Clothes Closet to Food Pantry

We designed our home years ago and I love it expect for one little thing. There was never enough space to store food!  The original part of the house had a very small kitchenette with almost no storage space especially for five people.  When  we  added the main section of the house we increased the storage area but there was still no place for a freezer or extra food.  We originally had the freezer and “pantry” area in the garage but that didn’t work very well  when we moved into the main house since it meant going outside to get to them.  We solved the freezer problem by moving it up into the old kitchen. It means going upstairs to get the food but that’s better then having to go outside and also opened up space in the garage.

The “pantry” was another story.  Last year we enclosed the breezeway so you no longer have to go outside to get to the garage from the first floor but the “pantry” area  in the garage was taken over with animal food and sports equipment and  other junk that I have not decided what to do with.       ( We all have things that we are not sure what to do with.) The old kitchenette is now a craft studio/laundry room so there is no place for canned goods in that area.

We needed a place to store food because every time we went shopping the kitchen counters and dinning room table would be covered with food.  In the past that was only a problem in the winter months when we would stock up in case of bad weather.  With this pandemic  going on we are trying to stock up so we do not have to go to the store as often and that meant we had food everywhere.  I needed to think outside the box and find a place to store things.

I thought about clearing out the area in the garage but decided it was too far away from the kitchen and the area has a temperature swing especially when the garage door opens in the winter.   I  also thought about using the old closet in the north wing but that meant carrying all those cans upstairs and then back down when I fixed meals.  Sounded like a lot of extra work especially since I was already doing that with the frozen food. I needed another solution!

We had a  “mudroom” cabinet built for the nook area near the back door to hold our coats since they always ended up on the hooks by that door and never in the downstairs closet. I had installed a few coat hooks by the front door for guest and to hold my “front” door coat. My “work” coat is on a coat rack on the enclosed porch. So what was in the downstairs coat closet? A bunch of older coats and our heavy winter coats which will be switched out into the mudroom cabinet, enclosed porch and by the front door  when it gets colder. The light bulb flashed on! I have been meaning to clean out the closet in the north wing since it  hasn’t been cleaned out since Shawn got married and moved out. It was half full of  clothes that he had left behind and anything I tossed inside.  I washed and folded all the clothes and placed them in  a box for him. (All the kids have a drawer in a tall dresser for weekend clothes.)  I now had a cleared walk – in closet. It would have stored lots of food but it works best for those winter coats. They only took one side so there is still room for guest to hang clothes is needed. That left the downstairs coat closet empty. A perfect place for a pantry!

Cans are heavy so it took four tracks and three additional shelves to hold everything. Bill did most of the work as I was busy carrying clothes upstairs and doing laundry. I think he did a great job!

 

I love the new pantry! Everything is organized and I can see what we have at the “store.” Also it is close to the kitchen so no climbing stairs or walking  two rooms over to get the food. So hopefully no more wasted food that I find years after the expiration date.

Best of all the kitchen looks so much better since I have more room to store appliances. Now only the  appliances that are used daily/weekly are on the counter tops.

I actually have counter space! It looks so good I hate messing it up by cooking.

Our dinning room table is back to normal.  I am so ready for a huge family get together around this table.

Countdown to Winter

Yesterday was a beautiful day  and we took advantage of  the warmer weather. First thing I did was hang two loads of laundry out on the line before going to the gym. When we got home I started preparing for winter.

1. Turned off and drained the water fountain by the back door  before covering it with a thick black plastic bag.
2. Rolled up garden hoses ( all but two which I will still need to use this week) and put them away.
3. Collected all water nozzles and sprinklers and placing them in a bucket inside the greenhouse. (These will be moved into the shed once it is completed.)
4. Finished painting the red chicken coop.
5. Finished weatherstripping both chicken coops
6. Checked the tarp that is a wind breaker on the north side of the chicken park to see if it was secure.
7. Bill and I laid out the area for the new metal shed.
8. Bill started leveling that area
9. I cleared off two garden beds that were spent for the season.
10.  Brought in the potted plants I plan on overwintering inside.
11.  Added straw to the “cat house” which is inside the old shed.
12. Placed dried gladiolus bulbs in a box  with newspaper in between layers in the garage.

