Clark, Wyoming

Wow.  These past few days have been very busy and tiring! 

At work I am working with Nick Herrmann in Room 006 on a batch of EME HCl (Ecgonine Methyl Ester Hydrochloride).  This intermediate product is further processed into synthetic cocaine, a big money maker for our company.  This batch has had a bunch of problems - mostly problems with the equipment.

Bob has finally gotten around to stripping our slate floors in the kitchen, pantry, entry, and living room hearth.  He is using a sealer that makes the slate shiny, like it's wet.  This is really giving the slate a finished look!

Yesterday was payday and Bob rode down to Cody with me.  He kept the truck and got the laundry done.  Then he took the truck to Rimrock Tires and had the tires rotated (for free!).  He went to the County Treasurer's Office and renewed the tags.  He brought me lunch.  And he finished reading his library book and then turned it in.

Tomorrow morning we are driving down to Colorado.  We are going to Denver to get body parts for the truck at the Certifit store.  We will probably shop the Ikea and Woodcraft stores down there too.  We are going to take Buddy with us and just fill the feeder and waterer up to the top for the chickens.

Mom called and left a voicemail this morning to let me know that she has mailed Grandma Pat's poems to me.  I am going to put a Blurb.com book together with these in it.  This should be an interesting project and hopefully I can have it done before Christmas! 

Memorial Day 2014

As usual, I had to get up and take Buddy for his morning walk. 

Next I had to check on the chickens and make sure they had enough water and feed.  We are going to have to move them to grower rations soon.

After a breakfast of sliced mango, bacon, and scrambled eggs, I put up the last shelf for Bob in the laundry room.

We used the belt sander to sand a board on the wood work on the stairs flush with its neighbors.  Bob kept the dust vacuumed up with the Shop Vac while I ran the sander.

This afternoon Gordy came up and helped us get the railing installed on our rooftop deck.  He put in the wooden parts while I cut and ground the cattle panels down to exact size.

Gordy wasn't sure our idea of using cattle panels would look good on the rooftop, but he agrees that it looks good and matches the style of our house.

I can call the banker and tell him to send the appraiser out now.

We had steak with kale and spinach and bacon-wrapped pears for our dinner.

Now I need to start working on the fenced in yard for the chickens.  Gordy was impressed with our chicken coop.  He says that we thought it all out and really did it right.

Clark, Wyoming

The girls are exploring their new digs.

Today I attached trim to the windows in the hen house.  The trim will help hold the screen and hardware cloth down and keep anybody from getting snagged by the ragged sharp wire edges.

Then I put some trim up into the corner where the ceiling meets the walls.  This covers up a small gap and will make the house just a little tighter.  Finally I cut up a small pine limb into two pieces with 45° angles on the ends and mounted them inside the house as roosting poles.

We moved the chicks/chickens from their Rubbermaid box to the new house.  They really seem to like the additional space they have!  It's fun to watch them pecking at the shiny screw heads in the walls and competing for the most interesting pieces of hay!

Later we opened up the beehive and adjusted the size of our sugar water feeder to fit into the bottom of the box.  Then we pulled all of the top bars out and Bob rubbed them all down with beeswax.  This will help the bees know that they should build comb up on the bars.

After this we moved the hive over near the hen house.  I dug out four holes, tossed some gravel into the bottom of the holes, set the hive in and began to level it.  It only took us one small adjustment to have it completely level front-to-back and side-to-side!

We took a nap this afternoon.  It is getting much warmer now.  I think we might have had our last snow for the spring.  Later I put Buddy on the bed of the truck and drove down to the mailbox.  He loves to stick his nose out and sniff as we ride down the road!

12-½ Degrees

Nesting boxes attached to the front.

I was up at 6:30 AM and the first thing I did was get Buddy harnessed up and out the door for his walk.

When we returned there was food in Buddy's bowl and Bob was getting breakfast prepared.  After a nice breakfast of omelets, sliced mangoes, and baked bacon, I went outside to continue working on the hen house.

