Goodbye Tildy

Matilda, my house hen, died this morning. She was 4 years, 4 months old.

She was hybrid, designed for a life expectancy of less than 2 years. Originally bred as a table bird, she just had something about her. She was always interested in what we were doing and, right from when she was a chick, she was always happy to be picked up and petted.  She had a bit of a disability - her wing was slightly wrong. We became so attached to her, that we just couldn't cull her, so we kept her as a pet.

Tilda

She died once before, December 2012.  I saw it happen, rushed out and brought her in. She revived, and we kept her in the kitchen so she could die peacefully and in her own time.

Instead of passing away peacefully, she rallied. Attempts over the next few weeks to put her back with the others failed. We didn't think she'd survive for long, so we carried on letting her live in the kitchen, with her own little pied a terre. She pottered around the kitchen during the day, taking herself to bed at night.  Sometimes she went out for a bit, but often just let herself back in again.

Baby Tilda

Tilda in her night time pied-a-terre

We adapted to having a house hen, she became one of the family, and we adjusted our lives to take into account her needs. As soon as we came in, we'd check on Tilda and say hello, and have a chat. She was always interested in whatever we were doing .

For the first 6 months, she showed no interest in going to live outside. She had free access to the outside, the door was open (except when it was raining), and she came and went as she pleased.  She always chose to come in.

In the Summer of 2013, she decided she wanted to try and live with her hatch mates again, despite their contribution to her earlier death.  They didn't want her, but she persisted.. It took several attempts by her (against our advice, after the first time ended in another collapse), but she was determined.   She managed to live outside with them until December 2013 when they turned on her again and she collapsed once more.

Tilda making herself at home

She came back into the house, and revived. She again lived in the kitchen (with free access to outside) since then.  I used to put her in the Other Girls run (with the Other Girls locked out) so she could dustbathe (see video).

Wandering around the garden

She "wasn't quite right" for the entire 19 months she lived indoors with is,  That's why the others turned on her in the first place. However, she ate and drank and chirruped and chatted,  and seemed quite happy.  Her tail was usually up, she was bright eyed.

If she fancied  a snackerel, and whatever she fancied hadn't already been provided, she'd call us into the kitchen.

It was always easy to tell what she wanted.  When she ate yoghurt she ended up smacking her beak together.  When she wanted yoghurt, she just made the eating-yoghurt face and sounds, and I would put some fresh down for her.

Having a house chook long ago stopped seeming odd.

With summer approaching, we upgraded the spare/hospital Go so that Tilda could  stay outside at night if she chose to. It also meant that she could stay outside during the day, rather than having to come back into the kitchen if we were going out.   To our surprise, Tilda always chose to come back in to the kitchen at night

  She slowed down a lot over the last month, but was eating, drinking, and pooing  normally (normally for Tilda, anyway).

Yesterday when she came in, she wasn't right. She was very hot.  I treated her for heatstroke,  spent a lot of time getting water and cucumber in to her, gave her some Nutridrops.  She didn't fight the Nutridrops, and she wasn't interested in small pieces of grape,  so I had an inkling that this might be "It"  She has had a couple of episodes before  and she has recovered, so I hoped this would be like that - a drama followed by a recovery.

This morning, she wasn't interested in anything to eat, not even yoghurt. Not even a grape shard.   She took herself outside without waiting for the offer of a lift down the step (another rarity,) and sat under the shade of the strawberry planter. I put her food, water, yoghurt and cucumber out, but she didn't even look at it. I noticed that her comb was a little purple.It didn't bode well.

I came back a little while later, and sat on the ground with her while she had her death throes. It was over quickly.  I'm happy that she didn't suffer, wasting away over days. I know she had a good life, much longer than she should have.

She was much loved, and she will be sorely missed. The kitchen doesn't look right without her in it.

When she was still welcome in the flock.

My little girl.

(video of Tilda dustbathing)

Hot hen

Matilda spends her days in the depths of the Pampas grass, where it is relatively cool.  She moves around in thre during the day, and several times a day I move her yoghurt pot and her drinker to be near her.  I also dunk her beak, which she hates, trying to make sure she drinks.

She's been coming to the back door quite late. On a couple of occasions, I've thought she's going to stay out. That's fine, but I would have moved her to the safety of the Go Up (but not "up") if she wanted to stay out. 

I gave her a quick bath today. Her undercarriage was a bit sniffy,  and I thought it would help her cool down. She seemed to appreciate it.

Today whem she came in, she looked a bit dehydrated. Her comb was a bit small (smaller than usual).  She wouldn't drink, she didn't want Pog (Yoghurt. Yoggy Pog. I know, it just happened!).  I found a couple of cucumber ends in the fridge.  Normally I get them out and cut them into small squares so she can bolt them down.  I bliized them today so they were very small pieces, and put them into a coop cup.  She ate lots of it.

I had to stand with a torch shining on the pot so she could find it.  Chickens don't see well in the dark, and Tilda is also selectively hard of seeing.  Believe me, if it was pitch black and I rolled a grape near her, she would see that and gobble it down.  Everything else, not so much.

I might leave the fan on for her tonight.

Is that a bit much?

Thermomix arrived

Well, my Thermomix arrived, was unpacked, washed, and I waited for DH to get back from seeing to the allotment chooks before I did anything.

I then spent several hours playing.

I'm stuffed to the eyeballs already, and I've only eaten vegetable salad (admittedly, there was a lot of it, and I did eat it all), a bit of coleslaw and a large smoothie. Plus munching on white cabbage as I went along. I love white cabbage.

Tonight we're going to try barramudi with coconut rice and steamed vegetables.

Fingers crossed.

