Work Weekends at the Farm

Work Weekends at the Farm

I may have to start doing two posts a month instead of one, because the posts are getting longer and longer!

We've spent the last month doing house projects in pretty much all of our spare time. We had a lot of modifications/renovations that we had to do, and still have one last renovation to complete before we can get the gas turned back on--that being the last project for the appraiser to re-classify the farm as a C4 (aka "livable house") for the house to qualify for a loan. Fingers crossed that it gets completed this week so we can close next week! 

Last post I left off showing you all that we had to reattach the electrical conduit to the house in order to get the electric turned back on. We also had to replace some wiring, find the door to the fuse box, remove an old meter that used to run to the barn, and cap the meter that is staying with the house. Before we new it...ta da! We had electricity!

The other thing that we had to tackle was replacing the plumbing in the bathroom downstairs so that the upstairs bathrooms would work (not to mention replace a toilet valve, and saw through a rusted/broken pipe to replace plumbing). After fixing the plumbing, reconnecting some plumbing in the basement, replacing the kitchen faucet, and replacing a shower head in the addition bathroom, we FINALLY had no leaks and no worries with leaving the water on so that we could actually use the toilet while we were there. 

We talked with the appraiser and got permission to turn the bathroom into a closet. See the shower floor Sam is standing on in the above picture? It had to go. 

That's 9 inches of concrete that we had to remove (with the jackhammer that we purchased online). It took two days of almost non-stop work to get that floor up. Let's just say that Sam was so sore after all that work that he couldn't sleep when we were finally done. 

My job was to pick up the pieces that broke off, put them in the bucket, and cart it all outside where I dumped it in an easy to access spot so we could haul it off later. I took my turn at using the jackhammer a few times, but I think it shook me more than the floor!

It was really, really dusty, so we kept Rylee away from the dust and the noise. She played in her pack and play on the front porch and in the back room. Can you believe she napped through all that racket?

All done! Next, we had to install the walls. Before we could put up walls, we had to build a fake wall to cover up all the upstairs plumbing. Half of the fake wall was already there, so the boys just had to fill in what was missing. 

Sam's family came down to visit for Sam's birthday, and they helped us remove the wood panelling from one of the bedrooms upstairs to use for the closet. 

 

Emily and I tried to use the pry-bar and the sledgehammers we purchased to knock out the shower floor before Sam and I purchased the jackhammer. There was no way we were getting that sucker out by hand.

Checking in on our progress. 

Rylee and her Auntie Em

Once the shower floor was out, we cut the panelling to size and installed it in the closet. 

We frequently had lots of family members show up eager to work on weekends. With only a limited amount of people able to work on plumbing or fixing the closet, we often had them just clean up brush around the house or around the beginning of the driveway.

This isn't even the latest of what it looks like out back, and already there is a huge difference. The yard is really starting to look amazing! Uncle Matt was really sweet and hauled brush piles off to the dump for us (and got a nail through his tire as payment). The other brush cutters got into some trouble with poison ivy. Big thanks to everyone despite all the problems we've had so far!

Such a pretty white oak!

Here's the view of the front yard. LOVE!

Uncle Matt and Dad climbed up on the roof to clean out the gutters and cut some limbs that were hanging over the shingles. 

This is about twenty minutes before my dad sliced his elbow open on flashing on the chimney and had to go to the hospital to get stitches! Already accidents happening on the farm!

Mommy's little picture helper looking not so little.

Lastly, we had to drain and cover the pool. Here we are draining it. We used six water hoses if not more to siphon the water out over a week's time. 

There was a lot of brush that needed to be removed around the pool so that we could cover it.

Installing the pool cover was where I ran into trouble with poison ivy. We had to remove a lot of leafless vines and bushes from the concrete in order to drill the anchors and be able to install the rope properly. P.S. we found this ENORMOUS pool cover in one of the junk piles at the side of the house. Lucky find!

Even if they couldn't help out, we had family visiting to hang out with us for a little bit and play with Rylee. 

Rylee learned to make new noises and became our own personal radio to listen to. 

Even with all of this going on at the house, we still found time to do other things. 

Trulee and Brett had a mean rooster that would chase them around the yard (the big one on the right), so we took care of the problem for them.

I started using cloth diapers for Rylee. I'm still in the process of replacing elastic on the latest batch that I bought. We started using BumGenious Freetime cloth diapers. From what I had read online, they had the best reviews from multiple sources in terms of great fit and limited leaking. They normally sell for $21-$23 a piece new, but I bought them gently used for $9-$11 a piece on eBay.

The part most people worry about or don't want to deal with with cloth diapers is the poop. My sister, Trulee, alerted us to diaper sprayers which hook up to your toilet. Combine the diaper sprayer with this handy gadget below, and you don't have to touch poopy diapers or dunk them in your toilet to clean. Just pin and spray (and it comes with a diaper grabber tool so you don't have to touch any of the diaper if you don't want to). It's wonderful.

I made chocolate croissants, and they turned out pretty yummy even though I don't really like the taste of the dough.

I made cheese sticks (basically cheese croissants) for Sam's birthday, but they were not yummy at all.

I bought a new wrap for my homemade bread so that we don't have to use tinfoil or plastic bags anymore. It's a very thin towel soaked in beeswax. It's reusable, washable, and smells good. It does a great job of keeping the bread from going stale, and it's really cute, too!

We wen't to a family members wedding shower and got to show Rylee to some REALLY BIG horses.

She talked to them and tried to feed them a flower. 

Rylee and her Pap Pap. 

We took Rylee for a hike in Frankfort and let her play in the creek.

Silly Daddy flipped Rylee upside down and let her feel the creek with her hands. She loved it. 

We held a baby shower for Trulee and Brett and hand family members and church members come over. It was a lot of fun! I also began training to teach Billing's Ovulation Method (BOMA) which is a Natural Family Planning method for the church. Most couples around here that are preparing for marriage in the catholic church either have to drive to Lexington or do the class online. I will be filling a need in the diocese by teaching here, and there are also no BOMA teachers in the entire diocese of Lexington. Which means anyone interested in BOMA would be coming to me! Pretty exciting!

We also got to participate in the church's halloween party at Divine's Corn Maze. We had an absolute blast! It was so nice being part of a smaller community and starting to re-learn familiar faces at church.

Rylee got to pet some really soft sheep! 

She didn't get to keep her wittle bitty pumpkin, but we picked one out for her to play with while we were walking around to find the perfect pumpkin! 

 Happy Fall, everyone!

 Pax Domini cum spirito tuo temper sit,

Torey, Sam & Rylee

Do you or someone you know live near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky (<--- WE MOVED!!) ? 
Do you want to eat farm-fresh eggs from happy, healthy hens? 

Check out our shop!