Coop at Night

Halloween 2009 was one of the best Halloween's ever. The weather was perfect, the moon was huge, the mood was right and the Coop could not have looked better. So I got my camera and started taking pictures...

Eggtoberfest 2009 - Atlanta

Once again we made the trip to Atlanta for Eggtoberfest. And once again we had a great time. The weather was a bit cool and damp but not flooding like the days before.

This year we were part of Team Mexico. Some Egghead friends from Monterrey, Mexico have been sharing some really great south-of-the-border recipes so we tried to stick with that theme by cooking Jalapeno Pie and Pollo ah la Palancha. Here's a photo of us with one of the Jalapeno Pies:

Our neighbors, Pam and Tom, are now Eggheads and decided to join us in Atlanta. They had a great time too.

We also had a surprise visit from someone we haven't seen since about 1975. Henry and Gay Leland from New Orleans were camping in North Georgia and decided to drive down and surprise us. Boy did they ever... It was great. They arrived after the Eggtoberfest was over but just in time for the After Party. They were so impressed with the food and friendly atmosphere that they immediately ordered a Big Green Egg to be delivered when they return home.

Henry hired me to work at Wells Fargo Armored Service back in 1970. Judy was already working there. He introduced us and the rest is history... a very nice history too.

Here's a picture of Henry:

Now we're headed to Plano on November 6 & 7 for a small 'gathering' of our Egghead friends. Should be fun.

CNN Article On Eggheads

Some time ago CNN announced that they were doing a story about backyard Grill Masters. One of the Eggheads posted something about it on the Big Green Egg Forum so I decided to throw my two cents in.

So I wrote about cooking in The Coop and added a few embellishments to tell the story as I see it. Here's the link to my entry as a CNN iReporter:

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-269624

Wouldn't you know it, they picked up on the theme of Eggheads and cooking on a Big Green Egg. They decided to do a separate story about us Eggheads.

A few Eggheads had already entered photos of some of their cooks or told how they enjoy 'Egg'n,' but their reports were kind of tame compared to what I entered. And I spread it on thick, with emphasis given to the Chicken Ranch, my "Girls" (my Big Green Eggs), and the red light that burns whenever the girls are working.

Anyway, the story was published while we were in Alaska, so we didn't get to read it until later. Meanwhile, a bunch of our friends read it and thought it described us well. I did too.

Without further ado, here's the link to the story.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/07/09/eggheads.irpt/index.html

Enjoy

Leroy
aka Spring "Proprietor Of The Chicken Ranch" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

Skipper's 70th Birthday

Judy's brother, Curtis "Skipper" Conrad, celebrated his 70th birthday on August 21, 2009 and we surprised him by showing up at his favorite restaurant ahead of his arrival.

Judy and I met Joyce (the other sister) and Allen at the airport in Houston and drove straight to Kerrville, Texas, checked into our hotel and headed to the restaurant. Got there just in time as he walked in along with his daughter's family. It was great and I got it on video.

We later met up at his home where I cooked his favorite snack on the Big Green Egg which I brought with me.

Anyway, here's his celebration made into a movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht1qM29tQYc

Our Alaska Trip Photos and Videos

I took 1501 photos and over 200 video segments of our Alaska trip. It is taking some time to edit and compile it so that it is suitable for viewing.

So far I've only done day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day 6, 7 and now day 8. Day 9 was spent in Vancouver touring the city and generally waiting for a very late flight back to Houston. I also plan to put together some unforgetable moments both on and off the ship.

Here they are for your viewing pleasure:

Day One (Getting there)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-mlgQvk32c

Day Two (Denali National Park Adventure)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XfFK8Wo1pA

Day Three (Train Ride From Denali To Anchorage)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytftZv9mHj8

Day Four (Ride to Whittier and Glacier Tour Boat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAl3afCGGQw

Day Five (Glacier Bay)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_4ZkJQJlUY

Day Six (Skagway)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5HnZzVY3IU

Day Seven (Juneau)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O3SNSEZE1Q

Day Eight (Ketchikan)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ASTMJmv76Q

North To Alaska

In just over three hours we will be departing Houston and headed for Fairbanks, Alaska for a 11 day vacation. We've been wanting to do this for thirty years and now we're actually doing it.

