Today we worked on the chicken coop..Dave has taken his time and tried to think it out but as usual he has a tough time with measurements..the old adage of measure twice cut once only works if you can remember what that measurement is! It is possible to make correct cuts if you have measured correctly in your plans..good thing it is for the chicks and not for Norm Abrams. For those of you who watch PBS..then you know about the original celebrity carpenter..for my friends across the pond..Norm had a show on our public tv where he used every expensive tool in the book to build wonderful furniture, replicas of antiques, work benches for your workshop. My dear Dad used to watch him faithfully on Saturdays in his million dollar workshop. Hubby watched too but I am not sure how much he got out of the show, So back to the coop..I have lots of cool books.."Chickens in Your Backyard", Building out buildings for your fake farm..oh wait ..I made that one up! Murray McMurray chicken catalog..I actually ordered chicks from them..so I had ideas for how to build a coop, we had a coop yrs. ago which had been a pony leanto then a goose house, then a coop..so we weren't totally unaware of what was needed. I actually had 60 chickens at one point.. but remember we are no longer eager young back to the landers..no just old er,creaky er, more forgetful.
I digress..No need for fancy..just a home for up to ten chickens. roosts, nesting boxes, safety from marauding raccoons, feral cats, fat pampered cat, geriatric cat, hunting German Shepherds, and a very interested puggie, also the occasional hawk..watch those chickens run for cover.
It took 5 weeks of ..Honey, do you have enough wood?, please let me know what else we need so I can go to the hardware, home center, biga@#$& store and buy what you need so I can get the no longer cute chicky babes the heck out of my office/guestroom, mini studio PULEEZE!!
A week of hubby's disease problems, 2 weeks of horrible snowy spring weather and rain ..molting chicks and a very mean rooster who has taken to attacking me everytime I go outside to feed his ungratefull a@#! Picture this gray haired woman throwing buckets at said rooster after being beaten about the knees and shins with a winged fury of white and black feathers. Please don't imagine animal abuse.. the buckets never connect with this wretched creature and he is sweet with Rosie the hen. Instead I pretend I am a grizzly (grizzled?) bear and I yell loudly with my hands and arms out and reduce Hubby to tears of laughter..the winged fury never attacks him..men !
So today seemed perfect to finally finish the coop and so it commenced. Hubby loves his nailer and compressor but it is old too and the motor is weak and and obviously in pain like the two of us! Luckily the oldest son left his newer compressor and we finally got the show on the road....should we put the floor in before we go any further Dear? Hubby rolls his eyes..I have just invoked the royal we...because I am there to hold things in place or go for tools which have somehow been scattered from house to porch to Hubby's shed to the hay barn to the hay bales to the top of said coop..no wonder we can't get it done, we have misplaced tools and not thought about what tools we need. I have also decided the pony oats could help mow the longish lawn while we are building the chicken palace and as I let them loose from their dirt pasture to munch everything but the dandelions the fence falls down!..yes the fence falls down..I have often told Hubby to pretend he was building fences for elephants but now the chicken digs are being built with more care and planning and strength than the pasture fence and gate! Seems our junior pachyderms had decided they needed a scratching post and actually broke the fence...the fence fell down!
So it began to rain..and then my knees began to hurt and Hubby was tiring too..but I had moved the future egglayers society from the office to a puppy pen to watch the building of their new home and there was no going back..we finished up the house to get them installed for the night and went into the house to collapse on the couch. Even the puggies were exhausted..hard work being fake farm dogs..following Daddy from house to shed to tack shed and back many times during the day. I did do more than hold things and errand run..I had dismantled the kennel panels we were using for the winged fury and his paramour, Rosie. These are not light weight and I moved the smaller ones and gate panels to the area of the coop. Youngest son will have to move the larger panels tomorrow so we can get the yard for the egglayers society around the coop and keep them even safer..
When I was raising and showing German Shepherds I moved those panels all the time, I used to move bales of hay without a thought. I could garden even if I gardened badly, and I never felt weak and ineffective..things are different now!
I no longer can do the things I used to do..but with Hubby and me together we are getting things done..slowly but getting them done.
Tomorrow I will take pics of the palace after I teach the drawing class.
Have a good night...I am sure I will sleep well tonight!!! BTW I am posting a youtube of Norm,,enjoy!
Kay, I must confess I don't usually bother reading when people write these long stories but yours was so funny. The mad enemy rooster. Reminded me of the dog next door. I love dogs and can't remember a dog who didn't much like me either but that dog next door hates me. He once managed to sink his teeth into my index finger when I was making the hundredth attempt to be his friend over the garden wall. There is no knowing why - same as the rooster. Ah yes, not being able to lug about 6 foot square fence panels - tell me something new. It is the one thing about getting older that really irritates me. I used to carry tv sets around in the old days (I mean the cathode ray type). What happened ??
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew! It is the only time I wish for youth!
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