The chickens enjoying their evening wandering around the yard.
Today wasn’t as productive of a day as I had hoped. But it seemed busy enough. I did get some work done on the chicken coop, including adding a new watering system. Susanna and I also cleaned the house and did other house chores. Not much fun, but needed projects. In the afternoon we went out to look at cars and visit a vineyard for a wine tasting.
Too bad that most car dealers are closed on Sundays. At least we could look in the windows, even if we couldn’t open the doors. We then headed to Priam Vineyards in Colchester, skipped the wine tasting and just got a bottle of wine, crackers and cheese. It was too nice of a day to sit inside and do a tasting. We decided to enjoy our food and drink on the patio.
This evening I let the chickens out to range. I think for now we will have to keep the dogs and chickens apart. However, the chickens do seem to enjoy exploring the yard, and Tucker does enjoy spending the time after the chickens are back in their coop searching out where they have wandered. I’ll bring Tucker back in sometime before bedtime.
Will and Ben after their first soccer game – they are on the same team this year which simplifies practice and games.
The summer is over. The boys had a full week of school, Susanna started her job full-time, furlough is over for me, and the mornings are cool enough to need a light jacket.
I haven’t been posting much on this blog. I haven’t had much time to sit down and reflect on things this week. Nor have I had much time to do anything interesting in the workshop, or around the house. But hopefully things will settle down. We will get used to the schedule with school and with Susanna working.
The boys have started soccer. They are both on a U-11 recreation league in Griswold. Thankfully they are on the same team, which means 1/2 the time spent at soccer this year as opposed to last year. They had their first game of the season yesterday (they lost, but had fun).
We even let the chickens free range yesterday afternoon. Tucker was a bit too interested in the chickens, so I have to work on getting him to ignore the chickens when they are out before we let them spend more than an hour or two free ranging – it is too much work to leash Tucker for a whole afternoon.
I still have a few projects around the house that need to be finished this fall:
Run power to the new outlets in Will’s room.
Finish replacing door hinges in the kitchen.
Add an outlet to the study.
Finish the trim on the chicken coop and paint the coop.
Clean the workshop (okay, that is an ongoing project).
Fill all the holes in the yard that Tucker and Targa have made looking for moles. Maybe I should stop feeding the cats for a few days so they will have incentive to catch the moles.
I am sure there are more, but that list should keep me going for a little bit.
Today the boys go back to their mother’s house as we shift schedules to move into a week-on/week-off schedule with the boys. I plan on working on the chicken coop this morning, and maybe one of the doors in the kitchen. This afternoon we are going to head out and look at cars and maybe a wine tasting.
Tucker on the roof of the chicken coop. He can’t get into the run – and it was a little higher off the ground than Tucker expected.
… usually one can find Tucker. Today he found his way on to the roof of the chicken coop. I’m not quite sure how he go there, it is a bit of a jump from the driveway wall. Maybe he jumped on the nesting boxes to get up.
And, yesterday, he pushed his way into the coop while I was building the run for the chickens. He sat in the corner not quite sure what to do – until Susanna and I got him out of the pen.
Susanna and I repaired and repainted the living room walls and ceiling in late 2011. At that time we decided to not do the floors and only finish the project we started. The floors had been bothering Susanna since then.
This summer we discussed hiring someone to refinish the floors, but decided to take a weekend to try the project ourselves. We picked last weekend to try to finish the project.
We emptied out the room before Friday. I rented the floor sander for Friday and Saturday and started sanding on Friday night. The paint on the floors was more difficult to get off than I had anticipated (and went through more sandpaper than I had planned). Finally we had the floors sanded and ready for the first coat on Saturday night. I put down a coat of sanding sealer (shellac), and a couple of hours later the first coat of Minwax rapid dry floor polyurethane. On Sunday morning I did a second coat of poly before picking up the boys.
Sanding the floors
By Sunday night I could tell that too much dust had settled in the top coat, and it needed to be sanded smooth and a third coat put on the floor. However, the floors weren’t dry enough to sand on Sunday night, so Susanna and the boys hand sanded the dust out of the top coat on Monday. I applied the top coat on the floor Monday night after the boys went to bed.
