This boulder seems almost fluid. It seems to be morphing into a frog like being. This boulder greets you as you begin the climb up to the pond.

As we neared the top we came upon a gorge lined with unusual stones (probably quarried). Notice the sculpted star on one of the rocks. If you look close, it actually looks natural, not man made.

The lake sits up high. The trail takes you up through the woods where suddenly you find yourself at a beautiful, quiet, pond completely surrounded by woods. The pond was frozen over and as we walked we heard the whump whump of the ice. It is an eerie, magical sound.

There are islands on the pond and inlets. It is a photographer’s dream. Unfortunately the weather was poor for spectacular photographs, but nevertheless, I captured the essence of the day. Bo followed along without roaming off, and with no other people or dogs around, he could run free (though he would have preferred Buddy to be there too, no doubt).

 Here are some of the photographs from our hike. I will surely return to this lovely place.

Bo with an abandoned beaver lodge up ahead.

Elizabeth posing. I'm sure we are not the only ones who've had their photo taken here.

Aren't these lovely!

 

I just loved the mix of shapes here.

 

Where's the 'drink me' bottle?

 

An interesting hemlock.

 

Overcast skies on the pond.

 

We should have brought our skates.

 

A frozen waterfall.

 

This could be almost any pond or lake in New Hampshire.

 

Red cedar forest.

 

A glacier.

 

We came upon the stone with moss growing in its cracks.

 

Bo and my friend as we near the end of the trail. I love these wide pine covered spaces. And yes, I love these friends too!

 

 

Max sitting on Buddy's grave stone

I glanced out the kitchen window yesterday and discovered Max sitting on Buddy’s grave stone. It made me smile. Only a few feet away the chickens were scratching the ground under the bird feeder. When I collected the eggs I found one tiny egg sitting in the clutch. I had read that this is what happens when hens start laying  Small eggs come first. I have no idea how old my hens are – I assumed they were all pretty old. I guess I was wrong.

Three and one half eggs

Chickens at the bird feeder

Today I wandered around the yard with Bo. It is interesting how different Bo’s behavior is without Buddy around. Buddy never wandered when we walked. He would run ahead, but would turn around to make sure I was following along. When Bo joined the family he followed along pretty much as Buddy did. Now I discover that Bo was following Buddy, not me. Twice I turned around today only to discover Bo was no where in sight. He gets distracted while we walk and once I’m out of sight, he’s lost. He doesn’t seem to follow his nose the way Buddy could. Before Bo live here he was never off the leash. I’m learning that Bo was tethered to Buddy – not so much to me. I’m sure this will change in time. When I retraced my steps and called, Bo came running, clearly out of breath from dashing around looking for me. He was happy to be reunited.

Grandmother's lace

We wandered down to the water where the ice was forming. The ice looked so much like a lace table cloth I have that I had to dash back to the house for my camera. Then Bo and I made our way along the stream taking photos. It’s been a while since I did this. I’m glad I made the effort to get outside today.

Bo having a bad hair day

Ice Image 1

Ice image 2

 

Ice image 3

 

Ice image 4

 

Ice image 5

 

Ice image 6

 

 

Ice image 7

 

 

Ice image 8

I don’t often discuss my spiritual explorations on this blog, but from what I have included, you will know that my beliefs are non-traditional. Part of my journey has taken me to Drunvalo Melchizedek’s books including his latest, Living In The Heart, which includes a CD for a heart meditation. I’ve listened to the CD numbers of times, but found his visualization just did not work for me – in fact I was so resistant to the method that I gave up altogether. I felt bad about this as I feel Drunvalo is quite accurate in his assessment that we access the spiritual realms through our heart.

Tuesday I stumbled upon another heart meditation which had the perfect visualization for me. All I can say is that I was instantly attracted to the method. There is an audio of this method, as well as the text. I listened to the audio version and followed along with the suggested visualization. When it came to the part about asking for help in a particular area, I asked for help in digging out my dark side so that I could bring it to the light and be free of it or them (as the case is likely to be). Now this was a very quick meditation – I was sitting at the kitchen table, Abbey my black cat was on the table weaving back and forth between me and the lap top, butting her head against me. It didn’t matter, this was only research from my perspective – a trial run, so to speak. I listened for the five minutes or so the meditation took, and that was it.