I don’t like to think about winter but I prefer to have most of the winterizing done before the weather gets cold. I still have lots to do before I can relax (hibernate) this winter. I need to  wrap the chicken runs in plastic, run an extension cord to the coops and hook up the water dishes,  clean the goldfish filter and set the pump on high for the winter, place a layer of clear plastic over the little pond to help keep it from freezing and to keep leaves out of it this fall, top off the water and put the last hose away for  winter,  bring in the water lily from the iron pot and turn it over so it does not crack.  clean up all the gardens and get them ready for winter ( have to wait until after a hard freeze for that one). We also want to get the metal shed completed before winter. Looks like we will be very busy for the rest of this month.

Taking a break

This morning was a reminder that summer has ended and autumn will soon lead into winter. I am not looking forward to the ice, snow and frigid temperatures. I still have projects to finish and I prefer to do them in warm weather.

We have a lot of projects still going from this summer and I admit we waited to do a few of the things in cooler weather – like the inside of the newly enclosed back porch and the gravel path to the chicken park.

In the meantime we have been working on the foundation for the shed by the chicken park. This is a project that want from a simple metal shed to be placed over bare ground to a completely different project.

I found this 8 x 10 metal shed on sale and thought it would be nice to have out by the chicken park to hold the chicken feed and stuff.  When I told Bill were I wanted to place the shed he said  the area needed to be leveled out to  prevent the shed from becoming  full of muddy  water when it rained . I thought about it and realized he was right so we started to make a foundation to level the building.

We measured the area off and Bill dug the holes for the posts. That was not an easy job since we have not had any rain for over a month!  We leveled the post and set them in concrete.

It was super hot  so we took a bunch of breaks which led to brainstorming. “What if we  placed the metal shed here temporary and  build a regular 12 x 12 shed  over it next spring?” – he says. ” How about we use the little metal shed for the main garden and not try to move it later?  I am not in that big a hurry for this shed especially if I can have a bigger one.” – I said. We both agreed that was a great ideal.

How is it I always end up thinking up more projects? All these shed projects started with ” I think I’ll clean out the garage this summer.”  We have decided to use  treated 4 x 4 on the ground topped with regular 2 x 4  as a foundation for the metal shed. This foundation will not require digging deep holes but may require a little leveling before we can put the shed together. I plan on placing it in the space between the greenhouse and the cherry tree.  That way I can lock up the garden stuff and get a lot of it out of the garage and the greenhouse.  I love the new cover on the greenhouse!

I am still waiting for the plants I ordered to arrive so I can finish the wildflower garden. I am afraid that cleaning out the old red shed, the wishing well project,  the wooden fence around the shade garden and the gravel path to the chicken park may have to wait until next spring to get finished.  I need to take time to winterize the chicken park and the coops,  clean up the vegetable garden beds and prepare them for winter.

This past week we have stopped working and taking a mini “stay vacation.” We  started the week by enjoying a great cook out with good friends.

The last part of the week our middle son come in for Oktoberfest  and a little golfing.

And of course setting and relaxing around the fire pit.

Table and Coop

What a wonderful day! I spent the whole day in the garage and outside working. After feeding the animals I started sanding the table. My little sander has a bag to collect sawdust  so I really didn’t think about wearing a mask. Bill came to ask a question and his first words were “You should be wearing a mask ” I never noticed all the dust in the air until then. I know I have a mask somewhere in my tools but I only had a small area to finish. I ended up turning on a fan and finishing.

Since I plan on painting the table I did not have to remove all the old finish before giving it a coat of blue paint.

I had two hours to play with before I could give the table a second coat of paint so I started working on the new chicken coop which came in one large heavy box.

I unpacked all the pretty  unlabeled pieces and stared at the directions. I said unlabeled which isn’t exactly true since all the different screws were in small labeled bags. I had to laugh when Bill came around the corner and  said good luck. I told him that nothing was labeled but the screws and I could have figured them out easily.

Luckily this wasn’t my first coop to assemble and I had it together quickly. Well, not completely since this coop is designed so that it can be taken apart into three sections for easy movement.

I set each section on some paper and started painting. The instructions said to either paint it or put a coat of clear finish on it. There was no way I was leaving the wood bare and I wasn’t too pleased with the poor stain job that the factory applied. I also didn’t like the brown color since I wanted something that the chickens would show up against.

I checked my paint supply and decided on a blue and white  coop. While inside the garage I gave that table a second coat of paint before starting on the coop.

I painted until after 6 last night and would have continued until dark but Bill was hungry  and  took me out to dinner.

