Back to Work

Making Progress

Well, once the question about the birds was answered it was time to get back to work on the farm. I always have certain goals in mind of what I want to accomplish. If I can accomplish most of those goals than I know we are making progress. With that said, I would have to say it was a productive weekend. 

My goals

1.) Finish preparing the rock wall garden.

2.) Texture paint the bedroom ceiling.

3.) Mow the lawn.

4.) Water the trees.

5.) Put the baseboards up in the bedroom.

Well, I accomplished all of these goals except the ceiling is not done. I ran out of paint. I guess I did not learn the lesson I passed onto my readers last time (always buy more than you think you need and then take the extra back).  

In addition to completing my goals I also accomplished a few more tasks that were not goals.

Take a look!

A homemade Christmas gift is now hanging on the inside of the bathroom door for robes, towels etc.

After hours of sponge painting a textured ceiling I felt compelled to be creative. I added a wall painting in the bathroom above the tub.

The base boards are now up in the bedroom.

As you can see, some outlets have been completed too, thanks to Greg.

 

Completed rock wall garden; ready for planting. The end dirt will be filled in with grass.

The last highlight of this trip was that Greg finally got the bathtub fixed; no leaks.  We actually took a bath! 

Seeing results

Before & After

      I thought it would be fun to show before and after picks of some of the things we have done.

Bedroom/Before

Bedroom/Before - Starting to dismantle.

Bedroom/Before - fixing cracks

After/without base boards.

After- with baseboards. Please note - floors still need to be done.

Bathroom/Before

Bathroom/Before - Starting to dismantle.

Bathroom/After

Before/Just beginning to dig out the weeds.

  

After/Weeds are gone and rock walls are in place.

An Empty Nest

Bye, Bye, Birdies

Well the weekend came and ended. The birdies were gone when we arrived. All they left behind were bird droppings to give us a hint of what happened while we were away. There was a pile of droppings directly under the nest. There were also droppings in front of the porch railing spanning the length of it. I imagined the five little ones all lined up ready for their first flying lesson. 

I was sad to see them gone but also happy that they survived. I felt a loneliness though without them around.

Then suddenly, I was walking down the stairs and I glanced out the window to see some birds at the nest. I watched for a bit. There were two just like before.  However, then two more swooped in and sort of chased away the first two. This behavior went on for about 30 seconds and then both pairs left and never returned. I wondered what they were doing. Were they fighting over this territory? If so, I guess no one won. The bird nest still remains empty.

The First Landing

Here is where I imagine the five little birds lining up for their first flying lesson.

Anticipation

Waiting for the Weekend

It's been a long time (nearly 2 weeks) since we have been at the farm. I really miss it! Which is good because then I will be ready for work when we arrive Friday night. I can't wait to see the birds and how much they have grown. I wonder if they are flying now? Hopefully, they are still there.

In my anticipation I did this small painting from one of the pictures I took on our last visit. 

Hunger

I will write again after the weekend. Stay tuned!

Laurie

Getting There... Slowly but surely

Making Progress

Well when I look at all we have done on the farm so far since we have owned it for a little over two months, I feel like we have done a lot! The bathroom and our bedroom are nearly finished, we planted many trees and about half are doing well, we mowed paths to get to our fields and we are building rock gardens in front of the porch. I will be transplanting some peonies, day lilies and other plants from here, and/or some bulbs in September. 

However, when we look at the amount of work we still have to do on the farm it can seem a bit overwhelming. We must remember, we have five years and it will get done.

Here is a picture that shows some progress that was made on our bedroom this weekend.

I call this hand painted wallpaper; silver, white and gray trees. I figured since I can, I would just paint the image I want on the wall rather than mess with wallpaper. It looks like wallpaper, right? This was very easy!

New curtain rods and I washed the shear white curtains that came with the house for a fresh look. The wall color is called Morning Walk - a very light greenish, gray color.

It will look much better when the base boards are put back up and the carpeting is put in.

Next, Greg needs to do the electric in this room, put up a ceiling fan and light and a textured ceiling.

Our Rock Walls for our Flower Garden

A sweet surprise met me as I walked outside. A Mom and her kittens crossing through our yard. This little guy was having trouble keeping up and he stopped moving once he saw me. So Greg picked him up and carried him across the street where Mom and siblings went. I hope they found each other.