I didn't/don't want to be come a Thermy bore, so I've started a separate blog to help me track my progress. 

I would definitely recommend going to a demo. Even if you would never think of buying one. 

I love DPD

We get lots of deliveries. 

Neither of us enjoys going shopping - too many people,  cars,  shops not having what we want - so we tend to shop online.  I sometimes use deliver-to-store where I can get to an out-of-town outlet with easy parking, but that only works (for me)  for a limited number of retailer.s

Everything else is delivered, and so we have experienced many, many couriers.

My favourite is DPD.

I like DPD because we get an email giving us a 1 hour timeslot.

That, on it's own, would be enough.  But they also tell us the delivery driver's name (and we usually get the same chap), and the tracking is great.

The tracking link tells us what delivery number we are, and what number our driver is currently delivering. It also estimates how long it will be before he gets to us, this further narrowing down the window.   And we can even see exactly where his vehicle is.

Most of the time we're not eagerly awaiting delivery. It's just stuff.

But today I'm getting my Thermomix.

And they use DPD.  Fantastic!

Benched!

The chicks are now just over 6 weeks old.  

A while ago, I put a child sized garden bench into their paddock. They didn't pay much attention to it initially.  Lately they've all been busy trying to get up on things (the feeders, the waterers, the wheels on the Cube,  the electric hen (which has been turned off for ages, but they like to stand on it).

In the last few days they've started using the bench. 

There were 5 of them on the back of the bench when I went to get my camera, but only three when I got back.

Welcome Back!

Poppy is back!

She appeared yesterday, as she does everyday for her feed-poo-legstretch-and-dustbathe.  However, she didn't seem to go back to the nestbox.

And this morning, she was out with the others from first thing.

Thank goodness for that!

She's been broody since the middle of May, which hasn't been good for her or for everyone else.  She's been preventing anyone else using the nestboxes (even the one next door); the Oldies don't lay very often, which is probably just as well from a nest-box point of view.  I put a separate nestbox elsewhere in the run for Lotti to use.

I'm so happy to have her back.

I wasn't quite so happy at 5.30 this morning when she was attempting to crow under the bedroom window....

Monty Python

My Aussie DIL absolutely loves Monty Python.  For her birthday, her lovely husband (my DSS1) managed to get tickets to see the team perform at the O2.

And they very kindly invited us to join them!

How lucky was that?!

We decided to drive to the O2. We usually get a train and either the tube or boat.  It was too hot for standing around waiting for trains and tubes (and would be worse on the way home). Besides, we have prevuously found it difficult to get back to Waterloo in time to get the last train home.

Overall, driving wasn't much longer (door to door), and we had the benefit of air-con all the time.

Some people had dressed up for the occasion, they looked great but must have been sweltering. I particularly admired the couple dressed as cardinals from one of my favourite sketches.

The show was marvellous.

Everything was "brilliant!".

The staging was great, everything was really well designed.  We had excellent seats, but even if we hadn't, the screens would have meant we were able to see.

The chaps looked like they were really enjoying themselves. Terry Gilliam's graphics were cleverly interwoven, as were recordings of sketches involving Graham Chapman.

Absolutely fab.

Thermomix

Well, I've done it.

I  have finally ordered a Thermomix.

I've been considering a Thermie for 18 months or so now. I read up about it, watched lots of YouTube videos,  looked at sites where people hadn't got on with it, and I started saving up.  My Quidco cashback,  Ebay sales, voucher sales...  I even sold my Vitamix in anticipation of switching to a Thermie, and that gave me the extra cash I needed.

I managed without the Vitamix, and began to question whether I should bother buying a Thermie at all.

I wondered about whether a new model would be introduced and how I'd feel if I'd just bought an "old" one. 

I finally booked a demo.  I had chicken pox and had to cancel.

I tried to reschedule, but it was proving difficult to get a date and time that suited me.   I eventually booked a date in August.

Then Thermomix had an offer on their cookbooks, valid throughout July until the 25th.   I wasn't happy.   Was this stock clearing ready for something bigger, better?    

I rescheduled my demo to the 18th July anyway, at my house,  and invited a couple of people I thought might be interested.  My brother and my aunt both own Vitamixes and, whilst I didn't think they would particularly want to buy a Thermy, I was interested in what they thought of it.  I invited my neighbour - she already knew about Thermies because one of her friends owns one.   It was important to me that DH was there too. He never used the VItamix, and I didn't want the same thing to happen if we bought a Thermie.

By the time we got to the morning of the demo, I had pretty much decided I wasn't going to buy one yet. I'd heard rumours (which have been circulating for some years) that a new model was imminent.  

The demo was really really good.    I was more impressed than I expected to be.  It knocked the spots off a Vitamix.

I decided I'd buy one.  If a newer, better model comes out, I'll worry about that at the time.

I hope I like it.  I hope DH uses it.

I guess we'll see....

Bamboo floor

When we converted a bedroom into a bathroom, some 16 or so years ago, we chose bamboo flooring.  This was very new back then, I don't even remember how I found out about it (the Internet back then wasn't what it is today) and we had to travel some way to find it.

When I told people we had bamboo flooring, I could see by the looks on their faces that they were imagining bamboo canes next to each other.  I still think that myself sometimes.

Anyway.  The floor, and it's shiny finish, has been very hard wearing.  In the last few years, it's started to look a bit in need of TLC in places.    We plan to replace it with Karndean at some point,  but as the bamboo is quite thick and the Karndean is very thin,  it's not such a simple job.  We keep putting it off.

Pleased with the success of my efforts refreshing the living room floor, I started to investigate whether it was possible to do something with the bamboo.   It's a very different finish to Karndean, so I didn't think those products would work.  I went through my files and found the original information sheet about the floor.  The product, and the company, don't seem to be available now.

