the daydream fund challenge thread

rhiwfield

Stictching Witch, save all the arguing and eat it yourself while its still lovely and fresh

So today (finally!!!) we drove up a mountain in the Rhondda and bought 3 12 week old hens from a really nice couple. The hens are hiding in the coop at the moment but piccies in due course.

Lotus-eater

rhiwfield wrote: »

Stictching Witch, save all the arguing and eat it yourself while its still lovely and fresh

So today (finally!!!) we drove up a mountain in the Rhondda and bought 3 12 week old hens from a really nice couple. The hens are hiding in the coop at the moment but piccies in due course.

Awww, I'm so jealous

Piccies please, asap!

stitching_witch

rhiwfield wrote: »

So today (finally!!!) we drove up a mountain in the Rhondda and bought 3 12 week old hens from a really nice couple. The hens are hiding in the coop at the moment but piccies in due course.

What breeds did you get rhiwfield? I have a funny feeling two of mine were more like 12 weeks than the 15 weeks we were led to believe but, in the long run I don't mind as they've become quite tame.

The best bit is that in the run Pandora is boss but when they're out of the run I'm definately "top chick" :rotfl::rotfl:

Davesnave

Congratulations to those who've got their chickens sorted for this year. We'll be playing catch-up, I fear, but the slightly naff weather has helped us get on with our other activities under polythene and we've also sorted out a whole heap of other things inlcuding:

• finding and talking on-site with the guy who did all the water, drainage and electricity cable trenching 6 years ago, so we now know where it all runs!
• finding someone to cut the fields for silage next month f.o.c.
• agreeing on a strategy for re-fencing our orchard and the rest of the land - they do basics & we finish off
• finding someone pleasant to rent the fields for cross grazing when the fencing is done - no good having someone who just has sheep in longer term, nor someone you don't like/trust
• fixing a date to re-do the polytunnel site and then, if weather permits, clearing of the parking/sales site - might actually sell something yet!
• being offered a mini tractor and topper on loan to see if it would be worth getting one - need something, but this might be overkill
• agreeing structural improvements to the barn with a local builder - this will be when he's free, which could be some time, because all the good ones are busy!

We're very pleased about all this, especially as our grazing man also told us of a new farm shop which is looking for suppliers. We'll now be able to focus mainly on the 2 acres of garden, orchard, yards and wildlife areas, though we've not forgotten that the field hedging will laying in the longer term too.

Then there's the house!....:eek: We will give that another year, I think, possibly two!;)

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Davesnave..... where do you get all your energy from:beer: i'm pooped just reading what you have done in your posts.....:rotfl: really glad things are getting all sorted and in place.... you really have worked hard...hopefully this time next year you will have loads of customers flooding in, to buy their plants...:T

well done to all you new chicken owners, i am sure you will really injoy them, i know i shouldnt say this :cool: but some times chickens are soooo dim, and sooooooo funny, and silly....and a pain in the butt,..... but they are fantastic and very pleasing at the same time, wouldnt be without them now.....


there is a little bungalow by my M.I.L with 2 acres, and they keep on lowering the price... it started at 235k, then went down to 210k a few weeks ago, and now its 198k:rotfl: the rate they are dropping the price, in 6 months i might be able to buy it for £2.50:rotfl: ( dream on) its not ideal to be honest, when the previous owner built it, and was trying to sell it, it was on the market for over 6 years, it has an electrical pilon right next to the house... literily.....still think its over priced at 198k....

cold and misrable here...... and the weather is the same too:p.

so might list some books on amazon later....sold £11 worth last month........every little helps....

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Davesnave..... where do you get all your energy from:beer: i'm pooped just reading what you have done in your posts.....:rotfl: really glad things are getting all sorted and in place.... you really have worked hard...hopefully this time next year you will have loads of customers flooding in, to buy their plants....

Thanks, but we haven't done the jobs, just organised them and who's doing what. Some of them are beyond me, like banging in 8' posts.

I suppose, like anyone else who moves to a new area, we've needed time to find the right people, but once one is found they lead on to another, and another etc. Finding out who did all the trenching was a bonus though, and very useful. Because of the circumstances surrounding the sale of this place, we were left in the dark about so much......and with extra cables, pipes and drains buried up to 1 metre down, it was hard to be sure where they are.

I know the bungalow you mean and that pylon is close. You could probably grow some good beans up it! Of course, there is a payment once a year from the electricity co as well, but personally, I wouldn't touch it for the same reasons as you give. (Top paddock looks a bit more than 'gently sloping' too!:rotfl:)

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Davesnave wrote: »

Thanks, but we haven't done the jobs, just organised them and who's doing what. Some of them are beyond me, like banging in 8' posts.

I suppose, like anyone else who moves to a new area, we've needed time to find the right people, but once one is found they lead on to another, and another etc. Finding out who did all the trenching was a bonus though, and very useful. Because of the circumstances surrounding the sale of this place, we were left in the dark about so much......and with extra cables, pipes and drains buried up to 1 metre down, it was hard to be sure where they are.

I know the bungalow you mean and that pylon is close. You could probably grow some good beans up it! Of course, there is a payment once a year from the electricity co as well, but personally, I wouldn't touch it for the same reasons as you give. (Top paddock looks a bit more than 'gently sloping' too!:rotfl:)

i should imagine the yearly payment is pennies...lol...

they bought that place a few years back for under 100k, they are not locals, they did try selling the property a few years back for 160k, but with no joy....

if it was the right price, then i would consider moving there, as being realistic, with the prices of smallholdings holding their own, and the prices not being effected like normal house prices etc... then my options are extremely limited, as the more we try to save, the more the prices are going up....lol...

all joking aside, i am extremely suprised that planning was granded in the first place for the bungalow, or the pylon to be located so close to the property, as it is only a few feet away

rhiwfield

Our chickens, who have emerged after some initial hiding time!

Daisy (Cuckoo Maran) (maybe a bit timid yet, attractive bird)

Holly (Rhondda Blue) (think this is a bluebelle, biggest of the 3)

Cherry (Rhondda Ranger) (described as a hybrid based on a New Hampshire red, she has black tail feathers and is super inquisitive. Gingernut ranger (ish) probably)

Coop and run (spent the last two days customising run to make it easier to move around, wooden base affixed, ramp attached to run and tarp sewn by OH and fixed)

stitching_witch

They're fabulous! I love the ginger one. They do look young, don't they? Ours are now trained to come to a clicking sound so i can get them back in the coop if I need to!

After my surprise egg yesterday we had a bigger surprise to find two eggs today!

I'm still looking at ways to increase my fund but I think it may have to wait until our basic finances are sorted out.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

stitching witch...... it will not be long before you are sick of seeing eggs....:rotfl: i know we are, so today i am making a load of little bacon and onion quiches topped with cheese, done a load yesturday, but they were eaten within 5 minutes of them coming out of the oven...:D

hopefully there will be enough to freeze..

we have ventured into turkey eggs......:eek: we won 6 on ebay last night, we will hatch them, rear them for a few weeks and then sell them on at the farm auction.... dont think i am ready to rear one for christmas yet.....
they are the american wild turkeys
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260592301241&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT