Minister's Tree House

I spent the 4th of July at this tree house with Michael and Abigail. It was unbelievable. Many of my friends have been here before and I have seen so many pictures but it is worth the drive to experience it for yourself.

Some Tree House Facts:

-The tree house is in right outside of Cookeville, Tennessee.

-It was built by Horace Burgess, a part-time landscaper/part-time tree-house builder.

-He has spent almost 20 years on this project, after being inspired to begin in 1993.

-As the story goes, "I was praying to God and he said, 'If you build me a tree house, I will get you all the supplies." 

-20 years worth of passion, he has actually only put $14,000 into this project. 

-It is 10 stories tall (100 feet) and about 10,000 square feet inside.

-The tree house has structural support on the ground but it also uses the support of 7 trees. One of the trees is an 85 foot massive oak tree. 

-He has put over 258,000 nails into the house. 

-It has over 80 rooms. 

-No blueprints involved, just inspired by God.

-There is actually an architectural class working on making blue prints of this structure now. 

-Admission is totally free. He makes close to no money on this landmark. I bet if he started charging there would be some liability issues. That is probably why there are 'private property' and 'no trespassing' signs everywhere!

-Horace believes that this tree house represents that we are the church and no structure can define it. 

-The tree house is going into the Guinness Book of World Records this year for the Biggest Tree House in the World. 

We heard some hammering coming from the top tower. I knew that Horace Burgess, the designer/builder, is still adding on to the house and I had a feeling it was him. Horace is pictured above putting flags up for the holiday. I snagged the picture of him below off the internet. We ran into him as we were climbing up one of the staircases. He was really friendly and walked up to me and said, "Hi, I am Horace, I built this house." He went on to tell us that he has poured 20 years into this project. It took 11 years to put the roof on. He emphasized that it was a labor of love. It has been a lot of labor but he loves it. He is still adding on to the tree house today and hopes to build a gift shop to make his project self-sustaining. He is currently taking a year off of landscaping so he can put his efforts on the gift shop. After sharing his story he made sure to say that it warms his heart and he is so blessed that people like us show up. And then he walked off telling us to enjoy our visit. 

There was graffiti and signatures everywhere!

From the tallest tower you can see the gardens. He made this as a gift for his wife, so when she is in the tallest tower she can see Jesus in the garden. 

There were so many nooks and crannies. We found one with a tiny swing in it. 

This is the balcony of the chapel.

Below, there was huge chapel in the center of the tree house. 

After taking an hour to explore the tree house, we played hide n'seek. Definitely recommend it! 

A lovely Wednesday visit. 

Paint Chip Art

I love using paint chips for art. Every time I go into Home Depot, Lowes, or Walmart, I grab as many color swatches as I can without looking too suspicious. The best kinds are the ones that are only one color per sheet. You can do so much more with them. 

I love geometric shapes and these colors!

I incorporated pen and ink with this piece of art that I put in my office. 

Here are some other ideas from Pinterest:

You can use any type of punch for these ones, they have used hearts and butterflies. Here are some instructions. 

Bookmarks! Where I found it

Some really cool, geometric art..no instructions found.

Another great idea,make a mobile! 

Make a calendar!

Really cool stationary! I found it from an Etsy site, but they no longer sell this stationary.

I love this necklace too!

Enjoy!

Our Backyard Update

Well the garden is taking off. I still have no clue what I am doing. And it is so dry and hot here. I was anti-pesticide when I started the garden but now I am trying to decide if there are organic ways I can protect the cabbage, tomatoes and peppers. Bugs are attacking! 

I have also learned that leafy veggies, like cabbage, arugula, lettuce and spinach are not really worth the work, or at least not worth it without pesticide. Plants growing in the ground and veggies like corn, beans, and tomatoes, are easier because even if the bugs devour the plant, you don't eat the leaves. I also didn't realize that arugula is a fall veggie. The leaves were so bitter. 

I have learned a lot the past few months and now I know what will and won't work in my garden next year. 

Here is our first harvest! Some green beans, lettuce, basil and arugula. The fresh herbs we get daily has paid for all the expenses that went into the garden, easily. 

