It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Longwalker

Just applied for Mr L's travel pass, hes been entitled to it for a year and has never bothered, but they announced in the news, they are making changes. ATM we get a travel pass at 60 that covers NI - trains, buses and the local ferries ( not the mainland ones) then at 65 we get free travel on the whole Island of Ireland. They are in consultation to change the age to 66 PITA for me as Ive another 14 months to go I was looking forward to that perk as the very little public transport we have is very expensive and it would be nice to be able to travel up and down to Belfast to see a show or something and to have a drink. We are going to see the Proclaimers next month and so as to make it worth going we have had to book a hotel for a night.

Makes going out a real treat. Still with me being MSE, the hotel is offering free parking PLUS breakfast AND a 2 course evening meal  ( with a glass of wine or beer) for £25 pp which is a total bargain for Belfast  - just have a bit of a walk to the Venue but thats not a bother 

Im getting used to not working. I actually cant believe I ever found time to work tbh, the days are flying in, I never get everything I planned on doing done. However the house and garden are looking as good as they ever have done. Spent a bit on plants this year, mostly from Home Bargains and Lidl, half the price or more then any of the garden centres and get there on delivery day and the quality is fantastic. The grass is a total right off this year with this dry weather and a dog but it will come back - along with the moss once the rain comes

Getting closer to getting hens again. We gave up and rehomed ours about 5 years ago when we lost so many to the dogs next door. But we had way too many, was becoming more of a business then a hobby. I just want 3 and Mr L is humming and ha ing , but he had to take his car in today and the mechanic had 15 baby chicks and he was so tempted there and then

Its a work in progress, but maybe this time next year

Bluegreen143

We’ve always had 2-5 hens @Longwalker, we have five just now. We aim for 3-4 but replace them in pairs the spring after one dies if it brings us to 3 or less. 

I think it’s a really good flock size if you’re not wanting a gazillion eggs to sell. Ours are just pets and I see the eggs as a bonus for us or I give them to family & friends when going over for dinner etc 😆

YorksLass

Auntycaz said:

Thanks for replying so quickly @YorksLass I'm in Norfolk.

HTH.  Given that First Bus operates throughout the country I'm not sure why Leeds has been singled out - I do hope it doesn't spread!  It's a small world, my maternal g-g-g GF was from Norfolk (Great Ellingham) and moved his family to Yorkshire, then briefly to Lancashire and back to Yorkshire again.

Hooray, water pressure is back to normal and TV reception is fine, no re-tune needed.  

Grocery delivery has been and gone, one substitute (acceptable) and one OOS.  This was a sliced loaf and I didn't say I wouldn't accept a sub so I'm left wondering why they didn't send something else - surely, they hadn't run out of bread!  Even the driver was surprised.  Oh well, I'll get one from the Co-op.  I bake my own bread but, for some unknown reason, prefer to use a shop bought one for toast.

Another warm sunny day and housework has been done in fits and starts as I work my way around the house to avoid the sun.  I've emptied the bins ready for tomorrow's collection and I hope we're not missed again.  We have communal bins and they get full very quickly - really smelly in this weather too.  

Longwalker

Bluegreen143 said:

We’ve always had 2-5 hens @Longwalker, we have five just now. We aim for 3-4 but replace them in pairs the spring after one dies if it brings us to 3 or less. 

I think it’s a really good flock size if you’re not wanting a gazillion eggs to sell. Ours are just pets and I see the eggs as a bonus for us or I give them to family & friends when going over for dinner etc 😆

See this is what happened to us.

Decided we wanted hens. The guy who owned the Koi carp place had Rhode Island reds he was willing to sell , so I sent Mr L up to get a few, came home he had 5 - 2 of which were roosters!!! He thought they were "pretty" and didnt know they were roosters, thought they were pretty big strong healthy hens lol

So then I found Bluebells, needed a pair of those then Sussexs lol. So we started getting loads of eggs, so started to sell at the door, demand grew and so did the flock - 20 come the end - half the garden and field access , it was never ending work

Oh forgot to mention that Mr L thought hatching was a good idea as well

I just want 3 so I have eggs and I get to keep the garden

Oh, forgot to mention the ducks

Pollycat

YorksLass said:

Auntycaz said:

Thanks for replying so quickly @YorksLass I'm in Norfolk.

