Tubular bells

I've been trying to clear up for...well... a long time now. 

I usually mange to get reasonably clear, clean and tidy every so often,  and then it slips.

I suspect that I don't really care... or I don't care enough.

It's been 2 weeks since the party,  and I haven't quite cleared up from that yet.  It's mostly cleared.  The party stuff has all been washed and boxed and packed in the loft.   Space had to be made for it, so that's why it took longer.      The SummerHouse is tidy, but there are still bags of crisps in there,  and bottles of pop etc.  Out of sight, out of mind.

So of course it was entirely sensible that I decided to organise my stash of A0 patterns.

I'd made a test pair of Cora Culottes for my Great Niece, Ava (GNA).    We decided she needed them a little bigger, and she asked for them to be longer, so I made a second test pair.    I also decided to tracee a new size of leggings for Small Person:  she has grown since the last new sizing in January.   I suspect these new ones will be too big,  but we'll see.

I thought I might make GNA a circle skirt.  I got out my A0 Halla Twirly Girl pattern,  but then remembered I had another maker's pattern somewhere.

So, I emptied out one of the 2 enormous tubes which contan A0 patterns I've had printed but haven't yet used.     I peeled through the sheets and sheets of A0 paper,  but couldn't find it,  so I opened the second tube.     I decided I should write on the outside of the tube which patterns were in it.

I wrote down the first load,  rolled them up, and attempted to get them back in the tube.

On impulse,  I decided that I should bite the bullet, fold each pattern and put its own A4 labelled envelope.  This would mean that I could access them easily.  This seemed like a great idea.   I'd be more likely to use the pattern if I didn't have to deal with all the unrolling and curling first!

It took me one day and two evenings to complete.

I'm not kidding.

I labelled the back of each sheet, and the envelope.  I folded and enveloped each pattern.  I sorted,  I

updated my pattern catalogue.   My neat labelling needed some help, so I scrawled on each envelope to indicate whether it was a child/girls/ladies/mens pattern,  and what type of garment it was.

 I then looked for a storage solution,  found it,  and ended up scrawling over each envelope again, as the storage solution required the envelopes to be landscape.   Some patterns burst out of their envelopes (Bella Sunshine Amelia, I'm looking at you!) because they had so many pages of options.

I've got 35ish envelopes.  I had a bit of an "oh dear" moment, when I translated this in to cold hard cash. Not the printing particularly.  the purchase cost.

Some of the patterns have been used many many times (Halla Leggin's, Love Notions Leggings, Made for Mermaids Cora Culottes, Halla Twirly Girl skirt). Most of them have not actually been used. 

Yet.

Of course.  the ones I haven't used are all the ones that were in the tubes.  They aren't in tubes now,  though, are they?  So I think I should get on and make some.  Or one or two.

Or one.

But I am going to use them.  Or should I say, I am going to use them.

In fact, I'm going to use one this weekend.

Smashing

I dropped my smartphone and smashed the screen.

It flickered, and crazed, and the display went wonky.

A not-too-far-but-far-enough away Samsung shop had a screen in stock, and would fit it for me if I got there by 3.30pm. It was a 45 minute drive, I should just make it. 

I jumped in the car, and set off.

En route, I wondered if I should have uninstalled some of my apps (or wiped the device).

When I got to the shop, the lovely lady took my phone and said they were going to wipe it before they started.  They hadn't mentioned that on the phone, and I hadn't realised they would do that.   They could back it up to the cloud first, but that was taking too much time, so I told them to go ahead and wipe it.

Later, at home,  I found my backup from two days previously.  And then I found that my WhatsApp hadn't backed up for the last month.  Flipflop.

Still, I had my backup of my contacts and my SMS.  I synched, only to find I had the settings the wrong way round and, pouf,  all my contacts and my years of SMS were gone.

This wasn't going well.

In the end I located an older backup of the contacts and the text messages, and used that.     Small Person kindly sent me the photos I'd sent her of the last few days, to fill that gap.   Messenger and Facebook were fine.

I hadn't deactivated my banking app, so I had to phone them to get access on my newly wiped phone.  I never phone them.  I couldn't remember my security details.  They were fab. Really helpful, despite being mega busy because of the British Airways breach.

Of course I then had to set about changing my IDs and passwords, just in case.  All my email passwords, all my devices.   All the other accounts that run my life.    And then the various website passwords. That was tedious in the extreme.  

That will teach me.

Party Pooped

The long planned and awaited family party happened on Sunday.  It was lovely!

The weather was wonderful.   We had two gazebos butted up together on the 'lawn' and chairs and tables all over the place.  The buffet was laid out in the summer house, air con on,  with everything on special thermo platters or stood in tubs of ice.  The IceMan, our ice maker,  had been working all day every day for about 3 days to produce the ice.    We think he's almost paid for himself now,  when we look at what we would have had to spend to buy the ice in.

We started at about noon,   and carried on until about 11.30pm.   My niece and her family reluctantly had to leave early evening because she had to work,  and my eldest brother had to leave because he had a prior arrangement.  

We didn't think about photos until some people had already left.

A few people were unable to make it,  so we had an overabundance of food.  We froze that which was safe to freeze (the backups that were stored in the fridge),  and provided party platters for people to take home with them.

My other lovely brother had provided one of the gazebos, most of the chairs,  one of the coolers,  loads of soft drink, some wine,  and lots of moral and practical support.  He, DH and I had a review the day after, so we know what worked, what worked less well,  and what we could do to make it even better next time.

Which is just as well as we'll be doing it again for my parents Diamond Wedding anniversary next year.

Icing on the cake

Well, the icing for the cake IS done.    I cna't post a pic, as it contains pictures of my Aunt and Uncles.  It looks fine.     The printer is much faster than the old one, and it works wirelessly,  which is fab.  It's so fab that I'm thinking about not stashing it away in a cupboard.... but I don't know where I'd put it.