I set up a folding table under the front of the hen house and then lifted the nesting box assembly up and set it on top.  Then I was able to fasten the nesting boxes to the house wall with 14 four-inch screws.

Next I had to make a roof/lid for it.  I did not have a single piece of OSB large enough for this, so I had to use two pieces held together with battens.  It was the same thing with the service door - I did not have a single piece large enough, so I had to use two pieces.

We spent the whole day outside working on this project.  I was dirty and covered in sawdust by the end of the day.  We still need to pack the walls with rigid foam insulation board, wrap it all in tar felt, put metal roofing panels on it, cover it with siding, and build a fenced in yard.  I think we will probably spend another $200 on it before we are done.

Groceries

Nest boxes were made this afternoon.

Today we drove to Billings, MT to buy our groceries.  We stopped at the McDonald's in Laurel, MT for breakfast, and then cruised over to Home Depot to return some Sonotubes that were not needed. 

In Home Depot we picked up some spray cans of foam insulation used for sealing cracks and a roll of tar felt.  We also priced lumber for our front porch, and checked on insulation board, siding, and metal roofing.  We are thinking about going with brown so that the hen house looks just like the big house.

Next we went to Mary's Health Foods where Bob got some tapioca flour, coconut flour, and gluten-free pizza crust mix.

Then we went across the street to Lowe's.  Here we got a shelf bracket set so that I can put up one more shelf in the laundry room.  We also got a large cardboard box to carry our bees home from Cheyenne in.  We got a 10-foot-long roll of 19 ga 1/2-inch hardware cloth for added security for our hen house windows.

Finally, we headed over to Sam's to begin the grocery shopping.  We shopped carefully, knowing that we did not have much extra money this week.  Our bill at Sam's came to $225.  Then we went to Wal*Mart to finish our groceries.

We bought smaller amounts of stuff at Wal*Mart, but we still needed those things.  Our total at Wal*Mart came to $187.  So, we kept pretty close to our budget.

On the way home we stopped at the Laurel McDonald's again to get fruit smoothies, then we started the trip back to Clark.

When we got home I carried the groceries inside.  Bob began putting the foods away while I went outside to cut more wood and make the nest boxes for the hen house.  I also put the heavier hardware cloth into the windows and I closed up a gap in the hen house ceiling.

It was after 6 PM when Bob came outside to help me put the tools away.  I did not finish the nest box, but I got a lot done.  Bob walked Buddy, then we went inside for a dinner of steak, spinach and kale, and scalloped sweet potatoes.

Now I need to get a shower, shave my face, and be ready to work tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday.

Clark, Wyoming

View of the unfinished front.

This morning we were up around 7:30.  Buddy was standing at the side of the bed wagging his tail and I knew he needed to go outside.  So I got up, pulled my pants on, and took him for his morning walk.

When we got back, Bob had a scoop of food in his bowl for him.

I got the dirty laundry gathered up and put the baskets into the bed of the truck - there was quite a bit of laundry because we have not washed clothes in two weeks!

View of the unfinished back.

We drove over to Powell, got cash from the ATM, and then went to McDonald's for breakfast.  When we got to J&S Laundry, we found it closed!  So we decided to head down US 14A to Cody and wash clothes there instead.

I think we were in the laundromat for about 2 hours.  We combined two loads of towels in one of the large commercial washers, and filled three more machines with darks, colors, and whites.

Next we picked up a sheet of 1/2-inch OSB, and some 2x4's to use on the chicken coop.  We headed up the hill, filled the gas tank, and then popped into Albertson's to get some mozzarella cheese and a couple of avocados.

Then we headed up WY 120 back to home to Clark.  We spent all afternoon working on the chicken coop.

We cut out the windows.  We put up rafters.  We cut OSB sheets to size and screwed them down to the rafters to make a roof.  We installed a toungue-and-groove ceiling.  We installed hardware cloth in the windows.

It sure got more comfortable inside that little box when we got it roofed and then got the window openings cut out!  A good cross breeze coming in the back window and flowing out through the front windows.

