Work on the outdoor kitchen continues this weekend. Today, we put up some braces, locking in the cedar posts to the cross beams and trusses. The roof was pretty steady before, but it’s actually noticeably steadier now.
Metal for the roof should be delivered in a couple of days….
In the summer of 1987, we moved from Minnesota to Louisiana. There, I saw these things called “carports.” Never seen or heard of anything like that in Minnesota. Too much snow, I guess.
Fast forward to 2016, and we needed a place to park the tractor to offer some protection from the elements. We found a decent deal at Metal Carport Depot. Ordering from them was an easy process, and they had it here in a week or two. Took them about an hour to set it up, and they did a great job.
So while we don’t have a “car” port yet, we do have a “port” for the important stuff…the “tractor port.”
We’ve had the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets lately. Below, the trees are waking up with the sun…
…and here things are quieting down with a fiery sunset…
…and another beautiful morning on the property…
…followed by another fiery sunset.
In springtime, the property “springs” to life with all sorts of wildflowers in the fields. Here’s a sampling. Not sure what each of them is called, but they’re beautiful nonetheless.
Mushrooms are a sign of good soil, and we were amazed to find mushrooms growing wild all over our property. Since then, we’ve found all kinds of edibles growing wild on the property, from amaranth to chile pequins, to grapes…all zero effort on our part. Part of God’s generous provision.
Shortly after we moved onto the property, Chris and Elizabeth Coats brought us five of their Muscovy ducks to start our duck flock. Since the property was vacant for so long, there were wild predators around, and we needed a protected place for the ducks. We found a place just down the road in Seguin that has free pallets available all the time, and we scraped together some pieces to build a makeshift “duck house”…complete with “Duck” (brand duct) tape.
She might be a little difficult to see at first, but right there in the center of the picture – right on that branch – is Oreo, one of our female Muscovy ducks from Chris and Elizabeth Coats. Muscovy’s are often called “tree ducks,” because, well, they will roost in trees. They don’t build nests in trees, but they will perch and sleep up in the trees.
This is Rocky, our Melissa’s truck. He’s named Rocky because, well the kids have named every vehicle we’ve had, and they decided on Rocky. Over the years, we’ve had
When we moved out to the country, we knew we were going to need a truck. We found this 2004 F350 Lariat Diesel on Craigslist – pristine condition, and only 91,000 miles on it 12 years later. So when our house finally sold, we bought the truck, and it’s been a tremendous blessing to our family.
Picture doesn’t do it justice, but there’s a beautiful orange sunset perfectly framed in the equally beautifully orange tractor’s ROPS.
The other morning, as I walked to open the gate for the day, I saw some amazing spider webs dotting the front pasture. The morning dew bathed them, and when the first rays of sunshine crept across the horizon, the pasture lit up with these beautiful creations.
In addition to being prolific with their webs, I’ve noticed country spiders spin webs with a much higher tensile strength than their city counterparts. Accidentally walking into one of these instantly reminds me of that scene in Lord of the Rings where Frodo gets stuck in Shelob’s lair…very…difficult…to…get…it…all…off…of…me.
