First one thing and then another

Have you ever noticed how beginning one task can lead to something else entirely different? Well that’s just how my day went earlier this week.

Up until about a year ago, I had my little flock of laying hens in a small frame chicken house surrounded by a 900 square foot run.

I moved the hens in to a new hoop house and a much larger run when I increased the size of the flock. Over the last few months I have removed the fence and decided this last week to pull the chicken coop to a new location.

I hooked my little Ford truck to it and began pulling. The soil was rather dry but the 4x4 skids under the coop just plowed in and it quickly became stuck.

What to do?

Pull harder. I began backing up and then tugging a little harder. At first, the building budged a little. The next tug resulted only in the loud sound of crunching wood and a sudden sense of lightness in the truck as it separated from the resistance of the chicken coop. Drat! The cast iron eye bolts the chain was hooked to pulled through the 2 x 4 frame member.

What to do?

I hooked on to the other end of the coop to pull it out the other way. The eye bolts on that end of the coop were ½” bent eye bolts not cast. A few tugs resulted in pulling them out straight. Double drat!
What to do?
Well, as it was getting on in the afternoon and resident grand-daughter number one was due home from school, I just left the coop where it was and moved my truck up to the house. Tomorrow is another day, right?

Tomorrow did come and I was ready to take on the task of moving the chicken coop which had become the task of repairing the chicken coop.

I used my small trolley jack to lift the building. Then I put two eight foot long round posts under it to use as rollers. I replaced the bent eye bolts with the cast iron eye bolts from the other end. Using my truck I slowly pulled the coop as far as I could before needing to shift the rollers under it. After doing this a couple of times, I had the building up on solid ground where repairs could be made.

After removing the trim and siding, the broken 2 x 4 was fully exposed. Removing it was a straight-forward process as was replacing it with a new one. Be assured, the new was installed with additional 3 inch screws and extra bracing.

Once the framing was repaired, all that was left to do was replace the siding and trim. Repairs to the chicken coop were complete!

A sense of accomplishment and was accompanied by thankfulness for the tools, strength, and know-how needed to accomplish the repairs.

Now, I still need to move it but I’m going to save that for another day.

A Reasonable Compromise. Really??

On Sunday, January 31, Catholic Bishops across these United States spoke and/or sent letters to the churches in their dioceses decrying policies of the Obama administration. Specifically mandates within the Health Care Reform Act requiring all employers, including faith-based institutions like schools and colleges to provide employees with health care insurance that covers the cost of contraception, including the “morning-after pill" and sterilization. The Catholic Church teaches it is intrinsically wrong to use any form of contraception to prevent pregnancy.


According to USA TODAY, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh in a letter to his diocese, denounced what he said is Obama's message to Catholics:

'To hell with your religious beliefs; To hell with your religious liberty; To hell with your freedom of conscience.'

The following Thursday, Jay Carney, Whitehouse spokesman, was trying to put an end to the negative reactions to the president’s policy. He stated flatly, “the decision has been made.” End of discussion?

Nope. The Administration has offered a "compromise". As I understand it, under the compromise, religious organizations would not have to provide birth control and "reproductive services" to their employees directly. However, the insurance companies providing the health care for the religious entities would have to provide those goods and services to the individual employees at no charge.

What!?? If there is no such thing as a free lunch (and there is not) then there is no such thing as free birth control or "reproductive services"! Thus far it remains doubtful the Bishops will accept the proposed "compromise".

This is not about birth control or freedom of choice! This is about the free exercise of religion! Our government has no right under the Constitution of these United States to tell a Bible-based religious organization to violate the tenants of their faith. (Yes, there it is; my Judeo-Christian bias is showing.)

Some will quote surveys showing that Catholic women use birth control about as often as the general population. Given the number of two-children Catholic families I know, that claim does not surprise me. But that is a personal choice of the women involved.  My religious tradition frowns on the use of tobacco and alcohol.  However, I occassionally choose to enjoy one or the other.

To my non-Catholic friends; let me remind you of what German pastor and theologian, Martin Niemoller said in 1946 regarding the Nazis, by whom he was arrested in 1937:

"First they came for the Communists, and
I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Communist.


Then they came for the Trade-Unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Trade-Unionist.


Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.


Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak out for me."

Has your Pastor mentioned the infringement of the government on religious freedom? I have not heard anything about it from my Pastor and I really would like to hear him speak up. In the meantime, I will continue to speak out!  Will you? 
 
I am asking you to re-post this on your Facebook or personnal blog if you agree.
 
Thank you.

Another Update on my Barn Repair Efforts

Well, I guess it's been about a month now since I started repairing my wind damaged barn.  So let me report on my progress.

This past week I turned my attention to constructing the covered pens at the back of the barn.  They are about 4.5 feet tall at the front and 3.5 feet tall at the back.  These will serve as covered storage for firewood, housing for small livestock, or farrowing pigs.  As I was planning this, I thought I would use 1 x 4's for the roof purlins.  But when I got to the lumber yard, I found that 2 x 4's were less expensive! A pleasant suprise.  The purlins are untreated lumber.  I thought this was best so that the screws used to hold the roof metal (and the roof metal itself) would not be subjected to the preservative chemicals in the treated lumber,

The treated boards that comprise the back wall were all recycled from a residential deck that a friend of ours removed in the course of his work as a building contractor.  I obtained a quantity of this lumber in exchange for several dozen eggs from our hens.   I love trading!  What is now the open end will be closed with a board/hog panel fence as will the balance of what was the back half of the barn.

Our son came out to "the farm" to help me Tuesday of this past week to install the back wall.  While he measured and cut the boards, I attached them with 2.5 inch screws.  His youngest daughter (4 years old) "helped" with the scrap lumber.  It was a very pleasant afternoon, unseasonably warm, and spending it with them made it very special for me.

Yesterday and last night we received the first significant rain if the year.  Today is seasonably cool, cloudy, breezy and muddy.  So, I am indoors with rhe grand-daughters as their mama and grandma both had to work today.  It is good to spend a day reviewing the work of the past weeks and anticipating the coming days.  In my anticipation, I am quick to always include "the Lord willing".  My Grandpa used to say, "Man proposes and God disposes."  So it is.