Christmas Eve 2015

So, its Christmas Eve and its 15°C.  It should be about -10°C.  Great weather for building, and chickens though!  This mild fall and winter have allowed Chris an easier time working on the house.  I just hope we get a really good deep freeze before the winter is over.  Otherwise the bugs will be horrid next spring!

We now have a couple walls on the upper level

You'd never know it was December 24th

All the roof lumber is laying on the upper level.  Under the plastic sheet is the window well for the master bedroom window

Chris has shoveled several tons of clear stone by himself.  Who needs a backhoe?!

Most hens lay fewer eggs when the days are shorter.  Our girls don't seem to know this!  Even with most of our old girls moulting, we still get 5-6 eggs a day.  The tiny egg on the left is from one of our newest layers.  The big one just below it is from one of our old girls, and the green one to the right of that one is from Breech.  Her eggs are getting pretty big too! 

Last night I heard a wolf howling just outside the mobile home.  First time hearing wolves here.  It was close, but the chickens, dog, and kittens are all safe.  Pretty neat knowing the wilds are so near.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Second level floor

Work on the house slowed down after the framing party.  Chris was working a lot, and there were other things to be done to prepare the homestead for winter.  But Chris still managed to get the floor joists up on the second level.

Floor joists under the girls' bedroom floor

Looking from the kitchen into the master bedroom

Floor joists finished.  Note the beautiful red of the sumac trees

Bare sumac trees and plywood floors in place.  The gap is where the stairs will be

The walls that separate the laundry room/mud room, bathroom, and master bedroom

Looking up through the stairwell

The posts and beam in the wall of the master bedroom

Its getting icy at night

The tamarack that surround our garden clearing are turning yellow

Molly napping in the leaves in front of the wood that will become the roof trusses

Sleeping kittens getting bigger and bigger

And here is Amelia, errrr, Emil, the rooster.  He's a pretty boy and is a good protector

Our first egg from this year's chicks.  Turns out our Easter egger Breech lays green eggs!  Now we're getting tiny eggs from all 6 of the hens that we hatched

We have magnificent sunsets

 

Framing party

Well, I've hurt my back.  Badly enough that I have to take it very easy for a couple of weeks to heal.  Nature's way of telling me to slow down and catch up on blog posts?  If I don't make any sense, its the Morphine talking.

Soooo, back to October....we held a framing party!  We had some great helpers show up to lend a hand.  The weather cooperated, sunny and even if a bit chilly.  We worked hard and had fun.  It was really neat to see the walls go up!

Getting started

My dad, Steve and neighbour Barry working on the East wall

This dashing mustached gentleman was handy with a hammer 

Lifting the beams was tricky.  It took a lot of muscle to move them without heavy machinery

I don't think Chris stopped smiling all day!

Break time, in the bathroom

Georges is pretty handy with a chainsaw.  This is the kind man who drew up our house plans for us.  He's been a huge part of our journey

Fitting the pieces of the puzzle together

Youssef, Barry, Steve, and Chris happy to finally get these beams lined up

Solstice and Gramma keep an eye on the crew

Told you they were heavy

This was the hardest part, getting that beam up on the post

At the end of the day, the 4 posts, and 3 beams were up.  So were all the single level walls on the main floor.  Many, many thanks to those who participated! 

Insulating, Backfilling, and Sill Plates

Once the block work was done, Chris applied a coat of tar to the walls.  Then he glued sheets of foam board to the tar.  2 layers thick at the top.  Then he shoveled, by hand, hundreds of loads of clear stone gravel along the base of the walls.  He then laid drainage pipe (Big "O") and covered it with many more loads of gravel.  All this in his "spare time"!  This man works a full time job, comes home to eat dinner then goes out to work on the house.  After helping put the kids to bed he goes back out and works after dark using spot lights.

Big "O" covered by clear stone gravel all around the base of the foundation and down from the window wells.

Big "O" and foam board along the West facing wall

Planks over muck puddles

I don't know how many hundreds of wheel barrow loads Chris walked from the pile of gravel at the front of the house to cover all the Big "O" around the house.  Note his use of construction sandals

He had some help.  Appropriate work clothes optional here too

Clogs, red velvet dress, and hoodie for shoveling gravel?  Why not?

Finnlee makes a great counter weight while Phoenix cuts the foam board with the hand saw

The South facing wall needed a second coat of tar.  The first coat cracked in the extreme heat and direct sun in the days following its application

Chris was excited to use the Kubota on loan from his boss Lynn to do the backfilling and move some of the rock.  Without this machine, Chris would have done it by hand and it would have taken ages!

Attaching the sill plate in the dark

Zander helped with the pressure treated plywood that covers the foam

Cedar strips that the mill up the hill sells cheap as waste wood cover the seams in the plywood

Just this week the foundation was approved by the building inspector, so now we have a green light to go ahead with the framing!  We're planning a work party!  Want to come party with us?

Pest control

We have a little mouse problem.  Not in the house, but out in the mudroom/storage shed that Chris built along the side of the house.  We put out traps and catch some, but there are always more.  We found a solution though...a cute one at that!

Meet Simon and Oliver

Milk brothers.  Simon, the orange tabby, is about 8 weeks old.  His mother disappeared from the farm before he was weaned.  Oliver's mother adopted the litter and nursed them along with her own, 9 in total!  Oliver, the gray tabby is 6 weeks old.  They believe they are brothers

Simon is more shy than Oliver, but he's coming around. 

He proved his worth by catching his first mouse on his second night here!

Oliver is a snuggler

I think he will be a good hunter too

The chickens didn't know what to make of the kittens.  At first they came running over making food noises.  Then when the kittens started moving around the chickens ran away calling out in alarm!  By the way, these are our older chicks.  Junior, a rooster, Dorothy, another rooster, Tiny, yet another rooster, Amelia, rooster, Buffy, still yet to be determined, and our girls, Flower and Breech.
Did you know a rooster learning to crow sounds like a kazoo?

Solstice is in love

And its a very good thing kittens are tolerant!

Its been a long time since I had a kitten.  I still miss Zeppelin and Sebastian, 
but its nice to have cats around again