Diary #506

It’s that time again!  Last Thursday, on the way out to Sunset, I stopped at the local Tractor Supply and bought myself seven chicks (plus one Ameraucana for Jae) and got them set up in the bathroom; I decided against raising them at my incall this time because I’m supposed to be traveling a lot this month (assuming everything doesn’t get cancelled due to the virus hysteria) and chicks need to be checked on several times a day.  That’s why I chose the bathroom; not only is it warm, it’s also a spot where people need to go several times a day and can therefore easily eyeball the tiny dinosaurs.  I also decided to redo the chicken yard so as to make it harder for them to get out or predators to get in (so we don’t lose these as we eventually lost all the last flock), and that work was already underway when I left to return to Seattle on Sunday.  And that isn’t the only work that’s underway; I’ve hired a young man to help with the floor, and he’s already got the concrete blocks in place down there.  The next step is to dig out slight hollows for them so there’s room for the jacks; it is very tight down there, which is part of why this has been such slow going.  Grace explained that once we start (in the next week or so), each stage will require a week or so of “resting” after jacking because the weight of the structure will probably cause some settling of the earth under the footings.  But the work is finally underway, and before much longer we’ll be able to get on to building the bathhouse.  Now if I can only find a place to sell me more than three fucking quarts of the same shade of stain for the bookcases…