Getting ready to whitewash the hen house

My book, the Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery, mentions two methods for cleaning a chicken house and ensuring there are no remaining diseases from a previous group of hens; one option is to mix an ounce of lye with a gallon of hot water and scrub the whole thing from top to bottom, and the other is to whitewash the hen house with lime. The advantage of lime is it doubles as white paint to brighten the interior and make cleaning easier in the future, as well as clearly marking where has already been treated to make sure there are no missed spots. 

 http://www.graymont.com/what_is_lime.shtml 
I found this excellent website which has great information about what lime is and what the different types mean. From it, I've gathered I need hydrated lime, not quick lime, as hydrated lime is a fine powder which will dissolve into my water to make the appropriate solution. I also need type S, not type N, hydrated lime as type S does not require a long soak and is more readily usable. 

Hydrated lime is white, rather than the gray of garden lime, so that is also a good indicator to which is the right stuff to get. 

http://2footalligator.blogspot.com/2011/04/remember-tom-sawyers-whitewash.html
One blog I found gives the recipe as 2 gallons of water per 12 cups of hydrated lime. This site also has a bunch of great links to other sites on whitewashing. I think for the first year, I'll try regular water and lime, though there are many possible additives, like salt, milk, or flour, that are supposed to help with durability and other characteristics. 

http://www.craftsman-style.info/painting/032-whitewashing.htm
This site has a lovely description of how to apply whitewash: "Whitewash, as everyone knows, is applied with a wide, flat brush; the operator does not rub it on, as the painter does paint, but lightly brushes over the wall or ceiling with the brush so as to use the ends of the bristles, not bearing on enough to bend over the bristles so that a great part of their length will touch the wall. The brush is held lightly; the arm is not stiff, but bends freely at the elbow; the whole action should show flexibility and freedom. In whitewashing a ceiling it is well for the operator to begin on the side next to the windows, so as to be working away from the light." I am suddenly all the more grateful we showed the Karate Kid to my middle school class last year - I think I'll be calling on that zen karate master as I paint "up, down, up, down." 

Other variations on the whitewash recipe include adding salt, zink, skim milk, alum, soft white clay,
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Whitewash
http://fiascofarm.com/recipes/whitewash.html
http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2012/08/whitewash-paint/
http://gardeninggrl.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/preparing-for-chickens-whitewashing-the-coop/
http://gardeninggrl.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/chicken-chores-whitewash/

Oh poop! A chicken coop!

We had the perfect weather conditions today for getting that chicken house cleaned! It was sunny and warm with a good strong breeze that sucked all the dust I was stirring up straight out of the chicken house. It was a little warm, which left me making the tough decision between being crazy hot while working hard in long sleeves, long pants, tall boots, and a hoodie, or leaving gaps in my garments for powdered poop, cobwebs, and dislocated spiders. I went with being too hot and sticky and left my hood, goggles, face mask, head scarf, long sleeves, overalls, gloves and xtra tuffs in place - it's the only way I could face that many spiders and that much poo. I built myself a ladder (2 feet wide and 6 feet tall for scale) and got busy using the hoe and broom to eradicate all unwanted particles. There's still a few chunks of mess plastered to the floor, and a couple spots I need to get the folding ladder to reach on the ceiling, but it's looking pretty good.

Cleaning the barn isn't the only thing the weather was perfect for. All afternoon I could see sailboats in the bay enjoying the beautiful day. 

Tim's been working exceptionally hard fixing up both our vehicles. Tilly is working on learning to watch patiently without trying to bite things. So far we're not quite there. 

I also applied for my first job today! The Waldorf school on the island is looking for a middle school sewing teacher one day a week. That sounds like a great way to get started and get involved in the community. I hope I get an interview.

Present

Today was one of those days I didn't spend time thinking about the past or the future, but just being content with exactly how life is. For the first time in two weeks, I wasn't focused on taking care of Tilly the best I can and looking forward to her growing up, but instead I had the opportunity to sit back, relax, and enjoy her exactly the way she is right now - mouth full of grass and all. 

Tim decided to spend one more day at home to get our truck up and running, fixing the tail lights, ordering parts, and helping me with my barn, bike, and house projects.

We successfully installed two opening windows in the barn and the chicken house now has far more light, ventilation, and the best view a chicken could ask for.

Now I have no excuses left to put off the thorough cleaning and whitewashing of the hen house. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day. 

 Tilly went for her first bike ride with me today. After Tim gave me a hand attaching my bike racks, I strapped on a milk crate, made a cozy nest in the bottom and we went for a ride. On the way home, she got to run and sniff along side a slow bike ride. Now that she seems to have doubled in size from two weeks ago, carrying her part way for a longer walk is getting less appealing, and I'm looking forward to making it all the way to town with her under our own power. Also, she is quickly getting stronger and faster and as much as I would like to go for runs with her, I'd rather start getting her used to bicycles now than make plans to go for six runs a day with a growing dog who will soon be running for 15 minutes and more at a time.

I found a sunny spot in the grass this afternoon in the corner of our yard (actually, on the edge of our neighbors as they have a better cared for yard and a whole lot less troublesome things for Tilly to put in her mouth) and brought out some toys for Tilly. She spent half an hour rolling down the hill clutching various toys and looking the happiest I have ever seen her. She strayed a little too close to the neighbors grass clippings pile and seized the opportunity to grab a large mouthful of it. She ran in a big circle at top, happy speeds before crashing directly into my arms and spraying dead grass everywhere. Maybe eating a little grass every once in a while isn't the end of the world.

