Today's Update - 5 Sep 2014

Boy has it been busy here at Chicken Coop 1.  Geez Louise!  And wouldn't you know it, today on the concrete pour it starts raining.  ARGH!!  Well, now that I've had my nervous breakdown why don't I just show you what we've been doing.

 

 

The above picture shows where we stared framing the concrete pad in.  That was no small task because the elevation change is about a foot drop from the barn side to the opposite side.  Next picture is where we brought in dirt and where I was complaining about taking three loads of dirt.



 

The next three pictures are where we had to smooth the dirt out.

 



Next comes the visqueen and mesh.

 

It is hard to tell from the pictures but those are hand dug footers that are at least 12 x  12.  Then the rebar had to be bent to go around the corners to tie all four sides/footers together.  And because of how high the side opposite the barn is because of the elevation change we had to have an apron (drive up) that was 12 feet long in addition to the 26 feet deep the pad is already so on that side it is 38 feet from one corner to the point you start driving up the concrete.

Well it turns out we need a fourth load of dirt because you can't see it properly in the pictures but that 38 foot side also stands almost two feet high above the ground and we have to do some creative engineering to prevent the concrete from getting washed out underneath.  We also need to add some dirt in front of the apron so that the edge doesn't crack when we drive up into it and we need to fix the ruts in the yard where the large dump trucks and concrete pumpers drove back and compacted things.  I'm just hoping it isn't another two loads instead of just the one.

I've been working my tail feathers off.  Two of the kids started soccer as well and all of their other activities too now that school has kicked back off.  Plus we homeschool so that means that I'm the teacher on top of it all. 

Which is my excuse of the day for being gone longer than I expected from posting.  But hey!  Today's rain gave me a chance to catch up and here are the stories that have new additions:

And the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth
http://geekinherittheearth.blogspot.com/

Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!
http://zombiesarentrealarethey.blogspot.com/ 

Up On Hartford Ridge
http://uponhartfordridge.blogspot.com/

Larkspur in Eden
http://larkspurineden.blogspot.com/

There Is No Such Thing As A Thornless Garden
http://thornlessgarden.blogspot.com/

When All Doors Close
http://whenalldoorsclose.blogspot.com/

A Bunch of Wild Thyme
http://bunchofwildthyme.blogspot.com/

Enduring on the Lake
http://enduringonthelake.blogspot.com/

Mother Hen's Recipes
http://motherhensrecipes.blogspot.com/

MJOTZY
http://mjoyzy.blogspot.com/
I finally got BlogSpot to stop heaving and let me post the first part for May:  Misunderstandings and Mourning.  I'll try and get the next part up tonight or finish it up tomorrow.

The other stories are waiting in line (rather impatiently) to get edited and posted.  Hubby is going to be gone for about two weeks this month and I'm hoping during that time I can get a couple of the older stories completed.  If nothing else I really would like to get Linderhall Legacy finished and maybe one or two more.  Depends on how demented the business gets.  Anyone want to come over and help me clean out some closets?  That's one of the must-do's to get done while he is out of town as well.

By the way, Darth Molly's pal Pippin sends his hello.  Lunatic cat.  He likes the rain but hates the pool and when I say he is Molly's pal that means that he hasn't eaten the dog yet because she is useful for blaming when things get knocked over and broken when they are tromping through the house like a couple of flaming horses. 

 

Guess how much a bag of 50 pounds of raw peanuts cost at the flea market?  $55.  Want to know how I know that?  Because for some reason my husband got a wild hair and bought a fifty-pound mesh bag of them.  So in addition to everything else I've been doing I've been canning peanuts.  Yep, I said canning peanuts.  The following video from youtube pretty much explains how.  Simple written directions can also be found here:  http://www.pickyourown.org/BoiledPeanuts.htm  Enjoy!