I will preface what I say next with the statement that I have been both marveling and puzzled over how smooth the transition has been from life with Buddy to life without Buddy. My intellect put it down to my belief in an after life – and my conviction that he is simply in another dimension, and might possibly still be around even though I cannot see him.

Still, I haven’t done much since burying him two weeks ago. Motivation is at a low. Mostly I’ve eaten a lot of chocolate, lain around in bed excessively, and been glued to the internet. (I guess this part was good since I found the new heart meditation).

To continue – yesterday I went out to put the chickens to bed, and as I walked back to the house I passed Buddy’s grave, and I said goodnight as I have been doing these past weeks. But this time a huge welling of pain and sadness came rushing up from inside – a pain I hadn’t felt since putting him in the ground. This persisted for the next several hours while I went through the evening’s chores, fed Bo, washed dishes, put out clean water for the cats. I’d have to stop and sob every once in a while, holding onto the counter so I didn’t just collapse. I did not want supper, so Bo, Abbey, and I retreated to the bedroom.

I sat in the bathroom for a while trying to figure out why all of a sudden I was grieving. Memories of Buddy standing at the bathroom door waiting for the signal to go get a sock for me to throw came rushing in. I yearned to feel his presence. I asked Buddy (and Spirit) to help me feel his presence. And then I asked Buddy to bark if he was there. Sounds crazy, I know. But I was somehow convinced he could do this.

I had barely gotten the words out when there was a sharp, high-pitched, bark from the bedroom. It was followed by cat noise – something like a cat complaint. Now the bark was not exactly Buddy’s bark, but it was a bark – clearly not at all a noise that a cat makes (not my cats anyway), and certainly not Abbey who only meows to be let into a room, and I am very familiar with her voice. This also was definitely not Bo. It was as if Buddy had barked through Abbey’s vocal chords. And then Abbey reacted. I knew without a doubt that this was Buddy. If you had been here you would have said, “what was that?” It was that unusual.

Abbey

I put my pajamas on, and rolled up one of my socks and tossed it on the bed for Buddy. Then, before sleeping, I went through the heart meditation in my mind, and again asked for my dark side to brought into my consciousness. I also asked for a bit of healing for the cough I’ve been nursing for ten days or so now.

When I awoke this morning, I felt better. Clearly I had buried my sadness rather than experiencing it. As I thought about this, it dawned on me that that is part of the darkness – buried pain. Then I remembered the meditation. Could it be that the heart meditation had begun its work that fast? Certainly this pain was very close to the surface, and not difficult to bring up. But wasn’t it interesting?

Immediately I went through the meditation again, vowing to begin and end each day with this simple visual exercise. As I was meditating, lying back in my imaginary golden barcolounger, it dawned on me that I was lying on my back – something I couldn’t do the morning before due to pain in the lungs. Already I was getting better. Hmmm?

It is now mid morning and my cough is indeed much better. The metaphor of coughing up ‘stuff’ in the physical for the last ten days for needing to bring my grief out into the light does not escape me.

I don’t believe there are accidents or coincidences. This life we live is an incredible weaving of interconnections and synchronicities that give us direction and guidance (not to mention, joy) if only we open our eyes.

For this wonderful life, I am so grateful.  

Link to the Cosmic Awareness page and the Heart Chamber Meditation audio and text.  

You will notice that most of the information on this site is now free due to the nearing of December 21, 2012.

Buddy

September 12, 1999 – January 17, 2012

My beloved toy poodle Buddy died this week. I buried him Wednesday at noon under the lilac tree. His death was not unexpected. If you have been following this blog, you will know that he had a heart problem, and had slowed down over the last few years. I miss him and will go on missing him. He was the best of dogs – my constant companion – my best friend. I was so lucky to have had the last twelve years with him, and I have a treasure chest of memories to keep me warm.

These last few days I have been going through my photo albums, pulling out memories. Today I decided to indulge myself and post a memorial to Buddy. So for those of you who have followed  Buddy over the last year and a half or so on this blog, here’s a glimpse of the past.

