Pay Off Before Lay Off!

Habibiboo

:wave:

Wow! Thanks so much for all your interest, it's really kind of you!

So, in amongst lots of shouting from lairy pair (sorry neighbours ) we have now settled in:
Edna: check out her poor neck and long, long claws.


Gladys, very reserved, you might be able to see that she's been de-beaked (they all have):



Dora seems very shy although placid enough:



I've put a few extra photos on the blog for anyone who wants to see them as I don't want to clog MFW up with my girls (unless MFW stands for My Feathered Women in which case I could really get boring with pics for you)!

Full update on the day later but big news is that Gladys has rewarded us already with an egg! :T

apple_muncher

Well done Gladys!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

What a lovely new home they've come to :)


Before and after pics - excellent idea


Tilly x

Alchemilla

Welcome chick chicks.

Watty1

Yay!! Chicks have arrived. Love the photos

Habibiboo

:wave:

Thanks everyone, this whole "Bessie, May, meet the new girls ..." introduction malarkey isn't for the faint-hearted, I go from feeling desperately sorry for May and Bessie to feeling distraught for the new girls who'd already had a long and tricky few days before we even picked them up.

Speaking of which, Edna is proving to be a bit of a lap girl, we had a lovely cuddle for a bit

So, quick round up:

MFW actions:

* NSD as I already made a donation for the hens way back when I committed to taking them.
* £5 voucher from RM surveys received, makes total of £40 worth of these into Xmas pot.

SMASH day 28 / 100 total = £ 350 / £ 3,000

Silver lining:
Apricots harvested from tree, very abundant over 2kg of fruit (more than double last year's). Mr Hbbb was determined to make conserve with it, note conserve, not preserve, something he was insistent about as fridge and freezer are now too small for coping with our gluts. So he's been in the kitchen whilst I've been up t'hen house, made 8 jars of conserve then got to the bottom of the recipe where it says ... keep in fridge! :doh: plus ...

Grey cloud:
He's burned the bottom of my jam pan!

Daily declutter:

Bin bag of clothes and box of 14 folders, files, ring binders dropped off to mum for her boot sale tomorrow ... she's very pleased with the extra booty to sell. Total = 243/365

Simple pleasures:

* New feathered friends who clearly deserve some TLC which I am as dedicated to ensuring for them as I am to ensuring I achieve the whole SMASH and mortgage mayhem for us.
* Sharing joy of new feathered friends with caring MSE folk ... thank you!
* Faithful hounds who have been remarkably intuitive about the whole hen house traumas today and have been very peaceful and undemanding ... not like them at all!
* Saw a bat up the garden during my twilight henhouse vigil.

After a rocky start with the ladies the bedtime has gone very well although I MUST be up at first light to open the coop so that there's no argy bargy whilst they're waiting to come out. Trouble is I can't go to bed until students get in and they're on their trip to London!

Hope everyone else has had a fine day, ours has been a little tense at times ... but an excellent day overall! X

Alchemilla

Love the sound of your day.
Sounds well balanced.

gallygirl

Aw bless them, poor little souls. Edna (with the giraffe neck :rotfl:) is my favourite, give her a mealworm from Auntie GG please .

Habibiboo

Alchemilla wrote: »

Love the sound of your day.
Sounds well balanced.

:wave:

Thanks Alchemilla, yes, although it's been less than harmonious in the henhouse, it's been a great downshift kind of day. So thankful for the good weather too, I want them to bond a bit more before they all have to shelter in the run when the weather gets grot!:eek:

gallygirl wrote: »

Aw bless them, poor little souls. Edna (with the giraffe neck :rotfl:) is my favourite, give her a mealworm from Auntie GG please .

:wave:

Giraffe neck :rotfl: the photo's actually of her better side, the neck really is terrible, she is in the worst state, although I'm thinking her comb is looking a little pinker today!

Mealworms (or three) from Aunty GG duly delivered, she also had her first taste of yoghurt too! X

Habibiboo

:wave:

Another long day! Up by 4.45 to facilitate first early morning session with the warring factions up the hen house! It started badly but as the day has gone on May and Bessie have spent most of their time in their usual part of the garden where they've made a nest and a dust bath! just occasionally going over to chase the others back over to the other side near the run and to eat out of their pots as a show of superiority (at which point my artful trio usually pop across to eat from May and Bessie's bowls instead) :rotfl:

I swear Dora makes that Uh-oh noise a Furbee makes, when she sees Bessie striding across to defend her territory!

Really don't think it will be too long before the pecking order is established, we can already see what it will be, it's just a case of whether Edna accepts the third position lairy pair delegate to her as she's definitely top hen of the new trio!

Four eggs today, but two softies (I think the new girls won't really lay properly until their health improves and they start to feel safe).

Anyhoo, before I bore you all silly with tales from the hennery, onto the other stuff ...

MFW action:
* Client payment received so cheeky £150 MOP added to SMASH total!
SMASH day 29 / 100 = £500 / £3,000 ... Looking forward to changing this again tomorrow when uni pay should go in (fingers crossed)!

Grey Clouds:
Burned quiche base I was making, which cracked quiche dish which belonged to Mr. Hbbb's mum (who passed last year). He was kind about and said she would be glad it got broken in use rather than being sat on the dresser. Still feel awful though.

Silver Lining:
Minimum works work today as so much else to do with hens, students, cooking and all that domestic blah.

Mum popped in to share boot sale spoils - £50* share for me which I'm very happy with, she's very pleased too (she keeps half of what she sells of mine) so it's really boosted her income and she's happy she's still got some items to sell next month.

* I'm not going to MOP this at the moment as I need a bit of cash in hand for the student float (their money won't start to come through until Thursday) so will keep it in student purse for a moment.

Daily Declutter:
Nowt out today but mum wants CDs for next boot sale so will start to box these up for her rather than M Magp*e as I'd rather mum had the profit than them!

Simple pleasures:
* Getting to know new hens.
* Having students around has made DSD much more chatty at mealtimes and in general so it's been an extra pleasant weekend in that respect.
* Almost time to do the spreadsheet shuffle :T

Hope everyone has had a happy weekend!