And just like that, another two weeks have gone by. In reflecting on what’s happened in that time, I guess I’m not surprised by how quickly the weeks go! Our major goal for March has been to totally convert the garden shed into the duck’s house. (Or “The Feather Downs” as we have officially christened it.) There’s a small coop already outside, as I’ve posted about before, but the shed made much more sense for a few reasons: it can house more ducks and it’s much more secure. (Especially now that my wonderful husband has filled in the holes and cracks in the cement from years of shifting floors.) And I’m not much of a gardener, sad as that makes me. I know in time I can improve and I’m actually determined to, but for now I’m happy to clear the space for my feathery friends!

The shed, when we first inspected it in December, was honestly a bit gloomy and incredibly dirty. The previous owner wasn’t much of a gardener either, and used the shed for nothing more than excess storage. There were no signs of her having cleaned it in the 7 years she owned it, either! The mice had made themselves at home and the cobwebs covered almost every rafter. So the first step was obvious: put on surgical masks and sweep the place out. (How great that we have so many masks on hand these days!) There was only one small door at the front of the shed for ventilation, so the air was thick with dust and other icky things, causing my asthma to act up and cutting day 1 pretty short. Not to mention it was in the single digits outside so we didn’t mind the excuse of heading back to our cozy house! We knew this project was going to take us a while anyway, so we decided to tackle one or two steps every weekend until it was ducky time.

Next up was getting more ventilation. So we pulled some boards off the back wall, cut them down to fit inside the support beams, and made barn windows! (If you look closely you’ll see that we’re not the most skilled at carpentry but they are OURS! And they’ll be just right for the ducks.) Through all my podcast listening and blog reading, I’ve learned about the magic of hardware cloth, so we put that in the window openings to help keep predators out. Then we got to do one of my favorite projects: paint! I figured that in addition to cheering the place up, it would also help me to spot new dust and cobwebs more easily in the future. Yes, it was very cold and paint doesn’t do so well in low temps. BUT we weren’t going for a pristine look anyway and our test wall actually did dry. So we kept going and…what a transformation. I’m always amazed at what a fresh coat of paint can do! Then when we strung the bistro lights around the walls…we both half jokingly said we might want to camp out in there before the ducks come! Alan had already done so much to help this project along but I admitted that as great as it was already, I hoped we could section off the back half of the shed. This would leave us the front half to store their bedding, food, and supplies, or even serve as a “sick bed” for ailing ducks. (And, let’s be honest, I was picturing it as a place to keep any new additions to the flock before totally moving them to the main living quarters.) So, we scavenged the property for wood that might help us make a small fence. Behind the goat shed, as we like to call it (though it’s currently sans-goats), we found some partially buried treasures in what looked like an old garden. There were lots of tomato cages, a wheelbarrow and some old wooden garden fencing. Jackpot! Alan cobbled some of these together and attached some chicken wire to the front (no stuck ducks!), and it looks fantastic, if I do say so myself.

The final steps were possibly the most challenging. Despite enjoying the project with help from John Prine and that’s-what-she-said jokes (“Can I get a long screw?”), we hit some walls. Literally and figuratively. Since the shed opens out essentially onto the driveway and the duck run is behind the shed, their exit door had to be cut out of the back wall. There was one section that was rotting and actually looked like it used to serve this same basic purpose. So it made the most sense for this to be the spot. Only…the coop outside sits almost directly in front of this exit. That thing is SOLID. Kudos to whoever built it but man…it couldn’t be in a worse spot. So Alan and I shaved off the bottom eave of the coop’s roof that abuts the shed and built a sort of platform to help re-direct the duck’s exit. We made an adorable ramp, complete with rails, that leads them down into their run…as long as they aren’t confused by this mini obstacle-course. I’ve watched enough duck videos to know that they sometimes will not use a ramp at all or will get spooked by a path that’s counterintuitive. So, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. If they just will not use this exit, we may have to get some bigger tools and either move the entire coop (my muscles are sore just thinking about it), or cut off the chunk of the roof that’s in the way. What’s another dozen trips to Home Depot? Or maybe they’ll be brilliant ducks and will figure it out on their own.

