HELLO, MY NAME IS SKIPPYJON

My name is Skippyjon Jones.

I am a kitten.

I have dirty ears.

I have Siamese eyes.

Along with my sister, Blossom, I run the show around here.

I like to play and fight and eat.

I like to sleep late.

I am confused by this sight:

Why are dogs allowed in the house??

I am Skippyjon. Kittens rule!





BIG JOHN'S WORKSHOP

We only had one day to work on things this weekend. Big John is traveling tomorrow. We're still waiting on the propane tank installation, so we're at a standstill on the kitchen. Once the propane tank is in and the stove is hooked up, Big John can test the gas lines and then finish installing paneling in my studio, so it's on hold. We are short 3 pieces of tin, so we can't finish the brood room windows in the bobwhite flight pen ... so the only thing left to work on was Big John's workshop.
We cleared out the remaining items that haven't yet found a permanent home - some flight pen lumber, a couple of estate sale cabinets, a table in progress, and miscellaneous tools.

And we loaded it all on the trailer (where it will probably sit for a while...)

Eleven hours later, we'd finished putting up all the OSB wall boards, put down the 3/4 inch plywood floor, installed the ground rod and run the ground wire, hooked up the electrical, put in all the light switches and outlets, and installed the lights! Quite an accomplishment for one day of work!

This is great news, because around here we operate on the domino effect - finishing Big John's workshop will enable us to move tools out of the feedroom - which will allow me to turn it back into a feedroom and add a small incubator room - which will get the incubators and hatchers out of the garage - and then we can park two vehicles in the garage!!

Slowly but surely, it's getting done!

SKIPPYJON JONES AND BLOSSOM

About a month ago, Big John and I got two new kittens: Blossom (left) and Skippyjon Jones (right) - brother and sister. They are just about the cutest two kittens you've ever seen. And about the most photographed, too!

They spend lots of time laying right here, on top of the cart, sleeping and eating.

And when they aren't up there, they're chasing each other around like little hellions. So funny! It hasn't taken them long to rule the roost. They've captured Poco's heart. He bathes them and plays with them and babysits them. Bootsie has resigned herself to tolerating them. Barely. And Blue just ignores anyone without a can of catfood. So these two really don't exist in his world!

We sure have enjoyed these two. Stay tuned for more photos of the newest members of the family!

CATCHING UP

It's been some time since I've been able to post on the blog - it's been a busy summer so far, just finishing up odds and ends.
We finished the brood room inside the bobwhite flight pen.

Big John added a window to the south, with another on the north side planned.

Today, we let the latest batch of week-old birds out into the brood room. They'll be much happier in there than in their box.

We worked quite a bit on the building in the past couple of weeks. Big John has plumbed the sink, and by some small miracle, he and I were able to move the stove from it's temporary home in his shop, on to the trailer, around to the kitchen, out on to the porch, and finally into the kitchen. It was nearly impossible, but we've gotten pretty good at doing the impossible! Here's how it looks at the moment:

The gas line is run, but we're still waiting on the installation of a propane tank. The weather hasn't quite cooperated with us this week - since Monday, we've had 9 inches of rain. In July! Unbelievable! The mosquitos will overtake us very soon, I'm afraid.

The garden is in the process of getting pulled - all but the herbs, hot and sweet peppers and okra. (In other words, I'm pulling cucumbers, tomatoes and squash.)

The stink bugs, cucumber bugs and squash beetles just ate us up this year. We decided to throw in the towel and get an early start on the fall garden. We're planning to revamp the two gardens - take out the middle fence and make them in to one garden - so when it dries up, we can get started on that. Because we just don't have enough projects going on at once right now!!

My Production Reds have just started laying - albeit, not in the proper spot. One of them has decided the outside sink is a perfectly good nesting spot! Silly chicken! I'll have to get her straightened out on this issue.

I've also had a chance to apply the finish to my studio walls. Once Big John is able to get the ground wire run and the gas line checked, we'll be able to put up the last couple of pieces of paneling. Then we'll install the tin ceiling, lay the floor, put up the trim ... and on and on and on! We're almost done - sort of.

In the coming weeks, we plan (hope) to finish the kitchen, workshop, and studio. That will ebable us to clean out the barn and the feedroom, where Big John's workshop has been for the last few years. We'd like to move the incubator and hatchers into a section of the feedroom, and then I'll have a chance to re-work that space. The projects never end around here!