At the beginning of September my Mom asked me what the highlight of my summer has been. I picked three: our cottage vacation, Ellie learning to ride her bike and the coop.

Yes, the coop. Progress has been made.

Here’s where we are at. For the first time in a year and a half we have a wall! For the first time in 13 years we can mow here!

The wall is the most noticeable change, but it’s only one.

Another big task I tackled was grading the area around the coop. Behind the barn was a lumpy, bumpy mess of weeds on top of I-didn’t-know-what. I had covered it all with a tarp last fall, weighing down the tarp with a random assortment of lumber I’d saved when we demolished the old coop.

First step in cleaning up the mess was pulling all of the nails, staples, screws, mesh and chicken wire off the boards. That took a day and a bit. Once I moved all of the cleaned lumber into the barn, I could finally lift the tarp.

The tarp had killed the weeds so I could see what I was dealing with. The lumps and bumps turned out to be a pile of concrete rubble that someone had dumped behind the barn. They only missed the rock pile by about 10 metres. So Wiley the tractor and I got busy and picked up the rubble. Then I raked the ground to level it and seeded it.

This allowed me to work my way around the side of the barn to the gaping hole where the coop was going to be. First step over here was to tar the new foundation wall we’d had built in the spring. Then I laid weeping tile along the wall and backfilled. Thanks to the barn’s newly level backyard, I could drive the tractor to the dirt pile and back without looping around the whole barn.

Finally I could focus on building the wall. The wall took a bit of figuring. It was a big opening and I was building it on my own. After I managed to get the top plate in place, it was smooth sailing from there. Studs went up, then backing for the siding, then house wrap, and then the siding itself.

Fortunately, past owners left us a huge stack of barn board siding, so I was able to use that. In fact, we still have a very large quantity left. I also took the opportunity to move the siding from its original storage spot on the upper level of the barn. I am trying to store all lumber in the basement of the barn, so Wiley and I went to work again and hauled all the siding around to the side of the barn, where it will be easy to carry into the basement.

With the wall (mostly) complete the barn is finally protected from the weather. I am also protected, as pretty much the rest of the coop will be inside work.

Inside work will be starting soon. First, I want to add battens to cover the gaps in the siding. Then I need a door and then I can finally start to build some pens that might someday hold some actual birds.

I also have some professional help coming to tackle some other coop/barn related projects. So more updates to come.

But today, join me in celebrating the coop, won’t you? I am super proud because not only are we making progress, but so far I’ve done it all on my own. (Although you can see Ellie’s been involved as well.) It makes me feel capable and strong to know I can do this and see this long-held dream starting to come together.

What’s been the highlight of your summer? Anyone else working on a multi-step or large project? Do you take the opportunity to tackle other jobs (like moving siding, cleaning up rubble) while you’re working on a related project?