One Dogs Life

Who could refuse a gift like this?

Buddy's first Mama, Robin. You know part of her wants to turn around and take him back home.

Here's Buddy checking out Doug's shoe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The love of socks started with this one

All his life Buddy’s favorite toy was a rolled up sock. He would bring me socks from wherever he could find them, clean or not.  When we visited my daughter’s, he would vanish upstairs to the boys’ rooms and reappear downstairs dragging a long dirty tube sock after him. How he loved socks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings

I had a lot of cats when Buddy arrived. He got to know them all, but over the years he had favorites he loved to torment. Sometimes the tables were turned, and the cats did the tormenting – especially Abbey, my black cat. She would wind back and forth between me and Buddy making it impossible for Buddy to bring me his toy of the moment. Eventually Buddy would bark at her and she’d back off. Here Buddy meets Rupert and tries to interest him in a game of ball.

 

I fetch - you throw

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And he had to share the bed with the cats (some of them) - I needed a spot too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were other things to play to play with - leaves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And snow - is this for me?

Ribbons and bows! Buddy's first Christmas at Little Mama's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure which is in worse shape - the frisbee or the dog

The first year I had Buddy, I started digging a fish pond. This was a major undertaking during which I learned how to lift huge boulders out by raising them inch by inch and inserting stones underneath. Buddy loved the muddy hole I was digging and had a lot of baths that summer.

 

 

Buddy is just about cat size now - here he is with Rupert and Toby

 

 

And here with Muffin

 

One happy dog

Out for a walk with the family at the arboretum - Buddy waiting for me

All aboard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound

About this time my daughter’s family adopted a standard poodle. Sophie was a big dog and clearly dominated when she was around. Buddy figured out that if he walked around under her belly, she couldn’t drag him around as she was want to do. Unfortunately I never got a picture of this hilarious behavior. Here Sophie is visiting and the dogs are gated out of the living room. Buddy performs his levitation act, leaping from a standstill to a height well over his head. He would do this outdoors in the ferns, leaping up and down like a jumping jack, searching for his ball that had been tossed for him to find. He was a very focused dog and would search the entire woodland area until he found it.

 

 

Sophie and Buddy - Hey, that's my frisbee

The abominable snow dog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buddy's favorite lap

 

 

There was only one lap Buddy would sit in, and that was my daughter’s. He would sit there and look at me as if pointing out my shortcomings. Buddy and Miranda shared the same sun sign. They had a very special bond.

 

 

Buddy - gloating

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to get very good with my aim or I'd have to climb into the snow

 

 

Winters could be rough. The first time Buddy came in from being out in the deep snow I heard a strange rattling sound. Upon investigation, I found a mass of tiny snow balls hanging from the hair under Buddy’s belly. They rattled together as he walked. Playing in the snow usually meant a warm shower for Buddy afterward. Often the snow was so deep he couldn’t even get off the paths – but he tried, intrepid dog that he was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buddy and Simon investigate a mouse

Here’s Buddy with Simon. They have found a mouse and are very curious. This little mouse survived the inspection – no doubt in part due to the large spirit mouse that I discovered as I pulled out photos. (Quite amazing isn’t it?)

Is that a spirit mouse watching over little mouse?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to play too!

Many summers when the grandchildren would visit we would break out the croquet set. Our games never followed the traditional set up. The kids would put the hoops all over the yard, behind stumps, up the hills, etc. The main difficulty in playing, however, was the inteference from Buddy who insisted in dropping his frisbee on top of the ball we were about to hit. In the end we added a rule that if Buddy covered your ball with his frisbee, you’d get an additional hit. Here is Buddy bringing his frisbee over (note the croquet hoop at the bottom). The other is Matthew expressing annoyance – obviously before the new rule.

Just toss this first, will you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buddy was never far from the action - here we are getting ready for water balloon croquet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nearing the top of Mt. Gap

Almost every summer we climbed Mt. Gap – a local mountain that allows dogs. Buddy always came with us and hung out under the blueberry bushes at the top while we picked berries.

 

Here’s the family at the summit of another local mountain.

