Barn almost complete. New photos.

The construction of the barn is almost complete. All of the electric and lights are in. The only thing lacking is the completion of the rear door installation and a few minor issues. It looks great. We are very pleased with the barn and with our builder. He's done a great job and this is the first steel building he has installed.

Updated photos of Barn

Here are some updated photos of the barn. They hoped to complete it this week, but the wind has been real bad down there and was too dangerous to finish the roof. It still lacks 2/3rds of the roof and the front and rear siding. Also a ridge vent and trim will be placed on it.

Goodbye Jaws! We loved you.

The day before Halloween in 1991, I was leaving work. As I went to my car I saw a little black/white kitten with his eyes barely open fall from the roof of the building next door. A family of stray cats lived there and we would see litter after litter of kittens come and go. I really didn't need another cat. I had 2 at home, but I took this little guy home because I couldn't leave him to the fate of the others. First, I dropped by my vet and had him checked out. Then I took him home.My older cat, Chloe, would not have anything to do with him. She'd already raised Shelby, allowed him to nurse when he wasn't even her baby. But, Shelby took one look at this little kitten and took him under his "paw". He did everything for the kitten that a mother cat would do, including cleaning him after he ate. Because he was so young, he had to be fed by hand, and we actually had a friend who lived in the apartment complex that babysat him while we wereworking. I never really intended to keep him, but he stayed with me. He got his name right before Christmas. We started out withArtie, Archie (after the museum where I worked), Zacheus (because hefell off the roof), but nothing ever stuck. You know how kittens are, mouthy and their claws don't go in? Well, that's how he got his name. But, I had to spell it different, so it wouldn't be tooobvious. So, his name became Count von Jausenclaus - or JawsnClaws. He has lived most of his life with the threat of FIP,and it looks like it finally took its toll. He hadbeen steadily losing weight, and this past week really went downhill. Friday, we noticed that he wasn't fighting anymore, usually growling and hissing were everyday occurences with him. He was all growl/hiss and usually never struck out. Saturday, he really went downhill. He died in my arms between 1:00-3:45am this morning. He will join my other two cats at the Rainbow Bridge. Update: We took Jaws down to the farm on Monday night. It had just finished raining, and there was a very faint rainbow just above where we buried him. We took photos, but they do not show up well.

Mr. Boo (John) is going to school!

Just a Mother's Day Out Program at a local church two days a week, but he will be learning ABC's, Spanish, sign language and social skills. He starts just after Labor Day. It's hard to believe he is getting so big, he's 3 1/2 now. We feel that he needs to be around children his own age to play and learn from. We just hope he doesn't pick up too much of their bad habits.

Framing goes up on the metal barn!

Here are some photos of the construction of the barn. The barn is 30 x 60 and will house a water tank and pressure system, which will enable us to have water if there is ever a problem with the water system. The barn will have red siding with white trim and a galvalume (silver) roof.

As of yesterday, almost all of the framework was completed. They delivered the red siding and white doors yesterday also. We will post more photos as the siding goes up.

Here Mr. Boo and Charles are inspecting the work. Double click on the photos to see them larger.

Quack, Quack...Quack, Quack

A couple of weeks ago, Charles surprised me with these fine feathered friends. I wasn't too happy with the turn of events, because we had just moved the tractors out of the backyard and I was hoping to start getting the yard back in shape. But Mr. Boo loves the ducks and what Mr. Boo loves, so does his mom. I could not take them back because of that. So, they are now residing in our backyard until we move to the farm.

Count von Jausenclaus - my black/white cat

For those of you who know my cat, Jaws, just wanted to let you know that he is fading fast. I don't know how long he will last. He is wasting away and has stopped fighting/hissing when he doesn't like something.

Little Farm on the Prairie

This is my first try at blogging. Charles and I wanted to give our friends a home to go to which will show the development of the farm. We will be posting photos and updates on what is happening out there.

The framework for the metal barn is almost complete. They delivered the siding today, so it will probably be installed beginning tomorrow. It's pretty exciting to see things finally happening. Tomorrow, I will post a chronology and photos of what we've done out there so far.

Thanks for joining us.