We let the floors sit until this weekend and then moved the furniture back into the room yesterday. In hindsight we should have waited longer before moving the piano. The weight of the piano left some marks in the new finish – our plan is to sand out those parts and put down more poly to cover up those parts. I don’t see a problem fixing the mistakes. However, we are waiting for the humidity to drop before putting more poly down.
In addition to refinishing the floor, Susanna bought a new TV stand. We decided that with a new living room and TV stand that it was time to upgrade the TV to something a little more modern than the old beast of a TV we had been using, so we picked up a Samsung Smart TV. Susanna can even watch SVT (Swedish television) directly on it. Of course SVT limits what can be seen outside of Sweden – fixing that is the next step
The nearly finished living room (it is still waiting for some pictures to be hung).Susanna getting ready to sand the floors.
Completed chicken coop made with red oak and maple.
It has been a busy two weeks. I don’t write as much when life is crazy. Susanna got her green card and a full time job last week. They wanted her to start training this week, and she hasn’t even finished her last job. The boys start school and soccer this week.
I had been working on building a chicken coop and run. I told myself that I should finish one project before starting another project. Of course I don’t always listen to myself. For a month or so, Susanna and I had been planning on refinishing the living room floor this weekend. Of course things change. A new job. The boys’ schedule. Maybe in hindsight we should have pushed off the floor for a bit. But we didn’t. So I took a break from the chicken coop and over the weekend we finished the floor. The final coat went on last night. But I will save that for a later post when I can get good pictures of the floor. And I’m pretty sure it was worth doing the floor.
The chicken coop was finished yesterday and we picked up chickens from Mark and Jessica Matkovich this afternoon. The coop is 3′ x 8′ and is made from maple and red oak. The wood I had picked up for building the floor in the garage for the wedding, so was free. The shingles are left over from when the previous owner sided the workshop. I had some wire fencing left. The only materials I purchased for the coop was the chicken wire.
The wood was pretty wet when I milled it, so I plan on letting the coop dry for a couple of months and then painting it to match the house. I have to build a new compost bin (so I can take down the compost bin to the left of the coop) and build a bigger run for the chickens. I hope to finish that next weekend. But for now, the space should be enough for the 4 chickens.
I will have to add some more trim to the coop, and maybe another hinge to support the top. Susanna and I plan on trying to keep track of expenses to see how long it takes to pay off the investment for the coop.
So far our investment in the chickens:
$30 for chicken wire
$36 for a feeder, feed and bedding (I didn’t want to use the wood chips from milling the coop for the birds – the lumber wasn’t clean enough).
$3 for golf balls to encourage the chickens to use the nesting box. Plus they will offer entertainment for me when I mow over them in the yard after the boys leave them around when playing with them.
The wood, screws, and roofing was free (existing materials).
The boys are very excited about the chickens. Susanna not so much. But we will get eggs (hopefully soon) and they should help compost table scraps.
My plans are to add a 4′ x 12′ covered run for the birds. This will give 24 square feet of coop space and 72 square feet of run. The compost bin will be at the far end of the run. I will move the feed and water into a protected part of the run – or at least the move the water out where it is easier to check and fill. I may replace the watering system with one that is easier to keep clean – hopefully thanks to the Sawyer farm.
Will has been attending Project Oceanology Ocean Explorer camp this week. Today, Susanna and I got a chance to head out on the boat with his class and see what the camp is all about. Here are some pictures from today. I should be getting more pictures from the camp in the mail over the next couple of weeks and I’ll try to post them when I get them. We all got to pick up and inspect the creatures picked up when trawling around Ledge Light.
Passing close to New London Ledge Light.The view of New London Ledge Light.Will showing off a small sea robin.Will showing off one of the squids found while trawling in Long Island Sound with Project Oceanology.
It is Monday. That means going to work this morning. Although, these days, it might mean staying home on furlough. I’m doing a mix. I’ll take a couple of hours of furlough today and go into work late. The boys arrive today for the week and both boys have summer camp. Ben is going to basketball camp in Preston. Will is going to Project Oceanology camp in Groton. This morning there is orientation for parents at Will’s camp. Susanna and I will be heading to Groton with Will, and I’ll head into work after orientation.