I'm up to my fingertips in a spreadsheet for the rest of the arrangements.

It's going OK.  I've spent hours washing up.  We got all the party stuff down from the loft, so I've been washing the plates, 'glasses' and semi disposable cutlery.  And the platters.    I also bought some chiller platters from Cater Speed, who offered inexpensive next day delivery, and the base price of the items was the best I'd seen.    I can see that these chiller platters would be good to use anyway,  so I'm wondering where I can store them so I have easy access.

All the new glassware has been washed, by the dishwasher.   I've borrowed fold up tables.  DB brought round some fold up chairs,  a massive coolbox,  and some other bits.   Our electric cool box is plugged in so it gets really cold. The ice maker has been churning out ice for 2 days now.  I've also frozen some large tubs of water,  so that normal plates can stand on them and keep cool.

I've had one food delivery,  and I'm going shopping tomorrow to buy the salad type perishables.  I've placed a panic order for Sunday morning, which contains frozen snacks.... this means we can heat them up quickly if we're running out of food,    or keep them if we don't.

The lady at a local cafe is making sandwich platters, for a very reasonable price.   Sandwiches aren't difficult to make, but they are time consuming.   And this way, we can collect them on Sunday morning so we won't have to worry too much about fridge space.

DB also lent me his breadmaker, so I can make two loads of dough at a time.  I know I could make the dough by hand more quickly but this way the dough can be doing its thing quietly while I'm getting on doing something else.  It also means I can make the dough later in the evening, rather than having to start early in the day.  My wish list of breads is quite long. 

It feels really odd buying in the food rather than making most things ourselves.    If it was just for a few people,  I'd be doing most of it,  but there are just too many.

I expect it'll be OK.

Time flies

The bank holiday was meant to be a calm, quiet, relaxing interlude for me, leading into a potentially busy week.  It didn't work out that way.

DH was away,  and Other Chap (OC) was away,  so I've been going to do the allotment chooks each day.  It's been good to see them. I wish I'd thought about it more carefully,  I could have wormed them as I'm seeing them every day anyway.

The Littlees have at last developed a taste for green veg, so I've been buying loads to make sure they have plenty. 

Small Person and her family popped by on Friday so that I could finish her leggings (see previous post).   They were off on holiday.

My Friday evening was meant to be me watching my new box-set,  Once Upon a Time, Season 7. I planned to start watching in the early evening, and then to keep watching until my eyes could take no more.

I started watching the first episode.
And then I had a phone call from Small Person's dad, my cousin.   Their cat had come in and had obviously been hit by a car.Their vet was just closing, so they were sent to the emergency Vet,  a few miles down the road from me.    The cat needed to be anaesthetised for the xray,  it had eaten when it dragged itself home,  and so the xray couldn't be done until Saturday morning.   They were due to go on holiday that day.

No problem. Happy to help.  Cat could come here, assuming he was OK to leave the Vet.

My Saturday was spent phoning the emergency vets, to see if the necessary xray had taken place, and fitting in everything else around that.   The Vet explained that they had had some emergencies come in, and they would do it at 1. Then 3. Then 7.   Each time I was told that someone would phone me when it was done.

I later realised that these were, literally, emergency vets.   They take over a practice overnights and over bank holidays,  and they provide an emergency service for lots of surgeries in the area.   This meant that every animal that came in to them was an emergency of some sort.

DH popped home on Saturday,  and immediately set to work getting our summerhouse ready for looking after the cat.  He's not castrated (the cat, I mean),  so we had to protect the walls and the floor, just in case.     We excavated the loft to find a cat basket that had not been recently used by our cats,  and we also found some VetBed which was new and unused.   And a litter tray.  And cat litter.


On Sunday morning, I phoned again and they confirmed that they had now done the Xray. Cat had a broken pelvis,  an operation was unnecessary (there was nothing that could be operated on), and he just needed to heal.  I could collect him that afternoon.  Phone again at lunchtime.

While I waited I started pressing the grapes that Small Person's parents had given me.  A previous, test, pressing had shown that 1kg of grapes would yield about 950g after de-stalking,  and this would deliver about 860ml of juice using the slow juicer.    I did the whole bag,  a lot of grapes,  and stood the jugs of juice in the fridge to settle overnight.

I collected Cat, and installed him in his temporary accommodation, and tried to do some stuff relating to the upcoming party.

On Monday, I got up early to do the chickens so I could sort out a few other things.

I bottled and pasteurised the grape juice.....

, and I attempted to make grape jelly.   It didn't set, and I haven't had any Certo (pectin), or any enthusiasm,  to reboil it.


I went to Ikea, to get some cheap glasses for the upcoming party.   I will never again go to Ikea on a Bank Holiday.     Their stock system leaves a lot to be desired.  Usually items show as "in stock", "low stock" or "out of stock".  Some of the things I wanted were "in stock",  but when I got there they were no where to be found.  The two assistants I asked for assistance were no assistance at all.  I ended up having to go round again, scrutinising the displays and taking stuff off the displays to try and get what I needed.

I don't think I've ever spent so long in an Ikea.

I had planned to pop in to Costco on the way back, but Costco had closed by the time I finished.

This morning,  I had to get up early and get back to the emergency vet to collect the cat basket.  They'd denied having it,  which is why we had to excavate ours,  but it turns out they did.  Cat was due at his own Vet today, and I wanted to use his basket instead of our bag (better structure for a cat with a broken pelvis).

I also had to go and buy some more cat litter and a second litter tray,  and run some more errands including seeing to the allotmenteers.

The Cat's Vet apppointment took some time, and I was relieved to get home.  I need to go to Costco, but I just can't face it now.

I still haven't unwrapped the new edible ink printer, either.  That was delivered last Thursday.  I may have to forgo the icing on the cake.

Fabrications

I haven't managed to get a photo of all the recent makes for Small Person.  Here are two she tried on today.