Oh! And the best news of the day - our electrician stopped by today and got a ton of work done. According to Dad, it looks like we might be ready to call for the flooring next week! We may still be moving in by Tim's birthday.

Window in, truck out

Highlight of the day for Ariel:
My first barn window is glued and screwed into the side of the barn! Already it looks so much better! (Sorry, too dark for pictures plus there will always be more pictures.)

Highlight of the day for Tim:
As an early birthday present, we got Tim a giant rolling toolbox/work bench and he has been busy organizing tools that have been lost and jumbled for years. (No picture because I'm exhausted.)

Highlight of the day for Tilly:
Who knew Home Depot would be full of happy, well behaved dogs and that all the employees carry puppy cookies in their pockets! It's good to be a well loved puppy. As a second highlight for both Ariel and Tilly, Tim bravely rolled out of bed far too early in the morning and ran all over with the little one until she was too tired to even bother whining when it was time for nap again. Ooohhh so good to sleep in for Ariel and to play for Tilly! (No picture because she is too adorable and might break the camera.)

Everybody's low:
No more truck for a while and an expensive trip the last few blocks home as the truck suddenly came to a stop and would not start again. Diagnosis undecided, but hopefully Tim will have her purring again soon, at least by the 11ths when the big truck heads for Alaska. (No picture because I had to save the last of the phone's batteries to call the tow truck. Good ole' Scotty's Towing! We need to start making friends with big reliable trucks we can take out to dinner as payment rather than calling the tow truck ever again.)

Exciting news of the future:
Looks like Grandpa will be moving here in a little over a month! Hopefully the floors and ceilings downstairs will be done by then or Tim and I will be camping out. We are starting to lose faith in the timeline of this project. (No picture because it hasn't happened yet.)

Benefits of getting a puppy in fall

1. Lots of leaves and such to chase
2. Still enough sunny days to get the lawn mowed to look out for deer poop and mushrooms
3. Puppies have to be on leashes all the time anyways, so it's a great time to learn not to eat mushrooms
4. Bed time is easy because it's dark by 7
5. Watch the sunset and sunrise every day with the puppy
6. See stars every night and morning with the puppy
7. It's still dark at 6am, so when I get up at 3 or 4 to take the puppy out, it's easy to imagine it's later
8. Just the right temperature out to leave puppy in the car while running errands, since she can't be left alone for more than a couple hours at a time
9. With gardening fairly dormant, there's lots of time to spend watching the puppy every second
10. Carrying around the puppy every day gradually increases strength as she gets bigger every day, getting ready for all the work to come on the farm
11. Puppies still take naps all day so there's enough time to cut wood for the compost bin, continue scooping up tree debris from limbing projects, and put the tractor to good use relocating piles of firewood. 
12. The puppy is comfortable in the kennel in the back of the truck making it easy to bring her with to do recycling and score some excellent windows for the barn. 
13. While many things have died back for the fall, puppy is still mesmerized by how new everything in the world is and is a reminder to pause and appreciate the beauty of birds flying and deer crossing the street. 
14. A puppy is the best icebreaker when moving to a new place and meeting all new people. Everyone loves puppies and somehow, they have a better time remembering her and her name than us humans. 
15. The  cold temperature while standing in the dark early in the morning and late at night ensure high motivation to train the puppy to pee right away and the flashlights are always handy! Plus, fashion woes are put aside by wearing both the pink-elephant-zip-up-fleece-onesie for extra coverage and a fleece robe to cover the elephants... and maybe a big coat over it all.

Homemade entertainment.

Oh what a wonderful husband I have! I mean, I have a wonderful puppy too, but sleeping in an extra few hours while Tim runs around giving Tilly a supervised tour of the house and teaching tricks is quite a treat. Doing something simple like washing dishes is an all day event broken into into a minute of starting to wash a dish, then chasing after a run away slipper, than finally getting her down for a nap and being too exhausted to think about that half-washed dish until I hear a sleepy puppy eager to go out again. Between the delighted exhaustion that is raising a puppy and the piles of things everywhere with no where to put them until our house is no longer a construction zone. The housework is getting a little behind, but we did finally have some luck with brief periods of yard work today!

Tim was able to get the deck drive belt on the lawn tractor replaced and tested it out on our lower lawn, despite the rain. Tim mowed a suspiciously racetrack-shaped test strip around the border of the yard and got the tractor up full speed to check all systems were go. Tilly and I got a good workout trotting behind, supervising the one-man race.

To round out our home entertainment here on the farm, we've gotten into fighting beasts. Tim found some wounded bees and hungry spiders and we witnessed some battles to the death. It is undecided weather it is possible to train spiders to develop a particularly strong taste for bees, though it would be quite handy as they are both competing for territory in the chicken coop. Although spiderwebs in my face aren't my favorite, Tim's not so fond of the wild barn honey and I think our chickens will have better luck keeping the spider population in check than catching bees.

We had a great visit with an old friend from Juneau, Fritz, who beat us in the move to Whidbey. Delicious dinner, and fresh cookies while walking on the beach with the little dog. What a lovely way to spend the evening. That and watching Star Trek between Tilly's naps and going out.

Long drives

This morning, Ray woke up with Tilly and I early in the morning and we managed to get her to the ferry just in time. Tim and I hitched up the empty U-pod and headed back across the ferry to Port Townsend to drop the box off, then turned around and drove North, across the island and all the way to Mount Vernon to pick up some new belts for the lawn tractor. After a brief stop at Home Depot to look at windows for the chicken coop, the day was pretty well filled.