Nice chicken coop if I do say so myself

We finished it. The chicken coop is now totally finished.  The girls have been out there for awhile, however the final step was the roof, and it finally got put on within the last two weeks.  The spring was a cold one here, and it took us much longer than we thought to get this thing going.

But here she is.  I think it turned out pretty good, and the chickens seem to be happy, which is really what matters right?

Here are the drawings my hubby created so we could get a materials list, etc.  We made a 10'x12' shed.  The chickens get half, and the other half we made into a tool shed for gardening supplies and chicken food storage.

We actually started building the walls inside our barn so we could keep working with all the rain.

Time to make the floor...
We used 2x4's for the floor structure, and then covered them with sheeting.  They are attached to 4 4x4's concreted into the ground.

It's building day.  These were the first two fabricated walls we put up.  We framed the other two walls, but didn't side them because of the windows.  Needed to install those first.

Truss day.  See the weather in the background?  Yikes!

At least with the tar paper on the roof, the chickens could move in.  Nice and dry.

Next up, the chicken run.

Perfect hangout outside, and we made them a little shade structure out of an old pallet.
Don't mind all the clover, the big veggie garden is coming along, but slower than I hoped, however the chickens really seem to like clover. Eat away my friends, eat away!

Growing like weeds.  Looking forward to the eggs!

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Mt. Bierstadt Done!

We did it!  My husband and I finished our 6th 14er, and my son just completed his first, and I think we have him hooked.  Just so we all know, my reference to the term 14er refers to the 53 peaks in Colorado that are 14,000 feet above sea level.  My husband and I have a goal to complete them all in our lifetime.  Right now while the kids are smaller, we have done the easy ones, and the ones closer to Denver to start out with.

The views at the top were breathtaking.  Just can't describe how much all the effort is worth every minute of this view.

It's a three and a half mile hike from the trail head to the summit, and we got started at 7:30 in the morning.  Best to start early, sometimes the weather will move-in in the afternoon, and don't want to get stuck up there when that happens!

Here we are at the start of our day

The first part of the hike is through the willows. It's a swampy area, so we were prepared to walk through some mud and tall brush, then we also had a river crossing  to contend with as well.  We walked up the trail a ways to find an area that was easier to navigate across the river.

Once you make it out of the willows, you have the snow to contend with.  Kind of cool though to see snow in June!  We had to go through several snow fields with some ice as well.

Konnor was such a trooper.  With this being his first 14er, he was so excited he practically ran up the trail.

Once you get near the top, the landscape changes to more climbing over rocks than hiking.  But you can see the summit.

We made it!! Gratefully still as happy as we were at the bottom when we got started.  It took us 3 hours to get to the top, not too shabby if you ask me.

We always like to take a picture of the geological marker when we get to the top.









Our goal is to do at least two this year. Quandary Peak here we come.

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Happy Father's Day Hike

In the celebration of Father's Day weekend, we decided to take a family hike.

We stayed near Denver, and went into the foothills to hike around Mount Falcon Park.

We took the Parmalee Trail, picked up the Meadow trail, and ended up...

at the Walker home ruins...

which has a pretty cool story of how his family came here, and how this land became the Jefferson county open space.

The weather couldn't have been better for our Father's day outing.

View looking back at the city.

Happy Father's Day!

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Puffy Pillows of Perfection

The summer has begun, and quite frankly I couldn't wait for no schedules, no wake up calls, just relaxation.  With that said, we do need to keep a little structure around here during the summer, it's nice to have something to look forward to.  So this year, just like last, we have days of the week that we plan to do things.  This summer we have a cooking day, so my kids and I get to choose anything we want to make.  First week out of the gate my daughter chooses beignets, in honor of the Princess and The Frog movie.

Have to admit that they turned out just perfect, like pillows of perfection.

She did all the work, from the yeast and the eggs,

To adding the bread flour, and all the kneading.
This was her dish, and she was into it.

After the 2 hour rise time, she rolled out the dough, measured her beignets, and they were ready for the fryer.

Oil at 350 degrees, she carefully fried them under my watchful eye of coarse!

Added a little powdered sugar, and we ate a good portion of them, and just had to share them with friends.  Good first day of cooking.

French Quarter Beignets

Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups bread flour
1/4 cup shortening (we used butter)
Oil, for deep frying ( we used sunflower oil)
3 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together.  Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture.  Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine.  Add the shortening (butter) and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour.  Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.  Coat a large bowl with oil or nonstick cooking spray.  Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or towel.  Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oil in a deep-fryer (or large heavy pot) to 350 degrees F.
Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares.  Deep-fry, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color.  After beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels, and then dust them with confectioners' sugar.

Eat many!
Enjoy!

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Last 5% is in

The weather in Colorado this year is just crazy.  With a high of 65 degrees and a flood advisory in place for a portion of the weekend, more rain is on the way.  Trying to get the last 5% of my garden planted has been a tough go.  Last week I used my sprouting method to get my pumpkins going so I could plant them this week.  We relaxed over the weekend at our place near Wheatland, WY, and I was ready to plants these sprouts once we got back this week.  One more problem besides the weather, the place I purchase my dirt for my raised beds didn't have any.  Due to the weather as well, they are behind on making it.  So I had to improvise where I put the rest of my veggies, because my big garden without dirt in the raised beds is no good.

The front flower bed was the only place I had left with dirt to put in my veggies. This has been a big project to beautify the front of the house, and it's not quite full of flowers just yet, perfect space for the veggies, sort of.

These guys were so ready to get into the ground.  Planted the white pumpkin, a large pumpkin, and of coarse the knotty pumpkin.

Still have to figure out how to keep the deer away, and build them a trellis to grow up instead of out, but there in.

Finished it off by planting zucchini, yellow squash, and green beans.










Hopefully by the time the second round of planting happens later in the summer for the fall harvest, the big garden will have dirt in its raised beds, and ready to take a few plants.  Cross your fingers!

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The Garden is in!

Ok, so I know that it's a little behind schedule for my garden to be in just last week, but Colorado has had an unusually cold wet spring.  It snowed on Mother's day, for the second year in a row, and then didn't warm up much after that.  But last week I got 95% of all my seedlings in.

Cucumber seedlings are doing great.

Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage are in

All the herbs got planted, basil included

The strawberry patch is on it's way to a great productive season

The blackberry patch is growing

Dream garden is coming along, slow but sure. The chicken coop is in, and the ladies are very happy.  Got the fence up along the back of the garden, sprinkler line and electric trenched in and buried, and more work is going in.  Stay tuned.

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