Daydream thread continues.....

Davesnave

Hurrah for the commencement of work on 30th, rozee! :beer:

We now have our plans prepared for building regs, which to my eyes seems to be just a cut 'n paste job. I wish I could've got £300 for every school report I did that way! :rotfl:

Soooo, although the bare bones are there, it looks like a much more detailed spec will be needed for builders to estimate intelligently. This is where the quantity surveyor comes in, but knowing what those cost, I think I'll have a go myself. :eek:Fortunately, I know someone who receives specs all the time, so he's going to send some appropriate ones to use as templates. I think there will be some advantage here too, because it will focus us on all the details & fittings early on and increase our involvement.

Meanwhile, thinking about itsme's comments, I have been mulling over a Plan C, just in case there's some serious cost hitch with Plans A & B. I could still live with C, though it's clearly more of a compromise.

Davesnave

I won't quote your post Alfie, but good luck to you and your brother on Monday.

It's entirely possible the person who's made the duff report is under pressure to do the minimum to keep costs as low as possible.

We came up against something like that years ago, where a psychologist did everything in her power to avoid having pupils diagnosed as dyslexic. Dyslexic meant funding, so strangely, kids like my DD2 were labelled as everything else, including 'a bit thick' (in psycho-speak, naturally!;))

Unfortunately, I had to work professionally with this woman, but that was with other people's kids. My own child was only discussed with her once.....(That's the 'bit thick' one who graduates with honours next month!:rotfl:)

ferretkeeper

morning all :wave:

Lovely pics everyone, always nice to see what peeps are up to.

I've been really busy trying to stop my brain imploding, why did I agree to this pig thing!

CTC I know it's come up in another thread but I'm feeding my dogs and cats the offal from the pigs - they love the raw meat, although some more than others. But it's free, I won't eat it (maybe a few faggots) and I'm not leaving it behind for them to sell either.

I've just found out how to get hold of the tripe as well as the usual offal... the abattoir said pet food companies come and take it away under some licence, so I'm applying for said licence, should be ready in a week.

I thought to myself, why am I giving them something for free which I will then have to pay more for to buy back?!

Good tip on the cat litter too, not my favourite job _pale_

I'll find you at the smallholders next weekend, I'll be there Sunday, buying pigs obviously I have blagged a free pass from the seller who's exhibiting them, and I'll take the pigs home when they're packing up.

It's possibly saved me a trip to SE Wales to collect them which gains me a day and also half a tank of diesel. Just as well, we are going to be properly skint this month, buying and transporting animals and then loads of extra mouths to feed :eek:

COOLTRIKERCHICK

sounds as though you two, rozee and davesanave are totally organised with your building prep work etc..

I on the other hand:cool:

I have had a rough estimate from the stonemason, and he said we can do it two ways, a job price, or a daily rate, with a max amount of days to do the job in..so once we are not far off needing him, We can have another chat, with final figures...sandblasting the pine end wall is £400 ( prepping it ready for the stone mason, getting rid of old paint etc, scaffolders need to get hold of them for a quote...will have to ask stonemason how many bags of lime mortar etc...


I have budgeted well over what the stone mason thinks his side of the work/materials will cost, but I think I nee to start pricing things up properly now:rotfl:

Edit... think I might book the stonemason now...so then that means there is no messing around, as I have committed myself to the work being done... and also by doing this, this will def keep me forcused on getting the money!!!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

FK what license is that? waste carriers? if it is we have one..

Its only the last few months I have started feeding the raw stuff, our eldest cat, is a bit fussy, and still prefers tinned food, but the condition on them since eating fresh raw meat is:T:T especially the stray cat, ( who's name is Ugly:cool::D)

Good move with the pigs, you have saved yourself a lot of time and money on fuel...

we are desperate to get more pigs, runs are ready, but we need to get more pig arks... and I am thinking that money could be spent on the house, but yet we got people waiting now for sausages etc.... so I think long term it will be wise to get an ark next week.. I could do a make shift thing, but call me soft, but I do want a proper floor for them and not just a shelter which means they are lying on straw on the wet ground

How many are you picking up next week??

lostinrates

Alfie, took and sent your pics.

On my adventure this afternoon, rummer keep your fingers crossed, huh?

Itismehonest

Love the "sulking shed", CTC
Hope all goes well tomorrow, alfie
Congratulations, rozee
Well done to all piggie people
....... what have I forgotten? Apologies for anything I've miissed

Dry but grey & ruddy cold here. No news as haven't done anything worth mentioning.

B*gger. Spoke too soon. Mizzle. I can't see the hills inland now. :rotfl:

ferretkeeper

CTC The form I was sent is for transportation/handling/processing etc of animal by products. It will also allow me to take back any sheepskins from slaughter - I'm planning on sending one or two lambs in soon and more in the autumn.

You're right to put floors on the arks, not just for comfort of pigs but it'll save a lot on straw, I went thru loads on our muddy ground and I have to barrow the bales uphill on a bumpy track

We're now in the middle of making a concrete base for the arks to sit on, but that's a story for another day:wall:

If you need pork or sausages I have some in the freezer to tide you over? Another friend sells some of mine (to her work colleagues) when she's run out of her own, just so people keep coming back to her, it works well. The sausages are just what the abattoir makes (4 varieties) but they're very good and the pig was a GOS so really tasty.

..mouth's watering, starving here, had no brekkie and just been rounding up escaped bloody pigs for an hour in the rain :eek:

Itismehonest

We used cattle/horse mats for our pigs. Pricey but easy to clean & kept the cold concrete/ground away from them. They last for years so pay for themselves really.

Rummer

Phew you are all very bright and busy for a Sunday morning! I feel a bit guilty that I am still in my pjs and watching TV

Alfie I hope that you and the family sort out the difficult situation you have been placed in.

Dave I always find your posts inspiring, we really need a couple of flexible plans in place for the future and you always give me food for thought.

Rozee How exciting that things are happening for you, I know what you mean about trimming things back. Technically we could however the things that are left would impact our quality of life so they will be the last go and only if really needed.

CTC Always good to set yourself a goal and a challenging one at that. Even if you do not get the full amount you need it gives you something to work towards. I should be setting myself some new goals too....

Ferretkeeper Sounds like things are steadily falling into place for you, yay!

LIR Everything is crossed!

As for me well I am going to take it easy today and give some thought to the challenges that may be facing me and my family in the coming months. I may go for a Dave approach and work out a few plans that cover as many scenarios as possible. Now would be a great time for a lottery win