ratfarm:I forgot to post the draft of last year’s notes from the homestead. You can see all our prog

ratfarm:I forgot to post the draft of last year’s notes from the homestead. You can see all our progress on the Rat Farm by Year tag.Our Sixth Year: 2014- Painted bathroom “Happy Camper” green, made/added trim to new window.- Painted “art nook” (closet with door removed, desk/drawers), started weirdo mural.- First time canning: grape jam in a waterbath- Longest, coldest winter at Rat Farm, started running out of wood- Record snowfall caused dilapidated pole barn to collapse (tractor, coop, etc. inside) - Culled most chickens in absence of coop. 2 guineas and a hen couldn’t be caught, lived all winter in an uninsulated insecure coop.- Guinea fowl eventually killed by fox.- kept last 2 Jersey Giants in dog crate in basement- Remaining firewood inaccessible in back of squished barn, wasn’t enough anyways. Burned more this winter than first 3 years combined.- Bought LAST commercial pickup truck of firewood in the area before spring, traded labour for another from a friend.- Ongoing moisture issues in colder back rooms/condesation in colder back rooms, damage to wood window frames.- Bought first “real bed” after futon frames kept breaking and mattresses on the floor kept molding (caused by condensation from body heat + cold room, carpet/crappy futon fill getting damp). Spent a month sleeping on the floor.- After cramming all 3 of us into a queen-sized bed bought king, queen became spare/guest/eventual kid bed.- Installed secondhand air exchanger to increase ventilation/dry house.- Tore up gross carpet in main bedroom, installed pre-finished hickory flooring scored half off a while back.- Sealed unfinished backs/bottoms of bedroom furniture with Spar Varnish (marine grade) to be unsusceptible to mold. Touched up worn fronts.- Added trim to bedroom (excluding windows needing replacement).- Removed hallway/livingroom carpet, replaced with cheap fake parquet) sticky tiles.- Painted hallway to bedrooms (bright/slime green).- Fenced front yard for kid/dogs/gardens. Tilled/planted more retaining wall.- Moved 2/3 apple trees to cleared spot outside fence (future orchard).- Expanded small garden from 8x16’ to 10x24’ with 8 railroad ties.- Replanted corner/border garden of house that chickens/dog dug up.- Used stones from digging up the yard/around property to make new garden in front of last year’s rock retaining wall.- Distributed two pickup trucks of compost amongst gardens.- Planted perennial flowers, food, transplanted wildflowers to front yard for aesthetics/pollinators.- Added pasture seed mix to front, septic field (pasture) for eventual grazing, let parts of yard grow wild/flower.- Cleaned out shack, set up temporary coop.- Cleaned barn, inventoried contents for insurance, rented/filled dumpster (ugh so much crap and failed projects but a good cleanse).- Salvaged from barn and landfill (made by previous owner). Sold scrap metal to offset dumpster cost. Made use of a push mower, bird bath, and charcoal grill. Used salvaged patio stones to make walkway.- Insurance replaced my old mountain bike with a sweet new one!- Found my dream motorcycle (Yamaha TW200) in our price range, acquired from Craigslist.- Bought 6 cords of wood (no time to harvest while working on barn), stacked most befire snow, bit of splitting needed.- Repaired pole barn: framing, new roof, upper siding. Salvaged much of old siding. Added clear panels for windows/skylights, one side unfinished. Rewired.- Put bigger tires on my Land Cruiser after old treads blew, replaced aluminum factory rims with black steel. - More cast iron cookware, learned to bake bread in dutch oven on wood stove. - Mild winter! Surprisingly warm days with enough snow to be pretty but minimal removal. Some cold dips but easy after last year.- No Scary Financial or Medical Adventures! -- source link

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