We will be meeting others in Seattle for the flight on up to Fairbanks. Judy's sister, Joyce, and husband, Allen, along with some of their friends from New Orleans and our tour guide will be in the group.

We will have dinner in Fairbanks and then a bus ride to our lodge near the entrance of Denali National Park.

Early Thursday the adventure really begins as we board a bus that will take us deep into Denali National Park and fairly close to Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. Judy and I will be returning to the lodge by small airplane that will take us up and around Mt. McKinley so that we can see it up close. Opportunity of a lifetime and we didn't want to miss it.

From there, we travel by train to Anchorage and then on to our ship, the Diamond Princess, for the inside passage cruise with lots of stops before arriving in Vancouver. By then we will be ready to head for home.

I have enough camera gear to make a Hollywood type movie so there should be plenty of pictures and videos later on. So stay tuned.

The adventure begins...

Plantar Fasciitis

Ever hear of Plantar Fasciitis? Well I have and it's not a fun subject.

What is Plantar Fasciitis? It's a painful foot problem. Simply stated, on manmade surfaces we often roll inward (pronation) flattening the arch and overstretching the plantar fascia (a thick, powerful layer of ligament-like tissue that fans out over the sole of your foot). Your feet strike the hard, manmade surface an average of 5 to 10 thousand times a day. With pronation, the plantar fascia tissue gets continuously overstretched and inflamed and that's why it hurts!

And it hurts like a SOB sometimes. Enough that I finally went to see a foot doctor after two months of suffering. After exploring the options I ended up getting an anti-inflammatory, cortisone injection directly in the area of the heel where it hurt most. I can't take regular oral anti-inflammatory medication due to my heart problem.

Well it continued hurting the rest of the day but the next day I was 100% free of pain. That allowed me to really get after some of those projects I had been trying to do before we left on vacation July 8th. The most pressing project was to finish up repairing the irrigation system so our plants and lawn wouldn't burn up while we're gone.

Wouldn't you know it, the following day the pain was back and has remained so without letup. Looks like I may be hobbling around like a beat up war vet wherever we go while we're away, which, by the way, includes a lot of walking in Alaska and then a lot of walking on board the ship. Walking is definitely going to be a problem.

Anyway, I learned a lot about "heel pain" in general and a lot more about Plantar Fasciitis. The only way to treat it is time and doing some stretching exercises. You can bet I'm doing those. Even so, it still hurts and as of right now has knocked me out of doing anything but sitting and waiting for the pain to let up some.

Oh yea, if you have a stone bruise that doesn't get well in two or three days, you may well have Plantar Fasciitis. And if you allow it to go untreated for a long time you may create other more serious problems with your feet. See a doctor. Then stay off your feet, except for those stretching exercises, for a while. Hopefully, it will go away in less than a year. Yea, a year... Good luck.

More Construction

Yes, more construction. Actually, 'de-construction,' for the time being because we first have to remove the old wooden deck and sidewalk behind the garage. About 300 sq ft in all. It's done.

I put it in myself about 15 or 16 years ago and we've had continuous problems with critters wanting to live under it, rotting boards that needed replacing, drainage problems under the deck because of the critters, and leaking irrigation pipes because roots cracked the pipes.

So we hired our yard-mowing guys to take it down. Bad move. They didn't have a clue as to how to demolish anything, didn't have the proper equipment or truck to haul off the debris, nor the drive to get started early in the morning while it was relatively cool. We'll call in some experienced people to do the concrete work.

Meanwhile, I've been rebuilding the irrigation plumbing which includes completely rebuilding the six-zone valve array. Tomorrow I will connect the six pipes to the individual valves, then wire the valves to the controller, turn on the water and see if it all works. I think it will because I took great pains to make sure every connection was proper.

I also have to make sure the deep sink supply lines and drain pipe are visible, along with the 12v outdoor lighting wiring conduit, so that the pipes and wire will not be accidentally cut. All of it will eventually be under concrete.

