Lorihadams-- hi guys...been busy!

[Henrietta23]

That's the best. My dh went on a screen fixing mission a couple weeks ago. We had left the dog locked on the porch a few months back. He riped 8 out of 12 screens. I love having my windows open at night. My SIL is so paranoid she won't let her kids on the second floor sleep with their windows open. Kinda sad.

gina

The year old Golden got two of ours last weekend so we will be doing the same this weekend. We can't figure out how to keep him from popping the screen door in our slider out. I hate not having it open when I'm cooking and it's warm!

 

[lorihadams]

shock collar???

 

[Aidenbaby]

They have these things that are magnetic (you stick them to each other) and you put them on the screens to help pets learn where the screen door is. When we first moved into this house, we had to put post-its on the sliding door so the dog wouldm't run into it. The old house didn't have any glass or screen doors so, for him, it was a new adventure. Before the post-its, he ran into the door at least 10 times.

 

[Henrietta23]

In my case it isn't that the dog doesn't know where the screen is. He knows exactly where it is and that he can paw at it until it pops out and he can run around....

 

[TanksHill]

My dh thinks the shock collar would be good too. Actually it's kind my fault. We did not have a kennel yet and I needed to leave. So I put him on the porch. We have a gate on the porch so he is contained. I think he just wanted to be in the house more. This pup has been a challenge from the beginning. His latest thing is to use his girth to jump up and open the lever door handles. The doors swing out. Not really convenient. He has let him self out in the middle of the night after he hears coyotes go by. I guess if he could close it when he leaves that might work.

 

[lorihadams]

I have to put one of those carabeener (sp?) thingies in the gate latch to keep mine from opening the gate with their noses.

Speaking of dogs.....I need to vent. Our neighbors down the road got married yesterday and we are dog sitting their yellow lab. She is more on the puppy side and she barks constantly, chews everything, and is working really hard on plucking my last good nerve.

She is really sweet and the kids love her but I am sooooooo glad she's going home today....at 1 o'clock.....hopefully sooner......

On the bright side, my duck eggs go on lock down today.....hopefully I can keep the humidity up.....I've had to drape a blanket around the incubator to raise the humidity to 60-65% but it seems to be holding pretty well. They are due to hatch wednesday.

Got the front porch on the house completed, railings, gate, and front steps done! It looks soooooo good. We are still trying to decide what to do about the barn. Our buddy quoted us $13000 for a 20x30 with a metal roof and board and batten siding with 2 lean tos. I think we'd be foolish not to do it. It would solve some of our storage issues too if we closed in one of the lean tos since we have no basement or attic. The goats would have a 18x20 space and I would have a 12x20 milking/feed room and the hay could go under one of the lean tos. We just have to wait and see where we come in as far as our budget with the house.

We would love to replace the floors in the double wide and paint all the rooms. I know we are going to have to replace some of the trim molding in our bedroom and we are going to have to shave one of the doors in our bedroom as well. The trim needs painting in the whole house and if nothing else we need to replace the mantel on the fireplace. It pulled away during the move and I hate it anyway. At the very least I would paint it white and try to reattach it.

We were looking at doing laminate flooring but we may have to see if we can find another alternative as budget allows. We are doing the underpenning today and to help with the insulation factor we are putting up treated plywood first and then attaching the underpenning over that. It will keep the underside of the house much more insulated and help with heating/cooling costs.

The more we look at the carpet the more we really want to get rid of it. One of the contractors tracked red mud all over it too.

We could always do what we have in this house (that I have honestly loved) and that is vinyl that looks like wood. We have it in our living room, hallway and both bathrooms. It's pretty durable, we have 3 labs and 2 small children, and it's neutral so any paint color looks good with it. Easy to clean and install. It may be a good option for us. Would definitely be cheaper. Most people don't even realize its vinyl until we say something.

My mom is vehemently against us painting the doublewide but I don't care, I'm doing it. She is also against us doing any other flooring but I don't care, I'm doing it. Can you tell she is a control freak? We also have to come up with some sort of back porch.

 

[lorihadams]

Took a few pictures this morning....my mother locked everyone out of the new house and I had to bring them a key

Here's the deck with the railings and gate

Here's the plants that I got this week--6 blueberries and 2 apple trees

Here's the surprise that Grandma and Grandpa got for the kids this morning.....swings for the porch! They love them, can't you tell?

 

[hwillm1977]

The house is looking beautiful!

And the swings on the porch are fabulous... how cool is that?!

 

[ksalvagno]

The house and porch look great! Your mom sounds like mine. But I still do what I want. Afterall, I'm the one living in the house, not her.

 

[murphysranch]

Its lookin' gorgeous! I love your green lawns and the pretty house in the last picture. So so different from CA! I also LOVE your deck and railings. So neat and tidy and pretty.