It has been a crazy spring, summer and fall. We can’t wait for winter when we can curl up in front of the fire and watch a movie. We’ve been a bit neglectful updating the blog. To recap, spring started with this:
Our chickens were visiting the neighbours so we fenced that side of our property. This was one of several loads of fence posts. We used sheep fencing which is basically page wire that is smaller near the bottom than the top. We can add a strand of electric to the top and it will be suitable for the horses. Next year we’ll tackle the other half of the property.
We followed that with a new chicken coop, two batches of chickens and many eggs. Below is a Frizzle Cochin Bantam. He is quite friendly and tries to woo us every time we pass him. He’ll cluck and try and find a bug or leaf to share.
We supplied about 10 CSA shares for about 5 weeks. It was quite a bit of work and we are undecided if we’ll continue or expand it next year. It requires a fair bit of dedication to maintain variety throughout the entire season. Below are a few of the raised beds we used. Next year we’ll need to improve of chicken containment. There was a great article in Harrowsmith that suggested a 16inch high wooden picket fence in 8ft sections that could be put together to keep the chickens out. This will be a winter project for us 
Somewhere mid summer we began fixing up the apartment above the garage to rent out. It is still under construction but it is livable and has a tenant! Here I am soldering supply lines onto the shower valve. Behind the insulation in the background is a concrete wall, the addition of the foam insulation significantly increased the temp in the room. It is a large room beneath the apartment and would make a great room to have a projector in… if only it was part of the main house. Kelly and I are a bit jealous that the apartment has been completely remodeled and we have hardly done any renovations in the main house. This winter we’ll start plugging away and redo the bathrooms in the main house and replace the carpet in the living room and master bedroom.
Just recently we purchased an iron filter to help keep the fixtures looking new. It seems to be working well! In the process we learned the pump wasn’t providing enough flow to regenerate the iron filter. This eventually resulted in a new pump in the well and a larger pressure tank. The old pump was 24 years old and was encased in mineral deposits a piece of which is shown in the pic below.
That sums up our spring, summer and fall. Lets hope the cold weather sets in quickly so we can start skating!