I think I may have mentioned along they way that I intended to get some hens.

In fact, I discovered afterwards, it had been the family's intention to give me some for Christmas but Anne Neary (with whom Sue has wide rangeing and often hilarious discussions in the food and cooking slot on her radio show each week), from whom they were being sourced, told them that it was not a good time of year to start a new brood.

And Anne went on to tell Sue, (and here's the seed for the second matter to intervene in my efforts to return to my normal routine after our holiday), that I would build a better hen-house than could be purchased.

But, needless to say, although I have read all there is to read about hen-houses and designed a thousand of them in my mind, I never got round actually to building one.

But we had hardly shaken-off the black soil of Alberta from our boots and the mosquito bites were still active, when Anne declared to Sue that my hens were ready for collection!

I came under immediate, relentless and sustained pressure to produce the house without further prevarication or delay and, if the truth is told, it is only because it was raining this morning that I dared take a moment at the laptop to tell you about 'the artists'.

But the sun is shining now so I must return, at once, to the task as we are scheduled to collect the fowl tomorrow afternoon!

So here are a couple of shots of work in progress to be followed shortly by the finished product and its occupants.

The weather-board structure awaits its front, floor and roof......

.......and the opening in the back awaits the nesting boxes.