Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

Rummer

lostinrates wrote: »

Like Alfie I am going to be without phone line until April after the weekend.

Thought I better mention it instead of disappearing for a couple of weeks

Oh no! We are all vanishing!

Better_Days

Hi all :wave:

Just popping in to see how you all are - haven't caught up with the thread but hope you are feeling a bit better now Davesnave.

Rummer - how's Rumlet enjoying 2014? A year earlier and it would have been a very different experience with all the snow.

Been very tired the last couple of weeks, but on the plus side the windows now sorted and a new metal oil tank installed.

Determined to get out of the house today so we went to Lidl in Stowmarket Got some shrubs - honeysuckle (which I love), hibiscus which will flower beautifully if I get it in the right spot, and a couple of other sticks which may or may not turn out to be shrubs :rotfl:

Then we went into the store and I spotted some seeds - had a very happy time browsing - and came away with some peas, tomatoes, herbs and a few flower seeds. Did have a load of T&M veg seeds but they have got lost in the move.

I put some compost and DE in a plastic container and put it in the chicken run for a dust bath. They were queing up to use it! Two managed to squeeze in at one point. I love watching them lying on their side, feet and wing outstretched, flicking the dust over themselves then closing their eyes and 'ducking' under the soil with their head. Watching them totally relaxed surrounded by a cloud of dust I the lyrics of that song 'heaven is a place on earth' came into my mind. They just seemed so content.

Davesnave

I'm lurking......:o

Managed to get out this morning, plant more seeds and cut our side of the neighbours' leylandii hedge, but then the dreaded pains returned, so the afternoon was spent in bed with a hot water bottle.

I've made another Drs appt for Tuesday, but Lord knows how long it will then take to get a referral to hospital. In the meantime, I'm taking copious quantities of horse-grade apple cider vinegar in the hope that it might do something, like fizz these bloomin' crystals into oblivion. :mad: Or I may just wake up tomorrow and go for a gallop......:rotfl:

I've given the peas the hot water treatment you suggested, RAS.

phoebe1989seb

Lovely to hear from you BD Was wondering where you'd got to! Sounds as though you had a productive trip to Lidl.....not somewhere we frequent these days, but I do remember a few years back when I used to have to do choir teas (DS was a chorister at Portsmouth Cathedral for eight years and us parents had a rota system for providing teas on evensong nights ) and I shopped there and Iceland to get the most *bang for my buck* lol, that they had some great (non-food) bargains every so often.....my parents, bless them, were fans too

I must pick your brains about chickens as we're looking to get a few and are weighing up whether to go ex-battery route or not......any advice would be greatly appreciated x

Rummer - little Rumlet will have such fun helping his mum in the garden when he's a bit older, sounds like you have some lovely plans

LIR - thanks for the heads up re: your impending absence.....this place will soon resemble the Marie Celeste with everyone going AWOL......did anyone ever manage to get hold of Itsme to check all was ok?

Busy day here - DS has some time off so dropped by to help DH lay our new oak floor. There's a heck of a lot to do, but even if they get one room complete (will be working into the night to get it finished) it'll be amazing......after three years to have one properly finished living space at last......although one end still isn't plastered, lol :rotfl:

Better_Days

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

I must pick your brains about chickens as we're looking to get a few and are weighing up whether to go ex-battery route or not......any advice would be greatly appreciated x

Happy to help. I love my ex-batts, have found them to be friendly and good layers (unlike my friend who bought some POL hens last August which are yet to 'deliver' she has started 'operation lay' to no effect so far.......). The last lot of ex-batts that I had laid all through winter, albeit at a reduced rate. They were very friendly and loved to sit and roost on your lap on a sunny afternoon. The current flock are a little more nervous but are coming round.

On the downside ex-batts may come with few feathers so husbandry is especially important and if you get them other than in the summer then they really need to be kept in a shed or the like till they feather up a bit.

Three of my hens have fluffy knickers now but one is still rather bald so I have sprayed her with some anti-peck spray. She is the bossiest of the little flock, so I think before we had her she had got into the habit of plucking her own feathers.

