Let the hoarding commence!

I thought it was spring already, so I've been a little busy.  Sorry I haven't said hi in a while!

Yesterday morning Howdy was barking up a storm.  Something was in our yard.

Naturally I found myself something for security (my camera) and headed out the back door.  Something was there, all right.  Something was there.  It was big.  It was ugly. 

Oh yeah!  It's the CRAP we got off of Craigslist the night before!!
Saturday I found an ad on CL for fencing and chicken coops, etc.  Whether we're ready for chickens yet or not, I found the ad intriguing and gave the owner a call.  And consequently, a visit.

Turns out, there were 10-12 of THESE...

 THIS:  (which looks small to me, in the photo.  Totally surprised that I could park my Prius in there upon arrival, actually!  Now she finally has some garage space.)

 And THIS:  Actually, again, SOA (surprised on arrival) to find that there were two of them.  They're like 8 ft. tall.  WHOA.

Now.  This mess of goodies was all the way out in Brush, Colorado.  Perhaps you've heard of it.  I had not.
It is an hour and a half away.
It is a full tank of gas, there and back... Pulling a trailer, that is.
It is one late, long nap for the kids, one way.  It is thousands of Guster songs, a Wendy's Frosty, and only 2 squabbles on the way back.  And then it's bedtime because we're all exhausted from taking things apart and loading them with unrivaled creativity and yes, muscle.

THUS, the forgotten monstrosity in the backyard!  We dumped the trailer, took out the fencing from the bed of the truck, and went to bed.  Woke up to a very confused HowdyBoy barking like I've never heard him before.

So the story is this:  The gal who posted the c-r-a-p took over her mom's place out in the countraaaay.  Apparently a dude had asked her mom if they could house some hens and stuff out there.  Before you know it?  A full-on steroid-laced, studded-legged rooster fighting ring right there in the middle of Brush, Colorado.  It's a terrible thing.  When the gal on the phone got out there to take over the property, the "hens" were housed in this awful compound and the feds got involved right away.  That's right, the Feds.  Okay maybe it was the local police.  Anyway.  They had found syringes, steroids, all kinds of terrible junk out there :(  So the gal, her hubbs and kid are out there cleaning it all up, and we gave them a hundred dollars to haul away their junk.  Not sure who got the better end!!

I was pretty excited because all of that welded wire fencing would have cost us a ton of money, and it was the main thing I've been needing to get some chicken tractors (corrals) built for my future chickens!  Unfortunately for Nick, the chickens are becoming a reality around here.  My argument for picking all of this stuff up was that the fence panels would come in handy when we seed the little area where we'll have some lawn.  I said the rest of the chickeny-stuff could just be stored 'til next year (wink wink), and then we'll have it all when we need it.  After all, Mister Boree is the one who says to check out the farm/garden section on CL so we can start collecting yard materials.  I'm just following orders!  Maybe he should have listened to my chicken-tractoring/foraging/manure-ing/weed-eating plans I have to prepare our yard for planting.  Chickens are a MUST.  I can't imagine it working any other way, really.  You'll see.  He'll see.

Last week we had some lovely days, including one where we even got a little sun on our skin.  Our yard is proving to be a really fun place to spend a full day outside!!  We got to work cutting down some weeds, hauling Howdy's stick collection back out to the wood pile, and we even discovered some little treasures growing along the fence.  See?

No no no... I mean the treasures are UNDER all of that brown scraggly menacing stuff.  They're there, I promise.

Right by Knox, where the green hose is, is Tulah's peach tree.  We brought it over from our old house, and it has a little story I'll share another day!  Here's a picture of Roo with her tree:

Along the fence I found two rose bushes (one is a rose STICK) in one area...

They're in front of the cute picket gate.  Not totally uncovered yet.

...And wouldn't you know it, an APPLE TREE with a little lilac bush friend!  See? 

No?   Maybe we should clear some weedy vines from aychee-double out...  Ok now?

This, my friends, is Knox and his apple tree.  One fruit tree for each kiddo.  He's pretty excited!  He was putting the pressure on pretty thick to clear out the rest of it, so I did my best while he was napping:

See?  Treeeeeeeees!!!

Maybe now you can see them.  A few more weeks and they'll have some real color.  They better look just like this.





Knoxer when he wakes up from nap------------------------>


He's extra chewy :)
















I haven't written much lately because I'm glued to ANOTHER book:

this book is changing my life!

This book, Organic Gardener's Companion by Jane Shellengerger, solves the mysteries of the world and was written by a gal who lives about 20 miles north of me.  SHE WRITES ABOUT ORGANIC GARDENING IN OUR LOVELY FOOTHILLS!!!!!  Growing naturally abundant veggies in our wicky-wild West!  She writes purely of organic mini-ecosystems, water conservation, and the challenges of our weather climate!!  Her chapter on bees made me cry!  Twice.  I am in love.  I need to return it to the library in 3 days and I'm totally depressed about it.  I guess I need to just order this one too.  And I guess I'm turning into my sister with all of this book-ordering I'm up to.  Two in one month!!  Buck wild!

