In case anyone was wondering, I really, really, really love my husband.
Really.
Today started as a typical Saturday for us. Of course, I was a little bit slow rising this morning because we had a little celebration last night with some great friends. We have another great friend, who unfortunately lives in Colorado, who got some amazing news yesterday. She was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer last year, and it was a very rare variety. She, by the way, is amazing. After diagnosis, she trained for and ran a marathon. She is in great shape mentally and physically. She had a PET scan this week and found out that her cancer had not grown. They think she's in remission. Truly amazing. She told us to break the diet and drink to her good fortune. So, we did! We're all so very relieved. We took a picture and posted it on facebook of us toasting her with some fine WV vodka! Then, we had an amazing dinner prepared by our friends of macadamia encrusted baramundi (sp?) (an Australian fish), exquisite salad with fruit in it, and a vegetable medley that was out of this world. And wine. Thus the sluggishness this am.
So, anyhow, the day started like any other Saturday. Phil made the kids pancakes. I had my medifast shake and some coffee, then we all piled in the car to go to the office and pick up the cake my mom made for the school carnival today. On the way to the office, we decided to stop by Sears and look at refrigerators. Since we've been doing lean and green, we have found that we need more fridge space for fresh veggies. I wanted to go to Lowe's to look as well, and Phil said, "Well, I need some stuff to make the chicken tractor, so that's cool." Bum, bum, buuuumm.....
Well, we headed off to Lowe's and Phil got some wood. The salesman there I think had smoked a few too many joints in his life, so we just got our wood and left. When we got home, Phil went out to work on his chicken tractor. After a couple of minutes, I went out to see what was up, and he was struggling with two pieces of wood while trying to screw them together. So, a big sigh and a grin, and I said, "Do you need some help?"
Let me explain something. I love my husband, and will do anything for him, but I HATE CHICKENS!!!!!!!! I hate how they smell, how they feel, how they sound. Particularly how they smell, though, ugh. So, the thought of devoting one of my precious days off making a portable chicken house was not really appealing. A chicken tractor, by the way, is just that. It is a chicken house on wheels that can be moved from place to place on your farm so that the chickens can free range without being eaten by coyotes (as ours did when we tried to free range them). Let me also explain that the last time I did a project that involved chicken wire, I swore that I would NEVER again do a project that involves chicken wire. They might as well call it "gouge Mindy's skin into a bloody mess wire." I hate chicken wire almost as much as I hate chickens. Almost.
We spent the day building the chicken tractor - just Phil and I - not speaking much to one another, mostly because I was cussing a lot because I was getting cut up by the chicken wire. We had to be at the school carnival at 3:30 today, so we had a deadline for finishing the thing. I must admit, with Phil and I working on the project, it went faster than expected. It also required thinking from both of us to make it work. We both see everything so differently, that when we came to an impasse with something, we were able to figure it out. We used old wood from under our house for a lot of it, and we found this red lattice thing that used to be something else to use as a door. It has a tarp on it to keep the chickens dry and it has a laying box in it that Phil, Emma, and Sofia (Emma's friend) are currently putting hay in.
At 3:30, we finished hanging the door, and Phil wanted to just put a couple of chickens in to make sure that it's dog proof. We have some dogs that we figured would test it out for us when we were gone. I was trying to expedite matters, so I went to the chicken pen to help Emma catch chickens for the new tractor. As I've mentioned, I hate chickens. I also hate chicken pens. It has been raining here all week. So, I went in the pen in my crocs mammoths (OK, not so smart) and stepped ankle deep in muddy, stinky, sloppy chicken shit. My crocs are ruined. I almost puked. I backed out of the pen (with my 10 year old trying really hard not to laugh), glared at my bemused husband, and said, "That's all the help you will be getting from me today, DEAR." I'm glad they had a good laugh.
I was able to get cleaned up and to the school carnival, albeit a little late. The tractor has 4 chickens in it and they were not dog food when we got home. Can't say I'm happy about that, but I guess it would have made me mad if all that work didn't actually work. The chickens are fed, watered, and hayed. Phil is not able to move much (he did all the nailing - he doesn't trust me with sharp objects unless it's chicken wire). Dinner is waiting to be made - jerk grouper and grilled endive. Girl scout cookies are picked up, and I'm sitting down to write my blog with 3 extra kids in the house.
Just another day in paradise.
And I really, really, really love my husband.
Really.
Dr. Mindy
Really.
