King Size Farmhouse bed

When we moved to a new state, we gave away and sold so much!  I LOVED our bed, but with 3 kids that like to wake up in the middle of the night and come to our bed, our queen seemed to be shrinking.  So, we sold it for cheap and had a king mattress delivered to our new house.  

And there it sat on the floor for ... a couple months.  It was nice to know that the baby turning into a toddler wouldn't fall out of this bed, but also we are old and getting in and out of the bed was not comfortable.  Our dog also thought this was a giant dog bed.  

Side note - this is a ghost bed which is foam and it's amazing!! We got it at Costco and are so happy we did!

I had been wanting to build our bed for some time and had pinned many many plans but none were quite right.  We went with this bed meets this bed with some adjustments. We adjusted this plan from ana white (love her!) and made exactly what we I wanted!

Our first adjustment was using a sheet a plywood as the backing instead of 1 bys ... I liked the clean lines of the single sheet.  We also made it taller.  

We bought the kreg jig rip cut for the project (and then used it on our shelving project).  It's a very handy tool and I see us using it a ton!  We'll eventually get a table saw when our budget and space allow, but for now this works great!  

We used a 1 by 6 on the top and 1by 4s on the bottom, sides, and middle.

We decided to space it with a larger section in the middle - it's perfect!

We glued the boards on ...

And screwed them in from the back (this skipped to the footboard - forgot to take pictures of the headboard!

Not sponsored by Dewalt ... yet (lol) we just love their tools!

Added the 2 by 4s to the sides and attached with pocket holes in the back.  

We decided to do a 2 by 3 and a 2 by 4 on top to finish off the top.  Michael routered (this router is AMAZING and worth every penny) the bottom edge and bottom side edges of the 2 by3 and the top and bottom edges and sides of the 2 by 4.  

And of course we sanded and sanded and then sanded some more.  

This cordless sander is amazing!!

The stacked 2by3 and 2by4 really finish off the headboard.  

He also routered the inside edges of the boxes on both the headboard and the footboard 

So much sawdust everywhere!  It's way better than glitter!

Repeated the same steps with the footboard and we were done.

I wanted it to be black so we primed, painted with 2 or 3 coats (and lightly sanded between each coat) and finished it off with 3 coats of poly.  

Painting is more work than staining ... there I said it!

Set it up in the room and added 2 support beams (same as the plans) and 1 bys to support the mattress.  

2 of our helpers.  

One insists on wearing a swimsuit all the time and the other wants me to throw a ball all. day. long.  

There it is all set up!  LOVE!

It's simply beautiful!  Look at all that detail!

We made one minor change that made a huge impact with both how sturdy the bed is and how it looks.  We switched out the 1x6 with a 2x8.  That small change stopped the weird wobble that was going on and I like the heftier look. 1x6 above and 2x8 below.

I am so happy with our new bed!!  

It's so nice to have an actual bed that is not on the floor - it's more comfortable and I can put laundry on it to fold it ... so much easier on the back!

I feel like this bed is a symbol of our new like ... we started with a pile of wood and a plan and ended with this beautiful bed.  Hopefully we'll be able to build just as beautiful a life here in our new state!  If we can build this, I think we can build anything!  

Let me know what you think!

2020 Garden

This is more of a where we started post than anything. I can look back in a few years and see how much we've accomplished, hopefully! 

We moved from a zone 9 to a zone 6. That is a huge difference and I honestly feel like a completely new gardener. We also have very sandy soil. The soil is a dream to work and pull weeds but lacks nutrients our plants need. It also doesn't hold water and seeds float away.  It's not really soil - it's just dirt (well ... sand).

Our current garden consists of 7 raised beds along the fence in our backyard in town.  Our neighbors told us that they were filled with the dirt from our yard ... maybe that is why we have so many holes (kidding - kind of).  

We moved in the middle of summer and missed the window to plant a full garden. We did plant 2 zucchini plants mid July which gave us several zucchini before they met Jack Frost, several peas and green beans which didn't grow very tall but gave us a few peas and beans. Kale is still growing strong, and we have a broccoli and a brussel sprout plant that are slowly growing - not sure we'll get a harvest from either of those. Everything was planted from seed directly in the beds. 