This first one is Cora Culottes by Made for Mermaids. She loves this particular style, and I've now made her....5?. pairs.  She loves the way they drape and look like a skirt.

And here she is in a pair of LoveNotions "Leggins"

Unattended Fabric

This is what happens when I leave fabric unattended...

Matting

I was cleaning the tops of some of the wall units.  Ever since I was a child at home, I've lined the tops of cupboards with wallpaper to protect them from the stickiness that is inherent in kitchens.  These days we don't use a deep fat fryer, so it's not quite so icky sticky,  but it's icky sticky enough.

To keep the paper flat I use old, out of favour, coasters.    I line the (few) open shelves as well - those that stuff is displayed on rather than in constant use,  and I put an old placemat on the shelf as well.  It looks marginally better than lining paper,  they are easily cleaned, and they are easily disposed of when they become uncleanable.

I smled to myself when I unearthed this...

.. I guess it must be getting on for 33/34 years old now.  I loved that picture back then.  It was very popular, and  I think I probably had that as a picture on a wall in my first house.   The mat is in susprisingly good condition.

While I was up there, I found two mats belonging to this set, also in surprisingly good condition:

That snail one was from a set of 4, I had to buy 2 sets to have enough.  I don't know what happened to the others.  These were also from my first house,  and I think it was when I started to have my own identity.       These didn't get replaced because they were grotty,  I think we moved house and I bought some new ones.

I suspect that I was a bit more careful of my placemats back then,  or I didn't use them much (we ate out a lot), or maybe I just changed them frequently.    It took me many years to paint the new kitchen in this house,   I just had an expanding number of tester pot swipes on the walls.  

I've lost count of the sets of placemats I've had and ruined.

  
My current table mats have been in use for... I don't know.  I've been semi retired for 12 years, and the mats were well established then.     I looked at them with a fond sadness today,  as I realised that they are all peeling, or stained, or damaged. 

They are by Rob Scotton, and they've been really really well used.    I don't think you can see the damage too well in the pic. 










I'm going to retire them, and get some cheapy ones to replace them. 

Housewifery happens

My middle stepson and his lovely family are coming to stay overnight shortly... and two weeks after that, a horde of my family (some of whom have never been to my house before) are coming for the day. 

There are a lot of family members, so it's entirely likely that furniture will get moved.

Cue: housewifery.

It's been forever since I last did it, so I might as well do it and then forget about it for another age.

I started at the end of last week, in the sitting room.  Sofas have been moved and vacuumed behind,  skirting boards dusted.  The fan cleaned. Top of pictures wiped.    There will, no doubt, be an accumulation of debris and detritis over the next couple of weeks,  but not enough to embarrass me unduly.

Then the downstairs bathroom and lobby. I've reviewed all the magazines and chucked a load.  Then the upstairs bathroom.  It's fully tiled, and I washed the tiles this morning. . I do realise that there isn't really any 'furniture; to get moved in either bathroom,  but the bathroom needs to be sparkling.  Do it now, then swish and swipe just before visitors happen.

I'm now doing the kitchen, which was a bit accidental.  I only meant to clear it up a bit, it's become a dumping ground over the last couple of weeks as various projects are finished and new ones started.  Somehow I  found myself cleaning under the coffee machine, which led to a behind the coffee machne clean, which led on.....   I've even hoovered up some cobwebs from the ceiling,  and I feel bad about that.  I like spiders, and I try to maintain a spider friendly house: clean cobwebs are not usually removed. 

I've resisted emptying the kitchen cupboards, but I'm ruling nothing out at the moment.  I suspect it may depend on how long it takes me to finish the kitchen.

I'm trying to pace myself.  In my younger days, I'd have done a mega long day of non stop vigorous cleaning.   Now,  I just don't care enough.  I do care,  I just don't think it's as important as I once did.

But I'm still cleaning.

My daughter in law will ask me if I've cleaned.  Last time she came, we made a pact that we wouldn't do it just because the other is visiting.     I would still have tidied. And I would still have cleaned the bathroom,  and cleaned their bedroom.   But I wouldn't have done this level of cleaning if it wasn't for the other visitors.

Anyway.

That's my break time over.  I've only done one quarter of the kitchen, and I'd like to get at least half of it finished today.

   

Activities

What else have we been up to?

I'm not sure I can remember everything.  Apart from chicken activities,  :
- we made some chocolate and Hazelnut spread in Thermy.
         - And then the following week, we made 3 more variations.  

- we made a courgette cake for Small Person's Mum's birthday.
- I made a test pair of Cora Culottes for Small Person,
    - followed by four more pairs
- I made a new pair of leggings for myself, but I haven't put a waistband on them yet
- I made a birthday card for Small Person's Mum

- I got SmallPerson to make a card for her Mum

- We played Cat-opoly.  A lot.
- We've watched the Back to the Future trilogy, which Small Person loved

I can't remember what else.

Next stage

We managed to last until Monday before taking the babies down to the allotment.   We waited until then because Small Person was going to be here, and we knew she'd want to be involved.  She messaged me each day over the weekend,  asking if we were moving the chicks that day and, if so, could she come too. please.

The move went well,  and they seemed to really like the new space to explore.  It has better shade than the garden at home, so was great for the good weather.  We went back down again at dusk, and were really pleased to see that they'd all managed to put themselves to bed.

They seem happy enough.   We've had to work at getting the Girls to remember to fly up;  the Boys haven't forgotten.

We know that Orange, Black, BlueBoy, Penguin and Brownie are Boys (Brownie is a miniature version of his Dad).   We know that Violet is a girl.  We think that Pink and Red are Girls.  

We don't know about Number Six.

The garden at home is very empty, and very quiet.

Stone the crows

Well, crowing happened.

Blackring and Brownie have been learning to crow for some time.  We knew both were boys, so no surprises.   lue Boy also started recently/       Sadly, Penguin has also started to crow.  When DH told me, I thought he might possibly be mistaken.  I saw and heard it myself shortly afterwards, and many times since.

