Dear Sally,
Do you remember the lovely handmade item you made? The one that we exchanged numerous emails about, that I purchased from you through Etsy, as a gift? I sent you pictures, we talked about the name that would be painted on it and what color I would like. I'm sure you do remember, since you just created it from raw material and then took the time to carefully package it and send it to me. How could you forget really, because by the time we worked out the details, we were on a first name basis, you and I. It's been great ordering from you. Very personal, and I appreciated all the work you did before I even got to see the lovely personalized gift that you made. Made with your own hands. Crafted, even.
Well, unfortunately my giant puppy ate your work before I even got to see it. I came home to find the package strewn in a million tiny pieces in the yard, and the item that you crafted is mostly missing. It's likely that some of the best pieces were swallowed. What's left looks very nice though. Sorry about that. Could you make it again?
Happy Holidays!
Argh! Wendigo is so bad! She loves nothing more than grabbing something that she knows I want and playing keep away with me. And I fall for it every time. She's tall enough to stick her face in the hot tub when I'm trying to relax and she drinks and drools in the water or licks the back of my neck. She knows that if she stabs me in the butt with a squeaky toy enough times, the noise and the constant prodding will drive me a little crazy and I will eventually stop what I am doing and pay attention to her. For some reason this is funnier when she is doing it to Brandon. Her worst thing is that she eats the chicken food. She climbs right in the chicken coop and helps herself. The chickens do not like this.
It was past time for us to finish the automatic chicken door that we've been planning for anyway. We bought a retractable car antenna, some laptop cords, and used some rails from some old storm windows, and rigged up a system on a timer. In the morning, the car antenna retracts, pulling a little door open, and in the evening, the antenna extends, sliding the door shut. We don't have to rush home in the evenings to make sure the chickens are safe now. How cool!
The hardest part of connecting everything was drilling a tiny hole in the ball at the end of the antenna so we could wire it to the door.
Once we had the mechanism functioning properly, we had to figure out a way to attach it to the wall of the coop. We used the tractor to pull the coop out of the garden fence so it would be within an extension cords length of electricity, and while Brandon was building the door, I stapled tarps to the outside of the coop and added a deep layer of hay to the bottom so the coop would be less drafty. It's not much to look at, but it keeps the chickens safe.
Once everything was working properly, we stood back to admire our work and watched Wendigo squeeze her giant body through the tiny door and into the coop so she could munch chicken pellets. Bad dog. Sigh. We had to attach some boards to make the hole even smaller. Finally, a Wendi proof chicken coop!
Poncho was quick to figure out the new door, and he clucked and called until everyone was safely inside before the door closed. Good chickens.
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