Giving thanks

Thanksgiving at our house was wonderful! We didn't get to have it at Hentennial this year, but next year is lookin good! I asked everyone at our table to say what they are thankful for this year. It was nice to take a few minutes to go around and hear what everyone had to say. And aside from my family's health, and for having a roof over our heads, and for my wonderful children and husband, I am also so grateful for our little farm!
We spent a lot of time out at Hentennial this weekend. We finally moved the chickens into one stall of the barn. Now they have heat, and light, and a water heater base so their water won't freeze. We also put up new nest boxes for them which we got at the local farmer's market. They are wonderfully aged wooden vegetable crates that they were just going to throw away. It was our lucky day yesterday when we pulled up to ask if they had any laying around. We also put up the old chandalier that used to be hanging in the house when we first bought it. I must say it looks much better in the new coop than it did in the house! And the ladies seem to like it too! We laugh thinking that they went from a tiny shack to the chicken Ritz! But now we can sleep well knowing they are safe from the cold, safe from predators, and very comfortable in their new digs!
The kids and I set up our Christmas tree and decorated it with lots of little owl and acorn ornamnents. It is the perfect little country Christmas tree. And it's so pretty to see it in our big picture window from the road. The house looks loved and lived in. I'm sure it's a nice surprise to all the locals who saw it empty and run down for so long.
We got tons of stuff done during the last few days. And next we need to tackle the master bedroom, paint and carpet, so that we can move the bedroom furniture out of the main living area. Then, we can work on the kitchen and bath all winter. It's really feeling cozy and homey there now. It's hard to believe that it's been 9 months since we bought it.
Well, it's the start of the holiday season, and with Thanksgiving behind us, and a long winter ahead, I am just so very grateful for my life. I am grateful that my parents taught me to dream. And because of that, I held onto my biggest dream of owning a small farm one day. Now my dream is a reality, and every time I am there, it feels like heaven on Earth!
Still pinching myself and still amazed that we made it happen.

Progress...

Well, we spent the day at the farm. Brought all the snowmobiles out, put them away, fed the chickens and started on the house. We organized, cleaned, and moved furniture into place. It looks amazing! The floors turned out so beautifully. The wall color is gorgeous against all the rough wood beams. Better than I had imagined. So I took lots of pics and are posting them as well. Now we just have to tackle our bedroom, on the main floor. Paint, and put in new carpet. Then we can finally set up our bed and other furniture. I can't wait.
Now it will be much easier for the kids to hang out while we work on the kitchen and bath. They have the whole upstairs to themselves, and now a living room that's done. Now I really want to put up some Christmas decorations in there! Maybe that will be this week.
Progress, progress....Ahhhhh, gotta love progress!

Transformation

The floors are done! YAY! My husband is so amazing! He worked so many long nights getting those gorgeous old wide plank floors stripped and then pickled to the perfect shade of off white. I was out there yesterday and had not seen the final result. The whole house is transformed! No more layers of old urethane, no more pink trim and blue walls, and musty smells. The house looks open and fresh, and clean. All of our hard work made such a difference. The wallpaper is gone, the old dirty carpet padding, the ugly paint colors and fixtures. Just the bones and the integrity are left.
Now our upstairs is done, fresh paint on walls and floors, and furnished. The main floor just needs the walls painted, (white dove by Benjamin Moore) and then we can move all of the furniture into place. I have been stock-piling treasures since we bought the house last February! So, I cannot wait to decorate! Although it has taken a long time to do the work, it seems to be coming along quite quickly. Soon we will be spending the night, cooking in our kitchen and spending lots of time at our little farm.
Last weekend, on our way out to Metamora, we stopped for lunch and saw a miniature Highland calf that someone had just bought for his farm. He pulled into the gas station and she poked her head out of the small horse trailer that she was in. So, of course we ran out to get a closer look. She was so sweet and soft and adorable! He said they had one already and had decided to add another one. And since I had researched the breed, I was more than extatic to meet one in person! The kids went crazy when they got to pet her, and we decided on the spot that we will be adding two of those to Hentennial next summer. It was love at first sight!
Well, there is still more work ahead, kitchen reno, bathroom, and installing windows. But we are really close to being done with all the big stuff. It has been a dream come true fixing up that little old house. We thank her every time we are there, and she thanks us right back!

