A year and a half ago we found out that our neighbor at the Fruity Chicken was putting his house up for short sale, and for various reasons my sweety Karen and I decided to try and purchase it. For anyone who has never experienced a “short sale” the term does NOT refer to time frame! After a long, arduous, and highly frustrating process we finally took possession of the Clayton Annex to the Fruity Chicken 3 weeks ago.
The Fruity Chicken is a 1/2 acre corner lot with a 1200 sqft. house and a barn on it, the Clayton Annex is the 1/2 acre corner lot with a 1600 sqft. house and a pool directly behind The Fruity Chicken and sharing a common back fence. So effectively we now have a full acre peninsula with 2 houses, a pool, and a barn on it.
Karen has been watching to much HGTV
When all else fails apply brute force.
Brawn wins out over Brains!
Karen making sure the guys get it right.
Karen makes the mess and Alexa cleans it up.
Sensible shoes? Alexa says “what can’t I do in heels?
Pool replastering 101
All I need is a hammer and a little time after school.
In the midst of all of this destruction I remembered that I had duck eggs in the incubator. When I checked on them I realized that my auto-turner had broke sometime, I started turning by hand but didn’t really hold out much hope for my chances of hatching out any ducklings. A month before 6 eggs had been put in my incubator, 4 green and 2 white ones. What breed are they? I have no clue, one of the females looks kinda like a mallard and the other is black with a white belly and a funky little poof ball on her head. After the first day of Kitchen destruction we came home to find 2 of the green eggs had hatched out.
The first 2 both outta green eggs
4 ducklings 2 outta green eggs 2 outta white, can you tell the difference?
Due to all of the work going on at the Annex I haven’t had a lot of time to get things straightened up and ready for the 10 new bareroot fruit trees coming this winter. The plan is to create some mini raised beds to mitigate the wet-feet issue that plagued the orchard last year. Things at The Fruity Chicken haven’t been totally on hold though, the fodder plan is progressing, fermented feed is still a hit, and the damn evil egg eating aliens are still plaguing me! But I got a plan……my next blog post should contain pictures of the perpetrator in the act, I borrowed my buddy Hoss’ trail cam last night and set it up in the coop today.
While feeding Friday one of Alexa’s Silkie Roosters snuck out and the next thing I know we had a battle royal join on.
Squaring Off
Spurs Flyin
Back to your corners
Our winter catch up season just keeps getting fuller and fuller.
The Fruity Chicken 
Will the duck always have a mohawk?
Yup….Cool huh?
Very – I want a duck.
Oh gosh – this is like 7 posts in one. Where to start ???
Those baby ducks are really cute (and alive, no thanks to your neglect – shame on you for not noticing the turner was broken). I wonder if egg colour has something to do with IQ because it doesn’t seem to affect the way they look (and I hope the Mohawk stays).
1 acre – FANTASTIC. I’d love that much land. But if my neighbours ever sell (short, long or in between) I’ll have to win several lotteries to buy up their land. Sydney housing may be in a slump but it’s still one of the most expensive places on the planet when it comes to housing (it is the best place to live so that makes sense). I’m very very jealous. Or I was until I saw Karen “renovating”. Been there, done that, avoided divorce (just).
That cock fight is horrid, but damned impressive. Go Silkie Go! Obviously no one told him size matters. I hope you broke it up before a clear winner emerged. I love how the onlookers are not looking on. I guess they figure boys will be boys *yawn*.
I was so bummed when I realized that my turner was on the fritz and am amazed I got 4 out of 6 that hatched.
The slump here is so severe we got that place for 1/4th of what the previous owner paid 6 years ago. The only downside is it is on city water which is a bit expensive but that only means I need to incorporate a greywater system in the renovations.
The fight got broke up before anyone got hurt but that little feller sure has heart! He’s still struttin around on the other side of the wire crown his fool head off.
4 out of 6 is good even if your turner hadn’t given up the ghost. You’ve clearly got the touch.
1/4 ouch. When I said slump I meant property values haven’t gone up here for a couple of years and maybe even went down by a few percent. That said, I still couldn’t afford an acre here even at 1/4 price. I hope you know how lucky you are – town water or no town water.
He has a lot to crow about. I’m guessing the other rooster is pretending he didn’t really want to win any way 🙂
Congratulations on getting through the short sale and getting more property including a barn! Love the barn. And love your work crew. Enjoy the new turf and pace yourself. It doesn’t all have to be done at once. Looking forward to more tales!
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