I found a company which specialises in bamboo floors (http://www.bambooflooringcompany.com/).  The products they sell didn't seem particularly like ours, but then I imagine flooring  technology has moved on somewhat.  I looked at their accessories page, and couldn't work out whether the products they offered would be OK on my floor.

I emailed them for help,  explaining what flooring we had and giving them the description of the finish from the brochure.  To my surprise, they responded. And almost straight away. 

I bit the bullet and ordered some of the routine cleaner and the Refresher that they recommended.   I managed to find a spare piece of bamboo flooring in the loft, so this morning I tried out the Refresher on that.  It looked OK. 

So, I bit another bullet, and decided to do the whole floor.   DH was out for the day, which was a shame as the money plant is a monster and definitely a two person job.   In the end, the floor was clear, and I vacuumed and swiffered it. Then I cleaned the skirting boards, and used a tiny brush to clean out under the skirtings and all the other nooks and crannies.   Then I washed it with the routine cleaner.  Then I swiffed it again.

And then I had a go with the Refresh. Experience has taught me to plan these things so I don't, literally, paint myself into a corner.

It looked OK when I shut the bathroom door.    I have to wait a couple of hours for it to dry.

Fingers crossed that the money plant doesn't decide to shed any leaves on to the sticky floor.

Fiddlers Elbow

It's been a sunshine and showers day so far.

When the sun is out it is really hot.  Then the clouds creep over, it goes a little cooler, and then it rains.

I love rain  when it's like this, it's so refreshing.

However, when you have naive baby chickens,  it's a bit of a pain.   It takes them a little while to realise that it's wet. This is made even more difficult because of course they don't really understand what "wet" is.

When I see rain spots, I rush outside.  Some of the babies will already be back in the dryness of the Cube's covered run.  Some of them will even have grabbed an early spot on the top of the Electric Hen.

There are also one or two little chaps who just don't understand.   

We have a cherry tree behind the Cube, which is impassable (on the inside of the netting) by humans.  It's perfectly passable by small chickens.    I walk round the Cube run, effectively chasing the reluctant baby towards the run door.  When I get to the cherry tree, I can go no further.   And of course if I go round the other way,  the same thing happens.

There is a little door at the back of the run..but if I open it, I know some of the nosier babies will just have to come outside and see what's happening.

I think I might put my pedometer back on and see how many steps it actually takes me.  Twice this morning so far.

Ot I might just find something to block up the littlun's escape route. Why didn't I think of that before?

Outside Chicks

The baby chooks have now spent their second night outside in the Cube.  They aren't ready to be comletely off-heat for another week, so the  larger Electric Hen was in the back of the Cube with them, and on, of course.   

 When they were in the shed brooder at night they had both the small electric hen and the brooder lamp on. The brooder lamp was on very low power (only about 10-20%),  but it still gave them a bit of light which means that they hadn't learnt to sleep overnight. This means they have no concept, yet, of bed time.

Last night we waited until nearly 9pm. It was still quite warm, but the light was about to fade, so we popped them in through the egg port.   We'll probably be egg porting them for another day or two, as trying to shuffle chicks up ladders is like trying to herd cats.  If they don't start going of their own accord, we will do it.

I noticed this morning (by the location of the poo) that they aren't sleeping under or near the hen.  It hasn't been that cold at night.   I think we probably have had them out a week earlier in the past, but the weather this year has just been too variable.

This morning it was raining, so we let them out into the covered Cube run, bit didn't open the door to the wider world until much later.    I also moved the Hen on to the grass for them, as I'm not convinced they'd think of going upstairs if they got chilly.

Yesterday they started bosom-bumping,  and today there are lots of little square-off matches going on.  This means that they will get the pecking order sorted out without too much trouble.  

There's not much chance of them needing to go back in the shed brooder, so I dismantled the mesh sides, finished sweeeping it out, and took up the floor.  It's currently laid out on the grass as rain is likely, and that will be a start to getting it clean.  I'll pressure wash and disinfect it later this afternoon.

Here's a quick pic of Big Bird and friend,  eyeing up something in the grass.

Escape!

The chicks have been managing to break out of their netted enclosure.   I've lost count of the number of times one or other or both of us have been out trying to catch slippery little chickens to pop them back in.

We couldn't see any obvious gaps in the netting. DH weighted the middles down with bricks, just to make sure.  3 escape attempts later,  he found a hole in the netting. No idea how we missed it, but we did.

It's repaired now and we've had no successful escapes since.

This morning when I got them out of the shed to put them in the garden, I realised that they have become tiny chickens instead of large chicks.   They are 5 weeks old now, so it shouldn't be a surprise... but it is.  I'm sure that just yesterday they looked like gangly overgrown chicks. 

Feather Growth spurt overnight, I think.

They are, as always, such cutie pops.  Because the majority are plain black, the three brown ones stand out a bit.  And because one of the brown ones is much lighter (and bigger) than the others, s/he stands out most of all.     Of course, if we had 7 brown ones and three black ones, it would be the black ones we'd be drawn to.

The light brown one is known as Big Bird. We think s/he was the one that was enormous when hatched, and we referred to him/her as "Big Bird" then because s/he was a big yellow ball of fluff.

What's the first rule of Dinner Chickens? Don't name them.  

We don't even put rings on (unless we have to), because the colour of the ring acts a substitute name.  Whenever we've had rings on birds before, they end up being known as "Grey", or "Orange" or whatever. And I know how much harder that makes things.

Big Bird.

Growing Up

A couple of days ago we pegged some close-mesh netting out so that the chicks could start to experience life outside the run.   They love it!

At the same time, we put out one of our Grandpas Feeders, the idea being that we want them to get used to it right from the get-go rather than having to move them over to it later.  After one day, we removed the other feeder so the only feeder they have (when not in the shed) is this one.

Because it is in the locked-open position, they have no trouble using it. Here they are aged 4 and a half weeks.

It will stay like this until they are heavy enough to operate the treadle, when we'll move it to the partially closed position. That'll be another week or two I expect.

EDITED TO ADD: The newer Grandpas Feeders have a grill. This is designed to prevent birds flicking the feed out, but would also have the added advantage of preventing the chicks from getting in to the feeder.

Blue air

Now, if I have to catch the chicks on my own, the air usually turns a slight shade of blue.

They have reached the stage where the large trug isn't tall enough to contain them. By the time I have 4 of them in, one or more of them has flapped to the top and tried to jump out.   Moving the chicks is usually one, two, or three at a time and so it takes ages.

They are regular little Houdinis as well, often jumping out and then running round and round the outside of the cube run.  They are almost impossible to catch, as they have the speed of Roadrunner, and are tiny alippery things to boot.

Yesterday I could see that it was going to rain so I went to get them to put them inside the shed.  Much time later, the air was a very deep shade of blue. It was hailstoning, and I still hadn't managed to catch the last chick.   I was muttering threats of letting the Cats have himher, and declaring that I didn't care anymore.  But of course I did care, and I did carry on until I'd caugt the last ungrateful little scamp.

Even getting them out of the shed into the garden run is now a challenge which takes several trips.

We've started decanting them into the Cube, and then opening the pop hole so that they get used to going down the ladder.  That part of the strategy has been very successful,  although they have yet to bother going back upstairs.  

We need them to learn to sleep at night, for which we need to turn the heat lamp off (and leave them with just the electric hen).  In previous years this has been a fairly easy step, but this year the night-time temperature has been somewhat variable.   Even now, we've still go the lamp on a little bit (we have a dimmer switch, so we have more options than just on/off).    Once we can get them to sleep at night, we can think about moving them into the Cube (with an electric hen in the back).  I'm guessing they'll need to be 5+ weeks before we think about that, and even then we will only do it if the weather forecast is good.   They'll need the Electric Hen until they are at least 6 weeks old, possibly longer.

Shiny!

Eventually, six hours had passed.  We waited an extra half hour or so, then started the slow process of putting the furniture etc back.

It took 2 hours to get most of it in, including re-loading the cupboards.  We stopped for dinner, and then did a few bits. There is a little bit more to do, fiddly faddly bits,  and the plants are still outside having a holiday.

The floor looks lovely and smells divine.  It also feels really lovely underfoot (I've been barefoot in the room, not wanting to introduce any carp on the soles of my slippers).

My back hurts. I'm sure DH's everything hurts, as he had to move some things on his own. 

I'm sure I'll appreciate it all tomorrow. 

And it'll be a while before we do this room again,

Ow!

We heard Tilda grunting, long before she came round the Pampas corner.

When she materialised, she was panting heavily and obviously stressed with the heat.  There is plenty of shade where she had been but she had chosen to sit in full sun. At least, I assume so. 

She headed inside the Pampas.

I went out to see her.  I gave her some water.  I got a cool wet towel and wrapped it round her.  I cut up cucumber and held it in my hand while she ate. It took a while.  I made up some more water with Avipro (which is a water additive for reptiles and birds, for stress) and droppered it in to her.

I came back into the house and saw that my arms had rather caught the sun.

A rummage in the cupboard unearthed some children's factor 50 "tear free" water resistant sun spray. I sprayed.  Then I bit my lip.   For quite a long time.  Liars!

It may be that it shouldn't be applied when one has already caught the sun.

Or it may be that I had a lot of weals on my arm from the Pampas.

Whatever the cause, it made my eyes water.

Floored!

So I finished the stripping yesterday evening, and we moved the AV stand into the hall. Izzy decided to have a roll on the floor, which was a bit annoying.

Downstairs is chocablock with "stuff". 

This morning we moved the sofas outside.

O M G!  

We have two x two seater sofas, with electric recliners in all seats.  The sofas weigh a tonne!  We had to use a sack barrow to lift up one end.

I then saw some scuff marks on the floor, and I had to use the remover, all over again.  I tried using the cyclinder Vax to rinse the floor,  wil be interesting to see if it worked.

We had the french windows open, and the ceiling fan going, and it dried out fairly quickly.  I then gave it it's first coating of Refresh (previously known as Dim Glow).  Waited 30 mins, and applied the second coat in the opposite (lengthways) direction.   The french doors now have some mesh across them to prevent the cats going in for a look around.

We just have to wait 6 hours for it to set enough to move stuff in.

I'm going to do the kitchen and hall next, but I think I'll wait for a day when DH isn't here.  There isn't much to move out of the way, so it should be fairly easy (apart form the long wait). I can barricade the cat flap, and give the cats their food outside. Or something. 


First things first.

Jacks in the Box

The chicks have had a growth spurt, and are now like little Jack in the Box.   Even catching them in the shed to take them outside now takes several trips.  Catching them in the afternoon to put them back is even worse.

They are 4 weeks old today.  Because there are only 10 of them, the 3m cube run has been plenty big enough.   Even so, we're going to look at putting some netting out (probably next week as the forecase for the weekend is rain) so that they can start exploring outside a bit more.

Cleaning

It's time to re-protect my Karndean living room floor.  It's been time for a couple of years now but, somehow, I just haven't managed to get around to it.  The stripping and prptecting is actually quite easy,   requires a bit of elbow grease and time to dry, but it isn't difficuly.    

