You knew there was going to be at least one more chicken coop post, right? Good.

Ian has been working hard on this thing and we’re nearly there. He had to build two double laying boxes, one for each side of the coop. Without the top on, they look like this.

We are told that hens like to share laying boxes, so you don’t need one per hen. With four boxes, we will be able to expand our flock, should we find we LIKE having chickens.

Here’s the chicken coop with everything on it but the lock on the front doors and the decorations. We are thinking about putting in windows on the front doors for ventilation and light. Adding windows means adding decorative trim and that means I’ll have more surfaces I can paint. I’m thinking that no matter what, the chickens will be a feature of our backyard from now on, so their coop might as well be cute and creative, right? How many colors is too many colors to paint a chicken coop?

The laying boxes on either side have hinged tops for easy egg gathering. The coop is behind our garage building and up against the west fence, where the neighbors have really tall privet shrubs that shade my yard. The chickens will have shade during the hottest part of every day. At the moment, Ian and Lucas are outside installing the ramp the hens will use to enter the coop.

The hens we are adopting have to be out of their current abode on Saturday, 7/17. The finishing touches on the coop might not be done until after that.

I still can’t believe we’re going to be chicken owners. Wacky.

“Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.”   —Ada Louise Huxtable

Makeshift leaf bandage, fashioned by Lucas to heal his little brother’s hurt knee

Pumpkin vines and roses love hot, hot days

Morning glory heart-shaped leaves are as precious as the flowers

A surprise magnolia blossom on my tulip tree

Asher’s interpretive dance with Mardi Gras beads and stick

Blueberries for pie!

My mama, who knits (generously and prolifically) very practical and beautiful things like sweaters, socks, baby blankets, and scarves, asked me, “So, what’s with all the knitted animals?” My answer is, “Because they’re small and cute and fast, and I can justify making them because I have kids (even though my kids don’t play with them). Moreover, I’m practicing simple/basic knitting skills like increasing and decreasing, following a pattern, and counting. Prerequisite skills for knitting anything that might be worn by someone.

In the case of this pony, the pattern (from Toymaking with Children by Freya Jaffke) was just slightly different from the donkey I knitted in June, so I was curious about that. I had the rainbow wool yarn from a felting project I did a couple of years ago. So, why not? Haven’t you always wanted a rainbow pony? I have!

We’re getting chickens!

Grandma’s next-door neighbors are relocating to Rhode Island and they must find a new home for their five hens. Since we’ve been talking about getting chickens for about two years, we decided that now is the time. The hens are two years old, tame,  and laying. Perfect! The coop they are presently in cannot be moved as it’s more of an outbuilding than a coop, so we have to build our own chicken house. In our area, there are plenty of raccoons, opossums, and skunks who would love to feast on our girls, so we have to provide them with a safe home.

We visited the hens on Saturday just to make sure our children wouldn’t be terrified of them. I wanted to discover any phobias before we invested the time and effort into moving the chickens to our home. Then we set out for the local feed store, a place I haven’t been in many, many years. We met the chicken expert and pecked his brain a bit, then Ian started designing and figuring and calculating and masterminding.

On Sunday, we hit our home improvement store to buy building supplies. Then we came home and started work on our coop.

Lucas hammering

Asher hammering

Measuring and marking with his new carpenter’s pencil

My husband is so clever! And handy! And handsome!

Endless fascination

Asher did his natural work of mimicking and playing with the hardware. (He also did an amazing interpretive dance wearing mardi gras beads and a sword—LOVE.) Lucas was a big help to his dad and kept on task through most of the day, keeping a good attitude. Both boys are over the moon about getting chickens and promise to do their chores.

The coop is coming along well! After the first day of construction it already has a raised floor, back, and sides. Next is putting on the roof, building some nesting boxes, and putting on the front doors. The boys were so cute while helping Daddy yesterday. We made good progress over the weekend, but there’s still a long way to go, including sinking some fence poles and building the run. We are thinking about using a few vinyl flooring tiles on the floor of the coop so it scrubs clean really easily, like a kitchen floor. The whole front of the coop with be two big doors, so it will open completely when we want to clean it.

Me? So far, I’ve been in charge of photography, holding heavy lumber, beer buying, iced-tea and popsicle distribution, editing to keep up our bottom line, and dreaming of what colors to paint the coop.   😉

This is a peek at our summer nature table, which is really our piano top. Sorry about the flash. It took me a while to get around to changing from spring to summer stuff, but that’s just because we were really busy LIVING summer.

• framed paintings by Lucas (first grade wet-on-wet watercolors)
• ceramic bee hive made by Lucas last summer in our pottery class
• summer Rio Samba roses in crystal vase
• knitted sheep, one by Lucas (made in his first and second grade handwork classes) and one knitted by grandma and sewn up by by me
• picture book called In the Space of the Sky, by Richard Lewis and illustrated by Debra Frasier. The page says, “There—in the space of the sky is a field for the sun”
• ceramic frog made by me at pottery class
• fuse-bead rainbow sailboat made by Daddy
• print of little boys playing on the beach near the ocean, a gift from my parents several years ago
• orchid plant that looks in the scene a little like palm trees
• wooden rainbow arches
• seashells and sea star
• postcard of children frolicking from Ring-A-Rosies preschool, where Asher goes
• tree branches in Clouds vase
• needle-felted blue bird on a nest with eggs, made by me
• play silks for meadows, water, and sand

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” —Sir John Lubbock

Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Yep. I made another one—my second knitted cat. This one is going to live elsewhere as soon as she’s old enough.

Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.