It is supposed to be warm today so I am hoping to finish painting the coop and move it out to the park so I can move the chicken by the end of this week. That may take a bit longer then I thought since I noticed the coop had a design flaw that I need to repair. The night-time enclosure has an open space at the  top which needs to be filled. I want online to check it out and saw where one person had mentioned that he had to fill that space with a board. It looks like I  will have to get my circular saw out and do a little carpentry.  I also want to get the first coat of glitter  on the table and those strawberry plants arrived yesterday so I have to get them planted soon.

I am not sure what happened to the one barn (feral ) cat that I have been feeding but Garfield came in this afternoon covered in blood and scared. He would not let me get too close  so I used the camera to get pictures that I could zoom in on. At first I thought he had been bitten but later after he calmed down had cleaned himself a bit I was able to get close enough  to see that it looks like a large scrape on the side of his neck. He is eating normally – in fact he got a whole extra can of food this evening. Poor baby. Spring is not his best time of year. Last month he was a fat cat and now he looks like a worn out alley cat. I have no idea how old he really is but I do know he has been here for  over seven years and has just lately allow me to get close to him and that is only when I have food. He is one independent cat!

Old to new table

As a lot of you know my mother has been gone for a long time  (Sept 1, 2004) and it has taken me all this time to finish clearing out her house.  The furniture that we never took out years ago  had seen much better days so I was a bit surprised when Shawn asked for this old table.  It had been in front of my mother living room window for years and it had once been very pretty. I said once! We original left it in her house because the leather top was stained badly and we didn’t know were to put it in our house.

When Shawn asked for the table it was in even worst shape! Ground hogs had gotten into the house and gnawed on the legs  and the table was covered with years of grime and dirt. I much say I looked at him strangely and  asked if he was sure. Yes.   I said, “Okay but not in this condition. I ‘ll redo it first.”

That turned into quite a chore.  First I had to clean and disinfect the whole table before I would even leave it into my garage. Yes, it was that bad!

The next step was to sand all the gnawed places and reshape the damaged legs. I used the electric sander to get the worst part and finished my hand.

Once that was finished it was time to remove the original varnish which proved to be harder than usual. I am not sure what type of finish was on it but it took one and  a half cans of Minwax Antique Furniture Refinisher. The kitchen table I did last year took this amount and it was bigger!

One all the old finish was off and the piece sanded again it was time to start staining. I started off with two coats of Minwax early American but it never gave me the color I wanted so I topped it with a light coat of Minwax special walnut and got the color I wanted. I topped the table off with two coats of Minwax gloss polyurethane.

Doesn’t look bad from the distance but up close that “leather” top was cracked ,chipped and stained. I tried cleaning it with saddle soap, leather cleaner and oiling it – nothing worked. Oh, it gave it a wonderful  shine but all that cracking and staining were still there.

Shawn liked the table and asked it I could put a fabric cover over the top. That told me he wasn’t completely thrilled with the  table top so I want shopping! I had an idea so I worked the aisles at Home Depot until I found what I was looking for – a thin vinyl tile that looked like marble. My next problem was how to attach it to the leather. A quick internet search said to soak a cotton ball in alcohol and clean the leather before gluing the tile on. Easy enough – but wait  –  the alcohol loosen the leather so that it pulled right off! I now had a super clean area to glue my tile too plus it was now the correct height for my original idea of using mosaic tiles as a border around the marble tile.

I laid out the mosaic tiles and glued them down and then want out and weeded around the house.

The next morning I measured the marble color tile and cut it to size using my razor knife. I pulled the paper backing off and glued it onto the table top. Another wait time for it to dry. And  24 hours later – I grouted the table top. I love the way the tabletop turned out!

The final table looks so much better than the original table.  I am glad Shawn wants to display it in his house and I am super happy with the new look – he will not have to cover it with a table cloth now!

 

Super Saturday

Yesterday was a wonderful busy day and we got a lot of things knocked off my to do  list.

I started out by cleaning both of the inside bird cages than out to clean the chicken coop. Next I cleaned the litter box in the garage and looked for my weed spray. I actually found three bottles of weed killer and sprayed around the parking area. Of course there wasn’t a cat to be seen when I started and after I sprayed I had to “cat set” until the spray was all dry. Since I had so many different bottles of weed killer I decided to look though my spray paint cans before buying paint for my next project.  Alas, no silver mirror paint.

