Chicks & Pics

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a Wonderful Mother’s Day. I’m a bit tired this morning after a dreadful night’s sleep of worrying over if a tornado was going to hit our area. The mid west had quite an active night but were okay!

Last weekend {G} and I headed to Omaha for a 3 day weekend at the Berkshire Hathaway Share Holders Meeting. {G} is all about the stock market and I am all about shopping, eating good food, and spending us time.We enjoyed our time together and got a few fun photos in too!

*If you ever get the chance to go to this meeting you should. I’m not a big follower of stocks and the economy but listening to Warren Buffet answer questions is a lifetime experience. He is getting up there in age so sooner rather than later may be the best option to hear him. Meetings are always the first weekend in May.

We had gorgeous weather here last week, especially on Wednesday when it hit 89 degrees! I soaked up every minute I could by laying on a blanket in the yard or by going on a run. Two weeks ago {G} and I transplanting our seedlings into larger cups and they are really taking off now! I can’t wait to get them in the garden! I also managed to bake around 75 cookies to take to my Juniors this week.

*Notice I said BAKED… these were pre-frozen cookie dough balls I bought in a fundraiser. Who has time to make the dough!

While everyone was out celebrating Mother’s Day with their loved ones I had my own little celebration going on. Last month I decided to let Reba nest on her eggs. She is ALWAYS so broody so this time I let her sit on her eggs with hopes I’d have a few chicks to enter my flock. To my surprise, Saturday I ventured out to the “Cluckery” to find some little peepers running around! I tried to remove them from momma and the other chickens so that they were safe but they really wanted to stay with momma. In the left bottom photo the two chicks are under her keeping warm. SO CUTE!

When I first got chickens I decided to name them after all Country Music Legends.

We have Reba (who just happens to be Red), Dolly (my big chested blonde gal), Loretta (she’s feisty) and my Roster – Rocky! We use to have my favorite Tanya Clucker but she passed away.

'I’m looking for some new names to add to our fun flock! Would you like to help name my chicks? I have a poll going on right now so please cast your vote of your favorite TWO names! I will announce in a week :)

*I do realize that there is a high possibility that these two could be dudes. Once their feature grow in I will be able to sex them and then will rename.

{G} was out of town this week-weekend for the Kansas City NASCAR Race. I needed a project to stay busy and decided it was time to give my cabinets a fresh coat of paint. The kitchen has lots of drawers and cabinets so I decided to split the kitchen into thirds and work that way. So far I have the right bottom section of the kitchen complete… with might I add a newly installed (by yours truly) hidden trashcan organizer… I can not believe the contrast between the cabinets. I even went the extra mile and bought new hardware, yes, that makes a difference too! Most likely I will do a complete post on this process but for now please do gawk at my hard work.

Good Lordy. I’m tired just rehashing everything from last week! Have a good week ahead and please do add your selections to my Chick Poll.

Farm Rack Headboard

Oh no, it’s July! Where in the world is summer going, she just got here. Well, this weekend we FINALLY got around to completing our new headboard for the master bedroom. If you remember my early post from APRIL… I had found this beauty in the old Quonset left from past owners.

 

In the Spring we have cleaned it off, pressure washed it, and put it in a “Bird Pooh- free” zone of the smaller barn. I have been patient with my husband because we have had so many outside projects to get done that I didn’t want to waste the really nice days for this project.

On Saturday, we began to put take measurements and cut additional boards to add to the headboard including the legs that it needed to attach to the bed frame. {G} is a genius with a measuring tape, when we brought the headboard into attach it, it fit perfectly! Because if it didn’t… well we all know how that goes.

Here is our final product used by all FREE and Recycled material from around the farm!

I loved how it looks with the colors of the bedspread and the walls! To add a little more pizzazz to the wall decor we had some metal Sconces from G’s mom that we weren’t using so I placed them next to the head board.

  

My ultimate goal is to hang a few larger photos of the farm in the space above the bed frame. With a little imagination you can literally use anything old to spruce up your house, especially on a budget.

