When Times Get Tough
Mom likes to tell a story about when I was 6, I put safety pins in the eyelets of my shoes because I couldn’t find any shoelaces. I had quite the imagination.
A few weeks ago, when the deep-freeze came about, I put an extra heater in my grand chickens coop deluxe and put their water in an old crockpot on low. What seemed like suddenly, I had no hot water in the kitchen to do my dishes. Panic stricken, I put heat under the sink and prayed. What followed was like an elaborate game of whack-a-mole, running from every source of water in the house to stop the pipes from freezing. I needed the extra heater from the coop.
However, I couldn’t just leave my baby girls outside without a heat lamp. So, I packed up heaters, feeders, and disgruntled peckers, and headed into the house. It was like the circling of the wagons and we all had to hunker down together to keep the heat and electricity central. I built a temporary coop from some fencing, added an old cupboard box and stick for roosting, and housed it all in my big otter sled. I opened the basement vent on the furnace and we all made “do” that week.
We are all grateful for the warmer weather and I am proud that I still have that 6-year-old imagination to help me make “do” when the times get tough.
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