A Roost of Their Own

Oh man.  The first day back-to-normal after a fun holiday is never easy.

Little Petey

I was best fitted for guzzling coffee and snuggling on the couch this morning, thinking over the coziness of hosting a bunch of loving people, eating good food together, and enjoying one another's company.  Jason & I were excited to have both sets of parents and our younger sisters come for Thanksgiving at our house, along with our friend Cathy and her mother--many of my favorite people in the world.  Everyone contributed to our non-traditional (but delicious) menu, and best of all, I didn't wash a single dish!!  As tends to happen when my sister comes to stay, we continued the celebrating after the actual holiday was done--getting in some quality time with good friends over the weekend.  (Again, over a shared meal in most cases--is there anything better than eating with those you love?)

So tired!

Velvety, irresistible puppy ears.

Also, thanks to my sister, we welcomed a new furry member to the extended family:  a little pup named Petey, who Christiana witnessed being dropped off at the pound (not a no-kill shelter) and couldn't forget.  A week later, he was still there, shaking in fear in the back of his cold wire cage, now plagued by fleas and kennel cough--and that was that!  Petey seems to understand his debt, and his wiggly, overjoyed little body never stops trying to pay Christiana back with love, snuggling, and the kind of enthusiastic tail-wagging that brings his whole back half right along with it!  Part dachshund, and seemingly part Italian greyhound, Petey seems more like a miniature deer with his slender legs and body--with the exception of those soft, floppy ears.  Being a bit of a baby still, he was most easily captured by a camera during his many naps on his mama's lap....

Completed cold frame

Today, however, was also a beautiful day with sunshine and a temperature in the high 50s, and so after dawdling through much of the morning, I had an early lunch and headed outside to finish a few odds and ends.  First, I finally added the hinges to the cold frame I built a few weeks ago, and fashioned a wedge to use for venting the box on warmer days like today.  This was one of those pesky five-minute jobs that has been hanging over my head--very satisfying to cross off the list at last! 

Lettuce, collards, cabbage, spinach and green onions

While in the garden, I also tore down the tomato plants and their climbing paraphernalia, depositing the dead plants in my brush pile and the metal tomato ladders in the garage, and I also drained the big plastic barrels I have set aside for rain barrels in the spring and made sure to turn them over so that no more water can collect in them and freeze.  I hauled the rest of the free wood that has been piled in the driveway around to the back of the garage, next to the compost bin, in an attempt to tidy up a bit, and I filled the bird feeders and straightened the garage.  Every time I think it is finally going to be too cold for any further outside chores, the weather warms enough for a productive day like this!

The new roost (and curious chickens)

Another lingering task was to build a roost for the chickens inside their coop.  They are showing more and more interest in roosting, and are of age to want to sleep that way.  Unfortunately, this means that they have been flying up to the top of the coop--which I hadn't yet put a ceiling on--and this means chicken poop on my garage floor.  Ew.  So, today I was determined to add both a roost for them, and a ceiling to the pen for better insulation during the cold months to come. 

Ramona (and one of her pin-up roosters)

The roost is simply a 2" x 2" piece of wood mounted around 18-24" off of the floor of the coop--a good circumference for the girls to grasp and the preferred height
off the ground.  Within minutes of getting it in place, the girls were checking it out.  Then I used a large piece of plywood to cover about two-thirds of the coop and placed a spare window screen over the remaining opening, to allow for ample ventilation and extra light inside the coop.  No one seemed concerned with the changes--just appreciative of the food and water being returned to their hangers.  The only remaining chicken-construction will be their nest boxes, and I don't plan on making those until the new year.

Coop, Sweet Coop

And now it is time to get some Christmas-centered knitting accomplished--as well as reassuring my darling felines that the dreaded puppy has, indeed, gone back to Ohio and the house is theirs once more.  Not to mention my lap.  :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!