Meanwhile, on top of the Gazebo has become a place of interest for the boys.

Small Person took the news about Penguin quite badly,  but she recovered herself by the next day.  We've already been telling her that Number Six is looking a bit boyish.... we haven't mentioned that we both, separately, thought we'd seen himher crowing.

Only once.  Each.

Goodby Dillys darling

Dillys died today.

Dillys, and her twin sister Phyllis,  were hatched in 2014 from one of the Welsh Black harem girls and our gorgeous boy Henry.    Unlike all the other black offspring,  they had flat ('normal') combs instead of pea combs.  She was, like her sister,  large, bolshy, inquisitive and friendly.  Always pecking for attention, always tripping us up for treats.

She had been off colour, on and off,  for a little while. We'd seen her a few times (not when it was this hot) with a blue tinge to her comb,  and each time we've thought she was probably going to go, so it's not exactly unexpected.   She looked a bit off colour again on Wednesday, and DH gave her some Nutridrops... but this time,  it was the last.   I don't think it was particularly the heat, although I guess that might have been the last straw.

I can't find many pictures of  her (them).   I found this one, which has both of them in.  I can't tell them apart in the picture... I often couldn't tell them apart unless they were both in front of me at the same time.  In case you can't see the combs, one of them is on the left eating from a fruit bush;  the other is in the foreground looking at the slab.

I guess flat combed chicks are more likely, now that our cockerel is a Vorwerk.They'd have to go some to be as cheeky as Phyllis and Dyllis.

I haven't told Small Person yet.    I'll wait until we are chatting tonight.    I would bet that, after she's interrogated me on the details of what happened and had a bit of a reminisce about Dillys,   she'll ask me whether it means we can keep more girls from this year's hatch.

Poor babies

The chicks are really struggling with the heat. 

CHickens dont sweat.  They lose heat through their combs and wattles.  If it's really hot, and they can't lose enough heat through the combs and wattles,  they pant.  They are coarrying around feather duvets, and they often have to lift their wings up to try and let some air flow in.

Most of the chicks have no combs or wattles yet, so the ONLY way they can lose heat is panting.  Sometimes, this isn't enough... you may remember that we lost one to heatsroke last week.    Our chooks have a gazebo, a tree, and some other shade.  They have an electric fan.  WeThey have waterers which are re-filled twice a day (so the replacement water is cooler). 

Recently we added two shallow troughs (one was a cat litter tray we bought to use as a chick dust bath, the other was a washing up bowl which is usually used when the allotmenteers need a bath).   A small amount of water,  we tried getting them to stand in them initially, but that didn't work.  Now we use them as additional drinkers, with water refreshed seveeral times a day.    We throw in some sunflower seeds (which the chicks love, but which are far too fattening for them), so the chicks have to dunk their faces to get to them.

Yesterday it hit 35 degrees and the chicks were struggling.    Small Person and I ended up giving each chick a quick bath,  just enough to get them damp.     In the aftermath of the bath, none of the chicks were panting, and they all looked quit ecomfortable.    Of course it wore off, so we ended updoing it several times a day.

I tried using a sprinkler on mist (as recommended by FlytesoFancy), but the chicks were too afraid of it.  

Today, I've put bottles of frozen water in the troughs, to try and keep the water cooler for longer.    Of course the chicks didn't like this change... but sunflower seeds in the water meant it wasn't long before they were trying to stand on the bottles to reach in to the water.

We've got a small area of shrub which they don't currently have access to,  and I've been busy pruning the bay tree so we can get some netting round it.     Then they can have that, and hopefully that will be enough for them to withstand today's temperatures without repeated bathing.  I've done them once today so far.

We tried feeding the chicks some tiny cubes of cucumber, but they didn't want to know.   Small Person sat for ages in with the Big Girls feeding them cucumber.

Rest of the week

It continues hot and, apart from a welcome short drizzle last night, no rain.

PinkComb is still with us.  Several times a day I've been picking him up, bringing him in, and giving him a drink from a syringe.  Up until yesterday, he drank every time.   I've also been massaging his crop, as I think he has a bit of a blockage.

Yesterday he didn't want to drink from the syringe, and he seemed quite perky.

I'll keep an eye on him, of course.

It's now easier to tell who is a boy and who is a girl.  If the 6 black chicks,  PinkComb BlackRing and OrangeRing are boys;  purple ring is a girl;  I'm not sure about RedRing and PinkRing.    Of the others,  Brownie is a boy,  Number 6 may be a girl (although that might be wishful thinking),  and Penguin...well, I'm not sure.

Penguin, Number 6 and Purple Ring spend a lot of time together. 

Black Ring, the least hand tame, likes to climb on the coop and then fly out of the run. 

They don't look like chicks now, they all look like tiny chickens.

Back in the Big Girls coop, Poppy has given up being broody.  She has been out for a couple of days, and is being completely vile to Faye.  I'm guessing that Poppy has slipped down the pecking order to fourth, and doesn't want to bottom.     It gave me a tinmely reminder of how difficult it is going to be if I decided to add more girls to their flock.

Poppy can't help it.  She endured torment from monster hen Milly (something I very much regret not dealing with sooner).     She did not tke kindly to the introduction of Faye, Sasha and Fleur,    and I suspect that the nastiness may have affected them too.

Yesterday and this morning

Later on, another bird - PinkComb, a boy - seemed a bit listless.  I picked him up, but he wasn't particularly warm so heatstroke seemed unlikely.  I gave him some yoghurt (laced with AviPro), which he refused to eat,  and I attempted to give him some vitamins.  I ended up wearing the vitamin drops.

I put him back in the run.  He was eating and drinking a bit, but didn't look right.

This morning, he was OK, but not quite himself.  I made up the dog crate for him,  but he's not letting me catch him (which is a good thing I suppose).

