I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Inside and Outside
Friday was super busy. I took care of the ducks/chickens, made challah bread, and got a roast cooking in the crock pot. I also did laundry and hung the clothes out on the clothesline, which was very pleasant. I cleaned the house. And I think I did many other things because I was very busy all day, but I can’t remember what they were now.
Later, we went to the nearby lake so JJ could try out the kayak he had bought a few weeks ago. He wanted to make sure he could load and unload it onto the vehicle and he wanted to see how it handled. He looked very peaceful out on the lake and I thought that if I had extra money (which I don’t) I would love to get a kayak too. Oh, well. EJ and I sat on the steps leading to the water while we waited for JJ. EJ dangled his feet in the water, but although the day was very warm, I thought the water was much too cold.
Saturday we rested all day. I worked on a puzzle that my friend sent me. After she and her husband put it together, she thought we’d like to do it too because it’s of a bunch of cats–and she knows we like cats. I moved a small table into the living room so I could be with EJ while I worked on my puzzle and he colored a picture. The puzzle is especially challenging because the cats like to knock the pieces off the table. For this reason, I keep it covered when I’m not working on it.
It was good that we rested on Saturday because today was another very busy day.
After work on Thursday, EJ picked up a large dog cage that his co-worker sold him for a good price. We planned to use it as part of our chicken pen. When I saw it, I was a little concerned that it might not be safe enough from predators. My brain kept working on a solution, turning the problem this way and that. We have to have a pen that is safe from predators, and we have to provide a warm place for the chickens/ducks in the winter because it gets really cold–it can get as low as -40F cold at times. I was wondering if we’d have to build two pens–a summer one outside and a warm winter one in the garage. That would be a lot of work and maybe extra money.
Finally, I came up with an idea. Our garage is very large and has three large doors, two facing the driveway and the third on the side. I suggested to EJ that we could set up the dog cage inside the garage near the third garage door, making the garage door the fourth side of the cage. Inside the dog cage in the garage we could put the coops. Outside we could build a pen with the fencing and posts we bought a few weeks ago During the day we could open the garage door so the chickens and ducks could go outside if they wanted. During the night, we could shut them in their coops in the garage and close the big door. They’d be safe inside and we could easily winterize it to keep them warm when it gets cold without having to built two completely separate pens.
EJ thought my idea was very good, so this morning we cleared that area of the garage and set up the cage. It has a door so we easily enter the cage. We carried the coop inside, as well as the horse trough with the baby chicks in it. We opened the door to the coop and let the ducks and the older chickens out to explore their new area. They seemed to really like the extra space. I put the shallow bowl of water in the caged area and the ducks had fun playing in the water. Soon we will get them a little swimming pool.
We spent the afternoon digging the post holes for the outside pen. (Actually, EJ dug them and I helped wherever I could–bringing him posts or whatever.) The outside pen is 8 feet wide and is almost the length of the garage. It will have a door at the end so we can access it–or let the chickens and ducks out to free-range if we choose. After the posts were in, we began putting up the fencing, but we had worked hard all day and were getting really tired so we decided to stop for the day.
In between helping EJ with the pen, I also made homemade bread today. I also did my normal chores and gave Danny a shower, which he didn’t like. We were really tired at the end of the day, but we were glad that we had made such progress. Plus, we were glad to work outside because the day was gorgeous. We kept hearing a ruffed grouse drumming, and hermit thrushes fluting, and turkeys gobbling. Later, after we had come inside for the day, I saw a female turkey wander past our house and down the driveway. I wonder if she has a nest nearby?
I Love To Go A Gardening 
It seems to me that you really are om the place you want to be and enjoy all the things they bring you. Great to see the farm growing. ❤
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