Fall at Hentennial

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! The smell of the crisp air on a sunny afternoon, the sound of the leaves crunching under your feet and the warm colors of the autum foliage all makes being outdoors so enjoyable. This is especially true at Hentennial. The drive out there is so beautiful right now. And at the farm all of the trees are in full color. The chickens are full grown now, and each have their own personality. Our rooster, Oreo has become a gorgeous adult and he knows that he is stunning! We are getting more eggs now too, about 18-20/week. Even our little Millie Fleur, Anna, started laying her tiny pink eggs. We sadly just lost one member of the flock, Lacy, to a hawk attack. But we know that it is part of owning chickens on a farm. You lose some here and there, and move on.
As for the house, we rented a sander and Roger is almost done sanding the old pine floors. They look amazing, even without any stain. Just clean and years of old mis-matched urathanes removed. We are going to pickle them white so that they are visually connected to the stairs and upper floors which we painted glossy white. We also ordered all new windows for the house which we will install ourselves to save some money. But it will be a huge improvement from what's there now. Very old rotting windows on the main floor and non-existant ones upstairs. Then, when we are all sealed up, and furniture is placed, we can finally finish the kitchen and bath. We just may be able to have most of it done by Christmas. Well, that's our goal, but we'll see. Time is hard to come by, so it depends. But I would love to at least get some country Christmas decor up before the holidays, and to be able to celebrate our first winter at the farm.
We also are moving the chickens into the barn for winter, so that project will take up at least two days of work. But it will be worth it when they have so much more space, and warmth, and a nice new home. Just need to use one horse stall, fence it in, and add the run to the outside of the barn with a little chicken door so that they can go out at will. Plus, we have electric in there, so we can heat the water in winter and keep them warm.
Metamora is in it's glory when the leaves start to change. The hay fields cut, the pastures all different shades of green, and gold and rust. The trees and horsebarns speckling the landscape make for a most memorable drive. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to take a nice country dive. And there are some lovely farmer's market's along the way.
Summer was pretty, and fall is spectacular, and winter will be a time to get cozy and really get to know the home that that little house wants to be. I am looking forward to getting to know our little home and all it has to offer us this winter...

The big egg debate

Ok, so here is my personal opinion on why getting eggs from small, local farms is better than buying from large egg factories.
This is a quote from "foodconsumer.org"
Eggs from large flocks (30,000 birds or more) and caged hens have many times more salmonella bacteria than eggs from smaller, organically fed, free-range flocks. This is a proven fact. One study even found that while more than 23 percent of farms with caged hens tested positive for salmonella, this dropped to just over 4 percent for organic flocks. The highest prevalence of salmonella occurred in the largest flocks (30,000 birds or more), which contained over four times the average level of salmonella found in smaller flocks.
About 95 percent of the eggs produced in the U.S. comes from gigantic egg factories housing millions of hens under one roof. There are currently about 245 U.S. egg companies with flocks of 75,000 or more, and, of these 245 companies, 60 have at least 1 million laying hens, and 12 have more than 5 million!!!!

So, basically choosing between organic and non-organic supermarket eggs, the organic version is clearly a superior choice from a contamination perspective. And in my opinion, not only should they be labeled organic, they should be local, or as close to local as possible. The less distance they had to travel to reach you, the better. They will be fresher and taste better too.
More people are realizing that it is healthier to buy organic and locally grown foods. They are seeing the numerous recalls and health issues that come from mass-produced, and low budget farming practices. So please, if you don't want to worry about what is in your food, or how it is made, buy organic. Buy local, grow your own, or inform and educate yourself! Also, chickens are really easy to raise and they are wonderful pets with lovely personalities. We adore our chickens at Hentennial, and they give us wonderful, tasty eggs!

"Inedible Egg" - SlowFoodUSA.org/egg

Heat and hot water

Well, Rog met the plumber out at the farm last night and now we have heat! He said that the boiler that we had bought(on Craigslist) is a really good one, and he hooked up our heat and our hot water and fixed all the broken lines. He also hooked up a hose bib outside which will greatly assist us with watering the chickens. Now we don't have to carry buckets of water from the kitchen all the way out to the coop! A pleasure! It's amazing how we can take such simple things for granted like, water, heat and electricity, but when you don't have them, life is much, much harder! Now we just have to budget for some new windows. I would love to get the upper level windows put in before winter. The main floor windows are ok for now, there are actual windows there, some just need to be replaced.
So, things are moving along at Hentennial. The ladies will be moving into the barn for winter, after we convert one horse stall into a coop. And we are getting lots, and lots of eggs. So far I have just been giving them away to friends and family, but soon I may start selling them. No salmonella scares with our eggs! They are fresh from the farm, and ALL natural!
I can't wait to get back out there this weekend and get some more painting done. Next step is sanding the wood floors and staining them dark.
We probably won't be having Thanksgiving dinner there, but possibly a country-Christmas dinner!