Now, I'm Sacrificing.

So I'd entered to run the Bar Harbor marathon, but I think I'm going to give my entry to charity. You've got to respect the distance, and I just don't feel like I've put in the miles. I could theoretically finish, maybe even do respectably. But dammit, I want to do better.

I've also got a work-related conflict that would put me in Vermont one day, New York the next, and then Bar Harbor. Not exactly a good idea to run a marathon after driving overnight (and that's what I'd have to do) from New York to get to the starting line in time.

I could rationalize that. But dammit! there's now a meeting not too far from the house that weekend (http://www.postoilsolutions.org/) that I really wanted to make on using cold frames to extend the growing season, and I have to be in New York. And since I've been able to haul a couple of old windows from driveways, I was really looking forward to it.

Sigh.

On the plus side, an embarassment of farmer's market riches -- Brattleboro will be open through the winter!

http://www.postoilsolutions.org/2007wfm

Speaking of food, this I like:


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Sneaky Mac
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2 cups cauliflower
2 medium zucchini
1 tsp lemon juice
4 tbsp water
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 pound finely chopped Andouille sausage
2 boxes macaroni and cheese
1 tbsp white pepper
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Steam the cauliflower. Mix raw peeled zucchini with the lemon juice. Add the cooked cauliflower and mix with zucchini, adding water as needed until mixture is pureed. Do not allow children in the kitchen.
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Use two boxes of standard, macaroni and cheese noodles. Boil, drain and rinse noodles. Finely chop, then sautee Andouille sausage while noodles are boiling. Grate 1 cup Swiss cheese and 1/2 cup cheddar. Make children leave kitchen if necessary. Throw away the cheese packets that came with the macaroni and cheese, taking care to ensure they are at the very bottom of the trash and will not be discovered. You can also hide them in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator, where they are not likely to be discovered.
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Mix macaroni noodles, cheese, pepper, skim milk and sausage in pot over low heat until cheese is melted. Check again to make sure children have left the kitchen. Add cauliflower and zucchini puree. Stir very thoroughly. Clean bowls and/or blender, and hide copy of Missy Chase Lapine's "The Sneaky Chef."
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Leave macaroni and cheese boxes on kitchen island for suspicious children. Serves four.

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Where was I?

Oh, yeah. Spent yesterday cleaning like a banshee. We got the first floor pretty well mucked out, which was no small accomplishment. Ran out in the afternoon and bought a dozen sheets of 4 x 8 plywood for the barn walls, and a dozen 1 x 3s for the barn rafters, plus more chicken food. Rolled the plywood out to the car, which raised an interesting dilemma:

How do you put a dozen 4 x 8 plywood sheets into a Subaru?

You don't. I took the kayak rack off the top and used the Thule straps to tie down the plywood. This being Vermont, I had a good dozen helpers and assorted onlookers, including one of the hardware store clerks who must've spent 30 minutes lashing the plywood down. We spent a good 15 minutes discussing route possibilities and the likelihood of the plywood peeling off and decapitating someone. Yeesh. I could've driven 80mph into a wind tunnel, and I don't think it would've moved an inch. Anyway, got home, unloaded, did some more cleaning and threw some hay into the chicken run since it's been wet and was getting disgusting.

Got up early this morning and hauled all the trash to the dumpster, went to the hardware store and got some stain (Penofin -- it's wonderful stuff, as long as you're not interested in having any more children) for the coop panels. Came back and couldn't find my work gloves. So I puttered out to the store to get work gloves and some new jeans for Will; he was very appreciative, as always. I swung by the hardware store again and grabbed a half-dozen roof panels, plus some more 1 x 2s for the chicken run.

I didn't get home until 5p, which meant I could only spend a couple of hours working on the new barn. I got the area around the building trenched with a pickax, then cut wire and staple-gunned it to the two short sides. If I lose a chicken, it'll be one determined weasel that digs through a foot of rock and wire to get its meal.

Will be taking the next two days off from the day job to get most of the barn done. I'm hoping we can spend tomorrow staining, trenching the chicken run and assembling the chicken run panels (it'll be a 12 x 16 space with chicken wire stapled to 1 x 2 frames, and a foot of chicken wire running into the ground). I'll spend a chunk of Tuesday, hopefully, putting the walls up. It's going to be kind of tricky, since I've got to cut for two doors and two windows. If I get well and truly lucky, I might even be able to put up rafters and the roof by Tuesday, but that's really pushing it.

Bottom line, I'm hoping to have the chickens in their new home by next weekend. But there's a lot to do between now and then. Hoping for a few stray moments to run. And bike. And swim.