I've been scrubbing and disinfecting all drinkers and feeders in both the Chick area and the Big Girls area.    I've bought some Coxoid, just in case we need it.

It's not licensed for poultry, but it used  to be the thing that chicken keepers used.    I'm not sure whether to dose everyone, just in case.

They've all been sitting around this morning.  That's not unusual,  but it is worrying when I'm in a state of anxiety.   

In an attempt to get them to do something, I  refilled the dust bath. Fresh sand, fresh woodash, fresh topsoil.     They all attempted to get in.  At the same time.

PinkComb was in the midst of the dustbath, and he's (mostly) wandering around with the others and is eating and drinking.

Stressful day.

So. Very. Sad.

One of our chicks died yesterday.

I could see that she wasn't right. She was sitting away from the others, and kept moving away when any of them came to keep her company.

It looked like heatstroke,  so I did a cut down version of the usual stuff.  She was very warm. Chicks are very warm, but she seemed warmer than 'normal'.   I thoroughly wetted a towel,  with warmish water, wrapped the chick in it,  then wet a small rag and put it over her head.  I unwrapped her so she would feel the cooling effects, and rewet it.  I put it underneath her.  I checked her over to see if I could see any signs of injury, and I checked her vent in case there was blood.

I was loathe to do anything more dramatic. I wasn't sure she could cope with being more thoroughly wetted.     

I squirted some water in her beak, using my smallest syringe. I mixed some Avipro ith a tiny bit of yoghurt which she ate.and then put her back outside. I put a wet towel next to her so she could lean on it if she wanted. 

An hour later, I got her out again, and repeated it.   

A little later she took herself up to bed.

And then I heard a scuffle from inside the coop, and I knew she had died.

Poor little poppet.

Benched

We moved the chick bench into the chicks enclosure,  so they'd have something to jump up and down from, and somewhere to congregate off the floor.

We had a discussion about whether to put it in or not.  The reason for the discussion is that Wash had adopted the bench and really liked stretching out on it, and it seemed mean to steal it back from him.

But, steal it back we did.

It's been a great success.

I might see about getting another one for Wash.

Photo call

They are starting to turn into young chickens now,

Brownie

Penguin

Brownie, PinkComb, and 3 of the other black chicks

Number 6

Shade

It's so hot! 

33 degrees Celsius yesterday.


Everywhere is tinder dry.   We've rearranged the Big Girls area so that they have the back fence and shrubs, andthat's where they spend most of the day.  It's pleasant and cool there.     They have a waterer there too, so they don't have to go back in the Run to get a drink.

It was more problematic for the Littlees.  We'd been putting up the table shade, which casts a shadow over part of their run for most of the day.  I'd put some special greenhouse shading on the run, which blocks the heat but lets the air in.

Then I'd had to put a shade shade on the run.

Then I'd added in some pram shades, but they were a bit dangerous. All these things only helped shade the run, not the free range area.

In the end we excavated Myshed to find the gazebo, and it for them.   It's something like 3m square, so it covers a good part of their area.   They also have 3 watering stations.

Can't do much about the grassm though.

Jumpy Uppy

Small Person (I really must come up with a better name for her now) came after school earlier in the week.     She sat in the run and played pick up chicks (holding each one correctly and giving himher a treat as a reward),  and then she decided to try and teach them JumpyUppy.   She wasn't quite clear with her arm, and ended up being mugged by a swarm of small chickens.

Since then, I've neen training them to do jumpy uppy myself.  They are getting the hang of the flying up,  but they have no concept of taking turns,  and the opportunist ones interpret any bit of arm as an invitation.   We've probably got 6 or 7 that are happy to jump up now.

It came in handy today because Penguin escaped.   I brought the treat bowl out,  offered my arm,  and heshe gently landed on my arm and got carried back.    No drama.

My arm is quite badly scratched, because the little ones have such sharp claws.

I've also done pick up chicks as well, to make sure they don't lose that skill.

They really are a lovely bunch.    

Brownie is six weeks old tomorrow, Penguin is 6 weeks on Saturday,  the other 2 earlies are 6 weeks on Sunday.     The rest of the bunch are 5 weeks old now.

Time to stop putting the hen on overnight.

Beddy Byes

It's continued to be unbearably hot.

A few nights ago, we decided to see if the chicks would take themselves to bed.  7 managed it, 3 did not.  The following night, 9 managed it and 1 did not.  It has continued like that for several nights now.

The sleeping positions vary.  Some nights they are all on the floor,  some nights 7 of them pack on to the top of the hen.     I've still been putting the hen on before  I go to bed, because it gets a bit nippy at 4 in the morning.

We've tried teaching the straggler to go up the stairs, but she just isn't getting the hang of it. 


Today, after I mucked out.  I  decided to put the roosting bars in.  I don't want to force them to sleep on roosting bars though, so they also have a flat nest box as an option,   plus the top of the hen.  It will be interesting to see where they choose to sleep.

This morning

I was expecting to be woken very early by Faye.  I hadn't closed the pop hole, because of the heat.   Usually this means they get up at about 4am, and Sasha and Faye start whingeing straight away.  This morning, there was nothing until someone - Fleur I think - started crowing at about 6.   She stopped after a few goes,  so I went back to sleep.

DH went down to make a cup of tea,  and I got up at about 7.45 to see what the Sasha Situation was.

She as alive.  She looked reasonable, although not right. She refused food and water.  Her tail was up, but her wings were down.  I picked her up and she felt cool.  I took her out to the run, and watched to see what happened.

She went to the drinker and drank.  Quite a lot.  Then she stood for  while,  and then she jumped up on the garden chair which acts as one of their many perches.    I left her there.

She's been OK during the day, and her wings are returning to their normal position.  She's a bit quiet, so not completely well,  but she looks OK.

We've left the Intensive Care suite made up in the kitchen.