Next, I need to connect about 50' of 4" drain pipe to an existing drain pipe that will run under the concret around the end of the garage and down toward the street. That will help solve a serious flooding problem near our back entrance.

In order to even start on this project we had to destroy Judy's plant stand (also old and rotten) and my shed I built about four years ago (starting to show signs of rot). But that's fine, I will build new ones with a better design and better features and this time use Hardy-Plank.

All of this is really doing a number on the lifestyles of hundreds of roaches and at least one nocturnal creature of the night . Perhaps we won't have to worry about them anymore.

Pictures will follow.

Chim-Chimney's Cookout and Big Green Egg Demo

Judy and I thought we would ride down to League City, Texas (near NASA) yesterday for a Big Green Egg promotion they had planned. Our neighbors, Pam and Tom, went along for the ride. We thought we would have a nice seafood lunch while we were down that way.

It was HOT! Very HOT! But we had a great time, met a lot of nice people and had a very delicious lunch in a waterfront restaurant in nearby Kemah.

The day turned out to be very lucky for Tom as he won the big door prize, a medium Big Green Egg.

Anyway, here's the story made into a movie...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UFPYqXDYWA

And this is a followup story showing our neighbor cooking on his newly won Big Green Egg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4yLYiirL3g

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

A Few Of Our Early Adventures

Since getting my 'Flip' camcorder I've been learning how to make movies. I've learned that I can also give new life and enjoyment to all those old photos from years gone by simply by making them into a movie. Here are a few I've put together and posted on YouTube. I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I enjoyed giving them new life.

The first is of our attempt to join the sea-faring set while living in Miami.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JKNS0AYy_U

And this one was when a friend at Continental Airlines offered us the chance to 'fly' a big Boeing 777 Jumbo Jet. No, not the real thing but close. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iBrr4sG0sA

And while we're 'up in the air' check this out. Judy gave me a ride in a hot air balloon ride one year for my birthday. We were living in Jacksonville, Florida at the time. The balloon just happened to go over the apartment where we first lived (beautiful place on the water) and then over our home. We could even hear our dog, Punkin, barking at us. We ended up on the fairway at Baymeadows Golf and Residential Community where Judy's Mom lived. So we woke her up real early and told her about our adventure. It was a fantastic experience...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w726CZK8JiU

Texas Eggfest - 2009

The Texas Eggfest 2009 was held over the weekend and it was great. Could not have been much better. At last count there were 320 registered attendees.

The event was held on the decks at The Oasis, a beautiful restaurant high on a cliff overlooking Lake Travis in Austin, Texas.

Friday night a few of us met for an informal Meet and Greet, and watched the sun set in the western horizon. That was fun.

We arrived early Saturday morning and got set up to cook three items: Bourbon Meatballs, Fish Tacos and Bacon-Wrapped Watermelon Rinds. I also had volunteered to teach a class on how to cook one of our favorite breakfasts, EggMcChicken (almost like McDonald's EggMcMuffin) on the Griddle Q accessory for the Big Green Egg. That was fun.

The crowd started to grow and kept growing. And the weather was delightful. It was a good day indeed.

Check out some of the videos I made.

Friday night Greet & Meet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKM9RCidDVg

Part 1 Early Saturday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DqHuV4jMjk

Part 2 Mid Day Saturday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhprhoeT0FU&feature=related

Part 3 Afternoon Saturday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXXR1lw_mIo

This one was so successful, the host dealer has already started on next year's event and promises that it will be even bigger and better.

Can't wait...

Oklahoma Eggfest 2009

Judy and I flew up to Oklahoma City for the Oklahoma Eggfest and we are glad we went. It was great. We'll be going again next year.

Meanwhile, here are some videos that will give you a pretty good idea of how much fun we had. The first one just shows the first hour during which we were getting set up and firing up our Eggs. The crowd arrive shortly afterward and things really get going.

