Coop de Jour

Today was a day of hard labor. We ripped up the old chicken run and cleaned out the coop. I had on my boots with my jeans tucked in and my fleece with a vest zipped over it. I looked like a real Utahan and I felt like a farmer :) I love working with tools and I have a strange love and desire for manual labor. I love to build structures and hard work that requires getting dirty brings me much joy. After clearing out run and digging up my own dirt to fill in holes, I cleaned out the chicken coop and helped build a structure to keep our baby bunnies in so they could play in the yard. After a long, hard day of work in the cool fall air, nothing in this world sounded as good as a simple chicken and rice soup. I chopped up my carrots, onion, celery, and chicken, chopped some lemon basil from the garden and cooked all my veggies on the stove until they were soft. I added my 2 quarts of stocks, one cup of water and brought it to a boil. I salted and peppered my chicken and added it with the rice. Unfortunately, the rice is still not done. It is taking far longer than I want it to, but I have tasted it and it is great. I cannot wait to make a small bowl of warm soup and rest my eyes.