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When the ghost on your homestead is a certain law-maker named "Murphy"

1K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  67drake 
#1 ·
So, the Wife and I bought a property with a 3 bedroom house and 1 tiiiiny shed on it. We started the property improvement by erecting a prefab tube-&-vinyl-coated-fabric carport to keep stuff that wouldn't fit in the (itty-bitty) shed that was on the property when we got here.
After that, the wife found a perfect prefab chicken coop that would fit the 18 hens that she wanted. Only one problem, the box labels lie... So we ended up with a very crowded coop (& run.)
While this was going on, we bought a Greenhouse, but the coop assembly (and inevitable modifications (plus re-modifications & un-modifications) dragged on until it was too rainy & snowy to put the greenhouse together.
Fast-forward to late spring, & the inadequacy of the coop+run became too frustrating for the wife, so now she wanted a much bigger coop.
During all of this, I had recurring bone infections resulting in the amputation of the toes on my right foot.
So here we are in year 2, winter riding in from the North like some marauding army, and still no:
  • Big Coop,
  • Greenhouse,
  • Tack & Supply Shed, nor even
  • Workshop*
I found out some things that I never would have learned in California. Like how much more it hurts when you hit your thumb with a hammer when it's 35° than when it's 114°.
(that's 2° & 46° for like, the rest of the world... )

* I still hold firm in the belief that if I'd built the Workshop first, (i.e. that with the ability to use more than my cordless tool bundle) that I'd be either caught up on all my honey-build list, or juussst shy of it.

But all that being said, I'm really looking forward to when the coops are finished & painted, the greenhouse is up & glistening in the sun and we've got grass flowing in the wind between the outbuildings & my Shop.
And yet,
Somehow, I get the feeling that right after I get the greenhouse in, and make arrangements for the Auger to dig the foundation posts for my shop — that it will somehow be vitally important that the back of the property be leveled off & a Canine Agility Course be installed (no doubt w/bleachers to be added after the size of the course is already leveled out...)
But hey, year 5 is a fine time for my useless old, cheap garage to be put in, right?
 
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#2 ·
Welcome to the irony and frustration of homesteading. :)

I would say to put your foot down about getting your shop built, but the pun lurking in the background leaves me no other choice than to HINT that you should put your best foot forward. (I can hear the groans from the peanut gallery in the bleachers.)

A friend ordered 25 layer chicks and 25 broiler chicks, and discovered after the layers arrived that she HATES THEM! Most were given away, and the remaining birds have moved from boxes in the living room to metal troughs on the porch to dog kennels to a VERY expensive Eggloo that is (in my opinion) much too overcrowded. The order for the broilers was cancelled altogether.

Don't ask me about the goats she got.

Enjoy the fun!
 
#4 ·
So, the Wife and I bought a property with a 3 bedroom house and 1 tiiiiny shed on it. We started the property improvement by erecting a prefab tube-&-vinyl-coated-fabric carport to keep stuff that wouldn't fit in the (itty-bitty) shed that was on the property when we got here.
After that, the wife found a perfect prefab chicken coop that would fit the 18 hens that she wanted. Only one problem, the box labels lie... So we ended up with a very crowded coop (& run.)
While this was going on, we bought a Greenhouse, but the coop assembly (and inevitable modifications (plus re-modifications & un-modifications) dragged on until it was too rainy & snowy to put the greenhouse together.
Fast-forward to late spring, & the inadequacy of the coop+run became too frustrating for the wife, so now she wanted a much bigger coop.
During all of this, I had recurring bone infections resulting in the amputation of the toes on my right foot.
So here we are in year 2, winter riding in from the North like some marauding army, and still no:
  • Big Coop,
  • Greenhouse,
  • Tack & Supply Shed, nor even
  • Workshop*
I found out some things that I never would have learned in California. Like how much more it hurts when you hit your thumb with a hammer when it's 35° than when it's 114°.
(that's 2° & 46° for like, the rest of the world... )

* I still hold firm in the belief that if I'd built the Workshop first, (i.e. that with the ability to use more than my cordless tool bundle) that I'd be either caught up on all my honey-build list, or juussst shy of it.

But all that being said, I'm really looking forward to when the coops are finished & painted, the greenhouse is up & glistening in the sun and we've got grass flowing in the wind between the outbuildings & my Shop.
And yet,
Somehow, I get the feeling that right after I get the greenhouse in, and make arrangements for the Auger to dig the foundation posts for my shop — that it will somehow be vitally important that the back of the property be leveled off & a Canine Agility Course be installed (no doubt w/bleachers to be added after the size of the course is already leveled out...)
But hey, year 5 is a fine time for my useless old, cheap garage to be put in, right?
A big problem here is if you built your tool work shop you will be in the shop working on all your projects and have no time left to mess with the Chickens. :) and other things that your wife needs. :)

Good luck, Famer Gerold.
 
#7 ·
My shop has been waiting for 25 years. I finally built a separate 60x104 animal barn with a riding arena, so I could have the older 40x60 barn to have my equipment in without having the dust/smells/mess from all of her animals (horses, ducks, chickens, guineas, turkeys, donkeys, cats). This year during the 10 week shutdown, I built another chicken coop, finished up a bathroom gut/rebuild, and stick built a 12'x20' greenhouse, along with a few tractor projects.


I have new concrete, and a 2 post car lift waiting to be erected (3 years now), and I have the space for a shop, just no time, or help.
 
#12 ·
I have new concrete, and a 2 post car lift waiting to be erected (3 years now), and I have the space for a shop, just no time, or help.
Lucky guy!
I’ve been wanting a lift for years, especially now that getting under the trucks and cars is a drag now that I’m in my 50’s.
I figure by the time I get one I won’t be able to work on my own vehicles anymore!
 
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