I found bagged manure and compost on clearance at Walmart and got as much as I could fit in the basket (they were 25 cents)!  Then I convinced my hubby to go back and get another 10 bags.  We've added a bag of manure and 2 bags of compost to each bed. That was 2-3 inches on the top before we mixed it in.

We have mostly put the garden beds to bed for the winter by covering each bed with leaves we chopped up with the lawn mower. At our last house we did this with the garden boxes and it cut down so much on the weeds. Hopefully it will be the same here while also adding organic matter our soil desperately needs. 

There are 20 cloves of garlic planted in one bed, it is supposed to grow really well over the winter here.

That's it for our 2020 garden - not much but it's a start! 

Let there be storage!

We have a great garage - wider than the door on both sides which makes it perfect for built in storage. 

I didn't take before pictures, but all my teaching stuff was stacked in the corner - it was a mess! 

We moved the boxes, did a quick coat of paint and started building. 

The spot we build these shelves is between the 2 garages that are separated by a wall. The spot is just over 8 feet, so one 8 foot section fits just perfect here. 

It was a pretty quick build, probably could have gotten it done in a day even with 3 kids to take care of. But, we didn't go buy lumber until the afternoon. The most time consuming part was drilling pocket holes with the kreg jig for the support pieces.  It was a pain to get everything level, but that's a garage for you.  

We used this plan from Ana White.  Some small adjustments were to use 2x3s for the support pieces (they are cheaper) and we rotated the front boards to have less wasted space.  We added a shelf to the bottom and used a 2x6 for the center support.  We also made our unit a little taller to accommodate another shelf.   

All of my teaching stuff fits with lots of room to spare!  I didn't take a picture with all the boxes put away.  I'm taking a year off from teaching so no classroom to put all my stuff.  I have SO MANY books!  I feel like a picture would make is obvious that I have too much teaching stuff!

I even have room to put the kids clothes up on top that don't currently fit them.  

Eventually we will outfit our whole garage, but lumber prices are high and the budget is low.  

So much storage!!

Simple Ghost Garland

I found these super cute wood ghost "ornaments" at the dollar store and knew they would make a great wooden garland.

I love wood garlands but they are not cheap! This was only $3 - I bought 2 packs of ghosts and some jute to hang them on. 

My 3 year old and 6 year old love to paint but they are not great just yet.  I picked ghosts (there were witch hats, cats, and turkeys too) because they only need one color and could do a terrible job and it would still look good. In fact, I'll go as far as saying that the uneven paint adds some dimension. 

Super cute hanging in our window - but it is hard to see

I think it would look really cute with some black and orange chunky beads between each ghost ... maybe we'll add that next year. 

 

Shared Closet Makeover

We moved to a new state during a pandemic and we are so happy we did! 

The girls share a room and unfortunately our old closet system (Ikea dressers as built ins which I loved) wasn't going to work.  So, to the drawing board.

 

Pretty standard closet, but it is small - not a walk in and on the small side.  The bypass doors mean the dressers would not work because of the width (their old closet had no doors) and if we were to get smaller dressers there would be lots of wasted space.

Big sister side on the left and little sister is on the right.  

Please note these sisters are not this clean, I had just cleaned their closet.  

I decided to try a simple tower system and used this tutorial from Shanty to Chic with a slight modification.  The plans call for one tower at 42" but you can only get one tower from a sheet of plywood and there would be so much left over, so we decided to shorten the tower to 40" and get 2 towers from one sheet.  I also wanted to add a shelf, but I messed up and only added one extra shelf instead of 2 - oops!

We do not have a table saw, nor do we have room (in the budget or the garage) for one, the Kreg Jig rip cut has been amazing so far!  We bought it from Lowes and a super friendly employee brought it right out to me! 

Added the face frame and painted white.  We removed the baseboards for a more built in look (and let's be real so the kids can't shove stuff in the gap and get it stuck).

Added a rod between the towers and their hanging space almost doubled!  

