The greenhouse that I keep my chicken in is working out so well, that even at -14 degrees below zero, she came busting right out this morning, ready for her breakfast of warm spaghetti and cooked peas, with laying mash, sunflower seeds, bell pepper scraps, cut up apple, and of course, a few oats.  Her water jug freezes right up, so I give her fresh water at every feeding, removing the frozen water and replacing the jug with a fresh one.  I bring in the frozen one, and when it thaws, the jug can be replaced.  This morning, I detected frost buildup (just a bit) around her beak.  I guess this would be built up from normal breathing in this weather, but the frostiness disappeared as she ate her warm breakfast.   

I had moved the greenhouse from the south (front) of the house, because I didn't think it looked good to have my picture window cut in half by its presence.  Also, the steep pitch of the roof brings snow and ice crashing down.  The west side of the house has a shed roof which melts the ice and snow off, and eaves troughs to catch the melt.  Although the sun is not as bright there, it will still do nicely for a greenhouse.  And I was able to put the header up higher than I had on the front of the house.  I put it up at least 6 feet, probably 7 feet.  That made the front wall at 4' high enough headroom to walk around bent over, even there.  All the struts are 2"x2"x8'.  I've braced the roof and side walls and covered the sidewalls with clear 4 mil plastic for now.  The roof is the plexiglass panels I got at Menards for $13.50 each, and there are 5 of them, 2' wide by 8' long.  So the greenhouse is approximately 10' wide by perhaps 7' long extending out from the west side of the house.  The chicken's house and yard (8'x2') are against the house wall in there, covered with 2 large tarps, surrounded and partially covered with straw.  The winter sun shines into her cage all morning long.  And she has her 40-watt lightbulb besides.  It's pleasant to go in there and take care of her.   

So do I really need to make it a pit greenhouse?  I could probably get by very well without digging it into the ground besides.  However, adding a "pit" feature would give me more room, and might possibly add warmth.  It would be nice if next year, I could grow veggies even in the winter.  So I might do that this coming year.   

I had taken an old home-made door last fall, and put "legs" on it, turned it over and set the legs on bricks.  Setting the whole thing at a slight angle against the house, extending it over the well pipe, so any rainwater would flow away from the house, I covered it with a very large doubled up tarp, and put a lot of straw under the table.  I can't get over how warm the straw is when you put your hand into a pile of it.  Arnie, the Wonder Dog, just loves it as his dog house.  Because the tarp is placed kitty corner over the table, held down on the wind side, he can lie out there, keep an eye on everything that is going on, and stay warm and sheltered besides.  But most nights, he sleeps inside in my bedroom, with Pepper. 

Our enormous pile of firewood takes up 1/4 of the living room space.  It is mostly pine, with some birch and oak, and smells very medicinal.  All dead, dry wood, burns hot, keeps the front rooms warm.  I had bought an oil filled electric heater for the bathroom, which feels frigid much of the time, but used it only once, just to test it out.  It's good to have a backup in case you need it.   

I believe all the seed catalogs in the country have now been sent to me, a huge stack of them, and I will soon start going through my seed box to see what this year's garden will consist of.  A lot of my fence posts have fallen down, whether pushed down by deer, or just rotted away at the base.  I have been purchasing metal posts as I can afford them and will replace the fallen ones as soon as the ground thaws.