Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Coop almost finished & a funny look at something





The new coop is almost ready to go. Yesterday I got the nest boxes finished and installed, set it in place, painted, ramp installed, attached to the run, and the run acess door installed. I KNEW I saved that last piece from the puppy cage for something! There's that packrat thing again lol) Today I need to pull and move a few herbs that popped up inside the run area, stake the timbers to the ground that are laying down the side, then start cleaning up the debris from the whole thing. After Lisa gets home from work, I'll get some straw for the coop and nest boxes, and it's ready to roll. I might run just one heat lamp out there on a timer for them till this weather gets steady, but I haven't decided on that quite yet. It's supposed to be in the 60's today, so I'll be out there all day getting things ready and finished. If all goes well, I'll be putting the birds in there tomorrow, yayyyy.

Now for the other thing I mentioned at the top of the post. I'm an outdoorsy kinda guy. I've fished, hunted and camped my entire life. I've been camping in areas where they had showers and bathrooms, I've camped where they had just portajons and nothing else, and I've camped out of a backpack eating what I got with a 22 rifle and picking from wild plants. I can live on MRE's, basic camp food, or squirrel over a fire with blackberries and dandelion greens.

Thinking and knowing all of this gave me a funny reaction at a posting on a forum this morning. While browsing through the "outdoor" section, I ran across this post, and nearly fell out of my chair laughing: "A prelude to any camping trip is trip to Trader Joes. I recently discovered they now sell a pre-packaged lasagna or penne pasta dish that doesn't require refrigeration. It's $2.49 and gives 250 calories, and they are quite tasty. Comes in sealed plastic container for reheat in microwave or right on the camp stove. Also, I devour the snacks section with Tamari Almonds, Trail mix, honey-roasted peanuts, a $17.99 single malt Finlaggin Scotch which is has a young Lagavulin-type taste, distinctly peaty, Islay origin. It's delicious. "

OK........lasagna? camping? WTH? Do the people with less taste just take Hungry Man dinners and cook them wrapped in foil in the hot coals? I can't stop giggling at this one...I just can't. Almonds....peanuts.....trail mix? Oh man, where's the soy milk and Grape Nuts????? And who can miss the bottle of scotch? WOW. Maybe I live a sheltered life, but I've never described a drink in such detail in my life. "$15 Ouizo, tastes like licorice,bottom shelf origin, distinctly kicks your ass" is about as descriptive as I get, lol. Welcome to a look at camping-California style! Funny ain't it??????

9 comments:

scoutinlife said...

Great lookin coop Chris ! I like the skylight on top! An how u the entire coop in enclosed on the run area! Smart thiking if you are is like mine lots of hawks that love a open chicken run to swoop in for dinner...

FarmerGeek said...

I gotta say, good luck with your back cleaning that out! We have a design very similar and its a pain! I will not build another coop that I can not walk into for cleaning purposes!

:-) Lookin good!

As for the camping... well, to each their own. I've been out there with no tent or just a cheap blue tarp, but there are some that won't go out without a full tent at least. Of course, I think lasagna is a bit much! I would like the Scotch, it would be nice, but completely unnecessary. (And I do love me some Scotch!!!)

Good post!

Anonymous said...

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! wow! you've done a lot of work since yesterday. Looks pretty fine to me! Are herbs bad for chickens? What about a water bowl? As for your camping food, I'd go for everything but the Scotch. I'd trade that in for Bacardi.(light)...debbie

Kory said...

nice work on the coop.

As for the camping supplies, meh. I don't see anything wrong with bringing provisions, but that is a bit haute, even if its packaged to be space efficient. I've gone out summer weekends with a few cans of beans, a knife and a bedroll...and also (now with a family in tow) been better stocked than the week before grocery day.

I think for a lot of people just being "in the wild" is enough without necessarily living "from the wild"

And no liquor discussion is complete without the mention of Mr. Jameson's labors. Especially today.

Chris W said...

Oh I have no problems with people taking food with them, its just that lasagna was something I've never even thought about taking...it just struck me as funny.

Debbie-No the herbs aren't bad for the chickens, we just want to get it out and transplant it somewhere else for this year.

Aimee said...

Terrific coop. I love that run... did you put the armature together or did you buy it like that? Is it some kind of PVC-type stuff? How much did it cost?
Sorry to be nosy, but I'm trying very hard to contain my chickens, who are used to being totally free range, long enough to get some seeds started good in the garden. Maybe it would be easier to build cold frames and let the chickens run free!

Leasmom said...

How cool. It pays to have a man build things I'm telling you!

ChristyACB said...

Why, oh why, are there no extra men with such skills lying about waiting to be picked up and installed? Seriously!

Great coop! Very great use of resources.

I also get a kick out of those who bring stuff like...say...battery operated spice mills in their ginormo RVs and call it camping. Still, to each his own. I'm just glad that people are getting to love being outside again.

ThrtnWmsFam said...

Not sure you'd like our blog. We do a variety of convenience foods - for stockpiling purposes. But yeah, we're also into increasing knowledge so we can eat off the land. I've enjoyed your blog for a while - keep it coming! Vikki at www.survival-cooking.com

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