A busy weekend

We had a busy, busy weekend. This weekend, we finally replaced our leaky kitchen window.  Hurrah!

 The trim comes off!  Justine's boyfriend came over to help, even though she is half the country away.  (we think he's a keeper!!)

 Masks on, the siding comes off.  We were really worried about how much rot there would be in the wall since the window has been leaking longer than we've owned the house.  We were relieved that it wasn't as bad as we had feared.

 The old window comes out.

 Why, oh why, didn't we get a big picture window?  The view is wonderful!

 New window goes in.

Finishing installation

 Roughed in from the inside but too dark to continue outside

 Today new siding goes up.

 The last piece in place.

 And the vent pipe for the kitchen and downstairs bath is back in place.  Finally, I can do laundry again.

And time for a nap!  The final trim has been purchased.  The outside trim will go up tomorrow. The inside woodwork will take a bit because it has to be finished.

This is the last part of the kitchen remodel that we did a few years ago. Finally, the kitchen will be DONE!

Still kicking!

Long time, no post.

Things have been a bit busy around here and blogging has taken a back burner.  But life is still rolling along here at Troll Bridge Acres.  Here's a quick update.
On the garden front: I've got lots of little seedlings up!  But I'm having germination problems with some of my peppers.  Seed that I just got last year so should still be good is having terrible germination this year.   I'm also struggling with aphids that have migrated from one of the houseplants onto my seedlings.  Grr!  I thought we had them under control on the houseplants but I guess not.   I was hoping to till at least part of the garden but it has been rainy here lately so it is still too wet. Maybe later this afternoon... we only got a little shower this morning and it is sunny and windy this afternoon.  But I'm not holding my breath- I was out a little bit ago and it's still pretty squishy.  But, I'm not complaining about the rain- we're finally out of drought conditions!!  I15 helped me clear off flower beds last weekend and we planted a wisteria vine to climb up the pergola on the deck- something a bit more permanent than the morning glories.
On the work front (paid job): Today is my one day off after a 6 day stretch.  It has been a really, really long week and I'm dealing with a pretty tough patient group right now so it has been really sapping my energy.  I've got 4 days to work and then I get a 4 day weekend with the alignment of my Friday comp day for working Saturday and my usual every-other Monday off.  I can't wait!
Chickens: The big girls are finally back into the swing of things and we're getting 6  or more eggs/day.  I'm going to have to see if I can sell a few at work since the fridge is quickly filling up!  The little girls are growing quickly and are at that awkward 'teenage' stage.  But they are healthy and appear happy.  I came down this morning to find them all snuggled up roosting on the stick I put in there for them.  I did change the wood chip bedding I had in the kennel for them.  The downstairs bath was getting a bit stinky!
Sewing: ugh.  I haven't had much time to spend at the machine.  I've got a blouse that I started weeks ago that still isn't finished.  I don't have much left to do but just can't seem to get it done.  I've got a jacket for I15 cut out and ready to start.  Next weekend I'm hoping to spend some quality time in the sewing room.  I've also got to do another baby quilt for work.  One of the social workers I work closely with is expecting in August.  I had hoped to have my business website up and running in April but I'm rapidly losing the month.
Zombie training:  I was doing really, really well until I slipped on wet grass and twisted my knee last weekend.  It hasn't so much been painful as much as it just feels unstable and like it wants to hyperextend when I run. It is getting better but I've taken the week off running because I don't want to injure it further and REALLY do some damage.  But, I'm registered for a 5K run/walk next Sunday afternoon, the Rehab Run, sponsored by the Physical Therapy department at the University.  Even if I have to walk it I'm going to do it.  And Justine and I are going to do the Mud Run in June and our big race is in July.    I'd really like to do the Color Run but our most local race is the same weekend as Run for Your Lives.   Oh well, maybe next year.
Family:  V has been busy writing so house stuff has slowed down.  But, he's continued to put up more ceilings in the basement on his off days.  It is so nice to be doing 'finishing' stuff!  Now that it is starting to warm up, I'll probably be doing some painting as well soon.  I think I'm going to be going through LOTS of primer in the basement.  The boys are charging along through the school year and Justine will be finished with her first year of college in mid May.  Hard to believe that it's just over a month away.  Wow! Where has time gone.

Well, now that I've wasted some time here, I've still got lots on my to-do list for today that I've been avoiding.  Back to work, although I'd really much rather just sit and enjoy the weather....

I'll try to work through my blog reading backlog sometime soon and will really try to post more often.

I think...

