Cherry takes the reins

Eager_Elephant

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Cheap eggs - can hens really afford to lay for 10p a day?

I think the bigger companies who have 000's of chickens can lay for less than 10p a day.
I know a couple who have 10,000 chickens who free range and they buy their feed by the hundred ton whereas the average backyard chicken keeper will buy a 25kg bag from a local supplier which of course costs more per kg.

Most of the process will be automated so there is no wages to pay to staff, the farm I know have nest boxes with a conveyor belt so as soon as the egg is laid it travels down the belt outside of the barn and goes in to a shed where the eggs are packed in trays of 30.

Its not ideal and certainly not a perfect life for a chicken but certainly not as bad as being a barn or caged chicken.

Cherryfudge

Who'd be a chicken? I am sure when I get mine (one day... I have the coop but not a lot of time and the weather has been too harsh to inflict my rusty skills on POL birds) I am sure they will cost me more than 10p a go.

This has been a rainy day with both of us off work so I had the idea of trying to replace our missing kitchen cabinets. We measured up the space, looked things up and discussed layout (having already decided on white), chose some basic ones and set off to buy. Of course, as this isn't the sort of things we do very often - actually, have never done before - there were a few things we hadn't thought of, like certain finishes not being available in white, but we found some we liked and the assistant started to compile our order. Now I knew there were trimmings we hadn't factored into our initial costings (I told you haven't done this before) but when I looked over the man's shoulder at the screen, the total was £600 and rising! So DH and I asked him to put it on hold for a minute and I found a different set of doors that took £400 off the price. :rotfl:

So we are now the proud owners of some hefty flatpacks and an empty space on the kitchen wall.

Cherryfudge

I don't think I'm going to be spending any more today so here's the summary

Spends:
Household £228.00
Housekeeping £22.86
MS stuff[:/B]
Was brave enough to do a last-minute rethink on the kitchen unit doors saving approx. £400
Home-made hair cut saving ?? but shorter by two inches.
Bread, mushrooms, sauce mix, biscuits all reduced at supermarket
Too wet to go to the car boot sale

I haven't got any gardening done, though while looking for the hacksaw I found four packs of assorted bulbs that should have been planted last autumn and which I'd completely forgotten! At least two of them look lively enough for me to pop them in, in the hope of flowers at some time in the future.

Not much done in the way of decluttering though I'm working my way through another box of Mum's books, most of which can go to charity (I've long since got my favourites).

We have made the shell of the smallest kitchen unit but we're too tired to press on with it tonight so are hoping tomorrow will bring DS1 with his DIY expertise!

WannabeFree

Sorry just catching up again.

Glad all seems well Brilliant news on the fridge and mortgage overpayment

Happy new kitchen cupboards! I'd love to change the doors on mine

x

Cherryfudge

Nothing to report money-wise today apart from that I really need to get the meter readings done soon.

Slightly eventful weekend among the wider family and Mum's house has sprung a leak. My sister is there for a few days and seems to be making significant inroads into listing things to sell, but will have to cope with no heat or water overnight. It's impossible to tell at this time of night whether it's water coming in under a slipped tile or a problem with the older parts of the pipework.

I have managed both a run and some proper piano practise today so I am relatively chilled.

Back to work in the morning then a couple more days off, so be prepared for the lists! Oh, and I did a few minutes work trimming the grass and what felt like about an hour sorting Mum's books, and DH has assembled the basics of another kitchen cabinet and measured up again to be sure where they are going to go. We have enough space to fit two more 'bridge' units above the new main unit so there will be better storage than there's been for a long time.

I found another of Mum's old letters, telling Dad on no account to go to her parents' home before their wedding as she would 'never hear the last of it' if he went in. The bridesmaid that he was to deliver to the ceremony had to be dropped at the end of the road (she would never have been there before) to find her own way to the house! I suppose they were worried about the groom seeing the bride before the wedding. They needn't have flapped: the marriage lasted till my Dad passed away nearly 50 years later.

charlies_tribe

Hope the kitchen is coming along nicely and that the leak is an easy fix.

So exciting to find the letters. Like little snippets into their lives together. It's great for the family to look back on after they have kept them all this time.

Cherryfudge

Worn out this evening! I bought stuff to make DD a birthday cake but was just struggling with everything I had to do, having been at work since first thing, so in the end DH kindly bought one. I tried to catch a bit of sleep but I was too wound up. I did get her flowers though.

We all went out for pizza and someone had a voucher so it was a nice meal and not too expensive either (my share was just under £15 but DH paid ours). I think DD enjoyed herself! She only had half a day at work too so was able to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

Spends:
Housekeeping £7.30
Gifts £2.50
MS stuff:
Tomatoes and almond butter on reduced.
Managed to say 'no' to various over-priced cake decorations - there's a complicated story to the cake but no time to tell it now.
Confession time:
On Sunday, we couldn't find the mushrooms we'd bought the day before and had to buy some more. Today I found the butter we bought is also missing! I'm hoping there's not a bag of food going off somewhere.

Cherryfudge

I'm very late with the promised list today but I need to press on or I'll just continue to feel dragged down by the state of the house. Some spending expected (piano lesson, groceries, replacement fire extinguisher - old ones were well out of date but the fire officer at work has offered to take them to be refilled/sold again).

There is so much ironing I've divided it by four so I can achieve something! Maybe I should do similarly with the paperwork but those piles never completely go, they just shrink and expand again.

• ironing 1 DONE
• ironing 2
• ironing 3
• ironing 4
• one load into washer DONE
• put away clean laundry
• prep study for tonight
• piano practice
• 15 minutes decluttering

Cherryfudge

3.20pm update:

I have my Fitbit working again! I had to do lots of restarts and uninstall/reinstall it from the computer but then it's back to life on both phone and computer, which is great news.

Doesn't increase my actual fitness, but great news nonetheless.

The rain which has been dominating the day seems to be going, and the dense grey cloud has given way to steady grey cloud.

ironing 1 DONE
ironing 2 DONE
ironing 3
ironing 4
one load into washer DONE
put away clean laundry Done
prep study for tonight
piano practice DONE
15 minutes decluttering
Get dinner and random shopping

HairyHandofDartmoor

I'm glad your Fitbit is working, I really love mine. You seem to be making good progress on your mum's old house.