We've I've been folding shirts since we moved and the 3 year old likes to pull them all out while getting dressed and "Can't fold them." so that was getting old. Which now that I am typing it doesn't even make sense because she literally wears her swimsuit every. single. day.  

I love that they can reach the rods to look at what they want to wear and help put away their clothes!

Big sister on the left and little sister on the right!  Much better use of space!  I have a few more small changes but I'm calling it a makeover! 

We had the rod, brackets, paint, primer, finishing nails and a few random screws - so this makeover only cost $55 for a sheet of plywood (man, plywood is expensive!).  

Big sister is growing out of her clothes - I need to get her a few more things.  And ... yes, that is a batgirl costume in her closet ... she loves to dress up!  If you have a great place to get good quality costumes (they get lots of abuse) for a great price please let me know!  

 Little sister has 2 different sized clothes in here because she is growing ... going to take out the 3T right now!

What do you think?  Tips for keeping your kids organized?

Earth Day Everyday

Everyday is Earth Day for Farmers and Ranchers.

Our lives depend on the land. 

We care for it so that it may care for us in an abundant and healthy harvest. 

We care for it because, for many, the land has been in the family for generations and to keep it for generations more requires care.

Here are a few recent examples of ways we care:

All four kill deer eggs hatched thanks to a cautionary flag added to the road to keep vehicles from driving over the nest.

This is the second of three owl boxes we have set up to help provide homes for Barn Owls. One box is fully occupied and we hope to have residents in the newest ones soon. 

We work with our farm consultants to utilize crop protection materials in a way that keeps these beneficial lady bugs thriving. 

We add wildflowers for bee and butterfly feed to promote healthy populations in both. 

None of these items is thanks to grant funding. We just strive to take care of our environment every day. The health of the land is vital to the health of our farm and family.

Everyday is Earth Day for Farmers.

Geese!

I'm very lucky to have a friend who happens to run North America's favorite duck and goose hatchery. Metzer Farms is family owned and operated here in California. They have a huge selection of ducks and geese. I have a tendency to get my wonderful mom live animals for her Mother's day gifts so I decided this year to get her.... GEESE! 

Geese are ordered online - or by texting your friend Marc - and then arrive in the mail the next day thanks to our friends at the US Postal Service. So these little stud muffins arrived on Thursday. 

Hello world!

There were a hit from the moment I opened the box. They are packed with some hay bedding, a gel nutrition thing and a heating pad. They arrived healthy and active. 

My kiddo enjoying one gosling on the grass.

The kiddo found them pretty entertaining right away. The biggest surprise to me has been how incredibly friendly they are. You can set them down and pick them back up - not like most chicks.

Preschoolers enjoying the geese

Since they were healthy and so darn friendly we took them on a field trip to preschool. The kids were, of course, thrilled to see geese. They all got to pet them and many held them. 

Introduction to water and salad greens

These are Sebastopol Geese which will grow up to be pure white and have beautiful curly feathers. I've always wanted one and now I kinda get one, just at my Mom's (the hubs is not a fan of Geese).

On Saturday we decided to let them experience the water. It was a big hit. Note that goslings shouldn't have too much time in the water until they are bigger and the start producing the oil that protects their feathers and keeps them warm (so says the internet anyway).

Swimming geese

So Sunday we got out the kiddie pool and let them do some more swimming. They don't swim for long but sure have a blast doing it. 

Geese are not wildly different than chicks to raise. They eat the same food for the most part but seem to need some added greens. They don't need to be as hot as chicks. But they do need a deeper waterer so that they can get their whole bill in the waterer. And that waterer gets crazy messy. 

Another cool benefit of geese (and ducks) is that (I'm guessing since they don't have to be as warm) you can order them in just pairs and have them shipped. So if you just want a pair of one particular breed, you can order them. 

These beauties will be heading to my Mom's house on Tuesday so we are enjoying a few more days of fun with them. 

So if you are ever in the market for ducks or geese check out Metzer Farms. They have a ton of great videos about raising them too. There may even be some added *cough* health benefits to eating duck eggs. But you have to watch the videos to learn more. :)