No mosquitoes so it was a perfect day to finish gluing the “eye” stone. I had forgotten to cover it the night before and Garfield had messed up the background tiles. Thank goodness the rest was all ready glued in place.  It now has to set 24 hours before I can grout it. Another item to add to the shopping list.

I started on the last “planned” stone which is the cross. This is my first draft and I think it is ready to start gluing. I will add more of the small colorful gems while gluing.

I took a short break to relax in my new hammock chair. Oh, I could spend hours out there in that chair and hopefully I will as soon as I get the back porch cleaned and redecorated.

I sanded the kitchen table top and give it its third and final top coat of polyurethane.  If I give it any more coats I will need to wear solar glasses just to look at it.

While I was doing all that Bill replaced the ceiling fan in the studio. The lights worked but the fan stopped working and with out A/C  that room becomes very hot. I enjoy the heat but not when I am doing physical work like hand sanding a table. The old ceiling fan was the original one installed in 1978 so no shame in having to replace it. The new light only has three bulbs whereas the old one had five but it gives off enough to do my work.

He also repair the light in the ceiling fan in our front room. The fan worked but not the light. I was afraid we would have to replace the whole light part or maybe even the whole fan but we found the right repair part at Home Depot. Of course while we were getting that part I also got my paint and grout for my projects.

All in all it was a great day and I got to mark off 6 things from my list.

On the Go

The last few days have been super busy. Wednesday night I attended my W.A.R. meeting and had a great time. My shooting has improved so much since this time last year. The instructor ended up giving me three targets since I shot the center out of the first two and I have a new drill to practice at home – drawing from the holster.

I spent most of the day Thursday cleaning animal cages. Sunny decided she wanted some attention and sit on my shoulder the whole time I was cleaning her cage. Tootsie Roll was not as friendly however she has improved so much since I first got her. In the beginning I could not even walk into the room with out scaring her and so we kept her away from the main activity until she got use to us – how she is in the “animal” room and will allow me to get my hand up to within two inches of her before she flies to another perch. That may not sound like much but it is a major step in the right direction. Artie’s cage was a little bit trickier since he was super hungry (seems like that snake is always hunting) – lucky for me all I needed to do was a little maintenance which I managed to get done while he was eating his rat. Next I cleaned the rest of the house – I even swept the garage. That evening we attended the Lion’s club meeting and headed over to the store to get the rest of the seeds for the “shade” garden.

Friday I finished planting the shade garden before we headed to the apartment to do a little maintenance there and pick up chicken feed. While getting the feed I found another wind chime – I know I have so many as it is but this one featured a chicken on top! We also stopped to get some groceries. The UPS guy came bearing a gift from Doug – a mug to go along with my so-called “frog addiction” as well as my “mug” addiction. Humm – wind chimes, frogs, mugs, and animals addictions – well it could be worse.

That evening we headed to Columbus to see The Circle. A well written story that was a little too believable with the way technology is advancing. After the movie we headed to Petco to get more live plants for the aquarium. Two weeks ago I asked about foreground plants and was told they did not have any-but they had some this time. I was going to buy a few bottom feeders but it was getting late and we still had to eat dinner so I decided to wait. That was the best choice since these plants need a little time to get established before adding fish,

We decided to give Shawn a call to see if he was still at work. He was just finishing so he met us at Chili’s in Columbus. I so enjoy spending time with our boys. It was late by the time we got home so I quickly did my Spanish lessons and want to bed.

Saturday was another busy day. I planted the new plants in the aquarium before we hit the road again. We celebrated Mother’s day with dinner at Ponderosa in Washington, IN. Finally got home late Saturday and I must say it was so nice to walk into a clean house!

Working hard

Yesterday was a very busy day. It started getting busy as soon as I got up. Fed the inside birds, gave Artie a mouse, fed Shoes and sent her out the door, watered all the indoor plants, unloaded the dryer and finally went outside.

Fed the cats and the chickens before working on the chicken run. I added more screws to the support brackets, put two new locks on one of the access door, and repaired the roost bar. Shimmer and Lady Gaga seem to be getting alone well and later in the early evening I put them all together.

Next I headed to the sun garden where I secured all the trellis and added the string to the pea bed and the older bean tower. I also placed the new pole beans tower  and changed out the garden flag. The asparagus and the peas are coming up nicely.

Bill was busy moving more dirt and repairing Shoes fence so I started laying more landscape fabric. I have another section and a half  done and waiting for the gravel.  I would have gotten both sections done but we went to town to get gas for the Jeep, run a few errands and get some groceries. I also added some more solar lights alone the path way.

