Grey and Rainy, but it is a blessing :0)

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Very grey and rainy today, but we are so grateful for the much needed rain slowly filling the pond.  Fortunately, Scott and I had the opportunity to take "J.B", our Jon Boat, out of dry dock last week to do some repairs on the overflow of the pond.  We have been in such a drought pattern that the broken off overflow pipe had not been an issue, but it was also the perfect time to do the repairs.  We added a coupling to the four inch pipe and another section of pipe as well.  We are praying that we continue to receive this much needed rain that will increase the level of the pond. As of yesterday morning, the level had indeed risen to the bottom of the new coupling. So far this morning our rain gauge indicates we have had an additional 1.09 inches overnight and we have more in the forecast!


I am so glad the days are getting longer and we have a little more time each day to work outside before dark.  We spent yesterday evening working in the barn/workshop cleaning up a bit.  We often have so many different projects going at once that the poor barn ends up in shambles!  Scott and Gideon are still working on the four wheeler. It is in many pieces at one end of the barn, but we managed to clean the rest of the barn and workshop area. It will be much easier to work inside the barn during foul weather and it will be easier to get to tools and equipment to finish The Chicken Inn II.

Here's a little peek at the progress on The Chicken Inn II:

 Scott and Gideon putting up the first piece of siding!

 Finishing up the front of the coop

Doors and windows have been cut out

These pics are from weekend before last.  This past Sunday afternoon, we put 1/4" hardware cloth over the windows and Scott started framing in the windows. We worked until dark, so I'll have to get some pics of his beautiful work when the rain stops and the sun returns.

If the weather permits, we'll continue framing in the windows tomorrow after my hardworking Farmer Man returns home from his paying job. We are so very blessed and are grateful that we can share our little farm and experiences with you! Have a blessed day :0)

No work on the farm today....

It was a cold, rainy day today. I am not complaining though since as of tonight we have received 5.67 inches of rain this month!  It is so wonderful to see the pond filling back up.  We have had 5 Canadian geese decide there is enough water in the pond now to possibly make it habitable!  I am hoping they decide to stay and raise some goslings.  We purchased some whole corn yesterday in hopes that a little food might make their decision to stay a little easier. That plus I get to wear my muck boots!

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With the weather being what it was today, my sweetie had the perfect opportunity to spend the morning with his buddy Jerry at a farm equipment auction.  It was cold, rainy, and muddy, but they did purchase a few items. 

It also gave me the opportunity to meet with two special friends, Debbie Pardis and Amanda Hatfield, at Deb's house.  She was a wonderful hostess providing us with fresh baked sweet potato muffins and coffee as we started our bible study "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. What a blessing it was to share God's word with these two special ladies!  We chose the small group DVD and study guides for our little group.  What an awesome first lesson and beautiful photos on the DVD.  I can't wait until we meet again!  Until then I will be doing my homework including listing my 1000 Gifts.

It has been a great, relaxing day for everyone.  I sit here this evening, curled up on the couch in an afghan Deb made for Scott and I when we married, surrounded by furry family members.  I am enjoying watching and listening to Scott and my nephew Gideon battle it out playing guitar hero....good old 80's tunes!  We are so blessed with so many things...including wonderful friends and family.

It is supposed to be clearing off tonight and be 67 degrees tomorrow.  We will be working on The Chicken Inn II tomorrow.  Installing hardware cloth over the windows and building the window facings.

We'll probably use these techniques again this weekend to safely run extension cords to the coop:

I know Gideon is hoping that he and Scott get the four wheeler put back together. They really had to take everything off just to work on the brake lines last weekend.

It was a nice break today, but I'm looking forward to church in the morning working outside tomorrow afternoon :0) I'll update the progress of The Chicken Inn II soon!

Good Morning on the Farm...Good Morning "Phat Head"

This morning there is sense of relief on the farm.  Our dearly beloved cat, "Phat Head" had been missing since Friday evening.  It is not unusual for Phat Head to be gone for a day or two. He would often return at 5 am each morning leading us to wonder if he is sleeping at somebody else's house and being let out when they wake in the morning.  We had posted his information on Facebook, sent it to the local internet "newspaper", and had been asking around to see if anyone had seen him.