This is a definite one of a kind :)

To wrap up June here are some photo’s from my Instagram: Follow me @BrittRigdon

1. Cracker Barrel Rocker – scored from Craigslist $35.00 Original price: $139.99
2. Back yard looking out to road – Sun Stream
3. “Wash your hands & Say your Prayers cause Germs and Jesus are Everywhere” Print
4. Back Patio – my Oasis
5. Winston going for a Tractor ride – these windows are perfect for him to look out
6. Table/Suitcase Up Cycle
7. Storm Clouds beyond the grain bin
8. Sunday Kayaking trip
9. Barn/small Grain bin
10. Winston Posing during Hay Baling
11. Silo Sun Stream
12. Relaxing on the Patio brushing up on some gardening tips
13. Cucumber in the garden
14. First Harvest!
15. Egg Washer
16. Reba & Loretta laying eggs

{ Weekend Wrap up } You want me to climb what…

Since moving to Iowa I feel like it’s been Go.. Go.. Go! Unpack, decorated, organize, clean, unpack, mow, weed, mulch, limb up, throw out, scoop up, dump, mow.. mow.. mow!

I am exhausted just typing all that crap. The previous owners where very neat and tidy it’s just they had the house on the market since August and to our my husbands standards didn’t keep up the yard portion to our standards. There are lots of trees on the property besides the wind break that needed limbed up so from 8:30am Saturday until 3:30pm we were sawing, piling, and moving tree limbs to the burn pile. We probably limbed up 8 trees, the Hemlocks were the most work since the limbs underneath were mostly dead. The worst part about limbing up trees on a hot day is wearing a short sleeve shirt, by the end of the day not only did I have an SEXY farmers tan, but my arms and wrist were so scratched up (and still are) that is looks like I am a cutter. Overall it was a rough day but the trees look great and we are done… for now with this tedious task.

Winston, “Are we going in the truck again… lets go already!”

Sunday we woke up early and had a yummy steak and egg breakfast. Saturday night I grilled Bacon wrapped Fillets and they came out perfectly medium rare! I am getting really good at grilling, the other night my marinated chicken & asparagus turned out just right too! Left over’s are always a great meal. 

The next big item on my list for adapting to our new area/town is getting involved in the community and meeting people. At 10am we went to our first service at the Ogden Community Methodist Church. I had already e-mailed with the Pastor ahead of time to let him know who we are. It’s such a small town I would’ve felt awkward just showing up and people thinking… who are they… even though I’m pretty sure they still did. The service was a breath of fresh air, mixed with contemporary and tradition services which is a great match for {G} and I.

Later that afternoon we decided to going to the lake and kayak … SIKE. I wish we could’ve done that, instead what did we do? First we put up our light fixture from Mitchell in our dining room. This light is heavy and of course I had to hold it up since I know nothing about electrical. It turned out great and now we have just the right amount of light!

After that lovely task we put of the shelves in the guest room and then proceeded to our outdoor project…. What would you know…More mowing. There are lots of horse paddocks on the property that have been abandoned for a while now so we have two choices… Buy some goats and throw them in there or mow and weed eat. I opted for the goats and lost. We spent yesterday afternoon cleaning up the last paddock which was AWFUL since the wind was blowing all the clippings right back into my face. I took some time to take a pretty picture from our back yard.

Once we were done mowing we went and relaxed in the hammock for all of 5 minutes before {G} says, “Hey, do you want to go climb the grain bin?” Do I want to what…. Do you know who you married? I hate heights and the only time I EVER climb anything is if I’m getting paid to. Like when I needed a job in college, I interviewed to work at the Horticulture department and they asked, “are you scared of heights because your going to have to climb the apple trees during pruning season.” My answer, “Not at all, I can do that!” So I did. Now I had my husband saying… oh you can do it come on. So… I did.

Biggest mistake… getting half way up the 2 foot narrow ladder and looking down. You have to be kidding me… so what do I do? Keep climbing of course. Once I got to the top with {G} it was a beautiful view and so NOT worth the climb! I will honestly never climb that thing again willingly. Since I will never climb it again, I took some documentation to remind myself how high up it was.

