At a Snail's Pace

I just wanted to post a quick update to our various projects. Maybe Corwin will find some pictures and post them later, but in the meantime, I'll just tell you what we've been up to.

First off, it was great to get the chicken coop to a stage of completion that we could put the chickens in there for a whole day with extra food and water so we could visit family for Christmas without having to bother neighbors to care for our hens. We just screwed the egg doors on for the time being and hung the man door. Finishing the coop and building a fence is now going to have to wait for warmer weather AKA ground thaw. We still need to attach the egg doors properly and side and paint the whole thing. We'll need to put up a fence, and I'm considering options to keep the hens from flying over and perhaps keep some predators out. A few days ago, a red tail hawk bumped into the house on it's way down, quail hunting. I'm glad it wasn't a chicken tha got caught!

Corwin has started putting his shop together. He's had to add a new receptical for a heat pump he ordered. I'm sure he will soon have a post about his exciting adventures as they develop.

Inside, we have been working on our "bonus room". We had to tear out part of the subfloor and drywall, as there had been moisture damage. We patched the doggy door hole the previous owners had put in the wall, a doorway that led to the master bedroom, and various other holes in the wall and ceiling, including the hole for the water heater vent that we removed. We tore out wiring as well, deleting two wall switches and a ceiling outlet. After all that, My brother and my dad came over to help me tape and mud the bonus room and the master bedroom for good measure (remember the doorway we walled up?). My brother then textured both rooms for me. I'm so appreciative of his help. He came back three days in a row, using his time off to help me. My dad brought me his paint spraying machine, and after a few hiccups getting it to work right for me (it needed a new filter installed), I primed both rooms, and painted the bonus room a nice pastel yellow. I'm waiting on Corwin to decide on a paint color before painting our room, but he still has workshop on the mind, so I'm waiting (im)patiently. We still need to put in the new subfloor (there was a moisture barrier that protected the bottom layer of floorboards, so we were able to work around it), paint and replace the baseboards, then have new carpet installed.

Nothing comes together as quickly as I imagine, but we are moving along slow and steady. What with keeping up with a household, and flu and cold season taking it's toll, the fact we can get up and get back to work is a great blessing.