Saturday, July 28, 2012

With all the nice weather we've been having lately, I've spent a lot of time outside in the garden with my family.  We got an early start by planting seeds in small containers in the house. 

The next step was to take care of a huge flooding problem in my garden area.  It seemed to hold several inches of water and never drain, must be all that clay.  Fortunately for me, there used to be a mobile home set up about 10 feet away from where my garden is currently located.   I was able to dig a trench and drain pit and connect it to the old septic system. Within 2 days my garden was dry! 

Then I had some black river dirt hauled in to top it off.  Now the garden is dry, rototilled and has good fertile soil.  We even put some raised beds in.  Once I start working on a certain area, I come up with many new ideas.  We're working on the picket fence that surrounds our garden, and an arched arbor entry to give it a focal point as you enter the garden.

My wife came up with the idea of a garden shed, which is currently in the works.  We just poured the concrete slab a few days ago, complete with hand prints and a dyed slate finish.  I'll post pictures of the shed as it progresses.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Building a Rabbit Hutch with my Daughter

In large families most of our time is shared between multiple children. But each child needs one-on-one time, not with just Mom, but Dad as well. I always make a point to get that one-on-one time in. Whether it's taking one of the children with me somewhere, working on a project together, or just hanging out and playing games.



Today it was my daughter Renee's turn. She had been asking me for several weeks to help her build a rabbit hutch. I set aside the whole day just for her. She was so excited to finally be able to spend the day working on this project together. She got up early, and couldn't wait to get started!




Here's the paper template we used to make the cut-outs for the doors.




By lunch time, the temperature outside was over 100 degrees! I asked her, "Would you like to stop and go swimming?" She answered, "No, let's keep working on my rabbit hutch." Not the answer I expected!


I was surprised at her determination to finish the project, especially with it being so hot out. I enjoyed spending the day with my little girl. It is very important that we set aside time just for them.After a hard day's work, Renee's 10 foot long "rabbitat" was complete!