We got both doors hung this weekend. I posted pics to the FHH "goat shed" album. One door was very easy and straightforward, the other needed to be adjusted slightly using the dremel tool. They both work fine, open and close... now they just need some hardware on them. We did put a hook and eye on each door just too keep the wind from ramming on the doors and either breaking the doors themselves or the hinges.
I got a bit more hardware cloth up, I just have one more large fiddly piece to put up... possibly tomorrow, I'll see what I feel like doing and if the weather will cooperate.
I lied when I said all the painting is done.... there's a bit more to do... we added some 1x2 to the inside of the door frame to act as door stop and then the few places we had to modify the door needs touch ups too. Nothing too much, but not officially done!!
We still have to find gates for both ends... the gates will cover the doorways and swing inside (the doors swing out) and keep the goats off the doors and will hopefully allow us to come and go and not let the goats escape easily.
So we're not quite done yet, but we're getting closer... at this point if we had to, we could move the goats in... but I'd really rather wait until we have the gates up... the door hardware on...the hardware cloth up... the final grading done outside... we're going to put a couple skids with rubber mats on just outside their door to help reduce the mud and give them a dry place to lay outside when needed. An eye hook for the water bucket needs to be hung... a hay feeder installed ... 2 tie rings where I could tie them inside to trim their feet or give shots... mineral and baking soda feeders need to be hung... all that "interior decorating" type stuff :)
I made a pot of soup earlier which we ate for supper... it was turkey with veggies plus we had a leftover prime rib bone from a roast I cooked the other night so I tossed that in and then pulled the meat off at serving time. It was definitely a soup kind of day... quite windy today and not really warm, but we didn't get any rain til after 5pm tonight, so a much nicer day than Saturday where we had heavy rain all afternoon and evening.
Not much else new around here... hanging doors took enough time that we didn't have time left for much else! :)
-- L
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Dang It's Cold! & New Pics
So it seems that late fall has now arrived. Its cold and windy and has been raining (sometimes thick rain, but not quite snow... unlike some other places in Ontario!)
I've been working on the shed some more... installing hardware cloth over the windows and openings to keep birds and critters out and to encourage goats to stay IN.
I'm hoping to paint the first door tomorrow when its SUPPOSED to be sunny and a bit warmer... its a bit chilly today to paint.
I put up a few more pics in the FHH album... some in the goat shed album and a new album with a couple pics of the 3 dogs...gives a good idea of how much Ollie has really grown!
That's about it for now!
--L
I've been working on the shed some more... installing hardware cloth over the windows and openings to keep birds and critters out and to encourage goats to stay IN.
I'm hoping to paint the first door tomorrow when its SUPPOSED to be sunny and a bit warmer... its a bit chilly today to paint.
I put up a few more pics in the FHH album... some in the goat shed album and a new album with a couple pics of the 3 dogs...gives a good idea of how much Ollie has really grown!
That's about it for now!
--L
Sunday, October 19, 2008
It's Been 2 Months...
since we started the sod breaking on the goat shed. As of today, I'm all caught up on painting again, thank goodness, since the weather for the next few days looks iffy! Sounds like a long time to be constructing a shed, but I think its not bad considering we've only worked weekends and evenings (which are getting SHORT!)
I put up some more pics today of the trim being all painted and showing the beginning of the first door construction. We probably would've finished the first door today, but we ran out of the right length screws, so I'll need to pick up more. (Wish I'd thought of it when we were AT Home Depot earlier today!!)
I'm hoping to get the doors painted before installation, but we'll see how the weather cooperates.
As for things left to do on the shed... the hardware cloth can go up anytime now, over the windows and in the spaces between the roof trusses to keep birds and other critters out. I need to move some stone dust and finish grading.