 

Buddy posing with some of the family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Buddy at Ogunquit

 

Buddy in his prime - at home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Safe under Jon's chair

When Buddy was about four, my daughter’s family adopted a Newfoundland named Njill. Although she has a gentle nature, her size was a little imtimidating. Buddy found safety under chairs, tables, or barricaded on the sofa.

 

He had no trouble making himself at home at my daughter's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet boy

 

 

 

 

 

Some favorite photos including one of Buddy in his black bag on my kayak. He went everywhere with me, and would lie quietly in his bag under a table in a restaurant, or in a grocery cart, and on the floor at all the kids school concerts. Only once in his life did he ever make a noise and that was at one of the concerts

At the helm

where the orchestra was just too ‘off’ for his liking. He started howling which gave me and my daughter a case of the giggles. Fortunately my hand inserted into the bag was enough to silence him. He was really remarkable. No one ever knew there was a dog around. (I wouldn’t have taken him into public this way if he’d been a breed that upsets allergies.)

 

Morning Glories and glorious dog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A favorite expression meaning - did I hear you correctly?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buddy was home groomed – can you tell?

 

Buddy under the lilac

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was glad to find this photo as this was a favorite spot of Buddy’s under the shade of the lilac. This is where I buried him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buddy and his new stroller

One of the first signs that Buddy was having problems was that when I’d head out for a walk, he’d sit on the driveway and refuse to follow me down the road. I modified my behavior to slow meanderings around the yard and into our woods. Our almost daily hike up the hill and down around the lake became a thing of the past. Eventually I invested in a dog stroller which allowed me to take good walks with Bo without leaving Buddy behind. I like to think Buddy was really happy to be on the road again. Here he is after our first walk. The second photo is us heading out this fall on a cold November day. Max is coming with us.

 

Heading out for a stroll(er) with Max And Bo (out of view)

 

 

 

Buddy in his winter coat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird watching

The last week of Buddy’s life he stayed indoors. I piled cushions up at the picture window, and we sat there together gazing out at the birds feeding on the seed I’d tossed in the snow. Bo was with us lying in front of the wood stove.

 

Our last week's hangout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a peaceful, quiet time of memories and loving. I carried him where he needed to go, and though his body was slowing down, Buddy still managed to let me know if he needed water, or to go out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then he was gone.

 

Buddy's grave

Buddy’s grave under the lilac isn’t pretty at the moment. I placed a large stone taken from the ground as a marker. Come spring I will make a new marker, and plant shade flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standing vigil

Wednesday afternoon when I went to the window I discovered one of the chickens sitting at the edge of the grave site, just staring at the grave. If you know chickens, you’ll know this is odd. Especially so since they are compelled to dig when in the presence of loose soil. This chicken was just sitting and staring. I don’t know when she began sitting there, but I watched her for a good five minutes  before another chicken came along and started digging. I went out then and moved them away. It is possible that she tuned into the emotions of that spot, or perhaps she was seeing something I couldn’t see. In any event, I thought it was lovely.

 

 

 

The gift

Thursday morning when I looked out, there was the black squirrel I’d seen several weeks earlier and had been wishing would return so I could get a photo of it. I’ve never seen a black squirrel before. Actually, I think it’s very dark brown, but appears black.  I’d been looking for that squirrel for days. I like to think Buddy sent me the squirrel as a gift from beyond.

 

Black and grey squirrels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until I see you again, my friend, God speed.

Buddy

 

 

Time to sit for a bit

As I work, the chickens follow me all around the yard, digging as I dig. I am careful as I move – there might be a chicken right behind me. After clearing a lot of the dead goldenrod and vines that tend to take over the back yard, I sat down to enjoy the day. As soon as I was sitting, Buddy ran (well…wobbled) for his Frisbee – YAY it’s play time! Bo just hangs about. The chickens, on the other hand took the opportunity to have a bath in the loosened dirt from my weed pulling. Dirt, dirt, glorious dirt!

Just love this little dog

Buddy and his favorite toy

 

Bo hangs out

 

Bird Bath

 

A little tête-à-tête bird talk

 

What exactly are you doing? (Well I WAS taking a bath!)

