Cheery's country living adventure

Cheery_Daff

GP! How spiffing to see you good lady! Hope you and yours are super well xxx

Well, I am glad it's not just me with the refund nonsense, although i am of course NOT happy that you are all suffering too. I am delighted though to say that my refund has FINALLY arrived, after the complaints dept gave the refunds dept a nudge... Turns out they HAD received my photos after all - fancy that! 

Anyway... Exciting news to report is that our new chickens are confirmed and paid for, and we are collecting them on Saturday. Most jolly! Can't remember what I've said on here and what on the hen thread, so sorry if I'm repeating myself... We'd booked a couple of rescues, but then when it looked like we might lose Bessie a couple of weeks ago, Mr Cheery decided he couldn't face the quick turnover of chickens as we do get rather upset when they die... so instead we're getting some young, hardy ones, not rescues, just 16 weeks old. Novel for us, and quite exciting! 

We've gone for a different breed so it will at least be very easy to tell these apart from the rescues We've paid 55 quid for this lot (do I really not have a pound sign on this tablet keyboard??) plus when I cancelled the rescues we'd booked I told them to keep the donation we'd already made (just a tenner). Yet again, doing chicken keeping the expensive way... 

what has been cheap though is Mr Cheery's roofing of the chicken run - it's nearly done!Most exciting. He's dismantled the old pig houses that our previous house owner used so they have cost nothing (we already had various fixings etc). They're not clear, so it's a little bit dingy in there now... but that was this evening - I'm sure it'll be  fine in the day, the sides are still just mesh of course (or glass), and they're not in there most of the time anyway. 

Right. Spent most of today outside and it's been GREAT but goodness me I'm quite tired now... 

rtandon27

Hooray! So glad you got your refund at long last!

Piccies please when the new girls get here!😚

Cheery_Daff

Of course! 🤩

Jolly morning - I've had a parking permit for the national park car parks for the last couple of years but it's run out and I'd not got round to getting another (if that's even possible at the minute). Anyway, I discovered they only charge from 9am til 6pm, so this morning I got up early and got in a free 8 mile bike ride before the charging period started 😁 

It was lovely actually! Raining when I set off, but then the sun came out, and I pretty much had the trail to myself. Will definitely do that again!

themadvix

That sounds lovely! Can’t beat an early morning for peace and quiet.

Cheery_Daff

Indeed not. I love early mornings - unfortunately I find myself sleeping through most of them... 😂😂

I was up reasonably early today, and actually managed to get dressed before letting the chickens out for once - usually I head out in dressing gown and wellies, hoping nobody is out for an early morning walk on our footpath 😂 A good amount of work done today, and some nice video chats too. 

I've been outside this evening, planted a load of spinach and chard out, and some flowers that I've grown from ancient seeds I found lying around. Gave everything a good water, including the kale, cabbage, turnips and Swede I planted out yesterday. Slowly the greenhouse is emptying and the garden is filling...

Nothing money saving to report - not spent anything today, although my small stash of replacement makeup did arrive. I'd completely run out of foundation &mascara, but the new lip stuff wasn't completely 'necessary' - nice though, and as I slapped someone of it on at lunchtime, someone commented in my afternoon meeting that I looked very well dressed 😂 I did have my hair down as well which is very unusual, and bizarrely my black hoodie looked strangely like a suit jacket 😂😂😂

Anyway, Mr Cheery are going to have a drink sat in the garden so I'd best get back out there 💜

Karmacat

Hello Cheery!  I've just caught up - and oh dear, its got to be a fortnight since you've written on here?  I wonder if the new hens arrived and you're stuck in to the chicken keeping thread?   I'm loving the whole thing of edging your new veg beds with the rocks onsite.  I confess, though, that just at the bit I started reading, it was about Maud, and I remember that from before I lost my web connection, so I had a few tears about that.  But what you're doing sounds so wonderful.   

Cheery_Daff

Thank you KC, and welcome back! 

Oh dear, I didn't realise it had been quite so long since I'd posted here! 😮 I've waffled rather a lot on the chicken thread... but that's no defence! 😁

As a brief catch up... yes, we acquired three new beaky friends last Saturday! 16 weeks old (well, 17 now), and not *quite* adult yet. They are extremely cute, and not quite brave enough to stand up to the older ladies, who are NOT impressed at having young imposters in their space... 🙄

Not had the fights we had last time, cos those new ladies were bolshy, whereas these are just young and intimidated, so they just run away as soon as an older hen looks at them - one of them flew to safety and perched on my head the other day while I was on a video call to a friend 😂😂 most ridiculous 😂

So we have spent a lot of time managing feathery emotions, which have mostly been stressful, especially as the weather has been a bit gloomy. But we're getting there - new ladies are taking themselves off to bed now, they clearly want to go to bed but are a bit scared because they know the older ladies are already in the hen house so one will go in, then come out, then round up the others, and eventually all three will try to get through the door at the same time 😂😂

In other money news... hang on, I'll start a new post as I'm on the phone and don't want to lose it all...

Cheery_Daff

Is there other money news? 

Bessie chicken has now cost us almost £400 😮😮😮 And now Rusty is coughing and has a rattly chest - very much hoping it's just a cold...

Our favourite cafe has opened for takeaways so we've been there several times, with masks, and drinking our tea in the car outside 😂 Most odd, but VERY nice to get out of the house, gosh I'd missed being able to just pop there.

We've had several people round for bbqs or a cuppa, just two at a time, but again, very welcome. We are fortunate to have plenty of space and a spare loo so all good. Very strange to see people though.

We didn't get our work funding that we had an interview for. Most vexing, but this is how these things go. Being shortlisted is a kind of achievement in itself to that will have to do for now! Fortunately my job didn't rest on it so in reality it'll just save me a bit of work...

What else? Nothing that I can think of right now. Been a bit gloomy and shut in with this weather, and worrying about chicken stress and health and various other people's stress and health 🙄 couple of work deadlines this week but I am SO ready for a week off. Not this week, not next week I don't think, but the week after... and a couple of weeks in August. Just want to wait for a good stint of nice weather!

Anyway, best go to sleep I suppose. All the chickens are sleeping in the same house which is fine overnight as they're very drowsy in the dark, but I do like to let them out pretty early just in case...

Karmacat

Next time a frightened chicken lands on your head, I want you to take a selfie

Sorry you've felt gloomy - I was very down in the dumps for a few weeks in the middle of everything (especially without proper internet access!) but much better now, and seeing my sister and a proper (phone) chat with a friend felt like the icing on the cake.  

Shame about the funding   casting around for funding seems such an integral part of academic life now.  Hope your day today is sunny enough for a trip out.

Pyxis

I do hope that having frightened chickens on heads doesn't result in 'presents' being left on heads. 😱😱

I remember once, on a pier, being 'bombed ' by a seagull, and as well as my clothes and bag receiving the blast, so did part of my hair. 😱😱😱

It was really hard to get out of hair!

And to people who say it's lucky, I say @#!!! !@#  to that!