I'll be citing it lots as spring unfolds, in between chicken coop building and springtime blizzards.  Wonder if I'll be able to keep up on here this spring.  Hmm.  I have more to say but I have a couple of kiddos who need an afternoon snack before soccer practice tonight.  First one of the Spring season-- yessss!!

Big kiss little hug... talk to you soon!

Plumb guttery

It's a super sunny cold morning here in Golden!  And we caught a mouse!  And there's a mysterious skittery sounding sound coming from the ceiling above the front bathroom off the living room!




All in all the mood is set for this toasty breakfast floating around a Pinteresting website.
It's in the oven right now.






Good thing I have some pretty cute help around here! 

Today is also perfect for saying adios to the nasty galvanized pipe in the old part of the house!!  Thankful that Nick used to work with Jovan, who is doing the plumbing for us.  He left Garney and started his own business and fit us into his schedule this week.  Instead of using copper, we're using pex tube.  It's going to be easier to install and is less than half the price of copper.  The space under the kitchen is probably no more than 3 feet deepy and super creepy, so getting parts down and soldering in there would have been a challenge and time consuming.  Now he doesn't have to do that, and we get an upgrade that we can afford with not a lot of investment-- considering the back part of the house is going to have to be demolished at some point within the next five-ish years-ish, maybe-ish. 

On top of the new plumbing, we are also finally getting GUTTERS!!  Our new house has a new roof in great shape, but ZERO gutters.  It's just ridiculous.  That's a really good way to ensure that you will need a jack under the playroom to hold up the floor, yeah?

There is a gutter here actually, but rotten wood, so it's not really doing its job is it.

The paint on the fascia where the gutters will go is also almost obsolete, and part of it is rotting in some parts of the house.
We're getting the front part, which sees the most weather, wrapped in white steel to keep it protected and the worst boards replaced. 

Goodbye further damage to the foundation!!

This past weekend was completely awesome.  We ended up scoring some adorable vintage metal cabinets for our kitchen!  We weren't seriously looking, but when we found them we couldn't pass them up.  I think they kinda chose US, actually.  We got a full kitchen, counter tops, and sink and the asking price was $200.  Yeah!  AND THEN... He had some FABULOUS drapes hanging in one room, with an amazing massive-scale vintage pattern all over.  He threw those in.  And then, he said we can have the dishwasher (major upgrade to what we have, I say as I base that opinion on looks and not actual user experience!), and counter-top, and a piece of butcher block for my baking station I'm planning, AND THEN... He also had an old brass banister, which was sort of perfect for our staircase once we open it up to the living room.  He threw that in too, and I died!

Kitchen pictures that sparked my Craigslist interest:

And you know I totally dig the obnoxious vintage wallpapering going on in there.  Wait... Hmm.  I thought that... Oh!  Yes, yes here we go:

I title this image, "Mini Kitchen Makeover Inspiration Based on Things I Already Have or Practically Got for Free"
That wallpaper came from an estate sale this past summer... I thought I'd use it in my drawers!  Wait.  I thought I would use it in the drawers of the dressers I refinish.  Sheesh.   $1 for the whole roll, and there is a LOT of it!  Perfect for m'drawers and my kitchen's backsplash. 
'Hummingbird Blue', we are now best friends.
The paint can there in the picture is one I had in my stash of hand-me-down paints I use on my furniture.  Every time I come across it I smile and promise it great things in its future.  Well, I was at the Depot and picked out paint swatches the other day.  My favorite was this blue one in the pic.  It is the exact same blue as my mystery Glidden can hidden in the garage... whoa.   And soon it will be the blue on my vintage base cabinets, Boy-ee!

Can't wait to show you how we tackle our lighting issue in that dark, mouse-y kitchen, and I REALLY hope I can report back on my successful negotiations with Mr. GinnBoree regarding my flooring idea.

Were you wondering about my new coffee table?  I know, I know

This is not how I received it, but I had to do something about the splinters and nails sticking out before I had the opportunity to find festering splinters in my children's sweet innocent skin.  I'll maybe post on the process, but for now this is the lumber cart with two coats of thick, juicy, glossy epoxy. 

It doesn't stay like this for long, all shiny and fancy... I'll show you how the story ends soon, kids.








Were you also wondering what kind of nonsense Tulah was drawing today?

 

 Me:  "Cute! Love her purple outfit, it's very purply.  What are those little friends you drew there, fairies?"

Her:  "Vampires."

Me:  "... ... ... Oh. "

I realize now, those are not the smiles of fairies.  They are the out-for-blood toothy mugs of nocturnal plasmasuckers.

Tomorrow I'll show you what she finger-knitted today out of t-shirt yarn.  Much less grim.

BYE!