 

Home alone

With a lot of the yard clearing done, I went back to my latest passion – the chicken coop project!

First I cleared out and dismantled the playhouse from chicken use, and then decided to move the netting area which was badly in need of repair to the new chicken coop. I installed a door at the side of the coop near the chicken door to give me easy access to the pen, and then strung the new netting area.

With that done, I needed to block off the two exposed under sides of the house. Because I did not want to attach the chicken wire to the outside, I resigned myself to crawling underneath and doing the best I could to attach the chicken wire lying down. It may not be pretty, but it works. And it is prettier than being on the outside.

New outdoor pen built

Last one out's a rotten egg

 

I hope there are bugs out here

 

Hmmm - I'm sure I went out this way yesterday.

 

Hidden picture one - Can you spot the 4 chickens?

 

Hidden picture two - 5 chickens

 

Go in and out the dorway...

 

Domestic tranquility

 

Enjoying the last bit of snow

This morning I installed a roosting post inside the pen. I couldn’t coax any of them to get on it, but I suspect they will discover it eventually.

The outside roosting pole

The pen is a necessity if the chickens are to have freedom to the outdoors when I’m not here. Like the cats in their cat pens, this prevents predators from having an easy meal.

I thought this had happened a few days back. I made a count of the chickens, as I always do when shutting them up for the night, and counted only nine. It was pouring rain, and the chickens had been roaming the yard in the afternoon. I thought perhaps one had taken shelter from the rain, but after searching everywhere and calling, I could not find the missing chicken. It had grown completely dark and I was searching with a flashlight, and was soaked. There was nothing to be done but give up for the night. I was hoping it was Annie who obviously knew how to take care of herself.

In the morning, there was no chicken roaming about outside. I took the others their breakfast and counted – there were 10! Huh? I had counted numerous times. How did that happen?

That night, again, there were only 9 chickens. But now I knew something was up. I climbed over the roosting pole and looked deep into the hideaway. There was number 10 – hunkered down as far in as possible. Mystery solved.

I’m so glad I built the hideaway – I had a feeling someone would like it.

They like it!

And a second!

I spent most of the day building the rest of the shutters – an essential for stress free chickens. My original intent had been to hinge both the top and bottom, but when I brought the bottom shutter over to fit it into the window opening, I immediately realized this would not be possible since I had built an exterior window sill. So I decided they could just be removable. I stood there with the shutter in my hand not wanting to place it down on the snow, so realized I needed to have a dry place to store them. Then I remembered I had some tool hooks I hadn’t used. Perfect!

Below are photographs of the shutters in various positions.  (The photo of the shutters fully closed was taken just for photographic reasons. You will notice there are still chicken roaming about underneath.) I always count the chickens before shutting up for the night.

In the summer, the glass windows will be removed and replaced with hardware cloth windows. The shutters serve to shield the chickens from sun, rain, wind, and predator exposure. I think I have all bases covered.

Shutters in fully opened position. (Notice I raked the snow off that side of the house - snow was dripping all over me!)

Shutters with bottom opened

 

Shutters with top opened

 

Shutters closed for nighttime - don't worry, I know chickens are underneath. This was a photo op only

Now I need to do the trim inside and out, but for the moment, I will get on with putting up my storm windows and preparing my house for winter since winter is obviously here.

Coming home to roost

Most of the day on Sunday was spent shoveling snow. Unfortunately my wonderful snow blower would not start, so I was compelled to do all the clearing by shovel. It’s a bit of a slog getting to the chicken coop.  

This is October?

By noon I was done shoveling and spent the afternoon putting insulation up on the ceiling.

Insulation, a heat lamp, and a regular lamp

Monday, I finished constructing the interior sitting and laying places, plus a small hideaway for chickens who like (or need) a bit of solitude. I still haven’t built the exterior shutters, or done any of the inside or outside trim. But…I can do those things with an occupied coop.

Nesting boxes with a bit of privacy

Sleeping berth and hideaway

In the playhouse, there were three chickens who slept on the bare board I’d installed under the windows rather than on the perch, so I built this box to satisfy that need. I think it’s much cozier than a bare board (it will have straw) – I hope they use it.

