Easter long weekend plus

Well, we just finished a 4 day Easter Weekend and I also took Tues and Wed off. Gave me time to catch up on some chores around the house and further some projects.
The wife was gone to visit our son, daughter and her family in Canada so I was enjoying some freedom as a part-time bachelor (with one kid).
The first thing was to finish the chicken tractor off. This was completed by Sunday along with a chicken trap.
Sarah partially painted the tractor and will be finishing it this week as she is off school.
The first view is with the top open. You can see the steps going to the "loft" and roost. There is another loft hidden towards the viewer. It will be a few months until the top is opened like this.
The lofts are for laying eggs and roosting. Straw and shredded paper will be used for bedding. It has the capacity to comfortably hold 8 chickens but I will probably stop at 5 or 6.
We have small doors on the top and bottom to allow access to the eggs and to feed them without opening the top. Sarah had caught a wild chicken a little while ago and put it in there as a test. When she opened the top to feed it, it flew away. Lesson learned.
The little stairway is to allow the smaller birds to get up to the roost - especially if they are young ones. On Tuesday afternoon, we set the trap with some food, not trying to catch anything but to get the chickens used to it.
Today, as I was taking the pictures of the tractor, I saw some activity at the trap. Sure enough, there was a mother and 7 young chicks eating. I pulled the trip cord and the support came down. This was great as the young ones would get used to the tractor very easily and make life a lot nicer for us. Dorothy, Sarah and I went there and viewed our catch. The mother was trying to fly away but was confined by the mesh. The chicks were running around trying to find a way out. The only way to get them out was to lift one side and catch them individually. No problem with the mother and the first two chicks. In trying to catch the third, two of them slipped out at once. I got one but the other ran away. Down to six chicks. When transporting a chick from the trap to the tractor, Sarah dropped one and it flew away. Down to 5. When the rest were safe in the new home, two managed to slip out under the edge of the tractor. The ground is rough and while the fit is generally close, the small guys can squeeze through any hole while the mother cannot. Final count is 3 chicks and 1 hen. But the trap is baited and ready for the other small ones. They will come around when the mother calls and we will try to reunite the family.
Here is the trap and a small meter long iguana who was snooping around it.


















The next item on my list was preparation for hurricanes. While we are still a couple months from the official start in June, it was time to check communications. My wife and I as well as my parents are all licensed to use 2m radio equipment (144 - 148 MHz). During Hurricane Ivan, we were able to talk to each other when both land lines and cell phones were down. I got the equipment out and began operational and well as physical checks.

All was well with the exception of the coax between the radio and antenna. this was replaced as water had gotten in and shorted it out. This coming weekend, I will do scheduled maintenance on the battery pack that powers the whole thing. It is showing some signs of corrosion on the terminals. With the radio, I can reach across the whole island directly on high power or via the repeater on both high and low power. A repeater is an amplified re transmitter that receives the signal on one frequency and transmits on another at higher output - allowing greater coverage. The ham club repeater is based in Northward and transmits high up on the 250' Government tower.



Finally, the request for pictures of people camping over the Easter holiday. I hope you like this one Richard! No snow down here!