Friday, September 11, 2009

odds and ends

It seems as though there is just "so much" happening right now...first off, my Dad was in the hospital. The day after our cookout, his heart went "out of beat"... he has dealt with this in past, but over the last ten years, thru good care, careful watch of himself and meds, it hasn't given him any trouble. And then, for no reason, it was acting up again. He spent the better part of the week there, and he did have to be cardio verted, but this evening he is home and feeling so much better!!! Hey Dad... so glad you are home once again......

And we are seriously beginning to get ready for baby Abbie. She will be here in just about a month, so Sadie is working on getting organized and trying to think ahead as much as she can. "We" have been EXTREMELY blessed. People hearing that she is expecting have given Sadie so many wonderful things... and there isn't much that she will need to get started. Just look at the clothes she has to sort thru!!! We have also decided that we will have an "after baby.. baby shower"... that way, Sadie will be able to show baby Abbie to everyone, and then she will also know what she might really need and be able to let folks know. It's pretty obvious that we won't be in the house before baby Abbie, so the three of us are trying to decide if we should move back into the big camp for the time being. It would certainly give us more room.. especially with another little person arriving... but we also "hate" to go to all the bother and not need it for very long... so that remains to be seen at the moment.. (though, I think we will end up moving once again.... )



The turkeys are getting huge and I can't believe how quickly they can go thru a bag of grain. As of this evening, they now live in Turkey Manor.. and if you read onto the next blog, you will know all about that.











No, we don't "spoil" our chickens or consider them "pets"... well, maybe we do, and Sadie thought that "miss Chicken" would appreciate a daisy necklace.. she did... as she ate it off herself.






And we now have "matching buildings"



"Sweetgrass barn"












"the Electric company"








and "Turkey Manor"

On thing for certain.. I can't say that life is dull
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I also don't want this important date to be overlooked. Eight years ago, we lost thousands of people when our country was attacked... may God send his blessings on the families who lost their dear loved ones... 9-11-01....................

"Turkey Manor"

For the past week, Sadie and I have been working as much as we could on the turkey building and if I do say so myself, with a bit of paint, it has spruced up rather well. In fact, we have fondly named it "Turkey Manor". It took two coats of stain and three coats of red on the doors, and will still need another white coat on the trim, but all in all.. the little old building has come back to life.

Then at the end of the day, Ed has come to finish the rest of this project (after working on the house!!!)






He cut a door way in the side so the turkeys will be able to come and go during the day. We will definitely lock them in at night, due to the predators!!! And he made a sliding door so we can close them in...

Sadie put a nice red paint on the turkey door... to match all the other color schemes.















We had a number of ideas with regards to the pen itself. I have seen all kinds of turkey pens and everyone seems to have their own ideas. We were looking for something strong, quick to put and cheap. Turns out that a dog kennel seem to fit the bill the best. Home Depot had a 10x10 dog pen for under 300.00.. and with the house being one end, and taking a panel from our real dog pen... we ended up having a penned area that is 12x20, (roughly) which should be plenty of space for the outside.




Now, turkeys can fly, to some extent..and they certainly would be able to get over the top of the dog kennel. Some folks suggested that we clip their wings, which isn't a bad idea except we really don't know how to do that, and secondly, they're pretty big now, and we weren't too excited about handling them that much.... so, it was just as easy to put a top on the kennel. Ed made a big wood frame, and we got some "bird wire" and simply stapled it to the top. We still have enough head room that we can walk around the inside of the pen (for cleaning and the like).. and the wire is open enough that we don't have to worry about a snow load next winter. The birds won't be able to fly thru the top.


By the time we got all this done this evening, we had just enough time to move the birds in. They haven't had the chance to try going outside, that will for tomorrow. Moving them was an adventure!!! They're getting quite big... Sadie was in charge of the door of the shed, Ed handled the birds, and I kept track of the door in the barn. Ed was pretty great with the birds, he wrapped them in a towel and one by one carried them out to their new house.






So, this evening we left them to settle in and the last I saw was everyone chowing down on supper and getting use to their new surroundings.

I can't wait to turn them out tomorrow.. I am sure they will appreciate the extra space and the chance to poke around like birds.

And now we will have Turkey Manor already for raising future generations of birds. I can't say that raising our own turkeys has saved us any money, especially this year. But I like the idea of raising some of our own food, and knowing that these animals have been raised well, and treated kindly during their lives. I not so sure we will raise anything "bigger" than turkeys, but I have come to know... never say never....