The chicken door - outside I installed the old ladder

Today, I moved the chickens in!

They were very curious with the new place, and immediately explored everything.

They went straight for the hideaway

Room with a view

 

 

Say - is this a real tree?

 

 

Food and water - we're happy!

Late in the afternoon I attached the old ladder to the new chicken door and let them out.  While they wandered around in the snow, I started building the shutters.

What's that white stuff?

Not too many places without snow

When dusk came, about half the chickens had either stayed in the new coop or found their way back. The other half hung out by the old coop and I had to carry them to their new home. When I went in to close the chicken door, I noticed that even with the little door open, the coop felt much warmer that the playhouse they had been in. I hope they have a cozy night and enjoy waking up with a view of the rising sun. They won’t have the view for long as once all the shutters are built, they will be closed in completely – which I understand is what they really like.

The chickens have been molting which has meant a reduce egg production, but this morning there were two eggs. I will be curious to see if their new nesting boxes will have any eggs tomorrow.

Every morning I take the chickens something special to eat. They’ve had so far, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, broccoli, watermelon, oatmeal with raisins, apple, bananas, grits, bread, and regular potatoes. Because their beaks had been trimmed, most of what I give them has to be cut into small pieces so they can eat what I give them.

I really like these chickens. It has been so much fun building their house and getting to know them. I still cannot distinguish all of them, but so far there is Audrey, Princess, Snow White, Uno, Last One, and Annie (the last one who lived alone all those weeks – named for Annie Dillard).

Goodnight chickens!

The dogs usually hang around outside with me. They get plenty of exercise because they follow me from the coop to the garage where I do all the cutting, back to the coop for measuring/fitting/installing, and then back to the garage. Once in a while I’d quit early and stroll down the pond, especially when there was a particularly spectacular day.

Evening interlude at the pond - sun in the water

My pals in the late afternoon at the pond

Friday morning

A few days ago my new neighbor, Elizabeth, called. “You’ll never guess what was on my driveway when I got home today?” It was a chicken – one that had wandered off and managed to survive in the woods all this time. Yes, I took her in. Except for one battle for pecking order, all has been calm. She’s a lovely chicken. When I let her out in the coop, she headed straight for the food, and hung around inside with a few of the other chickens for most of the day. Now she’s just one of the gang.

New arrival

Remember me?

Max has showed up for several days running. I let him in to eat, but since I’m outside all day, he doesn’t have access to the outside except in the cat pens. When he found himself surrounded by chickens, he raced back and forth from one end of the tunnel to the other looking for a way out until I went and let him out into the yard. Even with it snowing the other evening, I couldn’t persuade him to stay in the house where it was warm. I notice he has an exceptionally thick and bushy coat. (I do hope that’s not a sign of things to come.)

Max finds himself cooped up with a bunch of chickens

There must be a way out of here somewhere

Hey Pal, you've already been this way five times!

Then I raced around putting things away. My last task was to make sure the chickens were in their coop. They weren’t. I had opened the little door earlier in the day, and assumed that when the snow started they’d head back in. Instead, they found cozy places in the cat tunnels which were sheltered from the snow by overhanging plants. On both sides of their hideaways, the snow had fallen so heavily that the tunnel netting was already down on the ground. The chickens were trapped at both ends. I had to cut openings in the netting and lure them out of their dens with bread. Ah well – I’ll fix the netting in the spring.

Here are some of the progress photographs.

Front siding done

Interior walls started - here's where the nesting box will be

Back siding done

Last exterior wall siding on

Nesting box - great place to keep my tools

Outside nesting box

Windows framed ready for windows

More of the interior done

By the end of Friday all four windows were in

The window at the back was done too

As the northeaster moves in, the door is done!

UPDATE:

As I finish this posting at 4 in the morning, the storm is nearly over. But alas, it looks like we have about 20 inches of snow!!!

Sigh!

After locating the spot for the new chicken coop and removing all the brush, I designed my chicken coop and calculated the lumber I’d need. There’s a ton of good information on Youtube and the internet about building chicken coops. I wanted mine to be big enough so the chickens would have plenty of room during the cold days of the year when snow kept them indoors. I decided on a square coop with 8’ walls. This would minimize the need to trim the 2 x 4s. Boring I suppose.

