Want to know the big news around here? WE GOT OUR BARN UP!
It isn't a big barn, more like a shed, but thats ok. It is perfect for what we need right now.
We ordered a kit from a local lumber supply store, and decided to build our own, instead of ordering a pre-done one. No problem right?! We could totally do this!
Pre- building day: We had the store alter the plans from a 12x20 barn to a 10x20 so that we wouldn't have to go through the permit process (anything 200sq ft or less does not require a permit) This seemed to work fine. We asked them to deliver everything to our house Friday morning to save us some hassle, and we recruited my mom and dad, younger brother, and an unsuspecting friend to help us out. All was going according to plan.
Day 1 -
My family arrived about 10 oclock with a trailer full of goodies. A Skid Steer for moving dirt and anything else we needed it for. Extra saws, saw horses, hammers.... We were ready to work!
My boys loving the chance to drive around in the skid steer
Problem 1- No barn. It was supposed to be delivered about 10. By 11 we still hadn't heard from the delivery people. Ok, well then, since we had nothing to do while we waited, we decided to move some of the asphalt that we were using for our driveway to make a nice building site for the barn. We had the boys get out the level, and they made the building site nice and even all around. That turned out nice! Now if we do get a lot of snow/rain, we wont have to worry about it being soggy under the barn.
Problem 2 -Still no barn. By 12:00 I had just decided that we would go in for lunch and I would call and see what was up when the delivery truck showed up! Yeah! Now we could get started. We watched him unload everything, signed for the delivery, and then went to eat real quickly so we could begin.
Problem 3- They didn't send us the right supplies. Somewhere in the altering of plans, they messed up the supply list, and didn't send us all the boards we needed to build the floor! Hmm. We got the skids laid out, and then spent probably another half hour trying to decide what to do about the floor. Thankfully, my husband showed up about then, and helped make the decision. Now we were REALLY ready to start.
The next part of the building went pretty quickly, for beginners. We got the floor done before my family had to get home for the evening.
one last piece needed...
Day 2 -
Saturday morning, we we back at it again.
Problem 4 - the missing wood. Because they hadn't sent us the right supplies for the floor, we had used up other supplies that should have been used for the walls, so now we were short wall lumber. Hubby and I spent an hour going over the plans, and he put a list together of what we needed to get.
While he was working on the list, I was busy trying to arrange for my parents to pick up some ducks from a friend in town on their way through Cheyenne to our house, to save us both a trip. Then, since they were already stopping in Cheyenne, and we now had a list of supplies we needed, I called them again to see if they would pick up the lumber on their way through as well. They agreed to both. Aren't my parents AMAZING! :)
Also, my sister joined us to help out for the day! I love my family :)
So, once again we got started on the building about noon. This time though, we had a better idea what were were doing, and we had the right supplies. During the next 6 hours we build 4 walls, 11 trusses (the beams for the roof), and got them all put up just as it was getting too dark to see.
Day 3
Went to church and when we got back, my parents and sister were already here, working. They had one panel up on the wall, and it was so fun to see it coming together. Without too many hitches, we were able to put the plywood on the roof, get all the siding put up, and make/hang each of the doors! Come sunday evening, we had a usable building!
We still need to get shingles on the roof, and paint and trim, but we can work on that next weekend... for now we are happy that it is up :)
Oh, want to know the second most exciting news around here?! MY HOUSE DOESN'T"T SMELL LIKE A BARN ANYMORE! YIPPEE!
Monday, Matthew and I put up a half wall inside the barn, and made space for the baby chicks to FINALLY get out of my house. Seriously. they stunk. Even when I cleaned the box, they stunk lol. But not anymore! Well ok, they still smell like chickens, but my house does not.
Oh and remember those ducks my parents picked up for me? We introduced them to our own Little ducks we had gotten on Friday (which i was going to blog about and ran out of time), and they became instant friends!
Today, we took them out to the barn as well, and introduced them all into the chicken coop. I wasn't sure if the chickens would be nice to them, so we sat in the barn and watched them for about 30 min. At first the chicks tried to pick on them, but the biggest one soon realized she was bigger then the chickens and kind of became the mamma duck. She kept running the chicks off anytime they got to close to the others, and by the time we left the barn, they were all happily enjoying the same space. Another win for our farm LOL.
Here are all the birds in their new home. We will get a door put in on the inside, and chicken wire up so they can't fly out as they get older. Then we will add roosts for them to sleep on, and nests for their eggs. Also, once they are used to being outside and the weather gets a little nicer, we will add little chicken doors so they can get outside to free range :)
So whats next? Probably fencing for our milk cow that we are hoping to get next month. Oh and did you hear?! You can now LEGALLY buy fresh milk from a farmer! No more milk shares. So if you are interested once we get our cow..... ;) Oh and we ordered about 200 little trees to start our windbreak, so if you get bored anytime in May and want to come plant... maybe free eggs and milk would entice workers?!
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