Now time for the coop!

Michael and I built a coop from scratch. We used a lot of scrap wood but had to buy the chicken wire and tin roof.

 We built a little hatch on the back so we could pull the eggs out once they start laying.

The inside of the coop has two perching ladders and nesting boxes for them to lay eggs.

Coop before I painted it. 

Michael putting together the chicken run. Not pictured, but we added a gate to the side of the run so I can replace the water and food. 

Ya... I went a little overboard with color. We had a lot of extra house paint laying around from our tenants and our painting projects. I added a faux window too. I might make a flower box, we will see :)

The chickens are outside! I am so happy to not have chickens inside my house anymore. They are not very loud but they are stinky! 

                                                                       Jean is so cute. 

Doris learning how to use the ramp. 

I love these cute chickens. 

If you want to know how to start raising chickens from chicks, read my previous blog!

So much work, but so rewarding. I love waking up and feeding the chickens and watering the garden. And when I get home I weed the garden and watch the chickens run around and fight over the top ledge of the coop. They make me laugh, such great pets. And this is before they are even laying eggs!

My pets make breakfast.

I love being a chicken mama! 

(not our eggs...but soon :)

Michael and I eat 4 eggs every morning so we are really excited to get our own fresh eggs in the morning. It is also very important to us that we know where our food comes from. Well this is about as good as it gets.

 

We got our four chicks just a little over a week ago and I already love them. Our chicks were about 5 days old. I had no clue that chickens were so full of personality!
January of this year Nashville passed a law allowing homeowners to own domestic hens. You can learn all about that process here: http://www.ucannashville.org/
It is $25 a year for a permit and we are allowed to have 4 hens.

Michael and I decided to name the chickens after our relatives (mostly grandmothers). We have Faye, Matilda, Jean and Doris. I have no clue what I am doing with these chickens but I am learning as I go.

 Faye is the sweetest. She doesn't mind being held. I think she is probably the most friendly of them all. She is growing really fast! She is currently the biggest chick. 

 Doris is the trouble maker and the loudest. She chirps the most. She escapes out of the brooder daily. We can always tell when she escapes because she has a special "I escaped but I really want to get back in the box" chirp. She puts up the biggest fight when I want to hold her. And in some ways is the leader hen. We will see if she continues when they are older. 

 Matilda can chirp so loud! Like piercing ear chirp. She is very curious and is often the pillow for the other chicks. She also like to stick her neck out funny when she sleeps. 

Jean is our smallest chick and probably the most photogenic. I love that she has feathers on her feet! She is sweet and delicate. I like Jean. 

This is how we started. We went to the Davidson Co-op and bought 4 pullets (female chicks) for $3 a piece. We then bought medicated chick feed. We will be giving them medicated feed for one more week and then change over to non-medicated feed. We bought a water dish, a feeder and a heat lamp. I learned that a red light is better than a white light because it helps them sleep. Not sure how much of a difference it makes but we went ahead a bought a red light. We took a big plastic bin and layered the bottom with pine shavings. Do not use cedar shavings, apparently that is bad for chickens. 

Supplies:

-Chicks

-Plastic Bin

-Pin shavings

-Water dish

-Feeder

-Heat lamp and bulb

-Chick Feed 

They always fight over the same opening. It is so strange. And they walk on each other. I seriously could watch them for hours...

Poor Jean, all by herself. Here are all the chicks in their brooder (this is before we got the red light). 

So in terms of caring for little chicks...right now we just make sure they have fresh water and food every morning. We also change their bedding every 2-3 days just because chicks are prone to disease. They do take a lot of monitoring just to make sure their brooder is the right temperature. If it is too hot they will sleep far from the light and even start panting. If they are too cold they will huddle under the light. It is important to watch their eating and drinking habits and to be sure they are at the right temperature.
Their first week the temperature should be about 90-95 degrees. Every week it goes down 5 degrees.
They will live in the brooder for 4-6 weeks or until their feathers grow in. Then it will be time to put them in the coop. That will be our next adventure!!

I love my cuddle bugs!