Chickens!

There aren't a lot of options for me when it comes to livestock. In fact, to comply with the letter of the law, I really can't have any traditional livestock. I could breed "pet" rabbits for food, but that's about it. However, there is enough wiggle room that I can safely keep chickens, as long as I don't annoy my immediate neighbors.

For years, I had some Rhode Island Reds. Then, one fateful night, I went to see Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I wasn't home to secure the birds at sunset. A raccoon found his way through the weak point of my run and killed the last of my girls.

Winter was brutal and Spring was late and the we had an out-of-town wedding, so we held off ordering some chicks until late June. We recieved them last week and they are settling into their new home nicely.

Too much thyme

I have posted before about not having enough time. Generally speaking, I'm sure no one has enough. For the first time, I can say I have too much thyme.

Free wood!!!

This post could alternately be titled "Waste not, want not" or "Right place, right time." I recently discovered, unfortunately, that my deck stairs are about to fail catastrophically. Since I'm rebuilding them, I might as well upgrade them. My deck is in dire need of a resurfacing, and I am intending to use tropical hardwood.

Specifically, I'm planning on using garapa. It is cheaper than ipe but more durable than luan(phillipine mahogany). So, since I intend to use garapa for the deck, I might as well use it for the stair treads too.

So, I was at the specialty lumber store picking up my wood. It was the end of the day, so the guys were cleaning up. They happened to get a shipment today of 5/4"x4" decking. That came shipped on 3/4"x4" rough palattes made of mahogany. They started breaking it to fit in the dumpster. I asked if I could have it and the guy told me I could have all I wanted and, if interested, could come back once a month and get lots, lots more. So, for a little work with a hammer to pull some nails, I now have a couple stacks of mahogany which will become something some day. Even if the short stuff is firewood, it's still free!