Funnily enough I was reading the BHWT newsletter http://bhwt.org.uk/newsletters/issue-7/index.html today and they were saying that they have just re-homed the 400,000th hen, Daisy May - astonishing achievement - all those hens would have otherwise been slaughtered. Not sure how far you have looked into it but you do have to wait until the BHWT has a re-homing day in your area, but it is easy to arrange collection http://www.bhwt.org.uk/cms/re-home-some-hens/

I have found it very rewarding to watch hens change from standing around looking shell shocked to exhibiting natural behaviours, often in a very short space of time. If we had more space I would probably also have an Araucana or two for the fab blue eggs and maybe Buff Orpingtons and Ixworths as they are so handsome. Depends really if you want hens for looks, friendliness, meat or eggs. Ex batts are a great combination of friendliness and eggs.

Whatever breed you decide, hens are great fun to watch - and if you provide treats like sweetcorn, mealworms and grape slices, they will come rushing over towards you whenever they hear your voice.

Hope the floor goes well, it sounds like it will be lovely when it is done.

Davesnave sorry to hear you are in so much pain. It is incredibly exhausting as you are dealing with the pain and can't rest properly to boot. Did your GP think you had an infection as well and did s/he give you any decent pain relief?

Davesnave

Better_Days wrote: »

Davesnave sorry to hear you are in so much pain. It is incredibly exhausting as you are dealing with the pain and can't rest properly to boot. Did your GP think you had an infection as well and did s/he give you any decent pain relief?

Yes, thanks, most of the time the pain is controlled by the NSAIDs pretty well, and there's no infection I'm aware of. However, at random times it will kick-off and then there's nothing to do but lie down. It's frustrating, especially as we have all these trees to plant.....:mad:

Interesting newsletter/magazine. I reckon you'll know the BHW Trust began just down the road from here, though it's a nationwide thing now.

I'm not saying the Trust are well off, but when we first started keeping chickens, we didn't pay a penny for feed, because we received donated stuff rejected by them! It was all split bags/late date material etc. Unfortunately, our friend who worked in the feed industry changed jobs, so this doen't happen any more.

Sadly, I don't think anyone has made contact with itsme.

Rummer

Dave :grouphug: dodgy hugs! I hope you start to feel better soon, I have never heard you complain so it must be bad.

CTC I PM'd you did you get it?

I didn't make it out into the garden my beloved Rumlet kept me occupied however I am determined to make it out for at least a half hour tomorrow. It is funny, when I had all the time in the world I didn't always want to go out and now that I am so busy I am desperate to go out and dig in the garden :rotfl:

We have been thinking about what to do with the garden and there may be big projects ahead of us All of which will require elbow grease.

As LIR mentioned it would be lovely if we were nearer as I would love people to visit and give their opinions on what to do next!

Rummer

Davesnave wrote: »

Sadly, I don't think anyone has made contact with itsme.

I am sorry to hear that, I had been hoping that I was the only one out the loop and that everyone else knew that Itsme was fine

Davesnave

I'm a terrible patient IRL, Rummer, but I know I've nothing to complain about. So many of my friends and acquaintances have had serious health issues in the past few years, I could hardly think otherwise.

Even Pete, bless him, hasn't been at all well this winter, so I've hardly seen him. He knows the sheep are OK, and if they're not, that I'll ring, but that's a very minor thing compared with all the other plates he has to keep spinning.

I hope itsme will come back to this thread one day and tell us things have worked out for her. It's hard to keep posting if there's nothing very positive to report. She may have decided to use her energies in other directions for a while.;)

The hundreds of miles between some of us is both a curse and a blessing. I find it fascinating to hear of other lives in the different regions of the UK.

Garden plans: we've always had them, but I've learned to be patient(ish!) as each one has taken longer than the last. If we get this one done and dusted in 10 years, I'll be pleased. I'll be even more pleased if we don't end up with a huge pile of earth somewhere, but if we do, I know where it's going! :rotfl:

Better_Days

Ahh good there's no infection Davesnave Lets hope things 'progress' with as little pain as possible over the weekend so you wont even need your doctors appt on Tues.

Would you believe it - those naughty kitties have brought in some 'friends' and I have got bitten :mad: I must have a neon sign over my head which attracts all biting insects to me. They ignore Mr BD completely. So put some 'spot on' on the kitties, much to their disgust.

phoebe1989seb yesterday was my first trip to Lidl as we now live much nearer. But I think we will be going back - I think we could save quite a bit on things like kitchen roll, dishwasher tabs.

There is a little market on at the Village Hall this morning, I'm hoping Mr BD will be home in time so we can pop along for the last half an hour.