Construction Destruction...

February 22, 2017

During our last couple of days at the farm, we officially began the demolition phase of the kitchen renovation.  Yay!  Charming’s first step was to take down the drywall so that he will be able to install a new electrical panel box, move and/or add some electrical outlets, and then put up new drywall.  I’m sure the process will go much slower than expected as Charming is painstakingly meticulous when he works on anything, but he knows his stuff and that’s why I’m always thrilled with the work he does.  He wants to do the job once and do it right.  I’m perfectly happy with that.

While Charming took down the drywall…which was a real pain in the butt because quite a bit of it was glued (yes, glued!) in place…I alternated between carrying out the old drywall, sweeping up the debris, and pulling staples out of the studs.  It took us the better part of two days, but we got most of the drywall demolition done.

When we weren’t working on the kitchen, we spent time working on separate tasks.  I started work on clearing out a thicket of overgrown bushes on the north side of what I like to call “The Frog Pond”.   Although our neighbor once casually referred to it as “The Mud Hole,” I pride myself on being somewhat creative and will find a way to make it a pleasant farm feature.  I also started knitting a new pair of wool socks for myself.  Since the farm is almost always about five degrees cooler than where we currently live, I believe the more wool socks I have the better my toes will feel.  Charming spent his “down time” tidying up the tool shed.  He took all the tools out of the shed and then covered the dirt floor with four horse stall mats that had previously served as flooring in Jax’s kennel.  (Since Jax rarely spends time in his kennel, it will probably be re-purposed into some form of chicken run at a later date.)

Since spring appears to be arriving early this year, we felt we needed to turn the garden early as well.  After Charming completed some work on the used Ford plow that we purchased last year, he was able to make quick work of plowing the garden.  All of these baby steps are going to pay off in the long run and we are really having a great time while turning the farm into what will be a wonderful place to grow old(er) together.

Our lovely kitchen (with fabric-covered windows) prior to demo.

My Charming...a master at demolition!

It took 2 days to remove the original stapled & glued on drywall.

Here are a few (of many) staples that held the drywall onto the studs.

My job was to remove the 10-bazillion staples.

Front view of "The Frog Pond" before I started whacking limbs.

Front view of the Frog Pond after pruning...it does look a bit better.

 

Side view of the Frog Pond prior to pruning.

Side view of the Frog Pond after pruning...still got a ways to go.

Charming tidied the tool shed & covered the dirt floor with rubber mats.

And I started knitting a new pair of socks...browns & greens...my favorite colors.

 

A bit of work on the plow before the garden could be turned.

The tractor makes quick work of turning the garden. 

It is my opinion that nothing smells better than freshly turned earth on a warm spring day!

This ‘n’ That…

February 15, 2017

So far this winter has been pretty mild here in our neck of the woods.  We’ve managed to spend a night or two at the farm where we spent our time planning inside renovation projects.  We’re concentrating on the kitchen since that’s where we’ll see the most impact.  After all, you can’t really do much to a square bedroom.  So we finished disposing of some of the old cabinets that we couldn’t re-use elsewhere. 

At our current house, I’ve used a couple of the warmer days to prune our fruit trees and work on getting my herb garden under control.  When playing in the herb garden, I started to pull out a rather large pokeberry bush that had gotten out of control.  (I had just been cutting it back for the past couple of years, thinking that would kill it…um, no.)  I had to use the shovel in an attempt to dig out the root of the darned thing.  The root turned out to be bigger (around) as a softball.  I had to ask Charming for help to get it out and he was only able to remove part of it.  I’m beginning to think that root goes all the way to China.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I’ve discovered Tunisian crochet and found that I really like it.  I started working on a rug for my bathroom just to see if it was worth pursuing.  I made the rug in strips using various shades of greens and purple.  Although it didn’t turn out perfectly, it looks fairly decent and has given me the motivation to try new designs with this type of crochet. 

On another front, I’ve also been working on re-upholstering one of two matching chairs that my brother gave me years ago.  The chairs were nice, but our cats and dog liked lounging in them often.  This resulted in my having to vacuum, brush, and pull animal fur off of the fabric.  So I got the bright idea that the chairs should be covered in something that would be easier to clean.  This was not one of my best ideas.  Months ago, I enthusiastically and painstakingly removed the brads, staples, fabric, and old foam from the chairs.  Then my enthusiasm dried up and the chair sat in a corner of the living room until this week when I began working on it again.  Although it’s not yet ready for presentation, I’m hoping to have this first chair completed in a week or two.  I will definitely post the final results for you to see.

I pruned our 3-year-old pear tree.  It's lopsided because I cut out some dead wood on the right.

This peach tree is 4 years old and is shaped better than the pear tree.

Had a mass of branches in the wheelbarrow...this is about half of them.

Decided to try to propagate a few trees from the branches, so I cut off side shoots & put in water.

May not work without store-bought rooting hormone, but...God didn't create rooting hormone.

My Tunisian crocheted bath mat in place in my very, very tiny bathroom.