Cheery's country living adventure

rtandon27

Aww cheery, sorry to hear about Bessie! Sending a hug your way!

Cheery_Daff

Thanks RT x

Good news about Bessie! Blood test results are in - nowt wrong with liver, heart, red blood cells etc - all signs point towards an infection. She's still running around like a normal hen and acting perfectly well, so the vet is keeping her on diuretics and sending us some antibiotic tablets in the post, and we'll take her back when she's finished those. 

Definitely NOT MSE (where's that EEEK! smiley when you need it??) but very glad we managed to get that fluid drained or it would have just stopped her breathing in the end

In other news, my new hoe arrived today. I'm pretty sure we had an ancient one with a falling off head that we never used, but we can't find it anywhere, so I've bought a new one, which is all shiny and sharp. Now I've actually got a cleared patch for veg, it's going to STAY cleared! 

It *is* all cleared now, and three of the four square beds have stone edges now, and half of the final one. Just that final half, and the one remaining straight bed round the edge, and then it's all done. The three square ones have mulch on too, and I'm going to mulch the others as soon as they're edged (so it doesn't just end up all over the path as well). 

We've decided not to buy anything in for doing the path - we got a wood chipper from Freegle a few months ago, and are slowly chipping things as and when we find them. We've done about 5 foot of path so far so it's going to take a while But there are so many things to spend money on at the minute, and that doesn't seem a particularly important one. I'm sure it'll seem more important in the winter! but hopefully we'll have chipped enough by then that it'll be covered... 

Exciting work news - we applied for some funding and have been invited to interview! Chances of us getting it are always low - but then chances of us getting an interview were low so I'm pleased to have just got to this stage. It's a team interview - four of them on the panel interviewing all four of us on the team (via video link, of course). All very strange, but it's good to have new experiences after all. 

Oh, and I've sent a couple of messages to see about new chickens. I'm on the list for rescues, but Mr Cheery wants something a bit more robust and long-lived to form the core flock, and we'll still have rescues come and go too. Emailed a couple of local places that are out of stock in the breed we'd like just to ask when they'll get more - can't get them and rescues within a week of each other as it will be chaos, but if they're not going to be in stock for months, we'll get the rescues this time and get them later. Complicated business this chicken keeping malarkey! 

PurpleFairy26

New chickens, how exciting. Must be new hoe week or something as I’ve had one too 🤣 like you I was convinced we had one but not having used it for a very long time I may just have imagined that! After reading a super simple book about growing veg it was the one tool they suggested every veg grower should have so I treated myself with some birthday money! Like you my veg patch (well borders) are clear at the moment and I would like them to stay that way. 

Pyxis

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In other news, my new hoe arrived today. 
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Sorry...just had to share this.

I think the dreaded American influence on our language has finally got to me, because when I read "new hoe", a gardening implement wasn't the first image that rushed into my mind! 
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Maybe three and a half months of isolation has finally been and gorn and done for me! 😱😱😱 

Pyxis

Cheery, what funding have you applied for? 
Sorry if you've mentioned it before.

Cheery_Daff

Yep, I reckon isolation is getting to you Pyxis! 

Funding is just a work thing - it's only for about 10 days of my time (in total, as part of my normal job) but it would be a lovely project and lovely people to work with. Fingers crossed! 

themadvix

Glad to hear Bessie is on the mend and that you've got your shiny new hoe! Your veg beds sound lovely

Great news about the funding too, fingers crossed it comes through.

rtandon27

Oh Pyxis  - the things isolation does to the brain!
The other day a work colleague told other's via e-mail that I had 'graciously' agreed to compile some data.  As I'm not know for being gracious, I found this uproariously funny!  She didn't understand why...let's just say if I didn't collate the data myself, I'd have spent twice as long trying to correct anyone else's attempt & grumbled every step of the way!

Pyxis

rtandon27 said:

Oh Pyxis  - the things isolation does to the brain!
The other day a work colleague told other's via e-mail that I had 'graciously' agreed to compile some data.  As I'm not know for being gracious, I found this uproariously funny!  She didn't understand why...let's just say if I didn't collate the data myself, I'd have spent twice as long trying to correct anyone else's attempt & grumbled every step of the way!

Yup! If you want a job done well............................

Cheery_Daff

Yes indeed, it is often quicker to do something yourself than sort out someone else's mess! 

Brrrr, tis chilly and windy and horrid out there today. Had to leave the chickens in for a couple of hours this morning because it was so foggy, and the mist has descended again in the last hour or so. A local ish friend popped over for a cuppa for the first time this afternoon, SO lovely to see her and of course we have our outdoor festival-style shelter set up, but really it wasn't a day for sitting outside and we had to have blankets It was nice to show her round the veg patch though - she grows food (and has chickens) too so always good to share notes. 

Other than that all I've done is a blog post, and I'm fast approaching having finished a second I've got a kind of risotto style thing in the oven at the minute which I am REALLY looking forward to. 

Bessie's antibiotics arrived in the post - they're dog tablets and they're MASSIVE. No way I'm shoving one of those down a chicken's throat twice a day, so they're being chopped up, mixed with yogurt, and then mixed with small bits of bread, which she devours with glee, thank goodness. Far less distressing all round. 

I'm sure there was something else I was going to mention... Going to sort YNAB and banks once I've had my tea so if it pops back into my head, I'll pop back in here...