Did you make it there ok? How was the weather? just relax :-) Lucy

hahaha scully.... yeah....this may be a first ever on GW...I don't know! But ya know, in the chicken world, some people take landscaping around their chicken coop VERY seriously! I've seen pics to prove it! In my case, I thought it may just look nice, considering my chicken coop is "right there" where everyone sees it (front/side yard, but because of building permit codes, property lines and a pond in the back yard, this is the only place we could put it), I thought I might as well dress it up a little bit! I should go across the road and see if I can get a pic of the front yard as a whole....I've thought of making a bed to plant my basjoos, but I think then about plowing in the wintertime, and how the planting spot may accidentally get plowed (they plow piles into the yard...depending on how much snow we get, sometimes we run out of room to put it!) Just a silly fact for the day, did you know serious backyard chicken people NAME their chicken coops? "Coop De Ville" was one I remember seeing... many times has something to do with coop or hen...somewhere in there. Mine is named too...it's called the chicken coop...maybe you'll be lol-ing at that one. But....if I tropicalize it...perhaps we could turn it into the Tiki Coop....LOL. Back to being serious....there are some things I have in mind when I plant my basjoos (and maybe some cannas if I try that)....they need sun of course, I really don't want them out in the open/middle of nowhere because of the plow in the winter, so I want them nestled against something preferrably, and I'd like them to be in the front yard. My front yard faces north....so because of the lack of sun, up against the house is out. Or...if I do put them out in the middle of nowhere in the yard, I have these big blue drums with the top cut off (used for horse water tanks at one time)...I've considered covering their mulch piles with those...put a big cinder block over it to keep them from blowing away, and if the plow driver doesn't see that...then he's got a problem!

Hi Plllog! "That is, I know it's possible, but might not be in your budget." See, there's the crux of it. This little beverage center idea of mine was not in the original budget. (Nor, alas, were new drywall in the livingroom and halls, the gorgeous walnut top on my used cabinet island, the matching gorgeous top that will soon be on the new media cabinet and the near full gut of the bathroom.) And we're still determined to get through remodeling our ugly duckling without taking out a loan or dipping into savings. Conventional wisdom says: Wait until the coffers are full again but that's so hard to do. First off, I'm a cheapskate. Even if the goose who laid the golden egg waddled up onto my deck and built a nest, I'm not sure I would willingly pay someone to mess up the walls I just paid to fix. Second, I'm not quite cheap enough. My new kitchen is starting to look pretty good but, gosh, it would look so much better if the microwave and coffee maker didn't take up so much room on that one counter. I'm willing to spend a little bit more to change that, especially since I'm going to have a piece of countertop leftover that should be just the right size. Still, it's nice to know that it's possible. Maybe when the coffers ARE full again I'll put a tile counter outside on my deck to shade the golden goose should she happen to wander by ;) Thanks for your help!

omg....not touching this one with a ten foot pole....although it is tempting....