Evil allergies

Allergies are really kicking my butt tonight. I have to take something for them or continue to feel all tired and sad and woe is me.

On a brighter note, the guys got half the shed shingled today and it looks pretty good. I wanted to get the second coat of paint on but they didn't want any on their clothes! The weather continues fair, so I can tackle my goals later on. It's amazing how a fresh coat of paint can spruce up old buildings; I smile whenever I look at my garage now.

The chicks were treated to their first venture outside today! They've been growing fast and only the litttlest one might be vulnerable during the day. They scurried back to their secure room for the night with surrogate mom.

Flu shot tomorrow; I normally don't react badly so am not worried.

Busy busy

Scored the truck load of wood for my parents this morning. It felt great to catch something so useful that was headed for the dump to rot.

I did some scraping and painting on the garage windows this afternoon. It's incredible how much difference it makes in the appearance to get rid of the peeling paint and bare spots. Unfortunately the north windows need to be replaced completely. Since there is no reason to ever go on that side I simply didn't notice how much these had deteriorated. I will wait until spring to do this though. Since the garage isn't heated, there's no point in rushing out to find new windows now.

I've got the rest of the materials to finish the shed. Monday is a holiday for the schools so that is when my son will do the shingling. If it doesn't rain, I'll be painting tomorrow.

I wish...

Bloggers wouldn't use white text on dark backgrounds.

I can't be the only one who has trouble reading that. The letters blur and if I keep reading my head hurts. It's got to the point that I'll either skip it or copy the text into a document.

Apple harvest

My parents asked me to come help with the apple harvest today. Naturally all the best apples are at the top of the trees, but with some creative balancing of ladders in the pickup bed we got a lot of them down.

Have you ever noticed a yearly trend in apple crops? Last year they were small and sparse, barely worth picking; this year they're large and plentiful and exceptionally delicious. So perfectly crisp and sweet that it's better than eating candy (if you can imagine candy that's healthy)! And we've always seemed to have this annual on/off in the produce. I wonder if other fruit trees do the same.

I brought a box home and feel overpaid. :)

Shameless chicks

The babies are into that gawky teenage stage. A time for declaring their independance and sporting daring fashion and feather choices.

I wish we could let them outside, but at the size of robins it isn't safe. There's an average of 6 to 10 cats hanging out on the farm all day. The ironic thing is that they all come from across the road; none of them actually belong there. I hope the chicks are big enough to go out before winter sets in!

Forecast

Some sunshine that I wish I could share with Tanya. Wouldn't it be great to have this all winter?

Conscripted labor

The first two pictures show my progress on my own, priming, caulking and installing the window.



But where I had to call in the crew was the roof. The crew being my dad and my son. Someone who is very strong and experienced probably could have done the job solo...that would not be me!