I think tomorrow is the day for new chicks to arrive on our little homestead.  Our current girls are 2 years old this spring and while they're laying nicely again after a winter lull, I know that age will begin to catch up with them.  So tomorrow a few new chicks will come to live with us.
We were at one farm store last night picking up a new drive belt for the motor for the door opener for the shop and I checked out what they had.  Not too impressed with their selection.
But this evening, we stopped by the other farm store on the way home from picking up a few things after I got home from work to check it out.  They've got Ameraucanas, Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds and Black Sex Links as well as a batch of 'rainbow layers'.  I think that is the catch all for 'what the hatchery had left over, not sorted! Two of our original Fab Four were from that bin.  They turned out to be RIR.
But, before I can get new chicks, V and the boys have to finish the ceilings in the downstairs bath.  That was on the agenda for the week but got delayed due to V being busy with paid writing work.  However, it is on tap for tomorrow!  I've got everything I need for chicks, just not the chicks or the space to put them.  The room isn't big and it won't take long to get the sheet rock up and mudded and taped.  We'll worry about painting it when it warms up.  But V doesn't want to have to work around the dog kennel that will house the chicks while they grow big enough to introduce to the rest of the flock.

Anyway.  I'm glad it's the weekend.  It seems to have been a long, long week at work.  The boys have been off on spring break but I've been at work.  I've been good at working out but not so good at sewing this week.  This whole balance thing is tougher than I thought.  I've got my day off on Monday so I've got a three day weekend.  Let's see how much I can accomplish....

A weekend of photos

It's been busy here... but laid back as well.  The pace has definitely slowed with the shortening days and it's rather nice.  Rather than bore you with all the details, I thought I'd share a few photos of the weekend.

I ran my first 5k race in a long, long time on Saturday morning.   I'll admit, I did walk some of it and finished in a pathetic time... but I got my old, out of shape body out there and did it!  Look out zombies!  I'm getting ready for you!

V was helpful and carved the jack-o-lanterns into chicken friendly pieces with his sword.  I love the action shot with the falling bit of pumpkin!

 Spaz, the Mighty Hunter, was successful at stopping an unwelcome intruder.

And a little light demolition occurred in the pantry.  When the addition was built onto the house, they blocked up the original basement staircase and built the pantry and a closet on the other side.  Unfortunately, they didn't remove the original door lintel.

 You can see the top shelf of the pantry right underneath what's left of the door frame.  It was virtually unusable for anything larger than 6 inches wide.  But, thanks to the sawz-all and my honey...

 The old door frame is gone

 and the top shelf is opened up.

 A bit of plaster work- still currently in progress.

 And the newly opened top shelf is perfectly sized for the water bath canner and the stock pots.  Yeah!! The next phase will be doors over the top three shelves to protect the jars from light.  I do have larger shelves in the basement where most of our food stocks are kept but these are the 'immediate use' jars near the kitchen.  On the bottom shelf are my jars of dried beans and grains.  And underneath are cabinets that V built in that house small appliances, bread, potatoes and the cleaning rags as well as 'the junk drawer'.

 The chard is doing well in the greenhouse.

As is the leaf lettuce.  I see salads in the near future.

I hope you all had a good weekend as well and that all those out east are beginning to get back to whatever normal you call yours.

It's a greenhouse!!

V finished the greenhouse last evening!  So, today, I got to play inside.
I was up early this morning since I15 had to be in town by 7am for parking lot clean up.  The City High Band works to clean up the parking lots around the stadium after home football games at the university.  They get paid for this and the money goes to fund all sorts of things like trips, uniforms, music, etc.  It is also part of their grade that the students 'volunteer' at least 4 times.  So, since it is still early in the year and warm(ish) and still light at 7am. I15 has been going to all the clean ups in September.  So far he has done 2 of his 4 games.  With lots of students there to help it generally takes less than 2 hours.  But wouldn't it be amazing if tailgaters cleaned up after themselves and the high school kids didn't need to pick up their garbage?!  What a concept!  But, then, the band would be out of money that they need and would have to do other fundraisers.
But, after clean up, I15 and I made a trip to one of the local garden centers and picked up 12 bags of topsoil.  They are selling it cheap since they want to clear it out so they don't have to store it over the winter- and I happened to want some for the greenhouse.
Behold!

 Here it is in all it's glory.  Well, I guess it's not that glorious...

The frame came packed in this really cool box made of green corrugated plastic.  Which I cut and used to build little raised bed frames inside the greenhouse.  I love being able to repurpose stuff.  And I had some left over edging spikes from earlier this year that I could use to hold it in place.  After lunch, K12 helped me load in the topsoil.