It was raining when we got back home so I baked Easter cookies. It looks like I need to make another trip to town before I can decorate them because I can not find any food coloring at home.

The chicken run was a muddy mess so the chickens were glad to be inside for the night. Shimmer was okay with no new wounds but she run to her carrier instead of the coop when I called them. So she will spent another night in the garage. I told Bill I totally understand her reasoning – she get new dry bedding every night and gets hand fed meal worms and cracked corn as I make over her looking for new wounds. She is not dumb, she knows where her bread gets buttered.

 

DIY Pole Bean Tower

A few years ago I decided to try pole beans and fell in love with them but not so much the support system. The first one I tried work well but cost over 40 dollars and I have to re-string it every year. I still use it to this day but it only holds half the amount of beans I plant.

I got the first one for half price which was okay but I did not think it was worth 40 dollars so I started experimenting to see what I could use for the second tower.

The first one I tried was a tepee made of bamboo stakes. It looked great at the beginning of the season but could not withstand the weight of the pole beans and the stakes broke leaving a mess.

Next I tried growing the beans up the net trellis which worked but it was very difficult to remove the spent vines at the end of the season without ripping the netting. (Netting will last many seasons if not ripped.)

This year I found I tower over at Momma D and Da Boyz page and decided to try my hand at making one.

I won’t go into details but I used stock lumber from Home Depot which is a little different from what was called for in the instructions. The tower was easy to build and it is tall and not super heavy but it isn’t light weight at all! I used four 8 foot boards and added the cross supports at regular intervals.

If if works as well as it looks I may never have to string another tower at least not for pole beans.

Update on Shimmer: I placed Lady Gaga in the pen with her today and by the end of the day they were getting alone without any problems. That evening she do not run from the others when they were let loose to go to the coop. Unfortunately Josie decided to jump and attack Shimmer who immediately ran to me and jumped into my arms so she is spending another night in the garage.

Save

More project = more supplies

The weather people are calling for warm weather in the near future and I have a bunch of projects to work on but I needed supplies.

Yesterday was a perfect day to go shopping for those supplies. We cleaned the gutters last week and noticed a few (4) of the flood lights were burnt out so that was the first thing on our list.  We decided to use daylight LED flood lights which are not cheap but they are supposed to last for a super long time. I hope so because I do not like him climbing up that ladder to the peak of the house. No it hasn’t anything to do with our age because I have never liked that climb. The good thing is that chore is finished and the ladder is back in the garage but not back on the hooks – yet.

The chickens have been fighting and poor Shimmer is now almost bald. I treat her head daily but I need to make their run larger so she can get away from the others. I brought boards and hard wire so I can build an addition to their run. It will have a door that I can use to separate the injured ones from the bullies. Hopefully by tomorrow evening Shimmer will have her own run. She seems to enjoy being handled because she runs to me whenever she hears my voice.

Our new fruit trees arrived last week and I planted them but needed to buy stakes for them, They came with a device to keep them straight but I needed T – posts to use the devices. The trees are now staked out but I still need to do a little work on them.

I have the new organic spray so plan on spraying them this week and add organic fertilizer to the garden as soon as I can work the beds.

I order more strawberries so I need to make a new bed for them. A few years ago I brought one of those fancy strawberry pyramids which work nicely however, they are too expensive, I got mine for half price and I still thought I paid way too much for it since it still wants to come apart each time I weed the bed. I decided I could make one cheaper so I brought some aluminum flashing and will cut it to size. Bill has a rivet gun so he can fasten the ends together and if not I can easily cut the same type of connections that the brought one has. So instead of paying 60 plus for the bed I got it for less than $15. I just have to cut and put it together before mid March when the strawberries are due to arrive.

I have four of the “strip” gardens ready for the landscape fabric so I brought a large roll of it and the staples to hold it in place. I need to get that laid before the weeds start to grow. I can always add the stone mulch later since I still have three more strip” gardens to level out and plant before the weather turns super hot.

Last major purchase on the list was more LED rope lights to replace those on the front porch which burnt out for some reason. They were just replaced last summer so I was very surprised when they went out.

I also picked up a gallon of bleach which I will need when the  basement drains so that I can disinfect it.

The seed mats are ready for planting, some plants are under lights, others are still germinating, and many more seeds are scheduled to be planted soon under cover inside.

Looks like I will be busy the next few weeks!