all the lumber. There, big as day, was that odd structure. It would provide us with most of the wood we would need for the run, and I think Sue would like to get the cover up before the monsoons really start to materialize. Today I came home and she was revisiting her drawings over the past 10 months or so, trying to see what might work, and also coming up with costs. You know, those simple structures really add up. So, before we get too much into purchasing materials, we’ll talk to our contractor friend – Brent – and see what his comments are. He has been amazingly helpful; I think he’s always interested in what crazy ideas we’re coming up with next.
On another, deconstruction front…. Yesterday, Sue added a bale of chips to the coop because the chickens have been digging down into the thresh to cool off during the heat of the day. They seem to really enjoy it, so she thought we could add another layer for their insulation. When we do that, we just take the cover off of the chips and let the chickens have fun scratching around in it. I guess we had never done that while Roman and the Ducks were growing up on the other side… Roman was very skeptical of the pile and was sounding the alarm as the ducks started to crawl all over it. It was a raucous 5 minutes or so, until he decided that it must be ok. They were having fun at the end, rooting around,deconstructing the bale, and scattering it all over the floor. I tried to get a video of it, but what I ended up with was a recording of my feet and my voice saying “I think I got a good video of them!” NOT.
The final note today is of the construction variety. In my recent visit to my folks, I was able to bring home fresh apricots from their tree. This is a tree that has provided us apricots since I was in Jr. High! I love this tree 🙂 Of course mom gave us way more
than we would be able to eat before they went over ripe, so I was forced into making a cobbler for dessert. (Really, it doesn’t takemuch forcing.) So we blanched the apricots, made up the biscuit topping for the cobbler – buttermilk, of course – added the last of the ginger sugar we’d made a while ago and popped it into the oven. 25 minutes later, delicious goodness in a large bowl. Didn’t even need ice cream! Yummo! I even liked the addition of the ginger sugar, as a change to the norm. Our next garden and cooking adventure will be to make loaves and loaves of “Golden Summer Bread” because our harvest continues to grow. I grated 6 cups of squash today to freeze, so they wouldn’t end up going to the chickens. We even have enough remaining to give away at church on Sunday! When ever we delve into culinary adventure, we’ll be sure to share it with you here. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!
Today’s Weather: It was 102° when we went out to start the chores around 3:00 p.m. It’s 88° right now at 7:17. Tomorrow we’re supposed to have more of the same. No real relief in sight for the next 7 days. We are breaking records all over the place.
Egg Report: Yesterday we had 9! Today we had 7. We feel confident that we’ve found all the hiding places.
Wing and a Prayer 