The Guinea Coop

Yay!  The guinea coop is finished.

I'm diggin' it.

The guineas are diggin' it.

We thought it would be a good idea to reuse one of the old screen doors that we took off of the house when we remodeled.  Jordan took the screen off, cut the top off and rebuilt it to fit the a-frame, then replaced the screen with chicken wire.

(Coming soon...when the weather cools a bit, I'm going the paint the door a fun color)

We have several extras of these latches that we use on the paddock gates.  Of course, if we were to walk in and let the door shut behind us, we'd be locked in.  Hence, the orange baling string that is tied to the latch and strung through to the inside.

This is the door the guineas will use when it's time to let them out.  Jordan calls it the "Shelly door".

It slides up, like so, and can be propped open so that the guineas can come and go without having the big door propped open, which wouldn't work on windy days.

The back slides open for easy access to the nesting boxes and, hopefully, future eggs.

Another view of the back.

Jordan made a "track" for the nesting boxes to fit into.  These are drawers that came out of our kitchen during the remodel.

The frame is made out of treated lumber and we already had plenty of chicken wire laying around.  All of the cedar is from the trees that Jordan cut down and milled.  For this project, he cut a "rabbet joint" into each board so that they would overlap and the enclosed area would be water tight.  He also sealed all of the wood, which really brings out the pretty grain.

Barn Beautification

In my quest for fancying up the farm, I enlisted Jordan and his fine wood working talents again for my barn beautification project.  When the idea of putting shutters on the barn first began to blossom in my brain, I was thinking pretty small.  Like, I would nail a few boards together to resemble rustic shutters and then attach them around the windows.  It seemed pretty simple to me, but still a pipe dream.  The best I could hope for was for Tom to feel sorry for me and my feeble efforts, step in and take over.  Even then, we'd not have accomplished this kind of finery.

But, that was before the nephew.

Using more planks from the cedar trees that he milled, Jordan built these beautiful barn shutters.

Sooo much better than I originally planned.

Unfortunately, the trailer parked on the side of the barn hides almost all the windows.  The ones that are not blocked have these ugly (but very useful) window air conditioning units.

One of these days, the trailer will be moved and that little tree will be a big beautiful shade tree.

Prepare To Be Amazed

The first side of the new entryway to our farm is done.

We think it's gorgeous.

Wow.

Jordan did a fabulous job on the cedar slabs and caps for the columns.  We never want them to get dirty, so it's Jordan's job to go out and dust them every day.

To install the slabs, the brick mason built a channel into the columns, so all we had to do is slide the slabs down into place.

And, another picture just because it looks so good.

I hope to do some landscaping around the base, but will have to wait until the other side is done and Tom gets the sprinklers reinstalled.  They have been inoperable for a long time.  Somewhere along the the way, the lines have been cut and when Tom dug them up, the pipes were full of sand.

What a difference, huh?  It doesn't even look like the same brick, but believe it or not, we did reuse the brick.

Almost There!

Jordan is putting the final finishes on the cedar slabs and caps for the entryway.  I can't wait to see it all put together.

This dull piece of wood has been transformed into...

...this beautiful rich color simply by sanding and putting a clear sealant on it.

I never really appreciated cedar before, but I now see each piece as a work of art.

These are equally vibrant, but are covered with a coat of sawdust.  I know Jordan is cringing at this picture because these are his babies, but I'll make it up to him with a picture of the final reveal.  These are the caps to go on the brick pillars, handcrafted by Jordan.  He made all kinds of jigs, templates, and miter boxes to cut out all the angles and fit them together like a puzzle.

Loving the Entryway

The brick mason did a great job on the brick entryway columns.  He only did one side of the drive because he had another job scheduled, but he's coming back in a few weeks to get the other side done.

In the meantime, Jordan is making progress on the wood portion of the project.

 

He is milling the cedar trees.

And is in the process of building caps for the brick columns.

It's going to be beautiful.  Can't wait till it's done!

More pictures to come.