The problem is the preparation.  Emptying the room. 

Anyway,   decided that I was DEFINITELY going to do it, as soon as the weather was dry enough for us to stand furniture outside for the day.    

And I'm going to do it tomorrow.

I know from past experience that it takes hours to empty the room.  This is because it isn't just a case of moving, say, the display cabinet; no, the cabinet has to be emptied first, and then be unscrewed from the wall.  And the printer cupboard, the paper drawers need emptying. .  And storgae things behind the sofa need moving.  It all adds up.

In previous years, disconnecting and moving the AV equipment has taken a couple of hours on it's own. This time that  shouldn't be the case, as we should be able to unplug from the wall and move the whole trolley out.

I've spent several hours this morning emptying the display cabinet thing, and the printer cupboard, and sorting the contents.  I've put stuff in the bin, stuff in the charity-shop box, and organised the rest.  I've moved the stuff from behind the sofa.     My PC station is ready to roll away. 

The real killer is going to be moving the cross trainer. 

My plan is that this evening, before bed,  we'll move out everything that isn't going outside for the day.   Then tomorrow morning, we can spend half an hour (ha ha) moving the stuff that needs to stand on the patio for the day,  then I can do the floor stripping.   We can have breakfast while that is drying.  Then I can get the two coats of protector on before lunchtime.  And then in the evening sometime, we can put (some of) the stuff back.

We'll see how it goes.

Quick Change

We had an interval of very hot dry weather, so I put the chicks out for a bit.

Earlier, DH went into the shed to check on them and found one of them perched on the rim of the brooder wall.   That signalled that we had to make some changes.   If a chick flew out of the brooder, it might not be able to fly back in,  it would get chilled, and that would be the end of it.

We discussed putting something over the top. We discussed moving the brooder ring out completely.  It's a bit early to do that really, we would normally do that next week, once the chicks are bigger and need more space.

In the end, we decided to move the ring out completely.  This has the added advantage that it gives the chicks more space away from the heat lamp, so a bit more choice about how warm they want to be.

I tool a quick snap from the spycam. You can'tget any sense of the size of the area, but the chooks look perfectly content.

Getting back to normal

The poxy spots have, mostly, gone.    At the beginning of the week, I was completely lethargic and unable to muster the enthusiasm to do anything.

Now, I'm getting back to normal.

I picked the strawberries that I couldn't summon the energy to collect whilst I was ill.    I didn't feel like making jam and I already have alot of strawberry jam in my cupboard.    I decided to make some strawberry vodka,  so I've started that off.  It'll be some time before it's ready to drink, but I'm thinking a bit of strawberriness in the autumn will be very welcome.

I made a strawberry and polenta cake.  I wasn't sure whether to use fine or coarse polenta, so I used a bit of each.   I think fine would have been better because the resulting cake, whilst delicious, is a teeny-tiny bit gritty.  I'm finding it very hard to resist though, which isn't doing my gut bacteria any good.  http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8007/strawberry-polenta-cake.aspx    Gosh, I think I might have to go and eat some now...

I'm ready to strip and re-protect the Karndean in my living room.  Of course the days and days of dry hot weather have now been replaced by rain,  so it will have to wait.  (We have to move some of the furniture outside for me to do it, there isn't enough room in the rest of the house to sensibly put it all).    I hope that I can maintain the enthusiasm until the weather changes back.    The actual stripping and re-protecting doesn't take that long,  it's the emptying of the cupboards and dismantling all the TV paraphernalia (and putting it back to gether again) that takes the time.

I can feel myself trying to work out whether I could do any of the other Karndean floors at the same time....

Our plans to enlarge one of the sheds took a different turn.  We've now pretty much decided to get a "summerhouse" of some sort for the garden.   My new kitchen will have to wait for another year or so, but that's OK; I haven't found the kitchen I want yet.  I haven't looked at kitchens for ages.

We had our first barbeque of the year yesterday.  It was delicious.  We had to eat inside, as the rain started just as DH finished cooking.  Again - all that sunny weather....

I haven't used the cross trainer since I was unwell before my chicken pox.  I don't feel ready to get back on it yet. 

The chicks are now just over 3 weeks old. They are feathering up beautifully and getting bigger, slowly.  They've been out all day, every day whilst it's been sunny and dry.    Today, the rain means that they aren't going to get out of the shed, and the forecast isn't looking good for the next few days either. 

Poppy continues to be broody. She comes out every day for a dust bath, a poo, and something to eat. And I sneak some treats in for her.

Tilda is out every day.

No fits from Izzy for a couple of weeks (bet that's tempted fate).

I'm not quite raring to go... but I'm getting there. 

Tilda Picnic

Tilda is fascinated by the chicks.  Yesterday she sat under the cherry tree watching them, before shuffling off to the shade of the rosemary bush.   

Today she has settled in the shade cast by the pampas grass.  Normally she goes right into the pampas, but you can see that she's sitting just outside it, so she can watch them.

I put out a little picnic her..

Tilda with her drink and snackpot

Taken from the other side - she's watching the chicks.

Summer continues

Another hot, clear blue sky, day.

The chicks have been out since about 10am, slightly later than yesterday.  They've learnt to scratch around in the dust bath, but none of them has used it for dustbathing. Yet.  Mind you, they aren't rubbing themselves on the grass yet, so maybe their feathers haven't started itching.

I cleaned them out again today.  Although their shed brooder is very large now,  and they aren't in there that much,  they are pooing more when they are in there.    

My chicken pox spots are slowly receding.  My arms now only have a few spots, and I was able to scrub my arms today.   The spots on my chest, torso, neck, and face are smaller.   The ones under my arm haven't changed.  My scalp spots are mainly gone, but that was (I'm a little  ashamed to say) with help from me. 

