I just finished writing my newspaper column for Monday–all about how wonderful it is to keep chickens!

I was just looking at a hatchery site, thinking about springtime, and I was remembering a big batch of day olds that we got about a hundred years ago… ok, maybe 40 years ago when I was about "mumble" years old.  We had a cocker spaniel who was a sweety and when the chicks figured out how to get out of their box the poor dear would bustle around the back porch and try to pick each one up and put it back into the box… he couldn't possibly keep up and he finally flopped down in resignation with all the chicks climbing all over him while he lay there looking sad and worried.  (( he never hurt a single chick doing this, he had the epitomy of a soft mouth and he did the same thing with escaping kittens over the years, he never hurt a one of them either and the mama cats never worried about the old dear ))

So today my chickens came out of the coop.  I'm taking this as a good sign, since yesterday, they all stayed inside huddled around the feeder and grousing about the weather and never bothered to venture out.  Is it proper to describe one type of poultry with a word referring to another kind?  Well, if it is, I guess now that they're done 'grousing' I could say that today, the hens think everything is just 'ducky'!

I have discovered that I may need to cut another pop door in the coop on the other side of the building.  I'll wait and see how things go, but there was a lot of wind whistling right into the pop door yesterday… possibly a source of the chicken's bad attitude.  They don't mind cold, (they do come equipped with little chicken feather down jackets after all) but they don't like drafts in their happy home.

This is a new coop this past summer, and while the main door is on the same side of the building as the old coop, (the falling in, old coop that was there for 40 years! I really wish I'd taken pictures!!  Let that be a lesson to you all!)  the pop door is at a different angle…  I thought it was the right side to put it weather wise, but I see that I may well have decided wrong.

Luckily, I can handle the sawzall, though I'll probably use the dinky little jig saw, much less intimidating for me and I'll probably be able to get straighter cuts.  I'll still need to wait and hope for a decent day, but that'll give me time to gather any supplies I'll need.  Best to think this through a bit I think. 

Oh Toph!  You're making the typical male mistake of assuming that just because I'm ABLE to do for myself, I wouldn't love to not HAVE to do for myself.

OK, so I don't NEED a fellow to do things like fix the window or cut the door in the coop, or even change the oil in my car.  (I can pay ANYONE to do that for me even if I don't know how for myself – which I do know, but who the heck wants to?)

Doesn't that make it all the sweeter if I WANT a fellow hanging about?  Isn't it better to be wanted rather than needed?

Knowing how much trouble it is to do all those chores for myself and still do the house-work, only makes me appreciate the fellow who is willing to do them for me!  (and a nice foot massage or back-scratching doesn't hurt a bit either!)

Rest assured, if someone showed up here kindly offering to 'do' for me, I'd just as kindly offer to bake a nice loaf of bread and brew a cuppa for them.  Of course, if he were a better cook than I, I could go do the outdoor things and come in for a nice bread and butter sandwich and a hot drink and still be grateful. 

Kindness and gratitude are much undervalued these days, they are the best gifts of all.