A while ago we decided that we want to become more sustainable as a family... that means growing a lot of our own food, and raising some animals that can function as both pets and producers. The logical first place to start was with chickens. So one weekend I built a coop in the big side-yard behind the garage. I had to buy a lot of the lumber, but I was able to reuse a 100 year old window and one of the hideous awnings that I pulled off the front of our house. Turns out the awning made a pretty cool roof. Thanks to Uncle Dirty for his help building the coop... although I don't think I'll ever let that guy near my framing gun again.
The Coop: the ramp is on hinges- it swings up and bolts shut at night so the hens are completely safe inside. The compartment on the left side holds 2 laying boxes, accessible from the outside via a small door so the eggs can be collected without entering the coop area.
The red window, salvaged from a remodel I did a few years ago on a turn of the century house.
Our first hens "Baiyoon" and "Bindap", named by our 1.5 year old son Hank. By the time we got them I had enclosed the 6' by 15' coop area with a six foot tall chicken wire fence secured down by 4x4 and concrete "deadmen." That should keep the coyotes and coons out, but just in case the Hawks decide to drop in I covered the whole thing with heavy duty bird mesh stretched over the top of the wire fence. So far, no problems.
Our 3 pullets, "Newspaper," "Zebra," and "Boromir." They should start laying sometime around June. Two Plymouth Barred Rocks and an Ameroucauna.
Boromir chicken is pretty dumb. In fact, they all are. But they are pretty gentle and Hank has a great time herding them around with a stick in the backyard. When we are home we let them roam the property, eating bugs and weeds and fertilizing the lawn. Between the two older hens we get 6-10 eggs a week, but once the pullets start laying that should more than double and we can begin to give fresh, organic, truly free range eggs to our friends or even sell them.
Here's the whole guitar after I finished getting it all set up, homestyle. The body and neck are maple with a rosewood fingerboard, according to the 1930's Slingerland catalog I downloaded. It has a huge sound for a tenor- super loud and mellow at the same time.
Since the guitar was missing its bridge, I decided to just make my own rather than pay $25.00 for one on line and then wait a week for it to get shipped to me. I hand-shaped a block of "poor man's ebony" (poplar colored with black Sharpie) to match the profile of the arch top. I cut a kerf in the block, glued in a plastic saddle, and slid it under a new set of strings. The intonation is pretty good... way better than I expected, and I think the bridge fits the overall look pretty well. The action is great, actually- better than many of my other guitars despite the well worn frets, and the slight bow in the neck doesn't seem to matter at all.
The tailpiece is original, which is rarer than you might think; it reads "Slingerland Chicago, USA." I thought about taking a bit of steel wool to the rusty spots, but I kind of like the tarnished look.
Finally, I fixed the neck (sort of) by installing a trim head screw to pull the neck back into its original position. This took care of some of the side to side wobble as well, and the string tension did the rest- the neck is solid now, and I see no reason it won't stay that way. Thanks to my wife for a fantastic birthday present/awesome afternoon project! I can't wait to play it with the boys tomorrow night.
G, I figured it might be time to make my first authentic bottle neck slide. It was easy- all I had to do was find my glass cutter and chug a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck real quick. First, I scribed a line around the base of the neck. I ran hot water over the scribed section for a couple of minutes and followed it with cold water. Then I tapped the neck gently with a mallet and it broke right off. I finished it up by grinding the sharp edges down on the sidewalk (old skool, yo) and then polishing them with 100 grit sandpaper.