Busy, busy… beehive

Our week was so full that we were only able to squeeze one super-quick visit to the farm on Memorial Day. But it was a productive one. Brent installed my beehive!

Beehive number 1 - ready for bees!

This year we will keep our fingers crossed that a scout from a swarm will find its way to our farm. The beehive is a Warré hive. I painted only the exterior of the hive to seal and protect it from the weather. Otherwise, all the wood inside is bare.

In order to make the hive more attractive to bees, beeswax has been rubbed on the bars. It has a lovely fragrance that apparently encourages the bees to begin building their comb right where you put it.

While we were installing the hive we saw that the rough-in crew has made more progress on the exterior siding and installed the front door.

West side with siding partially installed

Northeast corner showing shake and lap siding over garage doors.

If you click on the photo above, you may notice in the larger photo that there is some detail in the siding. We have shake in the peaks above the lap siding. Those shakes will be painted a different color than the lap siding to add some detail.

I heard yesterday that the crew is finishing up the siding. So there will no longer be a need for the Skytrak that has been rented since the installation of the SIPs panels. 

Next, the septic system and installation of our cisterns for rainwater collection and storage. Interior work will continue as well, including meeting with the electrician.

Busy, busy!

Windows!

Today we met with Bob McCartney of McCartney Cabinets to measure for the kitchen cabinets and saw that our windows have been installed. The front door is also at the property but hasn't been installed yet. It all looks really awesome!

Here are the usual photos showing all the sides of the house.

from the parking area

from the West

Southwest corner

South side with Dave Robson and Brent (look at all those windows!)

Southeast corner

West side (notice the little dog door by the double doors?)

Northwest corner

 We are so pleased. And it was really fun to finally see the windows in the two downstairs bedrooms on the east side. The lap siding is also starting to look pretty nice. You can see it on the garage and Summer Kitchen. It is really starting to look like a home :-)

The only snafu is those double-doors on the Summer Kitchen. They are supposed to open out. Right now, they are opening in. Not sure how that will be resolved. But, if that's the worst thing that happens, I definitely will not be complaining.

On an even brighter note, the two dogwoods that I thought were dead are alive! Not only that, but the persimmon seedlings we planted have almost all leafed out, the elderberry seedlings appear to be thriving and we have lots of apples starting to form.

I'd say we enjoyed our visit :-)

Siding and upper level framing

We visited the farm during our busy week of graduation, family visits and birthdays. It was fun to show off the new house and again see the progress the rough-in crew had made during the last week.

These pictures show the normal exterior shots.

from Parking area.

West side.
Notice the foil? That's on the extra layer of foam insulation. The garage has no insulation,
just Tyvek over wood.

Southwest corner.
Notice the strips on the insulation. They will create an air space between
the insulation and the siding.

South side (Jeremy in one of the Master bedroom windows)

Southeast corner. My step-dad, Pete, and brother, Scott, with Jeremy in the
window of the "office" space.

East side.

Northeast corner.

North side.

Our tour of the inside was where we saw the most change. The crew has framed in all of the interior walls. And we were busy last week working out the details so that the plumber could get the basic water lines in. We also met with Bob McCartney about our kitchen cabinets.

Here are just a few of the interior pictures.

One side of the closet in our master bedroom.
By today's standard this room will be small. But, with the walls in, we can tell
this will be plenty of space for us.

Here are the pantry (right) and coat closet (left).
The pantry was modified to utilize the space over the stairs. It's huge!

Jeremy dancing in the spacious room that will be the
living room, office and kitchen/dining room.

We couldn't be more pleased with the size of the interior rooms. It's just right! (I feel like Goldilocks.) And the view out the windows impresses us every time we walk into the house. Inside we are dancing with happiness (we let Jeremy do the actual dancing - he's better at it than we are).

Happy Mother's Day

I got a great present. Brent built a Warré beehive for me :-)

My first beehive. It's made of lumber salvaged from the old house on our farm.

Overall, it was a beautiful day. I spent it working on potting up all my native seedlings and moving more of the tropical plants outdoors for the summer.

Happy Mother's day to all!

We have a finished roof

Yesterday we took a ride out to the farm to see our new roof. We chose the lightest shingles possible. The hope is to approach the efficiency of a white roof in reflecting summer heat.

And here's how it looks:

I hope you can see the detail in the roof. The shingles are a pretty gray.

This is the regular view from the East.

This is the house from the Northeast showing the summer kitchen and garage.
I really love the look f the roof angles.

I decided we should have a few photos of the interior. It looks very spacious right now and will be nice to have a reference as the interior walls are added.

The view out the front door from the entry area.

The view from the entry area of the living room and kitchen.
So when we step inside the front door this is what we see.
We are very happy with the ceiling vault created by the scissor trusses.

Looking the other direction (West) you see the space that will be our bedroom and bathroom.

 We are feeling very lucky. Every visit to the farm leaves us excited and energized. The house offsets any small set-backs. Yesterday, upon inspecting our trees, we discovered the little dogwood trees we planted last summer did not survive the winter. But the big oak trees, although late, are leafing out. So some of our efforts toward producing a forest on the north side of the house are paying off…we celebrate every step.

The roof is ready for shingles

While I was away at the alpaca workshop, Brent was keeping all the family stuff going. There were concerts, birthdays, and laundry - AND the farm house to show our visiting family.

Here are the regular photos that show the progress the rough-in crew made last week:

view from parking area

view from West - notice they opened up the front door

the Southwest corner - the windows in the master bedroom are now open

South side showing the sun angle
(the lower level will have an "eyebrow" providing the same shade for the lower windows)

Southeast corner

East side

Our guests parked in the driveway on the North side

Yesterday I had a chance to visit, too. The spaciousness of the living room and kitchen on the upper level was impressive - as was the view! I also had an opportunity to try out our new stairs - they are awesome. I think I walked up and down them about 4 or 5 times yesterday.

It's really starting to look like home!

CAMELIDynamics workshop

A few months ago, I read a book - a really good one - called The Camelid Companion by Mary McGee Bennett. And last weekend I actually met the author. I attended her CAMELIDynamics workshop in Defiance, Missouri.

Mary showing us the "bracelet" and using a "packed" catch pen

For anyone who has never handled alpacas before or even people who have but want to make things easier, this workshop is perfect. It provided ample opportunity to be around the animals and test the information Marty shared in lectures. Now I feel pretty confident that I'm not going to scare my lovely charges to death (nor will they scare me) while I do my best to care for them.

working with veterinarian Nancy on an ear infection

Defiance, Missouri, is beautiful!

It was perfect, weather and everything. If I could change one thing, it would be to have brought and applied sunscreen. I have a wicked sunburn :-)