"Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status." - Laurence J. Peter

It's been a good day and it's not over yet.

It poured overnight, complete with lightning and thunder.
Why is it typically thunder and lightning when they come in the reverse order??
The ground is long since saturated, the creeks are even higher and muddier, and there's more on the way. They're predicting 2" on Saturday. And as you may have seen on the national news it's worse to our north. We're the southern edge of this freight train of systems.

I made good progress at the coffee shop this morning, with half a dozen paragraphs completed. This writing takes special care and thoroughness, but I enjoy the process.

My time there, in true ADD fashion, is also filled with snippets of conversation with the regulars and with locals who stop in. This morning I met a guy who runs a one-man (him) business that sells veneers to lumber mills who use it for specialty plywood. He's lived here his entire life, which looks to be about 55 years or so, and is involved in Veneta politics. Interesting. I also got a line on some options for getting more firewood.

I had a 4 cubic yard dumpster delivered this morning that will get loaded up with the detritus pulled out of Fred. The loft is empty and ready for wiring and insulation. It's 13'6" long and 6'3" at the peak. Those short walls on each side of the front half were added at some point after original construction and I plan to leave them. I'll make access doors and use the area behind them for storage of seldom used things like camping gear.

The window is an odd size that I'll either have to frame into a smaller size (36" x 36") or open up 1/2 inch to fit a standard 47.5" x 35.5". Haven't decided which I want to do.

I got all the openings that the bees were using sealed up with expandable foam so that won't be happening again.

I'm thinking tongue and groove pine or something similar on the front (window) wall and on the two half walls with the rest drywall. The space between the half walls is big enough for our queen size air bed with about 8" on either side to spare. I'll make a short platform for that mattress with more storage underneath.

I think that by the time it's done, including lighting and outlets, it will be a warm, clean, airy space as sleeping quarters for guests. At least those willing to climb the ladder to get there. For those not prepared for that adventure we'll have a hide-a-bed in the lower level.

Mi gallinero is also done except for the pen and the front porch as I mentioned in last night's post. It rained most of today so these are the best pics I could get standing in that precip. And my phone has a pretty mediocre camera with a narrow angle lens, so you can't see much of the inside. But you get the idea.

I'll get a hook so the chicken's door can stay open in all but the worst weather, and build a ramp for them to enter/exit.

That box sticking out to the right - the one with the end panel I missed painting - is the nest boxes. It's hinged so we can collect eggs without going in the coop. That's a good idea if the rooster is inside. They're pretty territorial and sometimes pretty aggressive.

I've still got to get that second 2x4 for the roost that will go across in front of the one you see. Roosts have to be higher than the nest boxes or they'll roost in them overnight, and that makes a mess in there. (Chickens poop in the night.)


I'm typing this sitting in the Starbucks area of the Fred Meyer while Pam does the grocery shopping. Then we'll go to the Lowe's next door so I can get some supplies for Fred, then pizza in Veneta, then home to build a fire, warm the place up, and maybe watch some Thursday night football!