I still need to make the nest boxes, the service door, and a pop door.  We need to put the rigid insulation board into the walls, and then cover the walls up with siding.  We are going to top it off with metal roofing.  Finally, I will need to get their run enclosed with fencing and hardware cloth.

It was after 7:00 PM when we came inside to make our Caprese salad for dinner and take Buddy for his walk.  I needed a shower badly because I was covered in sawdust!  We are both sunburned pretty good now.

Tomorrow we are going to Billings to get some stuff from Lowe's / Home Depot for the chicken coop, then we are going to get our monthly load of groceries.

These three days off have sure flown by!

Clark, Wyoming

Pressing the vinyl flooring down.

Okay, that's another three days of work done.  It's different being on days... on one hand, my sleep is much better, but on the other, there are lots of people in the plant during the day, and we either have to hide down the production hallway, or get volunteered for busy work.

This morning we drove to Cody first thing.  I had to attend a health screening given by Wyoming Health Fairs.  This was at the Cody Rec Center.  The screening cost $35, and the company paid for it, but because I got the screening, my health insurance premium will go down $50 each month - that's $600 for a year!

Once we got the health fair out of the way, we headed to Granny's for breakfast.  Then we filled the gas tank.  We popped into Big Horn Carpet to look for a vinyl or linoleum remnant  to line the floor of our chicken coop.  Big Horn Carpet had some scraps, but they wanted top dollar for them too.  We quickly left.

We visited The Carpet Hut and the lady there took us to the back to show us her remnants.  We picked out a really thick, textile re-inforced green vinyl, and she charged us $20 for it.

Today was a beautiful day.  We were outside almost all day working on our chicken coop.  I started cutting the OSB and 2x2's to make the coop walls.  This little bird house is consuming a large amount of screw, but it is very SOLID!!

We had to go back out again because we could not find my can of contact cement, so we decided to go over to the True Value store in Red Lodge.  Here we got a couple of small paint rollers and a can of contact cement.  They had a few more things I would like to have, but we will just have to wait until we have more money.

Setting walls up on the floor.

After stopping at Town Pump to fill the gas tank and get a snack, we came back home.  We rolled the adhesive onto the back of the vinyl flooring and on the OSB floor deck inside the coop.  After both pieces got tacky, we carried the vinyl over, turned it right-side-up, and stuck it down.  We pressed it into place and trimmed it back to the edges.

We made a great amount of progress on the chicken coop today.  Tomorrow morning we are going to Powell to do laundry.  After we return I intend to continue working on the coop.  We have to get it done enough to put the birds inside - they are getting very big and they are getting crowded inside their Rubbermaid tub!

On Friday we intend to go to Billings.  We will return the Sonotubes that we did not use.  We will get rigid insulation board, exterior siding, and metal roofing materials to finish up the coop.  Then we will buy groceries at Sam's Club and Wal*Mart.

I am working Saturday, Sunday, and Monday this week (weekend?).  

Saturday

Bob stands in the frame.

 I took Buddy for his morning walk at 8:00 AM because Gordy said he would be up at our house "first thing" this morning to get the railing on our stairs finished up.  He texted us later to say that he was helping his neighbors and would be up later.

He arrived around 10:00 AM.  We were just finishing up a breakfast of plantain pancakes, bacon, and sliced oranges with tea.

While he worked on the stairs, I went outside to work on the foundation for our chicken coop.  I got the 2x6's mounted on the 4x4 posts, but needed some carriage bolts to really fasten them down.  I also needed a T20 driver bit to drive the screws I bought for this project.

With the floor screwed on.

After Gordy finished and left, we got into the truck and went to Powell.  Here we visited Ace Hardware and I got two T20 driver bits, four big 1/2-inch carriage bolts, four matching nuts and washers, a door bolt, some door handles, and a new 7-1/4" circular saw blade for my Skillsaw.

I gassed the truck up at Blair's Market, and then we went to the Habitat for Humanity store in Powell.  We were looking for a linoleum or vinyl remnant.  We didn't find it there, but we picked up an old Disston saw for $3.00. 

