Portage River Farm
Notes on our struggles and successes on our family farm in rural Michigan.
(Pinckney, Michigan)
19 May Tue 2009
Saturday's Coop Raising
Saturday dawned cool and rainy. Sean and I spent the morning getting things ready for our "coop raising" while the rest of the family attended a local fundraiser for the Humane Society. Our helpers were scheduled to arrive after lunch and the weather progressively improved as the time to begin our work approached.
When the appointed time arrived, we dove right into the work with one crew laying out the top and bottom plates for the walls while another cut all of the boards to length. We laid the boards in place and nailed it all together. Before long we were raising upright and bracing it in place.
Our progress slowed a bit as we began work on the front wall. It was admittedly more complicated due to the inclusion of two more windows and the front doorway. When we were about halfway through, the call came from the house that dinner was on the table.
Janet and Freya prepared a delicious dinner of fried chicken which seemed fitting with the theme of the day. We were all a little tired but pleased with the progress we had made. With the meal and dessert behind us, we headed back out to finish up the front wall.
As the sun lowered into the trees, the fields were bathed in a dimming rosy glow. With the front wall standing, we had been enjoying a nice dessert and socializing with our friends when it was time for them to head home.
Sean and I looked at the two finely built but precarious walls and decided that we should add the two end walls to stabilize the structure. Somewhat doubting our ability to accomplish the task in the failing light, we grabbed hammers and boards to see how far we could get. The job went quicker than we had anticipated. In a gloom so dim that we could barely see what the other was doing, I drove the final few nails home tying the walls together at the top.
We headed back to the house very satisfied with the day. The work had been so much more enjoyable when mixed with socializing, even if it meant that we took lots of breaks. Topping all of that off with Janet's good cooking and a pretty sunset made me wish that every day could be like this.
When the appointed time arrived, we dove right into the work with one crew laying out the top and bottom plates for the walls while another cut all of the boards to length. We laid the boards in place and nailed it all together. Before long we were raising upright and bracing it in place.
Our progress slowed a bit as we began work on the front wall. It was admittedly more complicated due to the inclusion of two more windows and the front doorway. When we were about halfway through, the call came from the house that dinner was on the table.
Janet and Freya prepared a delicious dinner of fried chicken which seemed fitting with the theme of the day. We were all a little tired but pleased with the progress we had made. With the meal and dessert behind us, we headed back out to finish up the front wall.
As the sun lowered into the trees, the fields were bathed in a dimming rosy glow. With the front wall standing, we had been enjoying a nice dessert and socializing with our friends when it was time for them to head home.
Sean and I looked at the two finely built but precarious walls and decided that we should add the two end walls to stabilize the structure. Somewhat doubting our ability to accomplish the task in the failing light, we grabbed hammers and boards to see how far we could get. The job went quicker than we had anticipated. In a gloom so dim that we could barely see what the other was doing, I drove the final few nails home tying the walls together at the top.
We headed back to the house very satisfied with the day. The work had been so much more enjoyable when mixed with socializing, even if it meant that we took lots of breaks. Topping all of that off with Janet's good cooking and a pretty sunset made me wish that every day could be like this.
John_3
12:00 AM EDT