I sketched out a basic design so I could calculate how much lumber I’d need and then I drove to a local lumber mill and put in my order – mostly rough cut hemlock and pine. I’ve never worked with hemlock before, but I am delighted to say that nailing into green hemlock 2 x 4s is a dream.

My chicken scratches - I didn't stick to this!

I also went to out local glass place and ordered the glass for my windows. I wanted to use safety glass, but settled on ¼ inch regular glass. There will be hardware cloth between the glass and the chickens, so hopefully this will prevent problems. The glass windows will be removable for the warm weather.

While waiting for my lumber delivery I purchased four cinder blocks and spent the better part of two days setting the blocks in a level 8’ by 8’ square. Since I’d had to dig down some to make them level, and since I did not intend to use treated lumber, I bought four more cinder blocks to get the base up high enough to be clear of most snow. When that was done, we had a rainy spell, and then my wood arrived followed by a complete week of fabulous weather.

Level base of double 2x4s on cinder blocks

That whole week I spent the entire time outside building the coop. It’s not done yet, but it is well on the way as you can see from the photos below. I would work all day, and then at night, work over in my mind what I would do the next day, and figure out how to do the hard bits. I made good use of a book my daughter gave me years ago. I recommend this book to any do-it-yourselfer out there, Reader’s Digest New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual.  I have used this book for many, many projects. Just looking at their diagrams tells you most of what you need to know.

The only power tool you really need is a circular saw. But I do have a Bosch table saw which makes life easy for stripping long cuts and quick cross cutting. But you don’t have to use a table saw, the circular saw will do the job. You do need a mcollection of hand tools, hammer, level, squares etc. The best hand tool for use with the circular saw is a tool I found at Lee Valley Tools – this is a FABULOUS tool which serves as a guide for the saw for any angle you want to cut. I use it all the time. The beauty of it is, you get the angle right once, and then can repeat the cut without calculating again. When I cut the angles on the ends of the siding at the peak, I only had to set this tool once – awesome!

My saw and cutting escentials

Must haves

After the base, I built the floor. Here the last floor board is ready to set in place.

When I started the framing I had images of lifting the first wall only to have it fall over while I built the second wall frame. While I was stocking up on nails, I mentioned my concern to the fellow at the hardware store, and he told me to attach a support arm after getting the wall squared. Duh – how simple! Actually, I was astonished at how easy it was to raise and attaché the frame – they are so heavy that they stand easily unsupported. All I had to do was maneuver them into place. Eventually I added two diagonal braces to eliminate the wobble.

Two wall frames up and attached

Chickens hang out in the tunnel while I work

More framing, insullation, and my biggest challenge started

I’ve done a lot of building, but never a roof. This was my greatest challenge – cutting the angles on the roof supports – angles to angles. Unfortunately my book doesn’t indicate how to do this, but it does make it clear it has to be done.  Honestly, I felt like a moron. I am convinced there must be a handy dandy tool to make this process easy, but without that getting the first one right was a challenge. I also made a mistake in framing the roof at the ends as I did not accommodate the overhang. This meant I needed to enhance the framing to match the inner supports. A bit of a fudged job, but I knew when the siding went up, this would not be visible. Live and learn!

Some siding, and roof going up

Roof felt added as I went

I was eager to get the roof done so that I didn’t need to keep covering the structure with a tarp every night, so I focused on getting that done. What a job! I worried the whole time that I wouldn’t be able to reach the top, and I didn’t want to invest in roof brackets. Nor did I want to walk around on the slope – messing up the new shingles (and scaring myself). I’m not keen on heights. But as of today I have both sides of the roof done and need only finish nailing on the cap shingles. It’s a bit awkward – I end up nearly lying on the roof, but I know now I’ll get it done.

Drip edge installedRoof shingles in progress

Last big hurdle - could I make it to the top? I did! All but the roof cap done

I still have much to do – finish the siding, trim, removable glass windows, window shutters, hardware cloth windows, nesting boxes which will jut out from the wall with it’s own roof, doors (mine and the chickens), and all the interior walls and structures. Then I need to run electricity to the house. Voila! It will be done.

