Some journeys start a long time before the first step is even taken. This is one of those journeys. Just shy of two years ago, I was living far from here, and starting a new thing… and somewhere along the line, that thing, um….. changed. Here's the backstory…. http://www.deardiary.org/yetzirah/2012/04/19/robert-burns-5/ It's painful to read it. But dang it, it's the way it was that day. Take a minute to read it, if you don't mind. ***   Okay. So here we are today, up in the 'highlands' thank God. We are however…. changed. Who's we? Me. Sunny. And all my alter egos. And even though I am still  having moments of panic about making this commitment, I am, with the help of a carpenter, finally building my chicken coop. After looking at …. dozens and dozens and …. dozens! of coops, I found one that spoke to me. Here are the pictures of it:     This is all he had to go on. So in the planning stages, I went to a friend, T. who is in his 90's. He has a portable saw mill on his property and he mills his own trees into lumber. I asked him if I could buy some from him to build my chicken coop. He refused to sell. But he said he would GIVE it to me. Pause for many moments of stunned gratitude. Many moments. Thank you T. With all my heart. So I hired my carpenter friend K. to build my coop. I wanted mine a little larger than the photos. And larger it will be. Especially since we are using full dimension rough cut lumber. Here's the progress to date….   This was before the rain storms. This floor sat covered in plastic for two weeks. Then day before yesterday, we started building again.   I got to pound some nails myself, and be gopher to make runs to hardware stores and lumber yards and glass companies for supplies.   End of the first day. Then yesterday we worked some more. K. is teaching me a bit about construction. I now know what a 'bird's mouth" cut is for a rafter. And when he set the ridge pole, and told me how he was going to do it, I said "Oh! like the Romans!"  Yep. Like the Romans.     Beautiful construction details. You gotta love 'em. And here we are at the end of yesterday:   This is the country version of those original photos. Built with macho sized wood, which of course makes a pretty robust and sturdy building. And you must remember. All he had to go on were those two photos. Dudes. I'm in awe of such skill. Even when we are finished with the coop, I still have a lot to do. Fencing, and other details that I haven't quite figured out. I'm hoping like crazy I will be able to come up with solutions to some of my dilemmas. I have flashes of insight…. in between moments of panic, so I'm fairly confident that things will fall into place sooner or later. For a long time, I didn't feel able to make a commitment to another living creature. Not to so much as a goldfish. It filled me with terror. But as with all things, time works its magic. The world turns. The seasons change. And old wounds heal. And besides that, Spring is almost here. Seems like a good time for a new beginning.   Oh…. oh….oh!  I shall be Queen of the flock! We'll have to talk about that Red. . .   How many chickens will we have?  Will they like cookies? Can I have a basket to collect eggs? Can we PET them? Three or four I think. I don't know. Yes, we'll find a special one. I sure hope so! (Do you have ANY idea how much chicken poop one chicken produces in a 24 hour period? ANY idea whatsoever ???) Well, I know how much YOU produce in one blog entry. I think that qualifies me as an expert. (Dream on Cupcake. Dream on.) I intend to. With God's help.