Take a look at the four videos.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmyM7FX9nr4

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZJPEyQ_fhI

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwNrBLuZK1Y

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKOL0EQX4wQ

Remembering The Pond

The Koi pond that has been a fixture here for a long, long time, probably ten years, is no more. We gave it away and filled in the hole. As soon as the dirt settles we will cover it with flagstone like the rest of the patio. There was about a ton of large and very large stones around it and we kept those for use in some future project. Meanwhile, here are a few of our favorite photos of the pond from when it was just a small pathway garden until now.


















































Almost like it never was.

Gathering of Old Eagles

Judy and I drove down to Galveston yesterday to have lunch with an old Navy buddy from back in an earlier life while in the Philippines. We were stationed together at USNAVCOMSTAPHIL (US Naval Communications Station Philippines) near a little coastal village called San Miguel. We were about 30 miles west of the huge Naval base, Subic Bay.

By all standards it was considered a great assignment. Only they screwed up my assignment because once there the Navy would not recognize my Army training and I ended up in sort of a "man overboard" status. It pretty much stayed that way until I got out.

Meanwhile, as with any military unit, a few of us hit it off and hung around each other to the point where we were pretty much family.

Although I got out and became a real person again Hank stayed in, eventually making a career change to the Army and remaining there until he retired. He and a few of his cohorts from then meet up each year for a cruise somewhere. This year they sailed out of Galveston.

It was fun seeing him again after forty-two years. We immediately picked up where we left off and told the same stories we told four decades ago. We were all in the Army Security Agency, the Army's version of the National Security Agency. Very hush-hush group back then. So we had plenty to talk about.

Anyway, it was a fun gathering and I'm sure our lives will cross again somewhere and we will re-tell the same stories. Somebody's got to do it...

Here's some shots of us.

Frank in Houma Visit and Blackened Redfish Demo

Our good friend, Frank Smith, aka Frank in Houma among Eggheads, stopped by on Wednesday. He was on his way to hunt ducks with friends. He brought along some frozen filet of redfish and speckled trout. He also took the time to to demo how he cooks the redfish using Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish seasoning. My neighbor made a video and I took photos of the event. Hopefully, I can link to the video so you can see it here. It's worth watching, especially now that I've done a wee bit of editing...

But here's some photos.

Christmas 2008

This year seems to be flying by. Just a few days ago we were celebrating Thanksgiving, and Christmas is already come and gone. Now we're just two days away from a whole new year. It couldn't come at a better time.

We drove over to New Orleans (Metairie actually) to spend Christmas with my Sweetie's sister's family. Had a good time and ate too much for sure.

Thanksgiving '08

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Well, at least the 'holiday' did, but there's plenty of food to remind us that Thanksgiving can last a lot longer than one special day.

This year we hosted my Sweetie's sister, hubby and two sons from New Orleans. They had a bit of a time driving over because of the traffic but at least they made it safely. We kinda figured they would be hungry so we cooked a huge pot roast on the Egg. Before that I cooked two large pork butts for pulled pork sandwiches. They were so exhausted they had some of the roast and then crashed. The pulled pork went into the freezer for another day.

Thanksgiving Day I cooked a 20+ pound turkey (we called him Fred) and he was ready in about three hours. But I let him perk in the Egg for another hour at a much lower temperature while all the side dishes were cooked. By the time we sat down to eat everyone was hungry. Fred turned out to be the best turkey ever, bar none. And the side dishes were absolutely wonderful, as were the desserts.

I suppose you could say we had lots to be thankful for, especially considering all that is going wrong in the world. We had a good roof over our heads, plenty of food to eat and a loving, generous family together to enjoy each other's company. We would be the envy of at least 80% of the world's population if only they could get past the lack of shelter, the pain in their stomachs and the loss of their family members to everything from disease, famine, terrorism and a seemingly endless list of bad people who exploit them to no end. Yes, we have much to be thankful for.

Coop Party 2008

Well, we finally held the long awaited Coop Party, referred to by some as the Coop-de-doo... It turned out great in spite of some anxious moments only two weeks earlier when Hurricane Ike came through the area threatening, and almost carrying out the threat, to destroy everything in its path, including the Coop, the main focus of the party. But we survived with only limited damage to fencing and the complete distruction of the roof over the spa.

