Today was the day I finally got busy on the chicken's yard.  I had to shoosh her back into her house and close the door, and she was pecking and scratching at the door to get back out.  But I had to have her wait until I was done so she couldn't escape.  I cut the end of the cage open with a sidecutters, pulled a sledge up, and using a pitchfork, I dug out all the dirty dirt, old feed and crap that was in the bottom.  It had formed quite a hump in there.  I dragged all that to the compost bin and forked it in there, two big loads. 

Then on to search for new soil and sand for her playpen.  There was a broken bag of sand that was once used for weight in the back end of my pickup, I used all that, and some new forest soil nearby that had been dug up by the dogs.  It was enough to give her plenty of new diggin's.  When all that was in place, I sewed up the end of the cage with sturdy wire, then made her a new milk jug watering device that I cut to size and slid into place, filled with fresh water, and some new feed for a snack.  Let her back out and she is fascinated by the new stuff.  She promptly buried all her new food with her scratching.  She must be looking for worms to eat. 

Arnie has been insisting on staying out to watch the garden the last two nights, and he's been kept busy chasing something away.  I think it must be raccoons.  I've been resetting fenceposts with sturdier posts purchased at Menards, to replace the rotting thick branches I had originally set in place.  And I now have thin, multi-branched branches dug in and leaning toward the fence near the pole beans, which already need something to climb on.  It promises to be the best garden ever, and some of the corn is even knee-high. 

Think I've done enough for now, don't want to wreck my back again already.  Tomorrow it is time to weed the garden and find more branches to support the peas and cucumbers.  I just might settle down to watch the news and read one of my books.