I'm going to move some of our skids and rubber mats that we have set up for the goats inside the electric fence that is no longer electrified and put them just outside their door to the shed. It'll help keep them from churning things up outside the door and will give them a high-ish, dry-ish place to lay, which they like. Also very easy to just sweep up the poops and keep clean :)
The plan is to get this all done and the goat fencing moved over to that area before Shawn has his wisdom teeth removed the middle of November. I think it's doable, assuming the weather doesn't screw us! We'll see.
That's it going on around here... no time for much else! :)
-- L
I put up some more pics today of the trim being all painted and showing the beginning of the first door construction. We probably would've finished the first door today, but we ran out of the right length screws, so I'll need to pick up more. (Wish I'd thought of it when we were AT Home Depot earlier today!!)
I'm hoping to get the doors painted before installation, but we'll see how the weather cooperates.
As for things left to do on the shed... the hardware cloth can go up anytime now, over the windows and in the spaces between the roof trusses to keep birds and other critters out. I need to move some stone dust and finish grading.
I'm going to move some of our skids and rubber mats that we have set up for the goats inside the electric fence that is no longer electrified and put them just outside their door to the shed. It'll help keep them from churning things up outside the door and will give them a high-ish, dry-ish place to lay, which they like. Also very easy to just sweep up the poops and keep clean :)
The plan is to get this all done and the goat fencing moved over to that area before Shawn has his wisdom teeth removed the middle of November. I think it's doable, assuming the weather doesn't screw us! We'll see.
That's it going on around here... no time for much else! :)
-- L
Saturday, October 18, 2008
New Pics Posted!
I posted new pics to the FHH album... I added to the goat shed album and I made a new one with some pics of Ernie and Bert eating thistles.
We got all 10 windows/shutters hung today and they turned out pretty well, I think. I still have some trim painting to do, I didn't get it all done this week, it takes a while for all that fiddly stuff. I'm hoping I get work on it tomorrow for a while... maybe while Shawn works on starting to make doors for the shed.
It was quite a cool day today with a good stiff wind... it was quite nice to get the windows and shutters up to help break the wind while we worked on the rest! Its nice inside the shed, I'm really happy with how its turning out! There are imperfections and maybe a couple things I would do differently if I was doing another, but mostly its been pretty smooth so far.
Its supposed to be -3C tonight, so I'm glad progress is happening on the shed, we're gonna need to put those goats in it soon!! Though they have a good layer of straw and unacceptable hay in their little shack that they snuggle into, so they have it ok, really. It will be a nice treat for US though when they get moved... doing anything inside their shack with them is a pain now that they are bigger. Its only 4 feet tall which was good last year when they were tiny... left lots of room for us. I'm pretty sure this year that Shawn and I and 2 goats could not all sit in there without someone shedding blood or something! We've not tried it though ;)
Oliver is all back to normal after his surgery.... everything is healing up wonderfully and I've started letting him wrestle with Pixie in the yard again. He's been getting pretty ansty and is very happy to let off some steam!
Not much else new around here... just been darn chilly. Even though its been chilly, I think I will have to cut the grass again soon... once I have some time and its dry enough and all that.
--L
We got all 10 windows/shutters hung today and they turned out pretty well, I think. I still have some trim painting to do, I didn't get it all done this week, it takes a while for all that fiddly stuff. I'm hoping I get work on it tomorrow for a while... maybe while Shawn works on starting to make doors for the shed.
It was quite a cool day today with a good stiff wind... it was quite nice to get the windows and shutters up to help break the wind while we worked on the rest! Its nice inside the shed, I'm really happy with how its turning out! There are imperfections and maybe a couple things I would do differently if I was doing another, but mostly its been pretty smooth so far.
Its supposed to be -3C tonight, so I'm glad progress is happening on the shed, we're gonna need to put those goats in it soon!! Though they have a good layer of straw and unacceptable hay in their little shack that they snuggle into, so they have it ok, really. It will be a nice treat for US though when they get moved... doing anything inside their shack with them is a pain now that they are bigger. Its only 4 feet tall which was good last year when they were tiny... left lots of room for us. I'm pretty sure this year that Shawn and I and 2 goats could not all sit in there without someone shedding blood or something! We've not tried it though ;)
Oliver is all back to normal after his surgery.... everything is healing up wonderfully and I've started letting him wrestle with Pixie in the yard again. He's been getting pretty ansty and is very happy to let off some steam!
