Staycation

I took this week off from the winery thinking I might make a road trip to visit some family in Tucson.  But Big Ag is in a busy time at work and, since I didn't want to go without him, I decided to keep the vacation as a plan for the future and just have a staycation instead.

Of course since it's spring, this means I will be doing a whole lot of work around the property.  Including some big projects I'm excited to talk about!

The basic design.  Mine will be cuter. I hope.

First of all, I bit the bullet and went ahead and and ordered a big, well-made 10' x 8' chicken garden shed to be the new chicken coop, which will be delivered and built this coming Tuesday.  Right now Cleo and Chloe, our newest chicks, are living in a small cage because there is not enough room in the current set-up for them and I want to ensure their safety. An overcrowded flock is one where the little hens get picked on by the big ones. Ellen and Portia (my Buff Orpingtons) have been great with the little girls so far in limited visitation times, but I don't want to push it. 

Once the coop is complete and the new hens are ready to move in, Miss Red the Angry Rhode Island Red will go down to live at the winery with the flock there, or will maybe become so enraged at the idea of moving she goes into a permanent state of rigor mortis and I use her as a garden statue.  At this point, I frankly don't care which.  Chickens who try to kill other chickens and humans only get so many last chances.

Big Ag is also in the process of building a large shop for himself, which will mean relocating some of our raised beds. Since we knew this in advance the beds will be fallow by summer, so we won't lose any vegetables. But it will be exciting to see this project come to fruition, if only because a large amount of crap stuff that's in the garage now will be moving out there.

And we're still in discussion about sheep or goats, not sure when that is going to happen but at least it IS a "when" and no longer an "if."

And this staycation week will also see me going to an industry event at another area winery, so perhaps I'll snap some pics and take you all along with me.  The temperatures are going to be warm and it seems like it's going to be a perfect week to enjoy some wine with friends as well as friends I've yet to meet!

And did I mention I will also be painting this fancy schmancy chicken coop?  Gotta start collecting paint samples and trying out color schemes.  The coop has shuttered windows, giving it a cottage-like look, and I will be landscaping in front of it to give it some nice "curb appeal."  It may be only chickens living in it, but we have to look at it, since it sits more or less outside the dining room window.  Any way, that will be a fun project I'm looking forward to in the weeks to come.

Hopefully, this staycation will be the right amount of work and rest.  It's so easy when you're enjoying the merry-go-round of modern life to remind yourself to occasionally step off the ride and take a break.