FUN PROJECTS ON THE HOMESTEAD - 3 GENERATIONS OF PEPPERS!
Jobs can be more enjoyable when done with family!
If you have been following @papa-pepper for a while, you already know that my children can be a lot of help. When talking with Mr. Hoepfner at the Kiwi Farm in Oklahoma yesterday I mentioned that @bluerthangreen has four children while I only have five. The response of Mr. Hoepfner was "That's a lot of kids." I told him, "Yes, but we need a lot of help."
Trust me, children are not indentured servants for 18 years and I do not view them as such. However, childhood is a great time to learn life skills. Also, I choose to view children a a blessing, and not a curse. Therefore, I realize that they can be a help, rather than a hindrance. Plus, if the parent is creative enough, the family can have a great time working together. Check out this video to see more of what I mean.
HOW TO WORK TOGETHER AS A FAMILY
WORK, FAMILY, & MEMORIES
Here you can see two generations of the @bluerthangreen tribe and three generations of the @grandpa-pepper tribe. Recently, we unloaded a trailer load of glass for a greenhouse that @bluerthangreen plans on building. At times like these, it is great to be available, as I recently posted about too. Ultimately, it is just a byproduct of our chosen lifestyle.
I think it is interesting that we unloaded all of this glass for his greenhouse the day before we went to pick up the metal hoop greenhouse gifted to the @papa-pepper tribe by @weetreebonsai. Yes, we certainly plan on growing! Anyway, when we were finished unloading the glass for his greenhouse, I noticed something in the trailer that looked rather useful.
This interesting wooden structure was part of the support system for the glass on the trip from Wisconsin to Arkansas. Interestingly enough, it looked perfect for one of my next projects!
Since we have a mama pot bellied pig who's pregnant, we figured that it would it make a good shelter to help keep her little piglets out of the sun, rain, wind and other elements. I was planning on building something anyway, but if I could use this as the frame, it would take far less work to complete!
BUILD IT!
@Bluerthangreen generously donated it to my efforts and even dropped it off near our pigs. I gathered up some scrap metal and some screws I had found discarded and got to work on the plan.
By screwing pieces of the scrap metal to the four sides of the wooden structure, we could have a makeshift shelter for the mama pig. She could still enter easily from the open side and she would have an open bottom as well. With a few cuts of the scrap metal and a few screws in, things began to take shape.
As we progressed, it certainly looked like this would work perfectly. It would be a low shelter perfect for the short pot-bellied pig and provide ample protection on three sides plus the top!
Without really needing to do anything to the wooden structure other than add some metal, we had a functional structure ready to go in less than an hour. Shortly after starting, we were done. Now we just had to move it into place.
Although I might close in half of the front still to provide a little more protection from the elements, it is certainly functional. As an added bonus, we did add one more thing.
We had recently raked up some leaves, so we added them for bedding. The pot-bellied pigs seem to enjoy making little "nests" to lay down in anyway, so this may work well for her. We will see what she thinks.
As for what I think, I think it was a great project. Other than the electricity that we used to charge the batteries, there really was no cost, so I'd say that we made it for free. The wood, metal and even the screws were all considered to be "junk" or "scrap" by others. Also, I got to hang out with my dad and my son and we worked together to complete this task. Not only did we get to enjoy one another's company and hang out, we did so in a beneficial way that had an end result.
Hopefully we will get a lot more opportunities to make memories (and other things) together, but each one is priceless in my opinion. It's nice to be able to enjoy things, and times, like this.
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-three-generations-of-peppers-and-a-job-well-done
Until next time…
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Wow , that was a great project @papa-pepper ! Easy Peasy with a few materials laying around , it goes to show how you can make something out of nothing !! We do it all the time and call it "Carmi Engineering ! " LOL as that's the actual place my boyfriend lives just 10 min. before Beaverdell and where my little house will be built in Carmi ! We did fatten up a big once , and he made a similar structure for it ! Thanks for sharing with us ! Happy Homesteading !!😊😊😊💕👍
You guys look like such an awesome family.
You certainly do a good job teaching the kids the family values!
Good example.
When kids work and play on land they stand to inherit, that "sweat equity" means even more to them. Cute kids!
They sure do!
I love teaching live skills. Life skills don't get taught as much as they should. We had our children work along side us when they were growing up. My youngest daughter liked it so much, she even took construction classes in high school (she is the only one of my three kids that went back to PS for High School, can you believe a high school still offers classes like this?) she took what she learned from us and that class, and over one summer replaced three roofs so she could buy her first car. Life skills can't be beat.
Nice move on her putting those skills to work!
Life is more with family. Enjoy
Pepper power
It's a very good job @papa-pepper
this good work my buddy,
I hope everything quickly finish my friend.
We finished it quick! Thanks!
you are welcome, I will always be with you my friend.
Another good one Pappa P! Love the action the Goldmoney shirt is getting. My pledge to you, every post I see you in that shirt in you get 100% upvote from me :)
Really got a kick out of this Papa P. The makeshif hog hut alone was worth stopping by. I can't help but think my family would get a kick out of seeing how ya'll live well. My mom was around when parts of St Louis were still farmland, and she still tells stories of taking the bus out to her grandmother's to help out on the farm. My Navy Veteran Brother loves to go out to his buddy's ranch a couple hours out of town. We grew up Boy Scouts camping in Southern Missouri and would put those skills to work back home in our suburban backyard. You truly live a free and blessed life.
And I agree with your comments about kids helping out. We used to joke that's why mom and pop had us 6 kids, to put us to work around the house and rub their shoulders when they got home from jobs. But I'm thankful and miss those days when we did things together. Recently though, me, my brother, and little nephew went to IKEA. First of all... I know, IKEA right? Well this brother used to live in the Bronx, so they're a hip lil family with two kids. But it was a lot of fun just being with the nephew as he showed me around the store. Back at his house, the bro had a play room redone with new windows and new tile. I ripped out the tile for him. It wasn't hard. But what made it go by even better, was the little 18 month old niece wanted to help. I would rip up a tile, hand it to her, and she would scurry over to the bucket to throw it away. She was so fast, I could barely keep up.
I'm still balancing my steemit/family/improv schedule but I'm thankful to catch your posts when I do. Cheers and all the best to you and the Pepper Family.