796 North Rocky River Road Sanford, North Carolina 27330 (919) 718-6003 ginacandelori@windstream.net
Web Sites by
Gina
3 Rivers Arts Festival
 
Look
Michelle's embroidery
Listen
Read
Gina's Library
Learn
Pit firing pottery
Cook
news
05/20/12

Jim put the center wall up yesterday and framed the door. It will not be long now! Got to do some indoor chores today! Laundry is calling!

05/17/12

Progress on the chicken house is progressing. I hope to be able to get my birds in their new home by the end of the month. I am so proud that we have constructed this building from mostly reclaimed materials. The exterior walls are office cubical walls that Jim has had leaning on the back of the shop for years. We both remarked that they look like canvases ready for a coat of primer and paint. So many ideas are running through my head!


The chickens are more than ready to move in to their new home. Poor Barbara is totally annoyed by being in such close quarters with all of the others. She is my oldest girl, 6 years. Jim gave me money to get some new girls. I was lucky to get some babies that had been at the feed store for awhile, so they are almost completely fledged. I shop for my feed and all things farm at Country Farm & Home in Pittsboro. They are great folks and the prices are the best in the county.


I got 3 Plymouth Barred Rock, 3 New Hampshire, and 3 Rhode Island Reds. One of my guineas is sitting a nest right now. I am not sure where, just know she is missing and it is the right time of the year for it. I hope that she is successful, but I am taking no chances. At the end of the month the feed store will have guinea keets and I plan to get some. The ticks have been bad, since the winter was so mild. I really need more tick eaters!


I can not do any chores without spending at least half of the time kicking the ball! My little buddy sure has grown.
05/05/12

Last year, I bought tomato plants from this guy. They are heirloom varieties and in great health. Don't buy your plants from Lowes! Buy local and better quality from Deep Chatham Farms! Visit his site and find out more!
04/28 & 29/12

As I was showering this morning I heard Jim's tractor arrive and by the time I was dry and dressed he had already moved the old chicken house out of the way and was setting up his outdoor saw mill. As you can see the old chicken shelter was in need of an upgrade. We had to prop one leg and nail a board on one side to keep it from falling over. It had been leaning on the side of the barn. It has served it's purpose well, but after 6 years weather and insects had taken their toll. I have a sentimental feeling about the old house. Jim and David helped me build it. I am still racking my brain for a new purpose for it. I know that the old kennel is going to be my new mushroom garden. I will put chicken wire all over it to keep the squirrels out.

     

I started a bonfire, burning wormy, bug filled wood that had served as the legs of my nursery box (pictured in the center) while Steve used the dingo (seen next to the tractor) to drill the holes for the supporting beams. Then they extended the existing roof, using the wood from Jim's old deck. I painted the door and window frames that I got at the  Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store.

     
     

They worked all day, but still had to return on Sunday to put the roof on. Hopefully, they can get the walls up by next weekend. It can not be too soon for the chickens that are temporarily housed in the dog kennel in the barn.

I grilled hot dogs and chicken. We sang Happy Birthday to Steve and had cake then enjoyed the fire and a beer. Thank you so much Jim and Steve! I am so lucky to have you in my life! You are so good to me!
04/26/12

Getting the materials together for my chicken house project has been my primary focus for the last several days. I have planned a weekend of family bonding over the project. Hooray for the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store!
04/24/12

Spring came in January this year, so of course the flowers have bloomed early and we planted our gardens only to have winter roll in the last couple of days. Last night I went out and covered all of my tender baby plants and I will do that again tonight. It snowed in West Virginia yesterday. That must have been a shock. I hope that my friends there have not planted tomatoes yet.

My family is coming here this weekend to help build a new chicken house. I plan to let the boys destroy the old house on Friday night and make a bonfire of it. We will cook out all weekend and by Sunday the chickens will have a new home. I have been working for the last several days preparing for the destruction and construction. The chickens are all sequestered in a holding pen in the barn. They seem to be comfortable although a little confused. I had to evict two of my broodiest hens from a nest they had been sitting for weeks. There were over 40 eggs in it, because all of the other girls were laying there, leaving these two to sit all of the eggs alone. I knew that it was time to give up hope that they would actually hatch any of the eggs when the 21 days had passed. There was also a smell that spelled rotten eggs. It was not easy. They were determined to continue their vigil. Of course, I found it profoundly sad. They were so dedicated. Hopefully they will try again in the new house, where I will be sure to make it easier for them.

I am looking forward to a visit from my dear friends Abra and Ariel Sitler. They will be coming in a couple weeks after Abra graduates from WVU and classes end for Ariel. We are going to have a great time with art projects and long talks about the future. We are going to make paper. I have been saving drier lint for years now and separated them by color. I hope that Ariel brings her guitar!