Today started as a typical Saturday for us. Of course, I was a little bit slow rising this morning because we had a little celebration last night with some great friends. We have another great friend, who unfortunately lives in Colorado, who got some amazing news yesterday. She was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer last year, and it was a very rare variety. She, by the way, is amazing. After diagnosis, she trained for and ran a marathon. She is in great shape mentally and physically. She had a PET scan this week and found out that her cancer had not grown. They think she's in remission. Truly amazing. She told us to break the diet and drink to her good fortune. So, we did! We're all so very relieved. We took a picture and posted it on facebook of us toasting her with some fine WV vodka! Then, we had an amazing dinner prepared by our friends of macadamia encrusted baramundi (sp?) (an Australian fish), exquisite salad with fruit in it, and a vegetable medley that was out of this world. And wine. Thus the sluggishness this am.
So, anyhow, the day started like any other Saturday. Phil made the kids pancakes. I had my medifast shake and some coffee, then we all piled in the car to go to the office and pick up the cake my mom made for the school carnival today. On the way to the office, we decided to stop by Sears and look at refrigerators. Since we've been doing lean and green, we have found that we need more fridge space for fresh veggies. I wanted to go to Lowe's to look as well, and Phil said, "Well, I need some stuff to make the chicken tractor, so that's cool." Bum, bum, buuuumm.....
Well, we headed off to Lowe's and Phil got some wood. The salesman there I think had smoked a few too many joints in his life, so we just got our wood and left. When we got home, Phil went out to work on his chicken tractor. After a couple of minutes, I went out to see what was up, and he was struggling with two pieces of wood while trying to screw them together. So, a big sigh and a grin, and I said, "Do you need some help?"
Let me explain something. I love my husband, and will do anything for him, but I HATE CHICKENS!!!!!!!! I hate how they smell, how they feel, how they sound. Particularly how they smell, though, ugh. So, the thought of devoting one of my precious days off making a portable chicken house was not really appealing. A chicken tractor, by the way, is just that. It is a chicken house on wheels that can be moved from place to place on your farm so that the chickens can free range without being eaten by coyotes (as ours did when we tried to free range them). Let me also explain that the last time I did a project that involved chicken wire, I swore that I would NEVER again do a project that involves chicken wire. They might as well call it "gouge Mindy's skin into a bloody mess wire." I hate chicken wire almost as much as I hate chickens. Almost.
We spent the day building the chicken tractor - just Phil and I - not speaking much to one another, mostly because I was cussing a lot because I was getting cut up by the chicken wire. We had to be at the school carnival at 3:30 today, so we had a deadline for finishing the thing. I must admit, with Phil and I working on the project, it went faster than expected. It also required thinking from both of us to make it work. We both see everything so differently, that when we came to an impasse with something, we were able to figure it out. We used old wood from under our house for a lot of it, and we found this red lattice thing that used to be something else to use as a door. It has a tarp on it to keep the chickens dry and it has a laying box in it that Phil, Emma, and Sofia (Emma's friend) are currently putting hay in.
At 3:30, we finished hanging the door, and Phil wanted to just put a couple of chickens in to make sure that it's dog proof. We have some dogs that we figured would test it out for us when we were gone. I was trying to expedite matters, so I went to the chicken pen to help Emma catch chickens for the new tractor. As I've mentioned, I hate chickens. I also hate chicken pens. It has been raining here all week. So, I went in the pen in my crocs mammoths (OK, not so smart) and stepped ankle deep in muddy, stinky, sloppy chicken shit. My crocs are ruined. I almost puked. I backed out of the pen (with my 10 year old trying really hard not to laugh), glared at my bemused husband, and said, "That's all the help you will be getting from me today, DEAR." I'm glad they had a good laugh.
I was able to get cleaned up and to the school carnival, albeit a little late. The tractor has 4 chickens in it and they were not dog food when we got home. Can't say I'm happy about that, but I guess it would have made me mad if all that work didn't actually work. The chickens are fed, watered, and hayed. Phil is not able to move much (he did all the nailing - he doesn't trust me with sharp objects unless it's chicken wire). Dinner is waiting to be made - jerk grouper and grilled endive. Girl scout cookies are picked up, and I'm sitting down to write my blog with 3 extra kids in the house.
Just another day in paradise.
And I really, really, really love my husband.
Really.
Dr. Mindy
I love you and your blogs. Mesmerizing.
ReplyDeleteSo THAT's a chicken tractor. Your description of stepping in chicken crap made me want to throw up--can't imagine how you held it in when it was your actual foot in there. Chickens are evil, but yummy. :)
ReplyDelete