More House Projects

At the beginning of the summer, we decided that we needed a second chicken coop. We already had 9 chickens in the first one and we wanted more! So we took apart an old bench swing frame, widened the legs for more space and put it back together. We used some old materials we had for the top shelter part, some more left over aluminum siding from the shed and leftover hardiboard siding from when they built the well pump house. The only thing we had to buy for this one was wire mesh and latches for the doors! James gave the dirty siding a good hosing down for us.

We assembled it and then moved it to where we wanted it to be. Not fun. We decided to put it right behind the first coop so that it would be easier to connect the electric fence. Our initial idea was to have these access doors on the side so that we could collect the eggs from the nesting area up in the top. Except we didn't figure in what would happen when we added the mesh to the bottom of the coop. Once the mesh is in, you can't walk up to access the doors! So we don't really use those :)

Adding mesh to the sides and making sure it goes deep into the ground so no critters can burrow in.

James jumped in and helped us staple mesh to the wood.

Everything up but the door! So close!

We finally finished it enough to put the chickens in! We put our silkies (they are bantam sized), our bantam rooster, and blueberry in there together.

It is easier for the boys to fit in the small door, so we send them in with food and treats for the chickens.

James took a break from building to walk over to the big coop and give them some treats.

Here they are! All completed!

Anthony took a weekend and installed a water softener (the big black tank) on our well pump. All that practice with RO units for the aquarium paid off and the installation went pretty smoothly! Now our water is much clearer and free of the iron and minerals. Next we need another unit to get the rest of the sulfur out of it. So the water isn't totally fixed, but it is a movement in the right direction for sure! When we first moved in we had a water treatment company give us an estimate for the filter and they quoted us over $5000. This cost us practically nothing since the water softener was given to us by a friend and Anthony put it in.

Once it was completely installed and Anthony turned the water back on, we had to run the faucet to let the water cycle through. It is supposed to get really dirty until it clears up. It got pretty gross!

Then it was so beautifully clear!

The boys took a bath that night and the difference in the water was amazing. The first picture is from them taking a bath a few months ago and the second picture is right after the filter was installed.

Over the next few days it the water got even clearer. Look at that gorgeousness!! It is so nice to shower with clear water now :)

While Anthony was working on the water filter, I decided to start tackling our kitchen cabinets. I have wanted to paint them white since we moved in, but I decided it was more of a summer activity. I got a lot done pretty quickly, but since then I've lost a lot of steam. I have about 2/3 of the bottom cabinets left to do and I need to figure out how to motivate myself to just get them done!

The top cabinets are completely done, here they are with the new hardware I picked out. It makes the room feel so much lighter to have all the white!

I've been wanting a new headboard and I've looked around at some project ideas for building one. But then my favorite thrift store posted a picture of this queen sized bed for $35! There is no way I could build something for that, so I paypaled them the money right away and Anthony picked it up on the way home. It is a lot taller than our old bed, so it feels like you are sleeping on a pedestal. I call it my "Queen Bed"