Farm Fun

After the busy week we had around Canada Day, I thought for sure this week would be quieter. But no. We had another productive coupla days.

It was time for us to find a solution to the chickens walkings through the whole barn to get outside. They were leaving a trail of poop on the floor that made it rather icky to walk on. A hole was cut through the outside wall facing their stall. We framed it, added a latch door that opens into a ramp and voilà!

Any perch will do
What you looking at?
Proud rooster

A low wall across the hallway was added, we opened the existing door fully so that it became the new door and the old space is now used for the chickens that need a quieter area. All in all, it was quick and easy.

We also got some new (old) stuff. Three calf hutches and an old hay wagon. The hay wagon will be perfect for a meat chicken tractor should we choose to do that. One of the hutches could be used for that too. We will probably move the pigs into one of them. The structure we built is adorable but moving it is very difficult and compromises the integrity of the walls. I’m sure we’ll find a use for it. Perhaps a little cover for the future goats?

Took off the platform so we can customize to our needs
Not the prettiest things but they will be invaluable

As for the turkeys, we’ve managed to added a little wood to the one of the walls. It’s a work in progress. Seems that we get pulled away to more urgent things all the time. But now that we have at least added the windows, the turkeys can’t perch in their favourite place anymore. And they are getting bigger by the day!

When I started this blog it was with the mind to write about my personal journey in all this. I try to include a little but certainly don’t want to focus on just that. But, that being said, we have been here just over 3 months. It is incredible to me the progress we have made. We have animals, we have gardens, we have plans.

Although I am having some health issues, mostly my hearing, I have to say that in the last 30 years I have NEVER had such a wonderful summer. The heat and humidity of the season normally turn my body into a bundle of pain. I have typically been reduced to walking with canes, having a hard time taking deep breathes because my ribcage is so inflamed and generally feeling betrayed by my body. This year I feel like I’m 25 years old. There is nothing I can’t do! It’s a little euphoric. I get up with the sun and go to bed knowing I will sleep like a baby. So I thank Humira and good living for it. Ankylosing Spondylitis has taken quite a few years from me and I’m hoping we have come to an understanding. I am scheduled for an MRI later this month to see what’s up with my hearing loss.

I decided to get ear protection for when I ride the mower. This is what I got. Stanley Sync Stereo Earmuff with MP3 Connection (RST-63011) . They work so well that I had to keep checking to make sure the mower was actually cutting grass! It was such a quiet ride. I can’t listen to music yet with them, my ear bothers me too much. But hopefully I will be able to enjoy some Bach while riding along.

On the work front, we have made the decision to open a satellite of Académie OPUS Academy! That work will start in earnest August 1st for an official opening at the beginning of September. This coming school year will bring on a whole new set of challenges for the girls and I. This coming month will have to be filled with the things we can do now that we just won’t have time for later. Luckily, the business keeps us fairly busy during the school year, but it’s quieter during the summer, when we will need to be busy at Unruffled Farms.

Just because they are so darn cute, I’ll close with a picture of our little piglets. I will try to post a vlog soon. I have so much video accumulated but time is a great constraint at the moment. Every second I spend on the computer is time I’m not spending on OPUS or the infrastructure of the farm. But this girl is NOT complaining! Loving every minute of every day.