June 3rd

This morning I went to town and picked up my friend and faithful helper, Ron. He says he doesn't mind helping me as it gives him something to do. I am very grateful for any and all help I get.

The project we took on today was the chicken run. About 2 years ago Wilson dug a bunch of post holes for me, then Bob came by and planted posts in those holes for me, also dug a few new ones as the ones already there were too far out of line. As it is the posts really aren't in straight lines at all... pretty bad, but oh well, chickens won't mind this and nor do I so long as they work. Once the posts were up the next step was the wire... not a one person job, so I never got it done... until now. Ron and I had to remove a lot of thistles and other weeds and grass before we could install wire, then we got all the wire mesh on the bottom up and about half of it on the top before we got too tired to do more. The wire mesh is about 4 feet high, so need two levels of it. All the wire I have on the bottom I got for free through Freecycle, and what I put on the top I got given to me by a now former friend about 2 years ago. I put the better quality wire on the bottom as I figure it will get the most wear. We left a gap where we will be putting a gate for me to access this area. We still have to finish the top round of mesh and fill in some spots where the lay of the hill caused big gaps between the bottom of the wire mesh and the ground. Not yet sure just how we'll do this, but I know we will. This fence is not real pretty, or professional looking, but it will do and hopefully will keep the chooks in. I know it will be better for the chooks than what they have now and much larger.

Future plans: to clean out the little shed under the lean-to where the chickens now live, then move the chooks (chickens) into the shed. Cut a hole in the one wall of this shed for the chooks to be able to go out to the new run. Then I will dismantle the lean-to and current chicken run, making more room on this level for parking, turning the truck around, etc. as well as looking better. I may even move my little tin shed from the far end of the house out to here so it is more easily accessible for use rather than just taking up space. Getting the chooks into their new home is priority at this point, though.