fort knox

Incredible what a change a couple of days can make. The landscape has turned from icy white to hopeful brown, the robins are back, and I can see the garden.

But the frozen pipes are still frozen. My wife talked to a guy who works on the road commission He told her that the ground will freeze to 18″ but streets and driveways can freeze to 5′. Oh well. The temporary frost-free spigot setup works great, so I’m prepared to wait some more.

I put some finishing touches on our outhouse/chicken coop. The feeder went up…

And the heated waterer…

And I tightened up a few more weak points.

The coop is located on the edge of the woods. Plenty of raccoons, possums, some foxes, and I’ve even seen a coyote in the back. A couple of times in the distant past we’ve lost flocks to those greedy varmints in overnight raids.

Kind of like putting your diamond collection on display in the middle of the heroin district. The coop really needs to be like Fort Knox, and I think is. We shall see.

It’s a strangely expensive proposition, preparing for chickens. I knew it would be going in. But my wife’s been very supportive of my spending. She says it’s my hobby. I’m not sure whether she means the chickens or spending. But I’m pretty sure she wants them as much as I do.