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At some point during the renovation process, I started wondering out loud why we were getting just 3 ducks when we clearly had room for many more. Remember what I said about duck math a few weeks ago?! It’s a thing! I don’t even have my first flock yet and I’m already plotting how to expand. Alan, ever the “yes man,” said we should get 5 or 6. So I wrote to the farmer who’s hatching my ducklings and said not only did we want more but could I please have them NOW? Yes, I know that the exact birth date is nearly impossible to predict but I wanted to be clear that she didn’t need to hold out on my account. She wrote back right away to say she can increase our order but not the timing, necessarily. So we have probably a few more weeks of waiting and planning until I’m bombarding you all with pictures and videos of my ducklings. Look out. It’s gonna happen. Alan can attest to this. He catches me ogling pictures and videos of other people’s ducks all the time! Any time I’m not recording music or cooking, you can almost guarantee I’m on one of my duck groups, reading the latest posts and even weighing in. But I’ve noticed something a little unsettling lately. I’m guessing it’s the weirdness of this past year catching up to everyone, but there’s been a lot of snark and even low level anger in some of the comments (not directed at me personally, but they still make me squirm). Maybe I’m naive but I don’t see the need to go for the jugular, especially when asking about the best bedding for your duck coop. (Personally, I’m going to use a mixture of pelleted pine and straw, but you do you.) I guess that’s the underbelly of social media, though. So take what information you can and leave the rest, because those toxic comments can get into your bloodstream.

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There were a few positive online interactions did brighten up my week, though. There’s a woman named Lisa Steele who has a fantastic website, Fresh Eggs Daily, about all of her poultry and how she tends them. I’ve gotten so many of my ideas and duck education from her and was courageous enough to respond to her latest blog in my inbox. It was about her “coop confetti,” which is essentially a mix of herbs sprinkled in the nesting boxes that helps to not only keep rodents at bay but also keep the birds calm. (Plus, it smells amazing!) I responded with a question and she wrote back right away! We had a great interaction and I was inspired to make my own confetti with organic herbs in bulk from Amazon. Then, in one of my Facebook duck groups, I chimed in on a thread about duckling feed and got some really clear and helpful answers. And then the moderator told me she loved my blog! Woohoo! Let’s keep building that community! Once we get the ducks and have to navigate travel plans (won’t that be a novelty), I’m going to start a thread in my local duck group to see if we can get our own coop clutch going. It would be amazing to help out our fellow homesteaders by watching their ducks when they travel and have them return the favor! This is not at all how I expected to meet people in our new neighborhood, but that’s just another weird outcome of a very weird year.

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Now, a few words about our current animal baby. Sadie basically refuses to come inside. The invisible fence has proven to be the absolute greatest gift we’ve ever given her (and let’s face it- a gift for us since we don’t have to bundle up and escort her outside 6 times a day). She’s become particularly interested in the wood pile in the goat shed, and we suspect there are chipmunks or mice living inside. We’ve even caught her sitting on the icy ground after being outside for 2 hours straight, just staring at one tree, the sky, or the wood pile for minutes on end. Not hunting, not digging or playing, just sitting. And then she’ll take off like a shot and blur past the window. She and the neighborhood dogs have been very chatty, all of them broadcasting from their respective invisibly-fenced yards. One day when Alan and I were out working on the infuriating jenga tower and duck ramp, we caught Sadie running up to the neighbor’s fence and start barking. We were about to tell her to stop or bring her inside, when we heard our neighbor say, “Oh hello, Sadie,” from the other side! It just about made my day. It’s been a little sad to think that our neighbors didn’t notice or care that we moved in. Although one of them, who also owns a plowing company, did finally reach out to us this week. We’d hired him to clear our driveway a few weeks ago and he texted to say thank you for the cookies and he wasn’t going to charge us for the plow! So maybe our other neighbor through the fence had actually read the note I included with the cookies introducing all of the Feuer family by name. Or maybe she’d heard us calling for Sadie to come in at the end of the day. Either way, it made me feel more at home, knowing our neighbors are making even a small effort to welcome us here.

And one last note before I go, this Friday at 5 I will be doing another of Bay Street Theater’s Sip and Sings, a virtual concert of musical theater and jazz tunes. You can register here. It’s free!