Meet Jared: the introverted middle child. When meeting him for the first time you might think he can't talk. But he comes alive when he's at home and at ease. He livens us up around here and always has a way of either making us laugh, or making us very, very frustrated. Either way, we love him just the same.
Anyway, this is a post about his latest project - a new addition to the chicken shed. That little old shed has seen many different uses during the eleven years that we've lived here. A while back we turned the back half into a chicken pen and the front half filled up with clutter and I don't know what else. But Jared went out there and saw more potential in the trustworthy shack and with his heart set on adding turkeys to the farm, he turned half of the remaining half into a separate pen. This picture makes it look a little odd, but it's really quite incredible. He saved half of the front half for his barrels of feed and a walkway to the chicken pen behind, and also added a loft on top of his project to leave for the clutter that was once there. And now he is anxiously awaiting the time when his turkeys arrive - this may be the start of an exciting new adventure! (sorry, neighbors...)
I admire Jared's dedication when it comes to his growing poultry supply out there. He faithfully goes out to do chores every morning no matter the weather, and every evening to lock them up. And you know, chickens aren't angels. They can create some problems sometimes. Remember the time we had one stuck in a tree? But in the end, the benefits outweigh the costs and we love having our own chickens in the freezer and farm fresh eggs. And thankfully, they are only capable of creating problems while they're alive. Once they're dead and in the freezer the problems cease, right?!
Well, apparently not. We learned the hard way that even dead chickens can get into trouble.
It was a Monday morning and a particularly rough one at that. There were phone calls to be made and college decisions to be settled, and well, it was a Monday morning. However, we were on top of things when it came to what to have for supper that night and decided on a whole chicken roasted in the oven. So, a 6 1/2 pounder was retrieved from the freezer.
Whether it was the weight of the chicken, or the numbness of the hands because of holding something so cold one can't quite be sure, but at any rate, the chicken began to fall. In an attempt to keep it from falling, it ended up getting projected and the big lug smacked the wall of the garage, thudded against the floor and rolled into the ping-pong table legs. It produced quite a crash and a thud, but the chicken was still in one piece and the craziness of the morning resumed.
It wasn't but 15 minutes later when a large puddle was noticed on the laundry room floor. Now, before I go on, you must know that the laundry room floor had been having trouble of it's own. First oil was spilled which cause the linoleum to curl up on the edges of the tile. In order to fix the problem, glue was applied. However, the glue spread to places it shouldn't have and the entire floor turned into a fly trap - except for it was trapping humans and spreading glue via their feet all the while. To solve this problem a rug was laid down which did indeed solve the problem until the puddle was noticed. Then we had a wet rug to deal with, and a sticky floor.
Where was I? Oh yes, the puddle. So, we dried it up and got the water turned off in the house (Ha! this is another story in and of itself... you would think after all of the water experiences we have had we would know how to turn the water off in the house, but alas, the wrong knob was turned and essentially spewed water all over the "turner" with the force of a fire hydrant). We then determined water was seeping in through the exterior walls of the house... from the garage? Wait, where had the chicken hit the wall? No, it couldn't be...
Although there was no dent or crack when the chicken had hit the wall, it must have done some damage. We suspect it (purposefully?!) smacked the little faucet right outside the back door on its flying descent and in doing so broke an interior valve or something of the like. So, we called Steidinger Brothers (who just so happen to be good friends and know way too much about us - like they talk about us at family gatherings. Please tell me they are the only ones...?). They fixed the problem and all is well that ends well I guess. Now its just another one of those crazy family charades we can act out and laugh at in the future. Because really... a chicken causing a water leak?? A dead and frozen one no less... and why are we getting turkeys, again?
Anyway, back to Jared. Did I already say I admire his patience and persistence with poultry? Also, he's a pro when it comes to being the man at the house when Marcus and Dad are at work. He warms up the vehicles, cleans off the snow and ice, tackles maintenance projects (when he wants to) and was the one who successfully figured out how to turn the water off in the middle of our crisis. In fact, he wrote up a guide with instructions on how to turn off the water in the house in case future crisis situations arise (because, you know, they're bound to happen and involve water). He's a champ and my favorite middle kid!
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