I'm still feeling lethargic. I just CBA.   Today is the last day of my course of antibiotics.

DH and my two brothers had a day at Wacky Racing (http://www.exelement.co.uk/the-worlds-wackiest-racers-1479) on Saturday.   I wasn't able to go, still being infectious.   I phoned them last Monday, as soon as I knew I had chicken pox, but it wasn't possible to rearrange the date at such short notice.    Sounds like they had a good time :-)

 

Babies at 2 weeks old

 The chicks were out under the Cube for the first time today.

This is the fourth time they've been outside,  the first time they've had such a large space (3m x 1m)

The Electric Hen is outside, and on, as well.  They've been under it a couple of times, but mostly they are running around and playing chase.

I've put some compost in a kitten litter tray for them...but they haven't discovered it yet.

At the moment, jumping on and off the Hen (under the Cube at the back) seems enough to keep them occupied. That and eating.

We're wondering how long it will take them to try and fly up on to the step.  Just something else to keep them amused as they get bigger.

Growth spurt

The chicks are coming up to two weeks old and I swear that letting the out on the grass yesterday resulted in a growth spurt.

I took a quick pic with my phone, not great for detail. Hopefully you can see how much their wing feathers have grown.  The yellow chicks have green legs, which is fab, Hope they stay that colour.

 

They were out on the grass again today.  While they were frolicking, we made the pen in the shed bigger. It's now oval. Not only does it give them more room to run around in, but it also gives them an area even further away from the lamp if they want to use it. 

They're back in the shed now, and running around like loonies.

We've detached the purple cube from the Big Girls run, and DH is currently joining it up the 1m bit that has been acting as a temporary outside chick pen.  

Of course the chicks are too small for the Cube, they won't even be able to fly up to the bottom step of the ladder (ha ha, famous last words I bet!).   It's still worth doing because it will give the chicks 3m of fox and kestrel proof run, plus a covered area.  

We'll put the Electric Hen on the ground too, so they have that if they need it.

Hope it's good weather tomorrow.

Poxy update

Today the spots really do  look like chicken pox spots.

Cooler weather and the antivirals (so lucky I was able to get to the Doctor when I did, any later and it would have been too late) have combined to take out the swelling and the redness, and reduce the spread.   Quite a few new spots yesterday, but not as many as I would have had.

In the shower, I'm desperate to scrub - but I can't. It would be the equivalent of scratching.

After my shower, with some of the calamine lotion removed (the rest won't come off until I can rub), I'm amazed at how reduced the spots actually are.  Pale pink imitations of their former selves.


I'm very tired, and I have a headache. 

I might go back to bed later.

Chick Development video

Fantastic animation of the development of a chick inside the egg

Exciting day for the chicks!

We put the chicks out on the grass for an hour today.

We set up a 1m x 1m x 1m enclosure, using a Cube extension and some other bits.  We put a feeder and drinker in, plus our second electric hen.

The chicks were nervous at first, but were soon running around, nibbling the grass, jumping on and off the hen.

They ate happily, drank happily, dozed happily.

If it's dry and hot tomorrow, we'll put them out for longer.

calamine lotion

Liberally applied.

I saw myself in the mirror and chortled.

Mel Gibson in Braveheart springs to mind.

Poxy chicken

Or, more accurately, chicken pox.

Sincere thanks to Sarah (compostwoman) for making me consider that it might be an illness rather than insect bites.

I am 48 years old and I have chickenpox.

I suppose it's better than being 48 and having shingles.

Feeling *very* sorry for myself

I was already feeling sorry for myself when I finally got up at 7.15am.  I had no idea how bad things would become just a few minutes later.

At 7.15 I was in a foul mood. 

It had been a hot sticky night, so I had had trouble sleeping anyway.

I'd been up several times in the night with the cats,  including one instance which sounded like Izzy in torment  outside but was actually Wash wanting to come in. (We have a cat flap).  When I went rushing outside to see if Izzy was OK, a mouse ran across the kitchen floor.   I couldn't be bothered.

Later, there were more disruptions as the cats had, presumably, caught the mouse and were fighting over it. I could not get up.

Lotti started whinging at about 4.40,  and the others joined in.  I fantasised about taking all of them down to the allotment and being chicken free. (That's a symptom of how rough I was feeling).

At about 6.45, Wash started farting around near the curtains.  I was tired, I was aching, I couldn't be bothered to get up, I threw a pillow at him.  It stopped him for a while, then he started again,. I threw my stuffed cat.   This went on, and in the end I sat up.  Looking at Wash, I guessed that a mouse had run up the curtains, and I could see that it wasn't going to stop until the mouse was removed.

It was 7.15am.  I got up, retrieved the mouse - which wasn't the one from the kitchen - and took it outside.  I was very angry with the cats. I don't think I've ever been angry with the cats before.

I washed my hands, and crawled back in to bed. Wash bounced on the bed wanting breakfast.  I was aching, I needed a drink and I needed something for the pain, so I got up. Fed the cats,  made tea,  stamped around.  Angry at everything and everyone.

I felt like sh*t.

I saw some Tildy bombs.  I curbed my still-rising annoyance (I'm never annoyed with her for this!), wiped them up, dropped the tissue in the toilet, flushed, and washed my hands.

I looked in the mirror.

 I got the shock of my life.

My face, my chest, my arms, part of my tummy, were a horrendous mass of swollen bites.    There were so many, that they had joined up. I even had some on my scalp, and the back of my head was really sore.  My chest was just one angry mass of bites.  My face angry  red, with red weals.

I didn't know what to do.

I showered and washed my hair.