The first stages of building the chicken coop. I’m not sure this is the right way to go about it, but it seems to be working so far.
I checked on the chicken coop this morning. No progress was made last night while I was asleep. Oh well. I guess that the fairies and elves that wander the woods behind the house were busy with other projects last night. Or maybe they saw the quality of the construction of the carcase and decided to take no part in the construction. Or maybe they just don’t like chickens.
The posts on the coop are made from red oak. The oak is milled to about 1″ thick. I take two 2″ wide sections and glued and screwed them at a right angle to make a L-shaped column. They are connected with oak stretchers. I’ll add the chicken wire around the base next, and then build the floor and ramp for the chickens. The walls and then a hinged roof will follow. To the left of the coop will be a run and new compost bins. The oak is pretty wet, so I won’t paint it until later in the year.
Susanna and I had a weekend without the boys. This was the first time in a while we have had a full weekend without the boys and without Susanna working. It was a nice change. We didn’t take full advantage of a free weekend and get away – but one of these weekends we will. We also didn’t just sit around and do house projects all weekend either.
Susanna enjoying a glass of wine at Maugle Sierra Vineyards
Friday night saw us heading out for an evening with some friends. It is nice to catch up with old friends. However, I’m pretty sure I tell the same stories over and over. I’ll have to either have some more exciting trips with work (or with Susanna), or start being better at writing fiction. I guess I could stop telling old stories and listen to people. But that isn’t going to happen.
Saturday we didn’t have the most productive morning. But unproductive mornings are important. It is too tiring to have to be productive all the time. We did escape in the afternoon to a local vineyard for a wine tasting. We even had a nice discussion over a glass of wine on why we shouldn’t get a bigger sailboat. I’ll have to keep working on that one.
Today was a chore day. I know, “chore day’ sounds terrible. But it is nice to have no major projects to work on. I mowed the yard in the morning, and when I got bored with mowing I wandered into the workshop to finish building shelves (yes, my ADHD approach to chores – mostly finish one and move on to another one). But eventually I did finish mowing the yard.
I also finished the storage shelves in the garage somewhere in the middle of mowing the yard. There is nothing like having a ton or two of rough maple and oak to use to build utility shelving. The shelves start wide at the bottom and get narrower at the top. The slope was actually a planned feature, not just shoddy construction. These shelves are much narrower than the previous plywood and 2×4 shelving we had there before the wedding. Having shelves much deeper than 15-18” make it difficult to keep things organized. It is too easy to hide things in the back of the shelves.
Garage shelves made from maple and red oak.
After building the shelves I moved onto building a chicken coop and run…
We are looking to get 4 hens in the next couple of weeks (as soon as I have a coop and run built). The coop and run will be next to the garage and will replace the current compost bins. Construction pictures will follow as I get farther along in the project. So, for those asking, yes, I did finish enough of my other projects to start building the coop. We might even get the hens before they die of old age.
And in other good news, last week our furlough was reduced from 11 days to 6 days. This week will be my final week with a day of furlough.
This afternoon I took the boys out sailing for the last time this summer. We only paid for two months at the submarine base marina. With the summer coming to an end in addition to being on furlough, we decided to not extend the time at the base. Susanna and I should get a sail or two in before we have to take the boat out of the water, but I don’t think there will be time for the boys to go sailing until next spring.
Today we motored south of the base and put up the main north of the bridges. A gentle breeze pushed us downriver. Before we passed under the bridges, the boys and I hanked on the jib. As we went south the breeze picked up. In New London harbor, the gusts would push us over at least 20-degrees, but the wind wasn’t constant. It would pick up and die down. It couldn’t pick a direction either. The gusts and waves made Ben a bit nervous, so we eventually dropped the jib.
We ran to pine island and turned around just short of the harbor entrance. Once we turned back into the river we beat into the wind upriver for a bit, finally grew bored, and started the outboard. I think our timing was pretty good. A storm passed south of us as we drove up towards the base – we only caught a little of the rain. The bridges disappeared in the haze of the storm almost entirely as we motored past the base. We reached our slip in sunlight as the storm headed east.
