With Nancy now voluntarily between jobs, we have been able
to spend more time at Glencanaan. Each of the last two weeks we have spent four
days at Glencanaan and three on the “wet side.” We have really enjoyed projects
and visits from friends. Last week the Reeves were here, and this weekend the O’Brians.
One of the many projects was in building the outdoor chicken
coop. The indoor coop has been done for some time, and we brought the chickens
over a little over a week ago. With all of the critters over here, plus the
heavy snow load, we had to build the outdoor coop extremely strong. We started
with using chain link fencing on all six sides, then reinforced the floor and
part way up the walls with hardware cloth. We finished off the upper walls and
roof with chicken wire. Partly as a support for the roof and partly as a way of
providing perches, I cut a section of the tree I had removed to make room for
the coop, leaving branch stubs, and inserted it between the ground and one of
the top braces. I think it will work quite well.
Meanwhile, our vegetables are doing well. We have already
eaten spinach, rhubarb, and asparagus from our garden. We still have many of
the “babies”, as Nancy calls them, in the greenhouse, but they are looking very
healthy!