the daydream fund challenge thread

Rummer

Choille - Cleg bites are hideously sore

Well I have just got back from a gloriously sunny holiday in Staffordshire and arrived back in Scotland to a flooded garden :eek:. On the upside though the currant bushes have gone wild and we have tonnes of fruit . The raspberry bushes have done fabulously well too and we have had fruit from them every day for the last couple of weeks which has been delicious and saved us a fortune in soft fruit :money:.

I have decided to clear out some of the pots and get some more salad planted up to snack on over the next few weeks. Think next year I am going to be less ambitious and just plant a few different crops as I took on too much this year . Getting tired of my husband saying I told u so :mad:.

Alexelisey

Morning all! I'm a newcomer to this thread but I've started wading through all the previous posts - it'll take me a while. OH and I are both country people originally but have had to live in the suburbs of London for work for many years. We've been trying to get together the money to buy a smallholding since 1992 but each time we've got closer the property market has gone against us. We moved 7 years ago to this house which needed a lot doing to it but is a big step up in terms of value, and the end is in sight. :j

I've seen a few smallholdings on the internet which would be worth a look if we had sold, but we're not on the market until September/October after we return from honeymoon. The house will be finished by the wedding (OH has promised!) so it's good to finally make progress. We currently keep chickens, have been on a pig-keeping course, and have fruit trees in the garden. I haven't grown anything in the way of veg crops this year as I'm horribly busy with work and I have no enthusiasm when I get home. I should have got OH to grow some, he's here all the time!

When we leave the suburbs, I don't know which of our three grown-up children will come with us. Youngest is most likely, he's 21 and interested in keeping animals and growing fruit and veg. He's the one doing most of the building and decorating works around the house. Middle one has a steady, reasonably paid job and prospects will be very poor for him once we move. Eldest does bar work but because it's in London it's very well paid. I can't see her giving up the lifestyle she's accustomed to, somehow.

That's it from me now, back to the catching up! Take care all x

alfie_1

hello all...

well i did my gatwick run...easy peasy ! did a shop,came home,ma and pa visited and 2 lots of washing out blowing in the wind, animogs fed and iv just sat down now !! BUT i did have an odd encounter... an elderly lady drove up in an equally elderly car, past my gate ,realised she was on the wrong route [need a landrover to tackle the track !] reversed back and i spoke to her. sat beside her was an even OLDER lady [and i mean OLDER !!] there was 4 barking dogs and something shrieking in the back ?? i asked what the shrieking was and she ceromoniously lifted a blanket over what appeared to be a cage to reveal the MOST AMAZING BIG GREEN PARROT !! i just looked on stunned and said "do you take the parrot out with you for the day ?" she said "i have to or the dam thing shrieks and the neighbours complain....do you want it ?"...well need i say what my answer was ???!!! i was astounded to be honest...she took my phone number and said she would ring me.... all this in the space of 5 minutes tops ! i came indoors wondering if i'de dreamt it !! SO watch this space......

i never learn do i .........

Davesnave

Oh alfie, you do meet the most amazing people, but that's probably because you're pretty amazing yourself!

Welcome to Alexelisey, whose words, 'the property market has gone against us' rang a few bells! Where would you like to move to Alex, or are you 'flexible,' like we were?

I might be back again later, but everything's a bit manic here. We are trying to build another temporary chicken run, but the wind's not making it easy! Also, I've just discovered my car tax ran out on June 30th!

Had to look clegs up, just to be sure, but they were what I thought they were:(, so virtual antihistamine heading your way choille!

lostinrates

alfie, parots are amazing. But they can form really close bonds. I took care of one for about six weeks and she fell terribly in love with me and was distraught when I went out. She was a poor creature anyway, who plucked out her feathers from lonliness and depression. They suffer terribly often in domestication.....maybe you could try and get the bird a mate? often the answer with things that are kept alone but are naturally social is not to have none but to have more than one!

I can't imagine anywhere a bird would rather be than your home though

lostinrates

dh just walked in and I said Alfie got a parrot...and he said...of COURSE, that's what she needed, how wonderful!

Lotus-eater

lostinrates wrote: »

alfie, parots are amazing. But they can form really close bonds. I took care of one for about six weeks and she fell terribly in love with me and was distraught when I went out. She was a poor creature anyway, who plucked out her feathers from lonliness and depression. They suffer terribly often in domestication.....maybe you could try and get the bird a mate? often the answer with things that are kept alone but are naturally social is not to have none but to have more than one!

I can't imagine anywhere a bird would rather be than your home though

I went to a parrot show recently and I'm sure they said that they shouldn't be kept alone as they are flock birds.

alfie_1

lostinrates wrote: »

dh just walked in and I said Alfie got a parrot...and he said...of COURSE, that's what she needed, how wonderful!

:T:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

WHAT HE MEANS IS I WILL HAVE COMPETITION ON THE TALKING FRONT !!!

alfie_1

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I went to a parrot show recently and I'm sure they said that they shouldn't be kept alone as they are flock birds.

DONT WORRY.... my brain is working on an aviary as you read!! AND friends.... this is all dependant on wether the woman rings me so im not getting too excited as yet....

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

lostinrates

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I went to a parrot show recently and I'm sure they said that they shouldn't be kept alone as they are flock birds.

Yeah, that's what I was saying...only a little less clearly as you. I'm also aware my animal welfare views are not always popular on MSE!:o