Low and behold, while we were eating supper I heard the screen door on the back porch open and shut.  This is Phat's way of letting himself in. Could it be?  We had heard to door bang shut all weekend long only to find that the wind had blown it open. I hopped up and went to check, praying that our big buddy would be sitting at the door waiting to come in.  When I opened the door, there he was, our prayers had been answered!  He made a beeline for the bathroom, straight to the food bowl.  Scott hadn't seen him come in so I went and picked Phat head up and brought him to the kitchen.  I don't know who was happier, Phat head or my sweetie :0) We were all able to sleep well last night knowing everyone was home, safe and sound.

I had planned on posting a picture of each of the animals here on the farm and giving you a little background on each one of them. I guess we'll start with "Phat Head" since he is the man of the hour.

 

"Phat Head" appeared in the neighborhood sometime before we married.  He had been hanging out at a neighbor's house and had been allowed inside by the lady of the house....only when the Mister wasn't home.  He showed up at our place and decided to stick around.  After a period of time, we found out that he had been at the neighbor's so we asked about him.  He has quite a history!  Phat Head aka Phat has been known to hold his own...not only with other cats but with dogs as well.

As the story goes..... the neighbor had some pit bulls who would chase him.  One day Phat had enough, he was poised for revenge.  He waited patiently on the tailgate of a pickup truck until one of those pit bulls strolled by.  He seized his opportunity and in one quick movement sprung into the air and landed square on that pit bulls head! According to witnesses, the pit bull was seen and heard howling as he ran off with Phat securely fastened to his head, hanging on with all four claws.  Those pit bulls didn't chase Phat after that!

Since he had become a member of our house and had figured out how to come in the doggie door he soon became "ours".  He was appropriately named "Phat Head" due to his HUGE head. He's a big boy weighing in over fourteen pounds. First thing first was to have him neutered. One trip to the litter pan for him and my sweet, patient husband had one whiff too many of a male, unaltered cat.  We had an appointment the next day to have him tested for Feline Leukemia/Feline AIDS and if he was negative for those to be neutered and given his vaccines. Thankfully he tested negative for those diseases and parasites and was fixed, vaccinated and returned home to us.

That was a little over a year ago now. Since then, Phat Head has lost some of his famous huge head due to being neutered, but he still has a large head and is just as loveable and affectionate as ever.  He is well known for his late night/early morning announcement of himself as he returns home from his ramblings.  He meows until he finds us, usually asleep in our warm bed!, then jumps up to groom each of our heads, before jumping down to go and to fill his belly.  After he has eaten his fill he returns to the bed with a "purrt" and a very heavy thud. He then flops, and I mean flops down, right on one of our pillows and usually our head. He is content and purrs very loudly expecting a little petting before we all fall back to sleep....which he gets.

Beginnings....

Welcome to first post to The Old Five Notch Farm blog! We hope that you will enjoy as we grow and build our farm with the goal of becoming more self-sufficient.

Our first major project is building a chicken coop and acquiring some chickens.  Here are some pics of the progress:

We has to clear some land first....these are the first trees falling!

 We have had so much help from friends and family!  This our friend Jerry clearing the area with his Dozier

 My son Matthew, fellow firefighter Colin, and the man with the plan, my hubby, Scott. Working at clearing all those trees.

 Jerry offered to come back and move all the stumps to a huge burn pile for us!  Thanks Jerry!

 My oldest nephew, Gideon, working the excavator. Smoothing out the area for the coop and run.

Scott rebuilding the berm on the edge of the coop area.  This will help with erosion.

 Scott, and both of my nephews, Gideon and Patrick building the base/foor.

 The first wall going up!

 Walls all framed and the rafters going up

The tin roof is on!

We are so excited and so blessed to have so much help with this project.  My oldest nephew is taking building construction in High School so he has been a big help and he's even learned a trick or two from Scott.  Scott is quite a carpenter.  He built our house and this chicken house is built just as well!  The chickens will be well housed and protected. :0)  Our little day old chicks will be here the week of April 22cnd so we have plenty of time to finish the coop and run for them.  They will be in a brooder for a few weeks before being put in the coop. I'm thrilled that we will be able to put them on the screened porch for the first few weeks...nice and close where I can be an attentive momma! 

I don't want to overwhelm everyone with too many pics and info at once so I'll post more soon!  I hope you enjoy a peek into our little farm!  Thanks for stopping by :0)