Not much else new around here... just been darn chilly. Even though its been chilly, I think I will have to cut the grass again soon... once I have some time and its dry enough and all that.
--L
Thursday, October 16, 2008
First Filling Replaced!
I finally got the first of my two ancient fillings replaced today. They are about 25 years old and in rough shape... not bothering me... yet... so a good time to get them done.
Anyhow, I opted for the nitrous oxide since I was nervous and haven't had any dental work since I had braces as a teen, other than dental cleanings. That turned out to be the best thing ever! I highly recommend it to anyone that's a bit nervous at the dentist. For me, it made a big difference ... normally I lay there with every muscle in my body tense and have a headache and sore neck and shoulders after.
It was easy to get and stay relaxed with the nitrous oxide and yet you're still totally aware of what's going on and able to follow directions. It's a bit like the relaxed feeling that sets in when you have a glass of wine, that period between being sober and before you start feeling actually tipsy. The nice thing about it is it wears off quickly and you can drive right away when you're done, no problem.
It turns out that I'm kinda hard to freeze... they gave me one shot (where they stick you once and then move it all around) and then waited a few minutes... NOTHING. So they gave me another shot, again with the move it all around fun stuff that they like to do... still nothing. Then came the 3rd shot and my tongue started to tingle. We waited a few more minutes and then they started to work.
About 2 minutes after they started the drill, I jumped in the chair, I could totally feel what was going on! Yikes! So they stopped and poked around with their pokey instruments and then gave me injection #4 and we waited. My lip got a bit tingly and they poked around again to the spot that made me jump and I jumped again. On came injection #5!! This time it went right in the base of the tooth... and I felt that injection the worst!! OUCH! Actually I felt each injection, which was lovely, as that's my favourite part (NOT!!).
We waited another 15 minutes and then they poked around and I didn't jump so they got to work replacing the filling. After about 10 minutes of work, they were done! I took longer to freeze than actually get the work done! Figures!! So now they've labeled me a "hard freeze" and I have to go in early for next week's appointment so we have plenty of time to get me frozen before my appointment.
See? I don't just have a difficult personality, I'm difficult in every way!! :)
Needless to say NOW I'm good and frozen and will likely be for a few hours, half my tongue, my whole cheek from just below my eye down to about an inch above my collar bone. Pretty nice!
I looked inside my mouth when I got home and it looks nicer with a white filling than the silver one. I look forward to having the other one done too, but I dread the freezing going in... but maybe the gas helps make up for it, a bit :) I also have FIVE small bruises inside my mouth where they stuck me with the needles. Quite lovely.
I think the new filling is a bit high and might need to be shaved down a bit, but I'll have to wait until the freezing comes out to be positive. They told me I can just pop in and they can adjust it if necessary, it only takes a minute and doesn't hurt. So we'll see, right now it feels a bit high, but then again, I don't really trust what I'm feeling with being frozen up so well.
Anyhow, that's it for now.
-- L
Anyhow, I opted for the nitrous oxide since I was nervous and haven't had any dental work since I had braces as a teen, other than dental cleanings. That turned out to be the best thing ever! I highly recommend it to anyone that's a bit nervous at the dentist. For me, it made a big difference ... normally I lay there with every muscle in my body tense and have a headache and sore neck and shoulders after.
It was easy to get and stay relaxed with the nitrous oxide and yet you're still totally aware of what's going on and able to follow directions. It's a bit like the relaxed feeling that sets in when you have a glass of wine, that period between being sober and before you start feeling actually tipsy. The nice thing about it is it wears off quickly and you can drive right away when you're done, no problem.
It turns out that I'm kinda hard to freeze... they gave me one shot (where they stick you once and then move it all around) and then waited a few minutes... NOTHING. So they gave me another shot, again with the move it all around fun stuff that they like to do... still nothing. Then came the 3rd shot and my tongue started to tingle. We waited a few more minutes and then they started to work.
About 2 minutes after they started the drill, I jumped in the chair, I could totally feel what was going on! Yikes! So they stopped and poked around with their pokey instruments and then gave me injection #4 and we waited. My lip got a bit tingly and they poked around again to the spot that made me jump and I jumped again. On came injection #5!! This time it went right in the base of the tooth... and I felt that injection the worst!! OUCH! Actually I felt each injection, which was lovely, as that's my favourite part (NOT!!).
We waited another 15 minutes and then they poked around and I didn't jump so they got to work replacing the filling. After about 10 minutes of work, they were done! I took longer to freeze than actually get the work done! Figures!! So now they've labeled me a "hard freeze" and I have to go in early for next week's appointment so we have plenty of time to get me frozen before my appointment.
See? I don't just have a difficult personality, I'm difficult in every way!! :)
Needless to say NOW I'm good and frozen and will likely be for a few hours, half my tongue, my whole cheek from just below my eye down to about an inch above my collar bone. Pretty nice!
I looked inside my mouth when I got home and it looks nicer with a white filling than the silver one. I look forward to having the other one done too, but I dread the freezing going in... but maybe the gas helps make up for it, a bit :) I also have FIVE small bruises inside my mouth where they stuck me with the needles. Quite lovely.
I think the new filling is a bit high and might need to be shaved down a bit, but I'll have to wait until the freezing comes out to be positive. They told me I can just pop in and they can adjust it if necessary, it only takes a minute and doesn't hurt. So we'll see, right now it feels a bit high, but then again, I don't really trust what I'm feeling with being frozen up so well.
Anyhow, that's it for now.
-- L
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Hope everyone is getting lots of turkey. I made our turkey yesterday so that we could eat leftovers for the rest of the weekend. It was about 21 lbs, the biggest I've ever made and it turned out well enough. Not quite as good as Mom's, but I didn't have to sit in the car a long time either. ;)
I made a mistake when I bought such a big turkey, my roasting pan wasn't large enough to hold it! So yesterday we made a quick trip into town to search for a very large roasting pan. We found one, its a non stick one though and I'm not sure I'm in love with it. It did the job though and was very reasonably priced, I can't complain.
Today we made a trip to Home Depot to get supplies for making the windows/shutters on the goat shed. When we got home, we started to cut the wood and assemble them. We got 4 completely done (ok they still need painting, hinges added and need to be hung, blah blah) a 5th is almost assembled (our drill batteries needed recharging) and the 6th, the wood is cut and ready to be assembled.
We'll work on it again tomorrow and likely finish #5, #6, #7 & #8. We have two windows that will also have a wood frame with plexy glass in them for a bit of light, #9 & #10. We'll see if we get to those tomorrow or not. I posted a few pics to the FHH album in the goat shed album showing what they look like so far.
Then Tuesday, I'll have to get more paint and get started painting them and hopefully the weather will hold for me! It's been lovely weather this weekend and tomorrow is supposed to be nice again too... I could take months more of this weather for sure :)
Not much else new around here... same old same old. Ollie is healing well from his neutering on Tuesday... the incision looks good, no sign of infection or opening up and the swelling and bruising is starting to improve also. He acts like nothing happened except that I got really mean and am making him hold still too much!
I've started letting him off leash a bit in the yard by himself (so there won't be any wrestling!!) and he feels so good and has so much energy he sometimes just has to run and run and run. He tucks his scrawny little bum and just GOES! Its kind of a balancing act between him not hurting himself and allowing him to burn off a bit of steam. So far, so good. *Keeps fingers crossed* Not really sure how you're supposed to keep them still and quiet for TWO WEEKS!! That's insane :)
I did buy a prime rib roast at Loblaws (on sale) the other day and I think I might make that for tomorrow night's supper just for a bit of variety from turkey. We are enjoying the turkey leftovers though :)
Hope everyone enjoys their beautiful long weekend! *gobble gobble*
-- L
I made a mistake when I bought such a big turkey, my roasting pan wasn't large enough to hold it! So yesterday we made a quick trip into town to search for a very large roasting pan. We found one, its a non stick one though and I'm not sure I'm in love with it. It did the job though and was very reasonably priced, I can't complain.
Today we made a trip to Home Depot to get supplies for making the windows/shutters on the goat shed. When we got home, we started to cut the wood and assemble them. We got 4 completely done (ok they still need painting, hinges added and need to be hung, blah blah) a 5th is almost assembled (our drill batteries needed recharging) and the 6th, the wood is cut and ready to be assembled.
We'll work on it again tomorrow and likely finish #5, #6, #7 & #8. We have two windows that will also have a wood frame with plexy glass in them for a bit of light, #9 & #10. We'll see if we get to those tomorrow or not. I posted a few pics to the FHH album in the goat shed album showing what they look like so far.
Then Tuesday, I'll have to get more paint and get started painting them and hopefully the weather will hold for me! It's been lovely weather this weekend and tomorrow is supposed to be nice again too... I could take months more of this weather for sure :)
Not much else new around here... same old same old. Ollie is healing well from his neutering on Tuesday... the incision looks good, no sign of infection or opening up and the swelling and bruising is starting to improve also. He acts like nothing happened except that I got really mean and am making him hold still too much!
I've started letting him off leash a bit in the yard by himself (so there won't be any wrestling!!) and he feels so good and has so much energy he sometimes just has to run and run and run. He tucks his scrawny little bum and just GOES! Its kind of a balancing act between him not hurting himself and allowing him to burn off a bit of steam. So far, so good. *Keeps fingers crossed* Not really sure how you're supposed to keep them still and quiet for TWO WEEKS!! That's insane :)
I did buy a prime rib roast at Loblaws (on sale) the other day and I think I might make that for tomorrow night's supper just for a bit of variety from turkey. We are enjoying the turkey leftovers though :)
Hope everyone enjoys their beautiful long weekend! *gobble gobble*
-- L
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A Bit More Work Done Afterall
I posted earlier that we were a bit stalled out on the shed...true enough, except that I did finally motivate myself to go do a bit of work on it today. Its a lovely day out and I didn't want to waste it... who knows how many more there will be?!
I added a few trim pieces to the shed where I thought they were needed... nothing major, just finishing off a few bits here and there. Then I painted the triangle above the goat door blue to match everything else and painted all the trim I added and some that had been added before, the gray colour.
As of right NOW, the exterior is painted and done. This will of course change when the doors and windows get built, they will also need to be painted, but at least I'm caught up again!
I took pics of all 4 sides again and posted them... not that there's been any major change, but I'm trying to stay on top of the picture taking and posting.
I'm undecided about painting the kickboards inside the shed. They look ok now, brand new and all that, but I'm wondering if they would hold up better if I painted them and protected the wood. Goats aren't like horses that sometimes paint their own walls with their poop... its hard to paint with pellets ;) so I'm not so worried about poop stains.
I also wonder if painting them would keep the goats from chewing the wood... that's one way they are like horses.... they will chew... even a very flat surface they can scrape away with their sharp bottom teeth. Or would painting them just mean they'd be eating paint AND wood?
Definitely undecided. If anyone has any opinions about painting the inside kickboards or not, I'd love to hear them!
--L
I added a few trim pieces to the shed where I thought they were needed... nothing major, just finishing off a few bits here and there. Then I painted the triangle above the goat door blue to match everything else and painted all the trim I added and some that had been added before, the gray colour.
As of right NOW, the exterior is painted and done. This will of course change when the doors and windows get built, they will also need to be painted, but at least I'm caught up again!
I took pics of all 4 sides again and posted them... not that there's been any major change, but I'm trying to stay on top of the picture taking and posting.
I'm undecided about painting the kickboards inside the shed. They look ok now, brand new and all that, but I'm wondering if they would hold up better if I painted them and protected the wood. Goats aren't like horses that sometimes paint their own walls with their poop... its hard to paint with pellets ;) so I'm not so worried about poop stains.
I also wonder if painting them would keep the goats from chewing the wood... that's one way they are like horses.... they will chew... even a very flat surface they can scrape away with their sharp bottom teeth. Or would painting them just mean they'd be eating paint AND wood?
Definitely undecided. If anyone has any opinions about painting the inside kickboards or not, I'd love to hear them!
--L
A Bit Stalled Out
Our shed progress has been a bit stalled out lately. We've been busy with other things. My wonderful parents came for a visit last weekend to celebrate my birthday and Thanksgiving. Thanks for coming guys, it was a great visit!
Tuesday was Oliver's *snip snip* day... also known as the "Festival of Testicles" or "Brain surgery"... It went very well and he was home the same evening, a little groggy but happy to see us and Buddy and Pixie. Its a pain in my butt to try to keep him quiet and still... almost impossible. We take him out on leash with the other 2 dogs, but everyone tries to play anyhow, so we're taking turns who's in the yard and that's a pain. When Ollie is in the yard alone, I do let him off leash, he doesn't do anything stupid by himself and in fact is better off leash and alone than on leash and with the others. Plus, he's not real sure about doing "doggie business" on leash, so this makes sure he GOES! :)
His incision looks good so far and he still has some swelling that will go down over the next week or so. There's a bit of bruising also, but nothing major. He's hardly bothered by it at all, except to be annoyed at having to spend a lot of his time locked up in his crate. He's not started licking excessively yet either and I'm really hoping to avoid that part. We'll see what the next few days bring.
We're hoping to get a bunch of work done on the shed this weekend. So far, the forecast seems decent, hopefully it will stay that way!! We have 2 doors to build and 10 windows, plus work out exactly how everything will work, so I think that will keep us busy for the weekend, for sure.
Not much else new around here... fall is definitely here... some of our trees are bare or almost bare already, still some in colour, but we're definitely on the tail end here. Today is a lovely day so far, so I'll see what things I can get done today while still keeping an eye on Oliver.
--L
Tuesday was Oliver's *snip snip* day... also known as the "Festival of Testicles" or "Brain surgery"... It went very well and he was home the same evening, a little groggy but happy to see us and Buddy and Pixie. Its a pain in my butt to try to keep him quiet and still... almost impossible. We take him out on leash with the other 2 dogs, but everyone tries to play anyhow, so we're taking turns who's in the yard and that's a pain. When Ollie is in the yard alone, I do let him off leash, he doesn't do anything stupid by himself and in fact is better off leash and alone than on leash and with the others. Plus, he's not real sure about doing "doggie business" on leash, so this makes sure he GOES! :)
His incision looks good so far and he still has some swelling that will go down over the next week or so. There's a bit of bruising also, but nothing major. He's hardly bothered by it at all, except to be annoyed at having to spend a lot of his time locked up in his crate. He's not started licking excessively yet either and I'm really hoping to avoid that part. We'll see what the next few days bring.
We're hoping to get a bunch of work done on the shed this weekend. So far, the forecast seems decent, hopefully it will stay that way!! We have 2 doors to build and 10 windows, plus work out exactly how everything will work, so I think that will keep us busy for the weekend, for sure.
Not much else new around here... fall is definitely here... some of our trees are bare or almost bare already, still some in colour, but we're definitely on the tail end here. Today is a lovely day so far, so I'll see what things I can get done today while still keeping an eye on Oliver.
--L
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