I’ve been craving more space for our little family. Daydreaming of 3 bedroom apartments with chickens in the backyard and a garage for our bikes. And then the universe promptly declared, “Put your money where your mouth is, lady!” in the form of an unexpected and radical rent increase at our little cottage.
After recovering from my initial shock and terror, I realized that this was just the kick in the pants I needed to get moving. Nothing like the prospect of paying $700 more per month to motivate a hunt for new housing. So we’ve had to put the backyard chicken plan on hold for the time being. That is not to say that our coop isn’t getting plenty of use.
Please note the cool combo ladder/door that my naked child is playing with. I came up with the design and A hammered it out–this way, we don’t have to put out and then take away a separate ladder every time we open and close the door. What efficiency! That is, won’t that be efficient once we actually get chickens?
While our chicken aspirations are on hold, my kale dreams are coming true.
Perhaps I’ll go make myself a kale salad and go obsess over housing ads on Craigslist…
Stephanie Mackley 
That looks like a super fun playhouse! I hope you find something soon, that rent hike sounds like they want to vacate everyone!! ridiculous.
To be fair, our landlords are amazing people. They’ve been giving us a fabulous deal for 4 years and just can’t afford to do it anymore…
Sometimes we do need a “kick in the pants” to see past where we are. Happy hunting! There is something great for you out there.
BTW your kale looks wonderful!! So does your boy!
I sympathize with your house hunting woes. Since we’re living the rent free life, our financial motivation for finding our new home is non-existent, but I’m still so antsy to move into my own space. I wish you good fortune in your search. Every time we find something promising, it seems to fall through. A week ago I thought I was going to build a house and today that doesn’t seem like it will happen 😦 Hopefully that means something better is waiting for me somewhere…
PS: I love your kale. We’re into kale salads lately, too. I hadn’t thought about growing it. is it hard? Would it grown in the Texas heat?
Hey lady…the kale was actually the easiest of all the things I’ve grown, and I started it from seed. It is more of a cool weather crop, perfect for our bay area driveway all year round. if i were you i would still try, just in an area with morning sun and deep afternoon shade and see what happens. in the winter months, I think you’d be fine. i’m jealous of the tomatoes you must be able to grow there…
[…] long time. Remember, way back when I had those chicken and kale dreams? Well, it turns out that the kale was easier to realize than the chickens for a number of reasons. Among them, radical rent increases, pregnancy, buying a […]