Because of the extensive damage to the area and the lengthy period of power outage, food and fuel shortages and general chaos from so much destruction, we almost cancelled the event. However, we hunkered down and did what was necessary to repair, clean and purchase what was necessary.

By the time it was over, we had 45 show up, some from as far away as Virginia, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The rest were from the San Antonio, Austin and Houston area. All came to have a good time and we did just that. It could not have been better.

I set up a special blog for the party that contains over 200 photos. If you wish to view them, click here: http://chickencoopparty.blogspot.com/

Big Party At The Chicken Coop

Now that I'm finishing up my recovery from surgery I think it's time to have a party to break in the Chicken Coop. So a few Egghead friends got together here and we set a date... October 4, 2008.

I know, it's just two weeks away from Eggtoberfest in Atlanta (which we will be attending) but anytime sooner would have been too hot or in conflict with other events, or too close to the holiday season.

I posted a formal announcement on the Big Green Egg Forum and within a few days we had RSVP's from about 40 Eggheads and Egghead Wannabee's. There will probably be at least ten or more additional guests as we get down to the wire.

Take a look at the Blog Site I set up for the Party. It lists the names of those coming and will eventually have photos of the event itself.

http://chickencoopparty.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in coming, scroll down the page to the RSVP section and follow the instructions.

This is going to be a really great party.

Another Surgery Update

I have been in recovery mode for 18 days now and I'm doing fine so far. Well except I'm bored to tears because I can't build, fix or destroy something. Heck, I can't even bend over. But the doctor said it takes six weeks for everything to heal. Even then I will not be able to climb mountains, only small hills. I'll take it.

Meanwhile, we are preparing for the party of all parties, at least as far as we've hosted. This one invites our Egghead friends to celebrate the completion of our outdoor kitchen, the Chicken Coop.

I say 'completion' but in reality it is still an on-going project that just keeps me busy (when I'm not feeling poorly) and out of trouble. Plus, each new idea we come up with is fun to do. We just added a new cabinet in the back that encompasses one of Judy's ideas, a built in ice chest drawer. This is so cool (pun intended). We built a drawer that holds a huge ice chest where we can store bags of ice for up to seven days. I added full-length drawer slides making it very easy to slide out even with a hundred pounds of ice inside.

Then above it I made a huge deep-drawer to hold large, bulky items. Then off to the side I added slide out drawers to house our growing collection of cast iron cookware.

To really enhance the look I made cedar louvered doors for some of it and a solid cedar panel for the other.

We happened on a piece of Corian countertop that will fit perfectly after I trim it. And the good part, it was free.

The Coop should look fantastic for the party if I can ever get back to working on it.

Post Surgery Stuff

Well, I finally had the back surgery yesterday and it went quite well. Came home today. I'm in a great deal of pain from the actual surgery but the other pain in my legs and hips seems to have disappeared. That's what the goal was all along.

I will be seriously limited in what I can do and where I can go during the next four to six weeks. Then I can start to do some of the things I'm used to doing around here. Well maybe not building outdoor kitchens and flagstone decks but there's always something to do here.

My surgeon said he found nothing else of concern besides the three areas where bone was pressing the nerve bundle (L3 L4 & L5). He performed his magic over a 2½ hour period. It's called a lumbar laminectomy to correct a condition called spinal stenosis. In my case, he thinks it was caused by genetics, but the condition is fairly common although less severe in most people. The surgery success rate is from 95% to 100% depending on where you look. If you have the condition you should certainly consider the surgery before you damage your nerves beyond repair.

I just took two more of the pain meds and my next stop is bed. I hope I can sleep non-stop until tomorrow. Probably not but at least I can take more pills if I need to.

It's nice to live in a country where treatment is available. I couldn't stand much more of the pain that was constantly at level six or higher all day, every day. I'm really looking forward to each and every new day from now on.

Pre-Surgery Stuff

My back surgery (lumbar laminectomy) isn't until the 29th but I had to go do all the pre-surgery stuff today. Mostly signing papers, but they also did lab work, x-rays and ekg on me. I still have to go to my family doctor to get his release for the surgery but that's next week.