We headed over to Cody to check out the carpet and flooring stores to see if we could find a small piece of vinyl or linoleum for the coop floor.  This kind of surface will make cleaning it much easier in the future.  No luck in Cody either.

I took Bob to Albertson's where he got two vanilla beans, then we got a McDonald's drive-thru lunch, and headed home to Clark in the rain.

We stopped at the Denny Dairy where Bob took his empty milk jar in with $2.00, and took our a full jar of milk, then we headed home.

Even though it was cool, windy, and rainy, we finished screwing in the 2x6 floor joists, and then we screwed the 3/4" OSB floor down to that.  I put the joists underneath so that the floor would have enough support if one of us has to climb inside for some reason.

I have to work tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday.  On Wednesday I have to go to Cody for a health fair and health screening.  The blood work will cost me $35, but it saves me $50 per month over the next year for a total savings of $600 off of my health insurance premiums.

Sometime during my next three days off, I will have to get the walls of the coop started and put into place.  Since I am building the coop from the inside out, I can put the birds inside of it before the outside of it is done!  That is good because these girls are getting big really fast!

Chicken Coop

Foundation of the chicken coop.

Again, we were up because Buddy was crying and needed to go outside.  So I got dressed, harnessed him, and took him for his walk.  When I returned Bob had breakfast ready.

We had sliced melon, sliced strawberries, frozen (gluten-free) waffles, and bacon.

I took the waterer out of the chick brooder, cleaned it, re-filled it, and put it back in.  I also added more pine shavings to the floor.

Next we went outside and began working on setting the posts for the chicken coop in concrete.

I cut the 4x4's to length while Bob used the wheelbarrow to move the QuikCrete over to the place where we dug the holes for the legs.  We set each leg, poured in a 60-pound bag of concrete, added 1/2 gallon of water, stirred, and then leveled the legs front-to-back, and side-to-side.  We are letting the concrete cure overnight.

After this, Bob went back inside while I used the wheelbarrow to move gravel.  I carried about 6 loads up to the end of the driveway and stamped it down good.  I also put some in a small ravine near the house that the last rain storm had washed out.  It won't wash out so easily now.

Inside the house I used the air compressor and nailer, along with the mitre box and mitre saw, to cut trim and attach it to the front of the underside of the bar.  I have the front of the bar trimmed in now.  I also placed some quarter rounds along the front of the stairs and from the stairs to the door along the wall.

Gordy showed up at 4:00 PM.  He unloaded the redwood posts for our rooftop railing, but he did not bring his saw.  He said it was going to rain.  It was sprinkling and windy.  He said he would be up first thing in the morning to finish the stair railing.

I have been tired all day, but did not have a chance to take a nap.  How can I?  There is still so much to do and I only have 3 days off each week!

Day Off

We managed to sleep in until after 9:00 AM.  Buddy was starting to get disgusted with us, and he began to huff and puff about it.  So, I finally got up, took him for his walk, and warmed the truck up.

I tossed the bolt cutters and a measuring tape into the bed, and had Bob get in.  We drove to the Tractor Supply store in Laurel, MT to buy cattle panels to cut up and use as infill panels on our roof top deck railing.

We got the galvanized panels with 4" x 4" square openings.  These panels are 16-feet-long, so I had to use my bolt cutters to cut them in half and stack them on the bed of my truck.  The panels were $44 each and we got two of them.

We also purchased some Sav-A-Chik electrolyte mix and probiotic mix to put into the chicken water.

Next we headed over to Billings and stopped at Home Depot.  We browsed the garden section and then got a heavy-duty cart to load up with eight bags of QuikCrete and some Sonotubes.  We intend to use this for the chicken coop foundation.

Bob got a haircut at Great Clips.  They had a haircut sale going on - $7.99 each!

Now we headed home.  At the house we put our small purchases inside and then Bob brought out four ears of corn from the Bountiful Baskets.  We aren't going to eat this, so we headed down to Gordy and Lorie's to give the ears to them.  We showed Gordy the panels and explained how we want to use them on the railing.  I need to get some 1" x 2" strips to block the panels in with too.

