Work

I ask my son, “What does WORK do for us?” His learned response is, “It makes us happy and strong!”

I threw myself into the work of building our chicken coop last month. It was hard labor and tested my convictions and beliefs at times, but "Work" passed the test. I enjoyed it. I also learned mothering has to stay my first work. The boys turned feral from too many treat-bribes and movies watching.

I remember when I called my Grandmother Naomi after giving birth to my first baby. I told her I quit work and planned to stay home with him. Her reply, in her Southern Florida accent: "Oh, honey, WORK just found YOU." She was SO right.

I have to interject another Grandma story. When she was pregnant with her last of six children, the nurse was taking her information at her first doctor visit. She asked my grandma her age. "Old enough to know better" was her reply. My dearest wish is that one-liners are genetic.

Meanwhile, back at the coop...

Kurt designed and created a model of it on the computer so we could do a virtual walk-through.

Yes, it IS over-designed, and yes, it IS the Fort Knox of coops...but we love it. It sits just outside our great-room doors to the south (which are glass) and we can see it clearly at all times. It had to be attractive. We spent time to love and raise these sweet chicks and can’t bear the thought of them being some predator’s midnight snack. It had to be secure.

I will let the pictures tell most of the story. What isn't clear in the slideshow is that the coop has a sliding door and will have a roof garden once the planting season arrives. I learned to weld during this project! The picture of my hand shows a few tiny burns from welding. Cool. I still need to paint the doors to the nesting box. The box has plexiglass sides. The rest should make sense.

We would all like extra points for doing this during the hot, muggy monsoons of a desert summer.

PS I just viewed the slideshow. The music cuts off before it is half over. I will try to fix it asap!