I dried myself.

I got some hydro cortisone bite cream out and started to apply it.  I had well over 100 individual bites.

Yes, that's right.  Over 100 bites. They are horrendous. They itch like crazy.

I took some antihistamine.  I took some Ibuprofen.

 My face is a mass of bites, I can't go out looking like this.

I've been putting all the bedding through the washing machine.  I've sprayed everything with flea treatment (although I can't see that it's fleas,  I've never had flea bites like this. And the cats have spot-on treatment anyway).

DH is coming home today.  What a lovely welcome for him.

I feel pathetic, and I really DO feel sorry for myself.

Chicks at 10ish days

Apologies for the poor quality of these photos,  they were taken on my phone - and the chicks don't stand still long enough for the phone to focus properly.

Their wingtip feathers started coming through on day 2 and 3.  They've been creeping up the wings now, and some of them have started to have feathers sprouting on their necks and tails.

The camera can't catch it on the black chicks, but it is easy to see on the yellow ones.

3 Broody Hens

On the Allotment, three of the lovely Welsh Black ladies (including Gorgeous, who is Poppy's twin) are broody.

Their "angry" clicking, clacking and growling  - when I search for eggs under them - makes me chuckle.

Lovely girls!

Under the weather

Me this time.

Yesterday, I suddenly came down with a serious bout of aches and pains.

It felt like flu aches;  the sort of aches in my stomach, sides, and kidneys that indicate a chill,  or kidney infection, or food poisoning.    I wasn't having any additional discomfort going to the loo, so I ruled out the kidnesy infection.   I couldn't see how I would have caught a chill or the flu...

It got worse as the day progressed.  I had a bath to try and relax my muscles.  This in istelf was a bit of an achievement as everything hurt too much to actually get *in* the damned bath.   

It occurred to me that I might just be dehydrated, I definitely hadn't been drinking a lot over the last few days.  I made myself drink a pint of water,  and I took a small mug of hot milk to bed.

It was an eventful night.   The cats brought in a friend (= "the cats brought in a mouse"). I was pretty sure it was a mouse, but it might  have been Izzy having a fit, so I had to get up and investigate.  By the time I had shuffled downstairs, it was too late to help.

I woke up, still in pain, at about 5am.  Lotti, our loopy chicken, was making a racket, but I couldn't get up to see what was going on.

I dozed on and off until about 7, when I got up to feed the cats and make a cup of tea. I drank another glass of water.   This time, I took some Ibuprofen in the hope it would help my muscles relax a bit.

I checked on the chicks, and went back to bed.

At 10am, my phone alarm went off. I got up and got Izzy her cheese and tablet.   I made a coffee, and forced myself to eat some toast.  I wasn't aching so much, so the Ibuprofen was working or I was getting better.   I checked on the chicks, turned the lamp down a bit,  went back to bed.

At 12.00 I had a work related phone call.   I dealt with that,  had another pint of water,  checked the chicks.  I gave them their fresh water, and a fresh feeder of feed.  The Girls needed some more feed too, so I did that. And I got fresh water for them.  I was starting to ache again, so I took more Ibuprofen.

Matilda had hidden herself under a kitchen cabinet. I got her out and made her drink, gave her some food.  I remembered that she needed a bit of  a bath, so I did that too.  Then, while I had some chicken water (and I was going to have to Milton the sink anyway), I went out and caught Custard and did her too.  She is brick shaped and seems incapable of missing her drawers.   She did need doing, so I was glad I did it.

I cleaned up, then  refilled the sinks with water and Milton.  I'm typing this while I'm waiting for the Milton to work.

Then I'm going back to bed.

Wash has Tilda exactly where he wants her

I guess not.

I went out to take a picture of Tilda happily ensconced in the elevated Go.

She wasn't there.

She had come out and was sitting by the rose bush, right next to the gate that goes into the Other Girls' free ranging area.

I stroked her for a bit, then left her there.   There was a small (ok, miniscule) chance that she might take herself off to bed in Go.   But no.

Much, much later, she made her way down the garden and presented herself at the kitchen door.

I take that as a "Not tonight, thank you".

Big NIght?

This *might* be Tilda's first night camping out.

She's been reluctant to come in the last few nights. It's been very hot out.   Mind you, judging by her wanderings she hasn't been to keen to go out in the morning, so maybe that's not true. Or maybe she's been desperate to go out, and has been wandering around the house looking for an open exit.  Although this morning she had made a nest in my one of my shoes, which was lying by the dishwasher.  So, all in all, it's rather inconclusive.

Anyway.  This evening, I put her in her run and put some food and mealworms in there too.  I left her in there.

A few minutes later, she was back out, sitting by the gate into the Other Girls' paddock.   Well, one thing I can say with certainty is that she won't be going back in with them.

I wondered if she would prefer to camp out.

So, I picked her up and "helped" her up the ladder/ramp into the Go.  There is little chance that she will climb up this herself, but she might be able to fly part way up, and then flap her wings to propel herself in. That's how she got into the Cube when she was camping out with the Girls last summer.      I just needed her to see that the elevated Go was hers, then we can see whether she chooses to stay there,  or to go back in there.

She started by eating the Aubiose.  I put some Yoghurt (in a coop cup) in with her.   I left the pop hole open so there is no problem with ventilation.  Currently the door into the run is also open, so that if she wants to come down and leave, she can.

She's sitting, looking quite comfortable, watching out of the pop hole at the moment.

Will she stay there?

Hmm. We'll see.

Chicks Day4/5

We put the chicks out in the brooder in the shed on Saturday evening.   More space, more interest, they have different ranges of heat (rather than the intensity of the little brooder) so have more choice themselves. Plus they don't poo quite so much in the food and water.

