Boys

Mr. Diligence decided about a month ago that he wanted to build a chicken coop for our new place. We didn’t know yet where we were going to move, or if we would need a coop, but I encouraged him to do it anyway. We figured that if we got a place that already had a coop, he could sell it. We had a lot of boards that Esther’s employer gave us when they remodeled their house, so this project didn’t cost anything except a few nails.

He decided to build in a curtain for times when we have tiny chicks that need protection from drafts. It is normally kept rolled up.

The builders, pleased with the results of their labor.

Simon’s boss wanted to help us move, but can’t the weekend we plan to move, because of family circumstances, so he came over to get a couple of loads during the two weeks Simon had off over Christmas/New Year’s. He used his large car transporter to haul buildings for us. The chicken coop was the first to go. It was a challenge to figure out how to get it on the trailer!

My boys know how to keep themselves busy. Here are a few of the projects they’ve been doing lately. Mr. Inventor built this tandem bicycle. He cut apart a couple of bikes and welded them back together. The boys love it; they can hook a trailer to it and with two of them peddling they can carry quite a load.

Counting down…till we fly to America. This was a few weeks ago; the chains are pretty short now!

Mr. Diligence made a cross, and Mr. Intellectual engraved Seth’s name and dates on it, to temporarily mark the grave until we get a proper headstone.

Mr. Diligence researching something.

Some of the busyness is not serious—sometimes they pull shenanigans like this! It took Mr. Intellectual quite awhile and a bit of help to free himself.

Mr. Inventor spent one morning trimming trees so he could mow under them.

The loggers. Mr. Inventor cut these logs across the road, and they hauled them home this way!

Mowing lawn one last time before we leave. He didn’t want to rake up the grass clippings, so he used the bag and pulled a wheelbarrow tub around to put the grass in so he didn’t have to walk to the other side of the yard every time it was full.

I have a son who is at his best when he has a big project underway. He thrives on working toward a goal, day after day. Right now, he’s building a moveable chicken pen out of lumber someone gave the boys. He’s been at it for several days, and has several more days of work on it. He can’t stand to be at loose ends.

While Esther was gone to America for two weeks, Mr. Diligence had a different project. He had actually wanted to do it last year while she was gone for six weeks, but didn’t get at it then. He’s now 11 years old, though, and able to do even more than he was last year. He set himself the goal of scraping and painting her entire sleepout before she got home this year! He didn’t quite meet the goal; the scraping turned out to be a lot harder than he thought. He got two walls done, though! Then, he ran out of paint. It’s going to be very hard to match those walls with what he finds at the dump for free, but at least those two look good.

I think Esther actually took these pictures nearly a month ago. I only just looked at her memory card a week or so ago, though. I loved them, so decided to let you get a glimpse of my boys (and girl!). Mr. Imagination, wearing Mr. Inventor’s warm shirt, and Little Miss were watching the mowing.

Mr. Sweetie was trimming around the tires of herbs, with scissors.

Mr. Inventor

Mr. Handyman

Mr. Diligence—it goes faster with three mowers going simultaneously! That’s Mr. Imagination in the background with a toy mower.

I think they’ve mowed once since then. It’s so wonderful to have green grass!

Back in March, I wrote about our boys’ project of digging a well by hand. They got down 2.9 meters, and then lost momentum. It rained, and we were concerned about the ground softening up and caving in. They didn’t do any more with the well until today. Mr. Inventor has been agitating for us buying a posthole driller to finish the well, rather than digging farther by hand. It sounded like a good idea, but we never got around to it. He started working on building his own. He cut a circle out of a flat piece of iron, and cut a slit in it and bent the metal to make a sort of screw, but that didn’t work. He watched a few YouTube videos for ideas, then cut up a small old propane tank and attached that to a handle. It worked well to drill through the clay at the bottom of the well, and they hadn’t gone far when water started seeping in! They are drilling through gravel and sand now, and it’s looking really promising.

Does it look a bit safer now, than when they were digging by hand at the bottom?

As usual, Mr. Inventor and Mr. Diligence have been very busy building. I don’t have pictures of all their projects, but they borrowed my camera to get pictures of a few recent ones. Mr. Inventor started this trailer in April, and got it finished a couple of weeks ago. It passed inspection, so is now legal to use on the road. He is very excited—and has already started the next one!

Mr. Diligence was hired to build the box on top of this cage for a neighbor boy’s guinea pigs. He took several pictures so he could write the dimensions on them in case he is asked to build another cage.

Mr. Inventor was given this shed when it fell over in a high wind a month or two ago. He brought it home on his bike trailer! Mr. Diligence took a picture of that, but his camera is lost, unfortunately, so all I have are these “after” pictures. Originally, the shed was just snapped together with tabs, but he put wooden bracing in, and built a floor in it. He’s hoping to sell it soon.