Hello my love…

Hello neighbors…. Where ever you are.

Hello Barn…

Hello House…

Hello view from the ground :) Poor {G} can barely fit down that stupid latter

Note to self: Don’t let your husband convince you to do things that you know are against your better judgment.

I’ll stick with these views from the ground. Town dog gone Farm :)

Weekend Wrap Up - Appetite Fulfilled

Yesterday we went and saw The Hunger Games !!! I thought they did a great job with keeping the movie in line with the book. There were a few little changes but nothing that was too far fetch from the story line of the book. I’ve been hearing a lot about parents not wanting their kids to watch this movie because “it’s a bunch of teenagers killing themselves”. I’m just kind of confused. I myself am not a parent yet but I just don’t see myself saying “No” to a movie like this down the road. I believe that The Hunger Games is very much the same as Lord of the Flies which we read in middle school as a mandatory assignment set by the state of education.  They are both about survival, instinct, and in some ways government corruption. The production company did great with the rating of the movie as well. There was no cursing, other then the word “Hell” which was a breath of fresh air. The killing scenes were some what bloody but they didn’t focus on the actually slaughter of the teenagers, and I’ve seen much worse on TV. I will say the book is amazing and that when it comes time for me to say “No” to my kids I will make sure to read the book for myself before hand but that’s just me and we all have our own parenting values.

This weekend went fast once again, as it always does. Even with the longer days I just feel like the time flies. It may have to do with the fact that {G} has left again for Ames, IA as of this morning. It really stinks to see him go, I’m starting to resent it a little more each week. I know this will get better once we move and are living in the same house during the week again. It can’t come soon enough!

{G} finished “Project Pedal Tractor” on Sunday! Yay! 

{ Before & During Restoration }

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{ Complete Restoration of 1970’s Ford 8000 pedal tractor }

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{G} was so cute when he finished. I kept catching him admiring the work that he did. Right now we have it in a corner at the top on the landing of the stairs. It’s a great corner to have it in so that it is out of they way, but also so that he can see it. I tried riding it but that medal seat hurts my bum way too much!  Not to mention my legs are just too long.

{Home Updates}

The inspector is at our house right now completing his check list of items. They are checking for any issues in the Septic, electrical, and foundation. I am hoping everything will go well, this entire inspection holds weight on if the people who placed the offer will go forth in buying our house. {G} and I are starting to sweat here. If this does go through we will officially be homeless as of April 27th. We need to find a home ASAP!

There may be one that surprised us over the weekend. It’s not something we were looking for but it may just be what is meant to be. {G} is going to look at it early this week. If he likes it, I am headed down to Ames to take a look for myself and give the okay to put down an offer. I don’t want to say too much about the home but lets just say I’ve always considered myself a “anti-horse” person. Cows, pigs, and chickens are far more practical in my eyes… this home is definitely a place for these hay eating 4 legers.

I will tell you more about it later this week… hope you are curious. ;)

Weekend Wrap up - Luck of the Irish

Well this weekend was just filled with excitement once again and this time I may just credit the Luck of the Irish…

This weekend seemed to FLY by. It was 82 on Saturday and Sunday was 85! We opened all the windows in the house and let the air naturally flow through into the house.

Saturday morning {G} and I went to get paint and other items for his new project. I’ll call it “Project Pedal Tractor”. Long story short… If you don’t know my husband he is a die hard FORD lover and works for New Holland (CNH) which was Ford/New Holland until Ford got out of the tractor business to focus more on vehicles. Our home is decked out in Ford and New Holland collectables which led to “Project Pedal Tractor”, the restoration of a 70’s ford pedal tractor that he bought on eBay.

