Building Projects

As I was painting some dressers for our bedroom the other day, I was reflecting on our first 1½ years on the farm. We knew we were in for a lot of work when we bought our farm. All of the buildings were in need of repair and the house was (is) a real fixer-upper.

We didn’t have any building experience so we’ve hired contractors for all of the big jobs. But we’ve done our fair share and have learned a lot along the way. The first “major” project we tackled ourselves was to build a chicken coop, then a duck pen, rabbit cages, a rabbit hutch, goat feeders, a fence around our yard, and a goat stand.

Then there are the projects that don’t require building in the traditional sense. Those would include building portable goat shelters, installing a hand pump at the barn to pump water out of the stream so we don’t have to carry buckets of water anymore, erecting electric fences, patching & painting walls, and refinishing dressers for the bedrooms and vanities.

It’s hard work but we have a wonderful sense of accomplishment when each project is finished, and we’ve learned a lot. Our future projects include building a goat shelter out of lumber from a recent demolition project and putting a roof on our deck.

I can’t wait to get a roof over the deck!