Filled with topsoil and planted:  Lettuce (2 kinds), spinach, chard, kale and radishes are all in!  The kale is mainly for the chickens.  While I like kale, I'm about the only one who does (except the chickens!).  We can't keep it in the regular garden over winter or the deer will eat it (at least they always have in the past).

  V has moved on to his next construction project.  The re-construction of the garden shed just to the north of the garden.  To the left side of the photo (behind the gate) you can see the Long Island cheese vine trying to take over the world.  It was over the fence but V tossed it back in.
It has been a busy weekend,  I'll almost be glad to get back to work tomorrow so I can get some rest, LOL!

A Sunny September Saturday

It was a gloriously beautiful day today.  Brilliant sunshine and temps in the mid 70's- perfect for working outside.
I did some weeding and other work in the garden. I finally finished off all those giant lambs quarters along the fence line. I picked tomatoes and a few tomatoes.  I did laundry. I made roasted tomato/pepper salsa.  V worked on my greenhouse.  All in all, busy but pretty laid back.
Here are a few photos of the day.

 The first Long Island Cheese squash was harvested!

 Tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic go into the oven to roast

 ... come out

 and make a fabulous salsa!

V working diligently on the greenhouse.  See, it isn't big- only 6x8 but I'm excited to get some fall greens planted in there.  He managed to get it finished tonight but it was too dark to get a good photo so I'll post one another day.  I will still need to put raised beds of some sort in there before I can plant.
And finally...

I'm so glad to see that someone was able to relax today!  Eesh!  I can see that the rug desperately needs vacuumed. That is the dog and cat's favorite spot to lay so it tends to collect lots and lots of fur.  Hmm... I think it is I15's turn at vacuuming this week.

Feeling a little saucy!

I had a wonderful day off today.  I had a bonus day off since I worked last Saturday.  The day started off with something I rarely do.  After the boys left for school- I went back to bed and slept for another 2 hours!  I must have really needed it since I can rarely sleep during the day unless I'm sick.  I have been running ragged for the past two weeks and for the last week on 6 or less hours of sleep per night trying to get everything done.  I needed to catch up!
After I woke I cleaned the kitchen because I knew I had to clear the decks for the afternoon's projects.  V and I ran some errands over lunch and when we got home I started saucing!  I started off with a straight tomato/pepper/onion sauce that became part of this evening's lasagna.  And then, I made another large pot of sauce that I boiled down and spiced up to make pizza sauce.  This is a new one for me.  It tasted really good and I've got some extra in the fridge that we'll try for on pizza on Sunday or Monday night for dinner.  But I've got 10 lovely little half-pint jars of thick, spicy sauce cooling on the counter.  The recipe I used said to put it into pint jars but that seems like so much.  We would never use a full pint at a time.  Usually when I make pizza, even with the store bought cans, I always have left overs.  So half pints should do fine.  I can't wait to try it out.
The weather here has been fall-like.  We were at about 50F this morning.  Definitely chilly after all the heat of the summer.  It struggled to reach the lower 70's today but the sun was glorious.  Too bad I was stuck in the kitchen tending bubbling sauce.  But the weekend is supposed to be equally fabulous so I hope to be outside most of tomorrow.
V has the foundation done for the greenhouse and we'll probably put it up tomorrow.  HOW EXCITING!  If you can't tell, I'm pretty pumped about this!  He is also working to re-build a little garden shed that we disassembled when we moved in.  It was in an inconvenient place and the previous owners had used it for a chicken coop. It's one of those plastic-paneled jobs that we have kept all the bits to, just haven't figured out where and when until now.  It will go outside the fence at the North end of the garden to house garden tools, wheelbarrow, tiller and lawnmower.

Slowly but surely things are coming together.  V is finishing work on the basement.  I finally have a ceiling and insulation in my sewing room.  There is only one basement window left to replace so we're finally winding down.  It will take quite a bit more time for the finish work but things are starting to be finished.  It's only taken three and a half years!

Love and Hate

This has been such a sorrow and hate filled day.  Why, oh why do there have to be haters in the world?  A few hateful people can give all the great people out there a bad rap.  Terrible things are done in the name of God and country all around the world.  On all sides- Christian and Muslim alike.  For some reason there are people who just seem to need to hate what is different from them.  I will never understand.
But enough of hate.  There is also so much love in the world and I want to focus on that.
Today, V was definitely loving.  Look:

V is working on the foundation for my greenhouse!  He spent much of the day digging trenches and worked until dark to get the foundation set.  This is the little 6x8 greenhouse he got me a while ago as a gift but we have never had time to get it set up. Other things were always taking precedence.  But now, he hopes to have it done this weekend in time for me to get some winter greens in.  It is going up on the South side of the barn where it will be sheltered from the fierce Northwest winds we get in the winter but will still get plenty of sun.