How is it possible six months have passed since I made an entry in this blog? This is no way to attract a following. I have been so busy this summer. The vegetable garden flourished, I repainted my living room, worked on a number of paintings, and was busy all summer with hand readings.

My wonderful vegetable garden

This entry today will be all about the chickens that have just come into my life.

Several weeks ago my neighbor up at the top of the hill (and owners of chickens for whom I am caretaker when they are away), called and asked if I would like some chickens. Apparently someone had dumped over thirty live chickens in the woods between them and the new neighbors further on at the end of the road. “No pressure,” she said.

I drove up the hill the next day to see for myself. There roaming around in the woods and on the dirt road were dozens of chickens – ‘reds’ they are called – typical egg laying chickens. Elizabeth, one of the new neighbors who is conveniently a former chicken owner herself, and William, son of the neighbor who called me, were busy catching the healthiest of the bunch. They must have known I would say yes as they already had three in a dog crate ready to come to my place.

I drove off to purchase the essentials and spent the next morning building a roost, nesting boxes, and ladders so the chickens could venture out of doors. As I was working away, Elizabeth showed up with four more chickens. The next day three more arrived.  The rest, Elizabeth said, were going to have a home with the contractors working on their house.

Here are the essentials and the first three chickens

That weekend when I delivered some of the excess eggs to Elizabeth, I arrived just as the last of the chickens were rounded up for relocation. One very featherless and bedraggled chicken that Elizabeth had grown fond of had been saved for me. Elizabeth was pretty certain it would end up on the contractor’s dinner table due to her condition. I named her Last One. She has since blossomed into a beautiful blonde chicken.

Waiting for the contractor to pick them up

Uno just laid my first egg

We all speculated that the chickens, which looked pretty bedraggled, had been dumped because they were no longer laying. But, the second day of their arrival – before I even had the nesting boxes built, I was gifted my first egg. I happened to catch the chicken at work behind the door, and I named her Uno – layer of the first egg. After that I found on average, four eggs a day – plenty to share.

A chicken coop with curtains?

First one down the ladder

Happy chickens

Curious Bo

I was a little concerned that if I let the chickens run free right away, they wouldn’t know where their coop was, so on day three I let two chickens out, and they headed for the coop at dusk with no problems.

Do you see what I see?

Peaceful cooexistence

So the next day I let them all out. Immediately they spotted the compost heap in the garden, and within forty five minutes they had completely flattened the pile. The chickens seemed very friendly. If I and the dogs (who didn’t bother them at all) went into the front yard, the chickens followed. If we went to the mailbox, they came too.

The girls find the compost heap

And make mince meat of it!

It soon became apparent that these chickens like to dig. Holes large and small appeared everywhere. Since much of my ‘lawn’ is peat moss, and since the chickens just love digging up peat moss, by day four my yard looked pretty bad. So I decided to open up the cat tunnel and let the chickens and cats occupy the same areas.

Chickens haven't noticed Abbey up ahead yet

There were a few moment of mutual astonishment, but the cats just watched and the chickens just clucked. Peaceful coexistence! The chickens have no difficulty negotiating the tunnels, and would probably come all the way into the house if they could push open the cat door.

The chickens explore the cat pens

Don't think I don't know who let them in here

It's hard to tell the chickens from the leaves

Week two, after fitting out the playhouse for the chickens, I was visiting my other neighbors who formerly owned (and pretty much built) my house. They are moving to a smaller place. I was taking them a few vegetables from my prolific garden, when we got to talking about the chickens. They asked if I’d like their chicken coop which had been made to come apart. I was thrilled. We spent a day or so clearing it of all the storage inside, plus porcupine leavings etc. But when we tried to take it apart, it was impossible.

But just thinking about having a proper coop instead of a commandeered playhouse, inspired me to build one myself. When I first bought my house there was a chicken coop here, but it had long rotted away. The old spot was taken up with cat pens, so I wandered around for a few days deciding on the best site, and then got busy clearing away the overgrown choke cherry to make way for the new chicken coop.

Stay tuned for building updates.