Heatstroke

The Big Girls have been suffering with the heat.  Gloria has been physically panting;   Fleur and Gloria have diarrhoea; Poppy is still broody;   Sasha and Faye have been OK.

I've been giving Fleur and Gloria a little yoghurt each day, laced with Nutridops.  Sasha and Faye have had a small amount too. Poppy has had a little, but not so interested.

I've been feeding them lettuces, and some watermelon, during the day.   We changed their free ranging area - DH mowed the grass especially - so that they have access to all the area under the trees at the back of their run. This also gives them more under-hedge space,  so adds to the amount of shade they already had.

Sasha had been in the nest box for a long time.  I opened it up to have a look,  and she was in there looking very unwell.  She was so very hot.   I shut the nest box door, and ran into the house.  I pulled some old towels out of out old towel basket,  put them in a bucket, and covered them with cool water.  Not too cold,  I didn't want to risk shock.

Back at the coop , I lifter Sasha out of the coop and onto a towel, I wrapped it over her, covered her head with a small towel, and held her carefully.  The towel was baking.  She dozed off (which wasn't a good sign). I swapped it for another one.  I put a small towel underneath each wing. 

When she was cooler, I let her go.   I then went and gave Fleur and Gloria a wet towel treatment.  They seemed to enjoy it.  Poppy didn't want it, so I let her go.  I couldn't catch Faye.

I noticed that Sasha had gone back in the nest box, and when I opened the door, she had her head underneath Poppy.

I took her in the house, and sat with her on my lap, both of us getting soaked in wet towels.  I syringed some water (laced with Avipro) into her, but she didn't want to drink.   After nearly an hour of towel changing, she had cooled down,  and I put her back in the run.  Faye came and tried to peck her head.  

I picked Sasha up, took her back in to the house, and this time I put her in a sink with some cool (not cold) water.   She was again covered in a towel, and this time I used the kitchen spray,m on low,  and sprayed the towel.   Spraying her directly would be too painful for her, and I also needed to be careful about the temperature of the water.

As the sink filled, she sat down,  and gradually got very drenched. She was dozing, and I held her head so she didn't drown.   I syringed more water in to her,   a tiny bit at a time, stopping each time to let her 'swallow'.    She looked in a bad way.

I've had a hen with heatstroke before.  Years ago Milly, our horrible horrible bully hen,  suffered from it  and I had been through this with her.  She survived, and had been in a worse state than Sasha.

Eventually,  she seemed much cooler.   She sat there,  most unlike her.    I put her in a dry towel, and we made up a dog crate in the kitchen for her.  Water,  chick crumb, Alfamix chick, in pots.    When she was drier,  I put her in the crate.   She stood there, tail and wings down,  looking very unwell. She wasn't interested in the water, which was the most worrying thing.

Things didn't change much during the evening.  She stood in one place,  and I was preparing myself for coming down in the morning to find her dead.

She didn't die.

She looked better,   but still didn't look right.  She wasn't eating or drinking,  She was dry, of course.   I put her back in the run with the others. She had a long, long drink.   Then she stood around a bit.  A few minutes later, she was on the arm of the chair.

And an hour later,  she's squawking in response to Faye's egg announcement.

She looks better.  Here's hoping.

Pre-teen

We're now at pre-teen stage.

The chicks know their own minds, thank you very much.   They understand treats and the treat bowl,  and we now have 9 of the 10 who come to be picked up. They no longer queue patiently they barge into each other and jostle.

Number 6,  the youngest and coincidentally the smallest, chick has cast off his shyness and manages to be number 3 or 4 in the picky up and treat games.       We've started lap training which has nothing to do with circuits,  it's getting them to sit (stand) on our laps while we stroke them.    

Of course they don't stay on our laps,  but those that leap off usually just go round and round the outside of the chicken run.   A couple of them, however,  have realised that there is a world beyond the run.  One of the little black chicks is particularly adept at running off.

A couple of days ago, it ran off, got caught, flew out of my hands, climbed up the outside of the run (The Wrong Trousers style) and stood on the top.  S/he then flew off the top of the run, landing in front of a surprised cat.  

Luckily for all concerned,  Wash showed great restraint.  He rolled over so his back was to the tempting morsel.

That night, none of the chicks woudl stay in the bucket.  As dast as I put them in there (with food), another would hop out.  I had a sea of chicks running around., flapping.   Wash, who was lying nearby and who was concentrating hard on not looking at the chicks,  started to twitch.  Then he jumped up and walked away, round th eother side of the Pampas.   Out of the way of temptation, I think.

I threw some Alfamix Chicks in the run and most of them ran in.   We had to carry the chicks back to the shed two by two.

More work on getting them to use the ladder today, I think.  Once a few of them have mastered it, we'll be able to consider putting the chicks outside overnight (with an electric hen if necessary).

Chicks in the sun

The chicks are enjoying the freedom of the grass run.

 It's so hot, we've put up the table shade to cast more shade on them.

Brotherly Love

My latest birthday card make

Before During After

DH has spent ages sanding down the garden table and chairs.  The mouse sander is great for this, but it takes its toll on the hands.

L: before; C: sanded unrtreated; D finished

The difference is startling.

DH has said he might do a second coat... but as he's also planning on doing the swing and the companion set,  I think he'll have had enough long before then.

4ish weeks

The older chicks are now 4 weeks old;  the next 5 are 5 dys younger,  and the youngest is 3 weeks.

They're outside, in a secure run,  for as much of the time as the weather allows.  It needs to be dry and warm, so some days they've been out for about 7 hours, otherdays they haven't been out at all. 

The shed brooder has been extended again.  We've now removed the plastic stuff that we use to make it round (or oval),  and we've put weldmesh panels along the open bit to make it harder for the enterprising youngsters to fly up and perch.

Hand taming is coming along really well.   7 or 8 of the ten now rush to be picked up when they see me get the treat bowl out. The treats are actually just Garvo Alfa Chick feed, but they get very excited about it.

