Just Another One of my Crazy Ideas!

I confess. When I'm given time to think, I come up with ideas. And when my husband is on a business trip, I've been known to execute some of these ideas.

Like the time he was in China, and I took the kids to the Humane Society for our first indoor pet...I remember him calling home to see how we were. "We're good," I said, "Matt's team won the baseball game, and we bought a cat." I mean, what could he say? He was in China!

Two years ago, when hubby was out of town, I couldn't resist the purchase of our chicken coop. Now, before you all go jumping to conclusions, I want you to know that my husband is always okay with what I choose to do...in the end...once the initial shock wears off. Hahaha. But really, he's a good sport. 

That's why, when I told him I'd like to move the coop to a new location, he went right to work. Before we remodeled our horse barn, we had placed the coop alongside it. With the new look to the barn, it became clear that the coop didn't fit in.

The coop was originally where you can see the dirt alongside the barn. As you can see, the chickens had no shade. :(

So, because our new flock of chickens is to arrive in about one week, I thought the coop should be moved somewhere where its rustic appearance would make more sense. AND it needed to be in a place where there was shade. Gotta have happy chickens!

It sounds easy to move a small building to a new cozy location...

But then it needs electricity, which means digging a trench (courtesy of our oldest son)....

And then a fence needs to be constructed, which means digging holes. (My arms are STILL sore.) Nine holes were dug...I think. I really can't remember because I only helped dig four. :)

Because shade was needed, a nice space under the pines needed to be cleared.

That's my hard-working husband, chainsaw in hand.

It was a full day's work. Our muscles were sore, and most of the day, we nibbled on strawberries from the garden and iced tea, all while spraying ourselves with vanilla-scented spray to keep the ten billion gnats away.

Our efforts paid off, I believe. The coop is now nestled beside some white pines at the end of our garden. It should be an ideal place to watch the chickens while I play in the garden, and maybe they'll even get to sample some of the garden produce.

Everyone seems to be happy. The chickens will be too.  That being said, I will NEVER do this much work again....

...until the next crazy idea. 

Sharon

How Many Women Does it Take...

By the time Friday hit, I was asking myself what project I was going to work on this weekend. Planting the strawberries was out of the question. It was too windy to have my face two feet from the dirt. Aside from the wind, the temperature was quite nice. By Saturday morning, I knew what the plan was. It was time to stop talking about a corral and actually get one.

I had already done research on what type of corral was best for my equine needs. The corral was to be 60' in diameter to insure the natural arc of the horse's back while he was working. I also wanted the corral to be easy to move should I change my mind as to where it ought to be. Having calculated that it would take fifteen 12' panels and one pass-through gate to make a 60' pen, I texted my BGFF (Best Girl Friend Forever) and made plans to head to the local farm supply store.

Two trips later (after loading and unloading a snowmobile trailer full of steel panels), my friend and I stared at the job of the day. Just so you know, I enticed her to help by promising her a glass or two of "Cupcake" malbec wine. She didn't argue.

So there we were, sipping wine, swatting gnats, and erecting a corral. Thanks to the advice from her husband that we would be doing ourselves a favor if we placed a stake in the center of our site and tied a 30' string to it to make our circle template, the rest of the project went well. (Even if her hubby did whisk her away for dinner, leaving me to finish the job with my own hubby.)

And here it is....

It's the most level spot I could find, and I like that it's close to the indoor arena. It's also close to the pump house, where the horses get their baths. You can see the pump house on the left of the picture below. It houses the irrigation system from when the place was a strawberry farm.

It's just amazing what two talented gals can do on a single Saturday. I'm hoping she'll ask me to help her with her corral when she's ready to get one. I'm also hoping for wine!