Gordy is coming up to our house tomorrow to finish the stairs and railing inside our house.

Back home I started the oil change on the truck while Bob got the Shop Vac out and cleaned the carpet in the cab and cleaned up some spilled gravel in the bed.

We decided where to site the chicken coop.  I carried the floor board over to the spot and used spray paint to outline the foot print.  Then I got a shovel and began to dig the holes for the posts.  Because I can only dig down about 14" where I strike hard pan clay, I think we are going to return the Sonotubes and just pour the QuikCrete into the bottom of the holes.

I put the chickens into the bath tub while I cleaned their box out, cleaned the waterer, and gave them more food.  Of course they crapped all over the bottom of the tub, so I had to get the Dow Tub and Tile Cleaner out and clean the tub when I got them back into their box.

Tomorrow I want to get the 4x4 posts set in concrete at the coop.  After the concrete sets, I will back fill the holes and attach some 2x6's to the posts.  These are what the floor board will be screwed into.  We need to get a vinyl or linoleum remant to cover the floor with.  This will make clean up a lot easier.

After I get the posts set, I can cut up the plywood I bought for the interior walls.  I will cut up the 2x2's and screw the plywood to these.  If I have the walls sort of pre-fabricated, the actual coop assembly will go quickly.

I think I will try to document the building of our chicken coop with photos.  It might be interesting to follow our progress on this project.

Today was a pretty day and tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful.

Clark, Wyoming

It was a cooler, cloudy day with showers.  It rained off and on at Cody.  Bob says it rained all day here.

I am really liking it being back on Day Shift.  While I don't care for all of the extra people and extra eyes, my sleep is much better, and I don't have to rely on Five Hour Energy to get through the night.

Bob made a nice dinner of hamburgers with sauteed mushrooms and peppers.  For dessert we had a blueberry pie.  He also canned 6 quarts of beef stew, changed the litter in the chicken box, and walked Buddy (2x!).

Today was my Wednesday and tomorrow is my Friday!  We are going to get busy and start our chicken coop on my three days off.  We have to - those birds are getting big so fast!

Weekend

I was paid early on Friday morning.  When I got off of work I took the truck over to Rimrock Tire to have the balding front passenger side tire replaced and get a front-end alignment.  The man behind the counter took my information and said they could see me at 10:00 AM.  Ugghhh... I had been up all night, and now I would have to stay up longer!

So, I headed over to Ace Hardware and got a wheelbarrow for my yard work.  Then I went to K-mart and got an 18-inch, oscillating fan on a pedestal.  Finally, I went into Albertson's supermarket and got some heads of cabbage and stew beef.

I headed back to the tire store, sat down in the waiting room, and dozed in and out of sleep while Let's Make a Deal and The Price is Right played on the TV.

It was 11:30 when I finally drove out of there.  The truck handles much better now.  I am sure this tire will last much longer too since the wheel isn't toed-in so badly.

At noon I rolled in and rolled right into bed.

I was up again at 4:30.  Ate a nice lasagna Bob baked while I slept, and then headed back down the highway to Cody to work an extra overtime shift.

Tonight I am working again - my last night before starting day shift on Monday.  I need the hours, otherwise, this would be a small check. 

Tomorrow is my only day off until Thursday.  I think I am going to use my new wheelbarrow to move gravel around my driveway and move some dirt up next to the house.

Clark, Wyoming

The finished compost bin.

Last night I made cocaine hydrochloride with Nick Herrmann in Room 2.  I like making this product because it only has three ingredients and you can finish it in one shift.

Today the man from Dash Storage came and picked up the 40-foot storage container.  This happened while I was sleeping. 

I noticed that the cords are showing through on the right front tire.  I get paid tonight, so I am taking the truck to Rim Rock Tire tomorrow morning for a front end alignment and replace that tire.  I can chance a blowout!

Thinking about taking another shift and going ahead with 5 nights work this week.  This will make my check on May 16 bigger.  I need the money.