 

That morning I also received a call from a realtor that has shown our home quite a bit asking to stop in at 2pm that day. We joked a little back and forth about how well he knows our home and I told him I really hope he can sell it for us! :)

It was my cleaning day so while {G} was out working on “Project Pedal Tractor” I spent the entire morning changing sheets and putting spring ones on, vacuuming, cleaning wood floors, I also gave the bathroom a good thorough wipe down. I also reorganized the guestroom closet. This is where I currently store all of our linens and sheets. It is a complete mess and needed to be compacted so I bought the air tight storage bags.

{Closet Before Pictures}

{During}

  

{After}

 

After this little project, I moved the patio furniture from the basement to the outdoor side patio where we grill. By the time I got all this done it was 1:40! YIKES! I grabbed {G} and we went to run some errands and also stop into a local joint called “Zestos” to grab some milkshakes. Around 2:30 we headed back to the house and to our surprise the realtor was still there with the lookers. So we kept on driving, came back 15 minutes later and they were still looking… drove a little longer… came back another 15 minutes later and they were gone. I was so excited! {G} and I were talking and we just knew that no one looks at a house for an hour if they are just browsing or aren’t interested. This was a really good sign.

We went on with our day and later that evening we went to “Blarney’s Sports Bar and Grill” to watch the ISU vs. Kentucky game and have a few drinks. As we were eating our realtor called and said the people who came by earlier wanted to make an offer! A REAL OFFER! YAY! I don’t want to say too much more since this is still a long process but this is a really good sign! 

We were so excited that we couldn't even sleep Saturday night. My brain kept me up all night wondering about the possibilities. I know this is only the beginning of my tossing and turning, now we really need to get serious on purchasing a home in Iowa. There are a few {G} is going to look at 3 more homes this week. I have a feeling I am going to be doing some major running after work this week … it always helps me combat stress and helps me clear my head.

Another great thing that happened Saturday was my Best Friend Missy found her wedding dress which is super exciting! It just so happened on St. Patty’s day as well! I am so happy for her and just know that she is going to make such a beautiful bride. It makes me sad as well because these are the moments that I miss out on living so far away. I really wish I was there to watch her try on her first dress and of course see that moment of finding “the Dress”. I can not wait to see pictures. I’ll probably get all teary eyed. 

Overall looking back at my “staging the home” post I really think that this nice weather has helped us show the house better. Winters in South Dakota are pretty drab and they do NOT do our home justice. Even our realtor said that in the past 2 weeks our home has just really popped with character!

Weekend Wrap up – House Hunters - Rigdon Edition

All I can say is “We survived”! Wow, what a long mentally and physically weekend it was! As many of you know from past post {G} and I went for a three day weekend down to the Ames/Des Moines, Iowa area on our first look at homes in the area. It was my first trip to the area, period, so it was also a time for me to get a feel for what my new home state will be like. I apologize for the length of this post but there is so much to share!

{ Friday }

I took off a vacation day so that we could take our time driving the 5.5 hrs to West Des Moines Iowa where we were staying. Why West Des Moines?… well I don’t think I have brought up my husbands addiction to Priority Club points yet so here it is. He travels often for work and stays in Holiday Inns, with that he is a priority club member. Those of you reading this that are priority club members are probably just getting giddy with excitement from the moment I said “my husband travels often”. Yes, he collects points and MANY of them. For every night you stay you get X amount of points that you can later use to buy stuff. Ever read Sky Mall on a plane? Same concept. Another benefit to this system of point collecting is using them for “Free” night stays at any Holiday Inn chain. Some nights will cost 5,000 points where others could be 15,000-25,000 points. We use our points instead of personal cash to go on long weekends/vacations places. Really it’s a good thing my husband obsesses over them because it save us anywhere between $200-$400 on a long weekend somewhere. The hotel in West Des Moines was only 5,000 per night but the one is Ames was 15,000 (Probably since ISU played Baylor in Men’s Basketball Sat. night – And they WON! Great game). So we saved some points and stayed in an awesome area! Only a mile from our hotel was what is called “Jordan Creek Town Center” Premiere shopping, dining, and entertainment. YES!!! CIVILIZATION! I’m not saying Sioux Falls, SD doesn’t have shopping because it does but this place was AMAZING! We got to the Hotel around 3:30, settled in, then went to Jordan Creek to walk around and then try out the Cheese Cake Factory. Neither of us have ever been and after we went we were let down…. Too many items on the menu to make a decision, large portions, and overly priced for what we thought wasn’t the greatest meal ever. However, the Snickers Cheesecake slice we purchased for $6.50 was heaven! After dinner we went back to the hotel and watched a movie before nodding off around 10pm… Saturday was a big day and we needed our rest!