It's great when I want to catch them to take them outside, or to catch them to bring them back in again.  I hope it continues as they get older.

The remaining 2 or 3 just don't really want to be picked up, which is fair enough.  I usually end up taking the 7 or 8 who do out to the garden,  and then come back for the stragglers.  If there's one straggler,  s/he cheeps loudly and pitifully when it realises it's left on its own.   I usually leave it alone while I take the feeders out, and then come back and catch it.

This tactic has sort of worked with Number 6, who is the youngest and one of the stragglers.   He's still one of the last 2 or 3 to be picked up,  but he hasn't been the last one for some time.

One of the smallest black ones,   so one of the youngest,   acts unlike the others.  S/he doesn't want to be picked up, which is OK.  If she ends up on her own, s/he doesn't cheep loudly.  Today she was left on her own while I conveyed the others (7 then 2) out to the garden run.   I came back in to the shed to get her, to find her perched up on the top of the weldmesh, waiting.    S/he's an interesting one.

Back in the run,  a couple of them (Penguin - who is the Leghorn/Legbar cross from a bought-in egg,  and a little black one - possibly the interesting one mentioned earlier) have tried climbing the ladder up to the coop.  Neither made it to the top, even though the pop hole was open.  

Once the group starts to take an active interest in going up and down the steps then we can consider moving them to the outside coop.   It's only possible to even vaguely consider this if the weather forecast is warm and dry,  and even then we would still have an electric hen on in the coop itself.

Otherwise, they'll stay in the shed overnight.

Procrastination

For most of my adult life, I've been excellent at resisting procrastination.    I realised very early on that procrastination is the thief of time and that it's much better to just get on with things.  

All the effort spent in putting them off is just wasted time, energy and emotion.

I've always excelled at working out exactly why I'm tempted to procrastinate (don't really want to do something,  don't know how,  don't agree with it,   etc etc).  And then I've always dealt with the issue and not allowed myself to procrastinate.

I've never had the luxury of time to procrastinate before.
 

Now I have time on my hands, and I've lost the ability to decisively make myself just get on with it.  I still recognise immediately if I'm in danger of procrastinating,  and I still work out exactly why i'm procrastinating.. I've just lost the ability to stop myself actually procrastinating.

I'm doing it now. Procrastinating.

The very act of thinking about it,  complaining about it,  googling images to see if any match up with me,  writing about it... it's all procrastination.

I think confessing it here is my way of trying to give myself a boot up the backside.

Patience

The chicks are 3ish weeks old now, and are feathering up well. They are growing quickly, and we've been putting them outside when it is sunny enough (and not too windy). 

Yesterday they were out for nearly 5 hours.  They have a secure run, food & water and grit,  shelter,  and an electric hen.   They don't use the hen very often, although they do try and all sit on the top sometimes.

When they are in the Shed brooder, I spend a lot of time (and patience) trying to get them to feel comfortable being handled.   I now have about 6 of the ten who will wait for me to pick them up.  The reward is a food treat (actually the lovely Garvo Alfa Chick feed which they love).. Several of them will come back repeatedly and stand waiting to be gently scooped up and rest on the palm of my hand.  One or two don't mind being picked up, but they don't want to lie in the palm of my hand.

Yesterday I practiced picking them up while they were in the grass run.  That went OK, but it's hard lying on the ground for so long!

While they were out I cleaned out the brooder.  It wasn't really dirty, but it was a bit smelly - mainly from the excavated food that gets damp and then warm.

Alittle while later, it looks much the same as it did before.

Buckets

I use a large trug bucket to move the chicks from the shed brooder to the outside run.

Yesterday, some of the chicks dicovered that if they flapped really hard, they could get to the top of the bucket.  What one chick discovers, quickly becomes common knowledge.  Catching them to take them out was a pain.  Catching them to put them back had to be done in relays.

They haven't discovered the dust bath yet, which has been in the outside run for them the last couple of times they've been out.

Maybe today?

Bother.

Wednesday we went to London to see Strictly Ballroom.  I love the film, seen it more times than I can count,  and I got tickets for us to celebrate my sister in law's significant birthday.    My sister in law and brother told me, as we walked to the theatre, that they had no idea what it was about.

It was magnificent.  Fantastic.    It made me want to watch the film yet again.  I didn't, I lent the DVD to my brother and sister in law.

Yesterday, I was tired.    I did some faffing about of a few things,  usual domestics, etc.  DH had to work,  and I snuck in watching a really ancient black and white film I'd recorded ages ago.  It was so old that John Laurie ("We're doomed!") was a less than middle aged man.

I put the chicks out for a a couple of hours, faffed about some more, and finally cooked dinner.

It was hot, so we had the back door open.    Our neighbour has a lot of barbecues,  so heavily scented air isn't unusual.    We ate our dinner the smell got stronger. Sweeter.  Odder.

I went outside.  I couldn't smell it outside. I came in, and I could smell it.  It must be something in our house!

It was.

It was the pea saucepan.  I'd scooped out some peas, and I had left a few in the tiny bit of water I use in peas, and I hadn't turned off the hob.  Worse, I'd left the plastic sievey spoon in there.

It wasn't pretty.

Sayonara Siouxsie

Souxsie Sioux, our oldest Girl, died today.  She was just under 9 years old.

Siouxsie and her sisters, NotNorman and Pogo (and their half sister Norman)  were all absolutely stunning girls.  They laid small, shiny eggs;  they were all of good temperament.   Their parents were sold to me as Dorkings, but we think there was something not right in the parent's parentage.  The resulting chicks markings were spot on,  but they were small,  had yellow legs, laid brown eggs,  and didn't have 5 toes.   It didn't matter though, they were lovely girls.

Siouxie was named after Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees. She got her name because she used to shriek like a Banshee, and it was how we could tell her apart from NotNorman and Pogo.    She never much liked being picked up,  but as she slowed down a bit over the last few years she seemed to not mind too much.    In the last year or so, we always made sure that she got more than her fair share of corn, or any other treat  we happened to have.