I also learned a little more of what to expect after the surgery. Of course this is all based on the fact that it will be an uneventful, successful surgery.

The surgery will take about 2 1/2 hours. Then I will remain in a recovery room for at least one night, maybe two. They want me up and walking ASAP and certainly by the time I'm discharged the following day. Then I'm to progress my walking to as much as 3 miles a day within six weeks. I am "strongly discouraged from riding in a car for 4 weeks, except when absolutely necessary." I cannot "lounge on an over-stuffed couch" nor "do any lifting, bending, or stooping activities for 6 weeks." I should "specifically avoid bed-making, doing the laundry, vacuuming, or loading the bottom shelf of the dishwasher."

I'm also supposed to remain upright as much as possible, take deep breaths, eat a lot of fruit and fresh vegetables, use multivitamens and avoid alcoholic beverages.

It may "take 3 to 4 months" before I can "resume heavy physical activity."

They say I will have "good days and bad days" and about all I can do is rest, take the medication they provide and place ice packs on the painful area.

This is definitely not going to be a picnic.

Finally Got A Surgery Date

Three weeks ago I underwent a CT Myelogram for Dr. Cartwright to determine if there were any other areas of concern with my spinal stenosis. There wasn't, but the initial three areas were deemed "serious" and a laminectomy is about the only way to correct the problem.

Surgery has been scheduled for July 29th at Tops Surgery Center near KSF Orthopeodic's offices on Red Oak Drive. I've had knee surgery performed there before. The staff was very nice.

I have to have new bloodwork data and visit with both my primary care and heart doctors prior to the surgery date.

I'm told that it is likely that I will return home the following day of surgery but I will need some level of assistance for a few days.

It sounds like they have this procedure pretty much down pat so I'm not all that worried. If anything, I'm really looking forward to being able to function again without severe pain.

Never an end to health issues

Once again the ugly side of growing older raises its head and points me in the direction of yet another doctor. This time an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Cartwright at KSF.

My "Mad Max Disease" (affectionately named after my good Egghead friend Mad Max whom I charged with giving me his back problems over two years ago via email) has reached the point where I have to do something besides get epidurals for relief. My treating doctor suggested that I see Dr. Cartwright for a consult.

I had to undergo another MRI, this time an open MRI which was not as "challenging" as the one I had two years ago. I have claustrophobia. But with the open MRI I managed to sleep through the process.

Dr. Cartwright reviewed the MRI results and pointed to three areas where the spinal channel containing my nerve bundle was narrowed and probably putting pressure on the nerves thereby causing the constant pain and occasional loss of control of my legs. The condition is fairly common, especially in older and larger men. Genetics also increases the chances of having the problem called Spinal Stenosis. Surgery is the only way to correct the problem.

He went on to say there may be other problems and he wanted to arrange for a CT Myelogram, a procedure where dye is injected into the spinal column in order to enhance the images through X-ray and CT Scan. I underwent the process yesterday and I'm still suffering from it. That had to be one of the top five pains I have ever suffered. Double doses of Vicadan is all that got me through the night. Even now I'm having serious hearing problems and a headache of the worst kind. Hopefully it will clear up before the day is over. I may just go back to bed and sleep.

If the additional data supports his diagnosis I will likely be scheduled for surgery, a Laminectomy. This procedure involves the removal of the lamina that overlays the spinal canal. It enlarges the spinal canal and is performed to relieve nerve pressure caused by spinal stenosis.

I'm told that I can expect to be laid up for many days, but within three months I should be able to lead a normal life.

An update will follow as soon as I know what the next step will be.

New Blog Site - Chicken Coop

When we set out to create an outdoor kitchen we basically had in mind a structure that would allow us to cook on our Big Green Eggs out of the direct sun or rain, plus offer the conveniences normally associated with an outdoor kitchen: refrigerator, running water, storage, good lighting and plenty of room to do stuff. Well, we also wanted it to have a pleasing look and be a fun place to hang out, not to mention have a unique personality of its own.

Apparently, we accomplished that and more. Once I began posting photos on the Big Green Egg Forum, I started getting requests for more photos, measurement information, construction details and even requests to hold a party. Some even sent items they thought would be right at home in the Coop. Naturally, they were added to the decor, often getting names of their own.

