Chicken Coop

When we moved out here almost 20 years ago we were ready to be back-to-the-earth hippies, and built our chicken coop of recycled materials.  20 years later, it's gone from looking sincere to looking rather shabby.  Time for a new one.We're a bit older, possibly slightly less energetic, more gray in the hair and a bit more coin in the pocket, and have mellowed our idealism.  In other words--we bought a plastic tool shed to make the new chicken coop.  Somehow the idea of a chicken coop that could be easily hosed down is very appealing.  Also something that could be built in a few hours.

Bob was all for just putting it together.  I felt that the ground should be levelled first--everything we have is on a slope.  I won that round--if by "win" I mean that I got to spend a few hours with shovel and pickaxe (for the roots) levelling the area.  Then I forgot that the doors will have to open so that had to be dug out also.  Now we realize that we should probably brick in around the front door so we don't have to dig it out every time it rains.  And we still have to put in a scratch yard.  But it's cute!

Critter du jour: Apache

Apache just showed up a couple of years ago--I stepped outside and he crawled into my arms.  Must have been a drop off--the old "take him to the country and he can take care of himself."  Not this guy--he was desperate to be adopted, and is a very sweet and affectionate cat.  He has decided that the butterfly garden is his (note that my seeds are sprouting).  His name is a pun--he is white with gray tabby blotches, so he is called Apache because he is "a patchy" cat.  I refused to have a mundane name like Patches.