Today they discovered that the Electric Hen has a top. Lot of fun for everyone.

I know it's the same every year, for every hatch of chicks.

But for each hatch, the chicks' glee of the discovery makes me smile, every time.

Go Up

Some time ago Omlet launched a new run set up for their cheaper "Go" coop called a "Go Up"  We already had a Go, it's great for chicks (until they are old enough to climb into the Cube),  and it's been good as a shelter for Tilda.

I liked the design of the Up, but I couldn't really see Tilda managing to go upstairs.  Then Tilda started exploring the house, and then Omlet had a 10% discount day to celebrate their 10th anniversary. I;m working at the moment, so if I'm going to spend money on unnecessaries,  now is probably the time.

So, the Go is now a Go Up. We've modified the ladder to make a ramp for Tilda. Of course this means it's not suitable for tiny chicks anymore. 

Tilda has been shut in the run when we go out, if the weather is OK.  We haven't got her to try climbing the ladder yet.

We've also used two of the original Go Run panels, which had doors in, in place of two of the Go Up sides.  Because of the design differences, it means that we have a doubling up of skirt in a couple of places, but I don't think that's a problem. 

Of course, this didn't take into account the cats' unshakable belief that...

 So we weren't to surprised to see someone else having a snooze in there..

10 LIttle Poppets

 Here they are

10 little chicks

10 chicks now, just one unhatched egg left. Not sure that one is going to hatch, but we'll leave the incubator on today just in case.

We have seven black (or black and yellow) chicks, and three yellows that look like junior Big Birds.  The three yellows are from Norah or Batty.  These are   They are all out of the incubator and in the tabletop brooder at the moment.

We'll get them into the shed brooder, where there is lots more room and stimulation for them, asap.

Waking up in the middle of the night

I woke up at about 2am. 

I hadn't shut the pophole to the Girls' Run.

I listened. Had I been woken up by a fox rampaging?  Not as far as I could tell.   I told myself to get out of bed and go out and shut the pophole.

A little voice said "it's not likely to happen really"

Then it said "It's already 2am. The pophole opens at 5 anyway. It's not worth it".

I lay there, snug in my bed.  Another voice said "and how are you going to feel about your snug bed if you get up in the morning and find them all dead.  You'll realise then that it wasn't worth the risk".

I thought about the Girls, especially loopy Lotti, and Poppy who has sat tight on an empty nst for 3 weeks now.

I got up. 

I found my dressing gown, and I padded downstairs. I didn't turn the lights on, I still managed to unlock the back door.   I padded across the grass,  with the arden lit up by our PIR light.  I hoped the neighbours weren't disturbed.

I got to the Run and, very carefully so as not to make a noise, I slid the top bolt, and released the kickbolt.  

The pop hole was shut.

I forgot it was set to shut automatically.  I vaguely remembered setting it to close when it was dark, but I hadn't calibrated the sensor and it hadn't worked.  It didn't matter as I always (apart from tonight) shut the Girls in myself.

Obviously it had got dark enough.

Back to bed.

They're coming!

No matter how many times I see chicks hatching, it always takes my breath away.

Here's Number 4, the last minute or so of his hatching process


00119 from Hazel on Vimeo.

An early delivery

Just went into the Guest Bedroom to retrieve my lightweight coat from the wardrobe.

I could hear cheeping.

I turned round expecting to see an egg pipping, and found we had a fully hatched chick.  There was no evidence of pipping at all earlier this morning, so this one has emerged very quickly!

Hope his brothers and sisters don't keep him waiting too long!

The chicks will be here soon

It's Tuesday. The chicks might be hatching on Thursday.

DH got the brooder out of the loft today and cleaned & sterliised it.  It's sitting in the guest bedroom, on a table next to the Incubator table.  This is the most urgent thing as the chicks will go in there as soon as they are dry.  They will stay in there for a few days, depending on the weather,  before going out into the brooder in the shed.

DH also cleared the stuff from the shed and constructed the brooder pen.   The Electric Hen, fantastic thing it is,  has been retrieved from the loft, and is waiting to bedisinfected and tested.

We're almost ready!

Glowing cat

Love it when Wash decides to sit in a shaft of sunlight.

Serves me right

We have the beginnings of a plague of pigeons.

It started with Fat Pigeon (the bird who is so fat that he makes the fence wobble when he lands on it).  Then we had Mrs Fat Pigeon.     Then we had the Little Fat Pigeons.   And now we have two collared doves. 

They are becming a nuisance. The bird feeders are protected, but they hang around looking for cast offs. They scare the small birds away/ They sit on the garden furniture pooping everywhere.

They aren't scared of us.  If we go out, they move about 3 yards then stop. They've even come into the kitchen.

The cats have tried to catch them, but without success.

And now they are getting in the Girl's run.  They have learned where the little door is.

I don't know how you stop them.  I mean, I know we could shoot them, but I don't think we're good enough shots to be sure of a clean kill.

Today I spotted one in the Run.  I went out, and closed the pop hole.  Pigeon was now trapped.

I wasn't really sure what to do.  I suppose I could have caught it and...you know.   But I couldn't.

I went and got Wash.  I thought that if I shut him in the Run with the pigeon.....  I was planning to go and get Izzy as well.

Unfortunately,  Pigeon (it wasn't Fat Pigeon) outsmarted me.

When I opened the big door to put Wash in, he flew out and past me, brushing my head with his wing.  Wash leapt out of my arms in panic, tearing my favourite tee shirt and scratching my stomach nd chest as he did so.

I guess that serves me right.  I'm sure Pigeon thinks so.

Bee careful!

Just had a bee get trapped in my hair.