At Least the Chickens Will Sleep Well...

Spring has sprung on the farm.  The plum tree was in full blossom a couple of weeks ago.  

So pretty...

But unfortunately surrounded by this chaos...

Let's back up the train a little bit here.  The last time I posted we were still "pre-dig".  I took a few "before" pictures of the farm before everything was in upheaval.  This is the house from the front.  The house will essentially be doubled in size with the addition on the right.

Here's the side view of the house (left side of photo faces the street) and the future site of the addition.

And the back view pre-dig.

Same view after the digging has begun.  Of course the warm, dry spell we had been having came to an abrupt end when the digging began and torrential rains ensued... resulting in piles and piles of mud.  I snagged these pictures several days later when the sun decided to reappear.

With our access to the back porch completely obliterated, we are now using the front entrance.  For about a week the kids and I had to put on boots just to make it to our van, where we kept our "good shoes."  This gravel path that Erik's dad put down helped a lot, and the sunny weather this past week has also dried things up significantly since I took this photo.

So, essentially there is not much more progress to report at this time.  There are so many other steps involved before the actual building can begin - things like soil testing (which we passed apparently), digging for new water pipes around the property and generally waiting for things to dry up.  Erik is super busy at his "real" job and plans to devote some time to the house in a week or two.  Hopefully there will be some further progress to report soon!

(Grandpa & Silas hard at work...)

Meanwhile, the chickens will be living it up in their brand new home...

Construction on the chicken coop is nearly complete.  A friend at church joked that if Erik was building it, they'd probably have crown moulding and everything.  Well, almost.  This little house has water hook-up, electricity, insulation and even pot-lights on each side of the front door.  Erik just needs to finish it off with some cedar siding.  Very soon it will be ready to house some real live poultry.

And, hopefully, happy chickens will produce delicious farm-fresh eggs!