When Henry was the cockerel, she avoided catching his eye, and none of her eggs were fertilised.  She was very much near the bottom of the pecking order,  probably due to her small stature, her good nature,  and her advanced years.

Since Bertie appeared on the scene, she went from being bottom of the pecking order to being much nearer the top.  He favoured her somewhat, which I regretted  little;  at 8 years old she didn't really need the attention.    The change in status was good to see though, and at night, she would be perched right next to Bertie.   

One of our hatched eggs this year was from a Siouxsie egg. and it's the first time we've ever hatched from them.   I really hope it's a girl.

DH had to do the deed, and was very upset by it.   Siouxsie was such a sweet, unassuming little hen,  she had a special place in his heart.

She will be very missed.

First outing

The age difference is showing.   The oldest chicks have fully feathered wings, and are racing up and down the brooder with their wings open;  Number 6, the youngest and also from the smallest mum/egg, has only wing tip feathers and gets jostled a bit.

It's been baking hot this afternoon so we decided to put the chicks outside for a short spell.   It took me a while to set up the Electric Hen outside,  put out the feed and water,  block the end off the run we were using, etc etc. 

Then I had to move everything out of the shed brooder so I could step in and catch the chicks, and pop them into the large purple chick trug.

 At the moment they are still very young, with very delicate legs,  so I had to be especially creful with the moving and transporting. 

I let them out into the Run, and of course they didn't know what to do, they were overwhelmed by sights, smells and sounds.

It didn't take long.  One of them discovered grass, so they all discovered grass.  One of them ran round like  loony, so they all ran round like loonies,

After about 20 minutes they settled down for a rest.  I decided that was probably enough stimulation for one day, and we set about catching them.  That took a while.

I hope the good weather continues, we can get them out for a short time each day if so.

Baby brother

This morning, we took the big yellow brooder away, put a lower hen in the chick brooder area,  and let Number 6 out to meet his brothers and sisters.    We stood watching.

It couldn't have gone better.

He was a nuisance.  He was fascinated by them all, and was constantly pecking their feet, their beaks, their feathers.    Some of them just moved away.    Penguin,  who is the Legbar/Leghorn cross and has hugely developed feathers,  didn't retaliate at all.  Brownie gave a few warning pecks.    The others pecked Number 6 back when he pecked them.   Number 6 kept jumping up and pecking Brownie,  and then he followed Brownie around for a while.

After about 10 minutes we could see that there was not likely to be any deliberate trouble.  The only concern was accidental damage.  He is so tiny compared to the rest of them, and that's because his mum is a tiny girl.

The others let him eat with them, let him run round with them.     We watched on the camera from the house,  so we could see what they did when we weren't there.   He continued to be a pest, and they continued to be very tolerant.

He should have been sleeping every few minutes, but he didn't. He kept up with them.  He wasn't able to get on the hen, it's a bit high for him to get up at the mo.  There were only a few on there at a time, so he didn't miss out.

I turned the light out at about 6.30,  so there was only the light from the heat lamp.  I checked the camera every half hour or so, or when I heard cheeping on the baby monitor.

There was one point where they were all asleep.  Most of them were together, slightly away from the heat of the lamp.  He was directly under the lamp (he needs more heat than the rest),  one was under the hen, and one was away from the lamp completely ....

...I looked a few minutes later and saw that the largest chick, Brownie,   had settled down beside him.

That was an incredibly kind thing for him to do, because under the lamp is probably a bit too warm for Brownie.

Sometimes they can be so darned lovely.

Integration 1

We put the big brooder in the shed brooder yesterday, and put a pre-warmed brick inside for Number 6 to stand on.  We put a pre-warmed brick outside for the others to look in.

For ages, the chicks didn't notice this...thing.. inside their newly enlarged area.   Eventually a couple of them got on the brick couldn't see anything, and jumped off again.    Number 6 jumped on his brick each time, but by the time he got there, the visitor had gone.

DH opened the corner of the door so it was easier for them to see in and out.

All was well.

Unintended consequences

Small Person has been here every day, and lots of overnights, and has been full of questions.   I'd previously explained to her why we don't interfere in hatching (with the one exception, that we caused a problem).  Of course we had a lot of interfering this time, and I've been explaining why there are always unintended consequences.

We've had one of those.

We brought the brooder downstairs because Number 6 was on his own, and because we were concerned that he might not make it anyway.   We thought it would be helpful for him to see us milling about, and it would be easy for us to check up on him.

We imprinted on him.

We were trying to watch TV, when the cheeping started.  We went out to check him.  He was fine, he shut up when he saw us  We went back to the TV.

It started again.

We tried ignoring it.

It got worse.   I was concerned he was going to get himself too worked up.  I went to see him. He was standing in the water trying to look out.  I dried him off and put some crumpled kitchn towel in for him to sit on.  He settled down.  We moved the water round so it was no longer by the door.

The ambient temperature was too cool for us to take him out of the brooder and bring im in the living room.  A few days ago it was hot enough that we could have done that for a short time.  Not now.

I went and found one of my treasured stuffed toys from my memorabilia box, kissed it goodbye,  and put it in the brooder. He didn't like it.  I left it anyway.

DH had the bright idea of putting the radio on, next to the brooder.  It worked.

Number 6 was asleep with his head on my stuffed dog.

.....

This morning, DH removed the kitchen towel and rescued the toy dog.  Number 6 started cheeping immediately.   I put the dog back and he quietened down.

Later, he was standing on the dogs back.  I tried and failed to get a picture.

Now he's busy catching up on sleep.  He's asleep for a couple of minutes, awake for a bit, asleep for a bit.  He's catching up on all the sleep he missed yesterday evening.

We're going to move his brooder into the big brooder today.  It's a lot earlier than we planned, but he really needs company.