This weekend, we celebrate Memorial Day, a time honoring those who have fallen in battle, serving the just cause of Liberty, for the citizens of our great nation.  I make no reservations about the fact that the men and women in our American Armed Services are among the most qualified and dedicated people in the world.  With a long standing tradition of honor and duty, they serve to uphold and protect our Constitution, even if the terms of this obligation cost life or limb.  To that, I am eternally grateful of the service that our service men and women and for those who have given the greatest sacrifice and have traveled on to greener pastures, I humbly salute you and the families you have left behind.

Somewhere in this brood, are our 6 chickens.  They will be responsible for producing the eggs for our family, and that will become a major source of protein for our household.  Given that we are already using raw whole milk from the cows next door as a nutirtious suppliment for our diet, the next logical step is to get eggs from our own back yard.  This has been a long sought after goal for us, and it is now just weeks away.

Finally, out of a complete necessity to get away from my desk, I started on the coop today.  I was given raw lumber by our landlord. The wood is pine, cut into true 2 X 6 pieces, ranging from 6 to 10 feet long.  Here, I am ripping the lumber into 2 X 3 boards to use them as framing material.  once the frame is set, I will construct a single roomed structure with a plastic and metal roof which will house our 6 hens, Barred Rocks and Australorps.  The roof will slope back to serve as a rain collection surface to fill our rain barrels.