What's Going On................

Finished up the Garden Basket quilt...................

Of course I HAD to start something new, this is another one that I plan to keep, my house is starting to look like someone that sews lives here, LOL.........................

I recently finished up several of the "20 Minute" Table Runners....................

I thought that it would be a good idea to get the Fall ones done before it became Winter!

I have been busy with the addition to the coop yard, finally it's finished and I think I'm on plan C or D of trying to intergrate the younger hens with the older ones........still not sure if Rudy will stay, he was NOT very nice to one of the younger hens.   Here's a photo of the coop yard with the addition, we just made a mirror image of the one we made this spring, if you look carefully you can see the separation between the two yards...........

I love that I have pulleys to open and close the coop doors, there is also a door between the two yards, that has been helpful with the intergration process, the plan is to someday keep the door open all the time.  I also kept the old coop as a back up, and that too is coming in handy, you can see it, it's behind the yard addition....................

I need to take a moment to thank my three son's and my husband, without them this would not be finished or look as nice as it does.  There was one day several weeks ago that we were ALL here finishing it up before dark, it was nice to be working together as a family (sorry I was too busy working to take photos)!

That's all the "excitement" on the mountain, now I have to get in my sewing room, I have a few projects I HOPE to get done.   I would rather give a completed Christmas gift than to ask for it back so I can complete it!  Hope you are having a wonderful November.

Home Sweet Home

The girls and Rudy are finally in their new home, late on Sunday afternoon we moved them to the new home!  I still have a few "little" things to finish up but those will get done as the summer progresses. 

 They spent the entire night last night on the roost outside, I'm hoping that they will figure out that I expect them to go inside at night like they did in their last home.  The girls have already figured out that the nesting boxes are exactly where I wanted them to leave their eggs!

The have nothing to fear with Midnight on duty.  When they were out back in the other coop there was an "outer" fence to keep the dogs away from them (that fencing was not as well built as this one) so they are getting acquainted with each other.   

Now that this "little" project is finished (for the most part) I hope to get a little sewing done!

Almost Home

 A good part of this week hubby and I have been outside working on this.................

This weekend we will try to finish it up, we still have to make a "people" door for the yard, enclose the rest of the yard with fencing, put on the roof, put in a roosting pole in the yard area, some hooks for an outside waterer and feeder, a screen for the inside window, and a few other small loose ends.  I would like to have this finished up this weekend, we have had this coop since March, and I want to add several more ladies to the bunch!  If the weather is cooperative and barring any other unforeseen circumstances I think this goal is very achievable.  



In the above photo you can see that hubby had me cut the frame and roof rafters so that the roof would slope a little.  He has done all the "math figuring" for this project, we built the walls on the ground and then carried them over and voila they fit.  While I would rather be sewing than using power tools it is nice that I will be able to stand back and look at what I built with my husband's help!  The even better part of this project is that all of the wood that we have used is from our scrap pile out back, we will have to buy some hinges and a latch for the door but that shouldn't be too pricey, the fencing we have also had for quite some time, hubby has a habit of acquiring things, that he is not always sure how they will be put to use.

Here are the roof panels, they have been in a pile out back for quite a few years, finally a use for them, I just need to hose them down a little!  These should help to provide shade in the summer and keep most of the snow out of the yard area in the winter! 



Coop Site

Here is what we have done thus far on the coop area........

 I painted the trim to match the house, not sure if I should do the top of the nesting box with the brown or not, what do you think??  We still have to move it ahead a little and then level it in position.  Next step will be to make the cage area for the outside, we are hoping this area will be large enough if not we will expand at a later date!  I have some "landscaping" plans the finish up around the area, but that is the fun stuff and has to wait until and the other stuff is done, LOL.


I will take photos of the inside another day, we have a few little things to finish up inside, like the screen that will cover the window (the one that came with the window is not secure enough) and we think we need to make some kind of window on the large door so they will have more ventilation in the summer.  The next few days are going to be triple H days outside so we may not get much done, not sure yet.   Some of the minor stuff may get done after they have begun occupying their new residence!

Stay cool.

Tour of the Interior

 The weather is warming up and we are planning on making a few improvements to the new coop before Rudy and the girls take up residence in their new home (and hopefully a few new friends).  Tomorrow we will make a materials list and then once we gather the materials we will begin.  Here are the pictures that I took of the inside of the new chicken coop.........

The nesting box, yippee I won't have to lift the whole roof to get the eggs!

The back wall with a roost, we will be insulating the interior and covering it with thin plywood so it will be nice and cozy for our cold Maine winters.

A real working window for ventilation during the summertime, hmmmmm wonder if I could make some cute curtains, LOL.. 

Here is a close up of the nesting area, right now it is one big area but we will partition it to make 3 separate areas, hopefully this will keep the chickens from sleeping in this area and help to keep the eggs clean.

This is the side wall, the "square" is the door for the chickens to get outside to their yard.

Other changes we are planning on making, adding another window for ventilation in the summer, putting wire in front of the window(s) to better secure the interior, we are also going to wire it for electricity in case I want a light or fan.  Hubby has a few things he would like to do to "dress up" the outside and I would like to paint the trim to match the house.  Of course we are also going to build a completely enclosed outside yard that will attach to the side of the coop, it will have a door for me to go into the yard to keep it clean.  The top of the enclosed yard will have some type of roof (probably some metal roofing) to provide shade in the summer and keep snow out of the yard in the winter.  Hopefully we will have this completed  in the next two weeks. 

Stay tuned for updated photos as we go along.

A New Home

Thought I would share photos of the new home for the girls and Rudy.  We were going to build one this spring, but hubby saw this one on craigslist and we went and checked it out decided we would buy it!  We are going to make some upgrades as soon as the weather gets a little warmer, we will also be moving it to it's permanent location and add an enclosed yard.  Over the winter we learned what we need to do better and the coop will be closer to the house and not "downhill", this past winter I fell twice on the ice, not fun!

Here are some outside photos, the camera battery died so I will take inside photos another day. 

We are thinking of adding a window to the door, I would like it to be a working window for ventilation this summer.  We are thinking of "dressing" it up a little on the outside and painting the trim to match the house, I really want this to look nice since it will be visible from the road.  I will share the inside plans when I get those photos taken. 

The girls are doing well with their new roommate Rudy, as a matter of fact I have had two eggs everyday for 9 days straight!  Rudy is learning his place in the yard and has learned to mind his manners when it comes to eating!  We are hoping to get several more girls later this spring when the new coop is ready. 

In the quilting room.......I have about 10 leaves left to stitch and then the center block will be finished on GP and I will be able to finish up the top.  My hope was to finish it up by this weekend but it is going to take a few more days. 

Gotta go do some stitching!

P.S.  I wanted to add that I have been having a difficult time getting into some of the blogs that I follow, I noticed that when I had a "specialty background" I had trouble getting onto my own blog and that is why I went back to the "boring" templates.  I am not sure if others are having the same trouble, I don't want to mention names of those "free templates" but if you notice less comments to your blog that could be the reason.