Little Birdies Alive and Well

Amazing Life

We spent the weekend at the farm. The highlight was watching the baby birds in the nest right outside our door. Mom and Dad both working so hard to provide food. The nest seems to be getting a bit crowded with five growing babies in it now. Each struggles to pop up its head when they sense Mom or Dad approaching with something to eat. So amazing to watch their five yellow beaks open wide to let the food inside. 

We won't be back for two weeks now. I hope we can see them fly next time we visit. I hope we don't miss it!

Laurie

All are hungry,

two have been fed.

I want more!

Sharing our Home

A Love Story

When we started working on our house we noticed a bird nest on top of our porch light.  One day Greg held up his camera high and took a photo of the inside.  The photo showed five eggs.  As we continued to work on the house we noticed that the Barn Swallow would leave the nest each time we stepped out onto the porch. We started to feel bad but we did not know what to do about it as this was the only way into the house. We tried to limit our stay on the porch as much as we could so we would not disturb her and her eggs. As time went on, we noticed that she was getting a little more comfortable with us and would stay on the nest even when we got real close to the porch. We also noticed that she had a partner nearby watching carefully on the telephone wire. At times, she would fly away while he would fly in and take her place at the nest. They were already sharing parental duties.

As usual, we had to take a break from the farm and return to West Allis where we currently reside. When we returned to the farm, Greg found some eggshells on the porch. He once again, held his phone up high to get a picture of the inside. When you looked at the picture, it looked empty. Great sadness came over me as to what happened to the five babies. All of a sudden, in swoops Mom.  Why was she returning if her babies were not there?  This continued to weigh heavily on my mind for awhile. Was she mourning? Do birds mourn? As I went about working on the farm I kept glancing back at the nest and there she was and her partner swooped in again. From the inside of the house you could see the nest from a small window. I took a break and stood on a chair to get a closer look. I kept seeing some grayish movement. My mind went back and forth thinking thoughts such as (there are babies in there) or (there is a loose stray feather blowing in the wind). Finally, I saw a fuzzy head and attached to it was a beak and in swooped Mama with something for it to eat. Such joy came over me as I now knew the babies had survived. 

Back in West Allis I decided this would be my first painting of the summer. A perfect love story. It becomes a love story about so many things: the birds, of course, but also the love story of Greg and I and the love story of the this farm. I am thinking this painting might need to find a permanent home on a wall in the farm house.

A Love Story

The Fourth of July Trip

Finishing the bathroom

Well we just got back from the farm.  We went up Sunday night and returned Wednesday evening, July 4th 2018.  As usual, we anticipated finishing the bathroom this trip.  Each trip we have been saying that and to our disappointment, we don't.  However, we finally did it, well almost.  We have everything in place and ready to hook up.  We also still need the essential hardware for a bathroom: toilet paper roll, towel rack, cabinet, decoration etc. 

As I said, we arrived Sunday evening and we got right to work. We started putting up the Wainscoting.  We got about half way done when we realized we would not have enough to finish the job. This is constantly happening. So our advice to you if you are remodeling, buy more than you think you need and then take back what you don't use. So anyway, the next day we took a road trip to Beloit (an hour away) and bought some more.  This time we did it right. We now have one pack of Wainscoting to return. However, we did not just make this trip for Wainscoting; we had also run out of Liquid Nails to put up the Wainscoting and grout for the floor. So frustrating! 

However, it is now done and we are very happy with it.  We are also almost done with our bedroom.  The ceiling needs a little more sanding and then paint. This will be our next task.  

Here she is!

Exploring our Land

A Walk around our Property

One day after going into town for dinner we decided to take a walk around our property.  Greg had done this before but this was the first for me. As we walked I took a few short videos. However, at this time I cannot figure out how to get the videos on this blog; they seem to be too large. Therefore, at least for now, I am posting pics from various distances while walking the perimeter.

It took us about an hour to walk the land - 15 acres. 

Beginning our walk,

getting a little further away;

the house is getting smaller.

You can barely make out the house now.

Higher up on the mound, you can see a spec of white.

Laurie