I've been busy the past few days.  I've canned more tomatoes, frozen more peppers and made several batches of salsa.  I finally found a recipe that V likes- one that has a serious KICK to it!  As of this evening I've got 12 pints canned.  I'll have to do something with tomatoes again tomorrow though, I made salsa and still have lots of tomatoes left.  And I picked more this afternoon.  Oosh.  I think I've got tomato overload- finally!  But as much as I complain I'll keep at it.  Hmm... I wonder about pizza sauce....  I'm running out of ideas for tomatoes.

I figured out my treadle machine.  And I feel really stupid now. Everyone kept asking me if it took flat or round shank needles- I had put in a flat needle and it was secure but I wanted to check for sure.  So I got a mirror and flashlight to get a good look at the underside where the needle goes.  I was right, it does take a flat shank needle but to my surprise, the flat side wasn't facing the direction I thought it should go- I had to rotate my needle 90 degrees from where I thought it would go.  Amazingly enough, that solved the problem and it will now pick up the bobbin thread- although I still need to fiddle with the tension which is all messed up.  Who knew?

Almost

V has been hard at work and OH, MY! What a difference!  He's not quite finished. He still has some siding and trim bits to put up and the interior still need drywall.  But a few before and after photos...

Before.  Of course, it's a different season.   This is a photo taken before we closed on the house.  You can see the backdoor and the little porch where the north door was.

After!  Slightly different angle as well.  I'll have to try to replicate the angle sometime.  But the deck definitely changes the look.
And another before photo:

Before:  The northwest corner of the house where the addition connects onto the main house.  This is the door we replaced.  We had already repaired water damage along the roof line but there was still lots of water damage here.

After!  Along the house (between the existing pavers and the big window) is the space where we will be planting the shade garden.  Even though it is on the west side of the house the big hackberry tree provides so much shade that there is moss growing back here.  From the end of the pavers back toward where the barrels are sitting will be a patio.  To the north of this (left of the photo and out of sight) is the  rose arbor leading to the goth garden.    But I'm loving how this space is coming together.  I love the way the secondary retaining wall turned out under the stairs. We used left over retaining wall blocks and finished it off with concrete rubble 'blocks'.

And this afternoon we had a few visitors:

A little toad almost blends in with the dusty, dry dirt.

And an Indigo Bunting rests on the line.

Weekend photos

A few photos of the busy weekend!

The deck certainly changes the view of the house!

Work begins on the North wall of the addition.  The door is being removed and replaced with a window.

As you can see, this was originally a window and someone replaced it with the door (badly installed!). So we are actually restoring this to the way it was.

 Framing goes in- this is no longer a door!

The window opening takes shape.

My discount blackberries will probably need watered tomorrow.  We had a thunderstorm roll through about 6 am. The lightning flashed and the thunder rolled. Sadly, we got a disappointing 0.08 inches of rain.  sigh....

The lineup of ferns.  Justine and I made a run to the grocery store today since she had friends over this afternoon.  I noticed that they had just marked down all the garden center stuff to 50% off!  So, of course, I had to look.  I picked up two new ferns since we'll soon be able to work on the shade garden.

I also picked up this quite healthy looking forsythia bush for $8.  It is about 3 feet tall!

I picked up this hydrangea last week, when the garden center stuff was only 25% off.  I think it's lovely.  And there weren't any left so good thing I got it when I did.

As well as this one.  I've never actually owned a hydrangea before.  But they will go into that northwest corner where the shade garden will be.  Both of these are types that if we change the pH of the soil they will change color.

The herb spiral is filling out.  You can also see that we need to mow.  The grass hasn't grown much with the dry weather but the clover is going wild.

And the window is in!  This is just a temporary installation.  It will come back out tomorrow. The siding can't be removed until the deck is gone and with the deck there, there has been so much water damage to the siding (and the deck itself and the underlying sheathing) that the project was bigger than could be completed in a single day.  Tomorrow, V will need to go pick up three new sheets of siding panels to replace the damaged ones and then he and the children will finish the wall.  The next few days look to be great weather for something like this but toward the end of the week we are forecast to have temps into the 100's so V wants to get this finished while it is still cool (it was near 90 today! but tomorrow is forecast only into the low 80's)
This will be another long week.  We've got no forecast rain in sight and with hot, hot, hot temps I'll have to water the garden.  I'm now looking at a 6 day stretch of work at the hospital so I'll not have lots of time at home.  I was hoping to get my fall broccoli started today but it didn't happen.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow.