FarMin a Hay Loft

This weekend, we spent Saturday and Sunday building a hay loft. We dug the initial holes 3' deep holes by hand, 12'x12' to fit concrete slabs for a solid foundation. Seriously, if given the chance? Don't Do It. 6 hours later we were still digging....wait....That's an exaggeration....I think...

It was hot, and we were suffering from exhaustion from partying too hard and long at K's 1 year birthday party on Friday (pictures to come - no flogging please). Keely fought fatigue long and hard.

As did Adalynn.

And the kitties.

But Cindy decided she was too old for this s@*! and succumbed to her sleepies.

Today, my dad and stepmom graciously offered their time and hands to help T while I drove into town for a wedding shower. I fought typhoon class thunderstorms traveling home, and after the weather calmed I coerced my family into traveling out to the property with me.

Partially because I was worried something like this might happen, and I might need my dear husband's muscles and (more importantly) chainsaw:

Adalynn cheered right up when she saw the kitties. She misses those buggers! (for the record, i do not. i do not miss waking up 10,340 times per night with a cat on my head. i do not miss chasing houdini trained escapee cats into the garage. i do not miss everything on my dining room table landing on the floor as a cat launches from the table, through the air, onto a chair, into the living room, and landing on the floor after bouncing off the couch and k's head. no, i do not miss them, sam i am.)

(but, this 'lil smile is PRICELESS. and could persuade me tolerate the above.)

The Loft is Fab-U-Lous.

Let's give a Woot! Woot! to the guys!

In this door and directly to the left will be a tack/feed/stuff room. With a ladder in the back for a super secret entryway into the hay loft. In between the 2 middle posts will be Cindy's/the Frolicking Foal's stall, and from the end post to the far wall will be Peach aka Big Mama's 'hood.

The hay loft floor is comprised of repurposed boards from a farm in Grandville.

To do: Nail down boards. Which, according to T, will require more work than simple nailing to accommodate for nails and inconsistencies in the boards. I'm convinced it is beautiful, just the way it is, but I'm kinda a romantic about these sorts of things. Canyatell?

Carrots

These 2 beauties may, or may not be, why they recommend thinning carrots.

But, I can tell you that it most likely is why I will thin my carrots sooner next year.

Cherry Fest '10

If you've never been to the Cherry Festival, you should pen it on your bucket list. And just do it, man. This'll be quick, because I'm tired and I was a slacker spending quality time with my children and husband and dad and stepmom and didn't take many pictures last weekend.

But here's the gist of the parade, anyway.

Someone had a funky Sparty car. They rocked it, hardcore.

Funny little story, for some reason the parade organizers placed many of the colleges together. And put them in front of MSU and their band. And positioned MSU and the band that demanded they preview all of the floats as they pass by...so, along walks U of M and Ferris, and members of the MSU band lined up along the street and belted out their fight song as they passed.

Oh, good natured fun.

Back to the floats.

Mackinaw City rocked it.

Grand Rapids, "Where GRAND things happen"... the city of GR should pay them to use their slogan. Really, there's more to GR than the Meijer Gardens, but I guess bars and movie theaters aren't quite appropriate for a kids float?

Adalynn really wanted to see the girls' pretty dresses.

And subsequently grew very, very shy.

This was so dog-gone cute, I wanted to take a drink.

(no, not part of the parade. just sitting cutely along the route)

What is a parade without Ruthie? NOT A PARADE!

So I'm wondering, maybe someone can enlighten me, is Ruthie a Michigan parade icon? Or does she span international oil slicks waters?

This is cool. Feel free to take these next 2 pictures, become fans of Facebook and Twitter, and post them up there.

We're not members of the exclusive Facebook and Twitter, or I would.

The first picture is describing why the cement truck is covered in pink. Yes, it has to do with cancer. For each time you mention where you saw the Pink Team Elmers truck, they will donate money towards a new cancer unit at Munson (the TC hospital). You can do this in 2 ways:

1. Post to Facebook or Twitter when and where you saw the Team Elmers truck and they will donate $1. Include a picture? They'll donate $2!

2. Become a new Facebook or Twitter fan/follower this summer, and they will donate an additional $5! facebook.com/teamelmers or twitter.com/teamelmers

Really, that's cool.

Here's another pic just for kicks.

I'm pretty sure we wore the kids out. After a while they stared absentmindedly into space, and after she ate her fill of the book, Keely fell asleep face first down the side of the bike trailer. What a way to go.

Happy Birthday, Keely! You're 1!

Dear Keely,

1 year ago early, early in the morning, you were born. You have been a blessing in our lives ever since.

You settled in amidst the chaos of our bustling lives, and to this day you thrive with activity and movement.

You love your sister, and your sister loves you. So Much. May you two remember this time, when she weren't stealing your toys and you weren't tangled up in hers.

You have grown into this fabulous little girl. Just starting to walk and talk and make even more trouble fun. Like crawling headfirst over the side of the wagon, traversing from trailer to seats. Maybe a little inconvenient, but you get where you want to go!

You came into this world moving, not wasting any time. And you've continued this trend, either on the go or voicing your opinion about current affairs. May you use this active and opinionated spirit for the greater good - hmm...like not harassing your family!

May God bless your next year, Keely. We Love You, and are sad so excited to see you grow!

Love,

Daddy, Mommy, and Adalynn

FiLLin a BarN on the FarM

In the interest of time, I have a movie waiting for me with a HoT husband in the other room,

I would like to briefly announce:

...wait for it...

The Horses are Home!!!

I apologize, Peach was too busy feeding the foal.

Just a quick backyard pic...the horses, at night, will be in the round pen near the barn. During the day, they are being slowly introduced to the above pasture.

The horses have company, there's also resident Turkey. About 5, according to the flock in the frontyard when I pulled up to the barn this evening.

Sorry, that's like a bad case of Where's Waldo.

Yea, the horses are hanging out amid scaffolding and ladders, but they don't seem to mind.

I get the feeling that this poor resident dragonfly doesn't quite like being here. Yet is unsure how to get out.

Either way, he's (she?) is gorgeous.

Fly free Mr. Dragonfly, Fly Free!

FarM a BarN DaY ... a Lot, but not ToO Many.

First, I have to tell this amusing tidbit. On Monday T and I persuaded/coerced a teen from our church into watching our lil cherubs so we could work on the barn. It was steamy, sweaty, and HOT, and we didn't think the kids would appreciate it. Turns out, they wouldn't. They napped 90% of the time we were gone.

But I digress.

T and I pulled up to the property, and saw this:

Now if you haven't been following, this may not seem like a big deal to you. So what, it's an unfinished barn?

No, when we left it on Sunday, there was only 1 wall of siding. 1 wall. No front. What in the world?!

We both cleared our eyes, really, who would put up only 1 piece of siding? We though maybe we had been visited by some barn fairies, helping decrease the cost by anonymously completing some of the work. Every little bit helps.

Then we drove around the back, and saw this:

1 side of the roof was also on! It became apparent that Mr. Bill, wonder-constructor, must have made an appearance. And sure enough, Mr. Bill and his son thought that what could be better than work on a day when everyone else was relaxing? So they had come and put in some hours. Nice, but it made T and I think the blackberries at the property have special, hallucinogenic properties. Turns out, they don't.

So today, the barn looks like this:

WEEEEEHOOOOOOOOO!!!! All it needs is 1 door framed, and both doors with walls or siding or whatever they do applied. A couple of trim screws, a few roof screws, and it's DONE!

Well, Mr. Bill's part anyway. Then it's ready for T and I to do some damage! (well, me. T's already done quite a bit of very nice work on it. it looks fab.)

Let me take you on a tour.

The front:

The back: (plywood slats are the framed in door)

The back, looking in:

Peach's stall run-in/out door:

Inside, looking at Peach's stall-to-be:

Inside, looking at Cindy's stall-to-be and the tack/feed/storage area:

We are thankful now, looking at the barn, that we decided on a 12' height. It feels HUGE, because of the height, and we will stack storage (hay loft?!) to make the most of our room. It was little price to go up, an easy way to gain room!

PS. Anyone note how many stalls there will be? Quiz answer! Yes, I realize that *2* was not a chooseable answer. What can I say, except I no can count? Maybe, one day, we'll make it into 3. So 1 person got it right. We'll go with that.

FarM BarN #3

As of Friday afternoon, the main wooden structure of our barn has been raised, and it has 1 side of metal siding to keep it company. And a door.

Adalynn welcomed us all into the barn, she quite enjoyed the door.

The barn is angled on the property to allow us (T) to drive through with a truck and trailer, barrier free. Given my occupation, we're all about barrier free.

Yesterday the girls, T, and I hung out and worked on the barn a bit. T and I braved high heights and finished screwing the metal siding to the frame.

Last week T framed in a run-in stall door for Peach and Co., so yesterday we...

...placed miscellaneous Craigslist boards around the frame to ensure a secure stall. To prevent hooves getting stuck in metal.

On our way home we met a friend in our subdivision, munching on the grass by the roadside as we passed. We tried inviting her over for a 4th of July grillout, only we passed too slowly and the suspicious doe decided to move on.

Happy 4th of July!!!