Of course I was pleased that so many people thought my handiwork was worthy of so much praise and I answered every request for more information.

Then it occurred to me that I could easily set up the Coop's own blog site, which I did and started filling it with photos. Check it out at: http://springchickencoop.blogspot.com/2008/05/spring-chickens-coop.html

Now when a request for information comes in I can simply refer them to the new blog site, along with any other information they may ask for.

Let me know what you think.

Chicken Ranch Update

Finally, things are starting to settle down a bit here at the Chicken Ranch. Good thing too, because we are now in the "hot" season. It's just way too hot to be outside performing any kind of tasks unless you happen to be one of those who seem to thrive in the heat. I am certainly not one of them.

However, things do still get done. For example, a fast-growing palm tree was taking over a portion of our front landscaping. It's a pretty tree and would normally look nice wherever it is growing, but in this instance it seemed to be overwhelming our other plants while creating a major problem when it comes to maintaining the area. Before destroying it we offered it to someone if they could come dig it up. Someone did and now they have a very nice tree in their back yard. We still need to fill in the hole and clean up the area before planting some more appropriately sized plants.

We also received two new "critters" for our growing collection of Coop Animals. The first came from Egghead, "2nd Lt. Bob" in Massachusetts. We have temporarily assigned the handle, "Sundown" to him until we can come up with a more suitable name.

The second and most recent arrival arrived with a note saying that he is "a sick chick" who "needs some of your good cookin'." He was sent by my Sweetie's cousins after their recent visit to the Ranch. We also need to assign an appropriate name to him.

Here they are during Rodney Dangerbird's security orientation and general debriefing about their roles here.

















So now you are up to date. Stay close though because there will surely be more to come.

2008 Texas Eggfest in Austin

Well, another Texas Eggfest is now under our belt (pun intended). It was held last Saturday, May 10th in Austin, Texas at The Oasis, a really neat restaurant/bar on a high cliff overlooking Lake Travis. We were joined by my Sweetie's sister Joyce and brother Curtis and their spouses, Allen and Sandra. Joyce and Allen helped us cook up four dishes: ABT's, Frito Pie, Chickaletta's and Shrimp over a six hour period.

Everything we cooked disappeared quickly to a hungry crowd of about 150. Only 15 of us were cooking. The rest were new to Egg'n or about to purchase their first Big Green Egg. They were loaded with questions. In fact, 32 Eggs were pre-sold and at least 10 more were sold after the people saw how easy it is to cook on one and how delicious the food is.

Other cooks met with the same results. Lots of great food for lots of appreciative people.

The location could not have been better. We were on a private deck, complete with tables and chairs and our own bar. Water and sodas were free and beer could be obtained with a ticket. Mixed drinks could be purchased for a very reasonable price. We really like this arrangement over having to lug a big ice chest with all our beverages in it.

The view was fantastic. Boats in the lake looked like ants. The only problem we had was the heat. It gets hot in Austin. So next year we're having it in April. Yes, we'll definitely be there, as will just about everyone who came to this one, plus all those who couldn't make it this year.

Our hats are off to BBQ Outfitters, Sponsor of the Eggfest, and The Oasis for allowing us Eggheads to have a really great time. Here's some photos to prove it.

Or watch the video...

Fifty-Seventeen

In two hours I will be a year older. Fifty-Seventeen to be exact. At least that's the way I prefer to think of it. Of course the traditional method would put me up in my sixties but that's no fun.

If I had thought for a minute that I would live this long I would have taken better care of myself. So here I am, overweight, on heart medication, arthritis in multiple joints, herniated disk in my back, one good eye, missing a prostate due to cancer, a bullet wound, rabid dog bite, cut arm almost off at the shoulder and many other serious threats to my well-being during that time. But I'm still better off than a lot of folks, and for that I consider myself fortunate.

So tomorrow when I wake up I will begin another chapter in my life, just like the day before and the day before that and so on for the 24,455th time. It will be a nice day and the love of my life will be by my side.

It's fun being me.

Happy Birthday