{ Saturday – House Hunt }

We woke up around 6:30am to eat breakfast and get showered for the day. We stayed in a Candlewood hotel so they have nice kitchenettes. We knew we would be eating out a lot so we bought 1/2 gallon of milk and brought our own cereal and oatmeal. Cost Saving #2 :)

We were to be up in Ames to meet our realtor by 9am at her office. So we were out the door by 7:45 making our way North to Ames. It’s only a 40 minute drive and we made great time and hit the Ames exit by 8:30 so we drove around the town to see some sites. ISU (Iowa State University) is a lovely campus and is HUGE! I can’t wait to see what it looks like in the spring and summer.

We met our realtor exactly at 9am and jumped in her car, she was nice to drive us around to all the homes. The first place {G} and I had taken off the list but she said it was still worth looking to give us an idea of what to expect later in the day.

Home #1- Built in early 1930’s, farm house on 2 acres, 4 ag buildings, new siding and roof. 3 bedroom 2 full bath. This was a really nice house priced at $297,000 but when you walk it you time warp back to the 70’s and it smells of grammas house. The house really needed renovated and with the price already over our budget that would leave nothing for us to work with. This was a def. no, but again “Prospective” was the point of seeing it.

Home #2- Mid price range built it 2003, 5 bed, 2.5 bath, 8 acres, pond, hog house/pen. Upon walking in the landscaping was a little hard on the eyes, we would def. rip it out and start over. The first floor was very lovely, hard wood floors and tile in kitchen. deck off the kitchen. Nice size master with full bath, others rooms of good size. Everything was looking good until…. The basement. A lot of homes in Iowa are “Ranch style” homes built into a hill so most all the basements are fully finished with walk outs so that you still have the space of a 2 story home. At first glance the basement looks nice, it’s finished with carpet and hard wood, had a family room with bar then 2 bed rooms and a 3/4 bath and laundry room. We started looking closer and saw bugs so we checked out the seams on the sliding door and it was WAY off, then we checked the windows in bedrooms and they were caulked but very messy. Then we noticed dry wall outlet cut too large for the covers, paint over the fire detectors and the list goes on. We think the owners tried to finish the basement themselves but they did an awful job of it. These are all things we can fix but what if that’s just the surface problems… what is under the surface that we cannot see. We walked outside and came upon more problems, siding falling off, foundation problems, metal sticking out, door frames falling apart. This home was built in 2003, no way should it have this many issues already. It was shotty construction so we decided it will just bring headaches for us later on.

Home #3 – Two houses down from the last at the end of the road. Built in 2009, top of our price range, 7 acres, 5 bed, 3.5 bath. The people who built this house spared no money. This home has Geothermal heating (THE BEST), hardwood plank siding, tilt out windows, silent cabinets and drawers in all bathrooms and kitchen. The views were stunning, the home was stunning, and we were in love. The only things that need done to the property are, the basement needs flooring- other then that it’s completely finished with a full bath two bedrooms, and family room.The driveway needs paved, and the flooring in the basement. Everything else is move in ready. We worry that the price is too high and want to make sure we can actually have a life and not just a house that is pretty.

Home #4- I was really rooting for this one based off the pictures I saw online. It was a quaint little farm house with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. Upon walking in it’s def. old but the kitchen was re-done along with the main floor. The Master bedroom had a master bath added on but what tipped us off was that it was SUPER cold in the addition and they had a mini electric heater on a stool in the bath. Not a good sign. We went straight to the basement after and right away my realtor says “Uh oh, do you see the anchors… were getting out of here”. I had not clue what she meant I just saw 3 huge bolts sticking out of the basement wall. So I asked and she says “When you anchor your basement wall that means the foundation is buckling in so they anchor it to pull it back out.” So, George reaffirms this by ending our tour. We didn’t even bother to look at the second floor. Again, something you would never see in pictures of the home. Bye-Bye Blue farm home.

Home #5- Again another farm house. It was cute… remodeled inside, nice new landscaping on outside around home (best we saw all day) However again you get…. Plaster chipping, drafty windows and doors, and a non finished basement that was a complete mess… and the worst was 3 huge barns on the property that ware days from falling over. We would get stuck cleaning all of it up, barns & everything let in the basement. No Thanks…. Bye Bye Gray farm house.

Home #6- One {G} found a little further north but its a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, farm house with 2 little buildings. Tip off one: Iowa didn’t have too much snow but apparently it blew into these peoples yards. No snow anywhere else but this house was surrounded by it! Just a mental note to take. We walk in and the floors were BEAUTIFUL. Newly stained old hardwood floors are really the prettiest, you can’t buy floors like that and install them. The owners did a good job of keeping drafts out, they covered all the windows and doors with plastic. This home also had a lot of character with build in wall cabinets. LOVE THEM. We round out the kitchen and make our way to the back of the house when I suddenly notice a huge slope in the floor. You could place a ball at one end and it would roll to the other. We walked up stairs and it was even more noticeably worse. The entire home was sloped. Great… what caused that? We proceed to the basement and see that there is old foundation and new so an addition was put on the house which probably contributed to the sloping. Bye-Bye house #5

Are you depressed yet because we certainly were!

Home #7- final showing – Brick ranch home on 1 acre lot. 3 bedroom 3 bath basement needs renovated. This was bought and renovated by a contractor and wood worker. Not our style at all, lots of wood/cabin like features. He did a great job but sometimes you just cannot see yourself living in a house and we did not see it. Bye Bye Brick Rancher.

{ What we learned from our hunt }

• Pictures are deceiving – not only in photo-shopped pictures of super models but also in regular pictures taken of homes. People only show what they know people want to see. No one is going to write on the listing that there are “Anchored walls or sloped floors”.
• Ames is more expensive then we thought. By looking at homes in the $150,000-$190,000 area we realized that you are not going to be able to buy a newer home or an old home with out problems. :(
• Home #3 is the only Keeper but can we afford it and still be able to think about having kids soon? And if not, why have a house with 5 bedrooms if you can’t have kids to fill them with.
• Home #3 if we can afford it is it what we really want? We cant use the 7 acres for livestock because its too rolling…. but it is sooo pretty! You could still 4 wheel around the property.
• Keep our options open. Right away we went back online to search for some homes we may have missed. There are two, one that I think has potential and one that {G} likes more. He is down in Ames again this week for work so he is going to scoop the two out. Then if they are a no we may throw an offer at house 3 and see if we get a nibble… It won’t be the price that they are asking for so this could be interesting. Good thing {G} is a business guy, he can play the game much better then I can… I love this about him.

{ Sunday }

We drove back early, went to the gym while our home was being showed, picked up Winston, and relaxed the rest of the afternoon.

{ Highlights of our trip }

We ate at Jethros Famous BBQ in downtown Des Moines on Saturday night. BEST BBQ ever as seen on “Man vs. Food”, Manly eateries, and the food network.

http://www.jethrosdesmoines.com/

{G} bought me new running shoes! Mine current ones hurt my feet and Winston took huge bits out of them a few months back. I look like a fool in the gym. Here are my new ones! I wore them to the gym yesterday and they are perfect!

{ Best news of the entire weekend… }

My best friend is Engaged! Congratulations to you both!

I couldn't be happier for you and can’t wait to help out with the wedding like you did for mine!

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I didn’t want to post photos of the homes we looked at because although they aren’t for us they are still someone’s “Home”.

See you tomorrow for “Tips for Tuesday”!