HTH.  Given that First Bus operates throughout the country 

Not in our area.
We have 3 different bus companies but not First.

Nelliegrace

We buy two new point of lay hybrid hens in August, and with luck they will provide a few eggs all Winter, and lay well until the following Autumn, and start laying again in early Spring. DH likes hybrids which lay dark brown, blue or white shelled eggs. I like the cheaper commercial hybrids who lay about 300 good sized eggs a year, eggs are eggs. Less productive, old hens get dispatched, as do any which start to look sick, it is not worth paying a £60 bill for a £10 hen which is unlikely to survive anyway. They are not pets, just rather nice livestock. 

I freeze two dozen eggs individually for Winter, just in case, enough for a weekly cake.
One year we had to rely on the three quail for all our fresh eggs all Winter. They had a cage in the garage and a bit extra light kept them laying. We had 6 egg omelettes, and 16 egg frittatas. 
The Campbells and Runner ducks and were very good layers, lovely eggs for cakes.

YorksLass

Well, the bin men have been and emptied the general waste bins (the smelly ones) but not the recycling ones so it will be another fortnight before they get done.  I'm so glad our property doesn't look out onto the bin yard - if it did, I think I'd be on the warpath every week!

When I was a child our next door neighbour used to keep hens at the bottom of his garden and I loved to help look for their eggs.  I'd still be happy to do that now but I'm not too sure about the dispatching part!

Another warm sunny day and I've taken advantage of it to get two washing loads done and dried, one of clothes and one of sheets.  Once that was hung out, I emptied the cleaning supplies cupboard, washed the shelves down and put everything back.  Nothing to dispose of but at least it's tidy and I know what I have.  Just need a spare washing up liquid.  Next to be attacked were the kitchen worktops but I had to abandon that half way round - by this time the kitchen was like a sauna!  I'll finish that job tomorrow morning before it gets too hot.

Easy tea tonight - cod fishcakes, h/m potato cakes and mushy peas.  And there's Cornettos for afters.  

London_1

We had chickens when I was a little girl, but my late Father said we were't allowed to give them names as they were definitely going to end up on our plates to eat when they got too old, and if you named them you wouldn't want to eat them ,even though you would eat their eggs  

Fresh new laid eggs were lovely though, and even today over 70 plus years later I can remember the smell of the chickens and the hen house and the warm feel of their feathers.My eldest brother was tasked with the dispatching bit and one was a bit to hard for him to do and my Father just stomped out to the garden and with a very quick twist put it out.

I must admit I wasn't keen on doing myself but my Father said it was the boys job and not for my Mum or me to do. She would 'draw 'it though in the scullery, and I wasn't keen on that  either , then my middle brother and I were given the task of removing the feathers, golly they had an awful lot of those, my Mum would then rid the short stumpy bits  with a little  lighted candle. We were taught to respect our birds and they were well looked after and my two brothers used to take it in turns to feed and clean the hen house.  

If they for some reason went 'off lay' Mum was always shocked at the price of eggs penny halfpenny ,twopence or threepence for large which she thought extortionate. Luckily it didn't happen too often.
i'm trying to remember the name of the red powder stuff that was put into their food mix It had a very odd smell but not unpleasant though. I have a feeling it began with an R

JackieO xx

walkers60

Was it, perhaps, Poultry Spice.  We gave this to our chickens when we kept them.  
I loved keeping them in the garden and missed them when we decided not to have anymore.  

t14cy_t

i have 22 ex battery hens and a rescue rooster. i dont sell the eggs but give to lovely people i come across. we had ducks up until last year when we lost them to old age....they were 20!! poultry spice is still a thing!!  i usually give when theyre moulting. they eat almost anything!! i cook them a pan of rice, pasta, lentils or similar each day and they have all manner of scraps and of ours their layers pellets and mixed corn. they scoff all the weeds and grass i give them too!! they reward me with an average of 13 eggs a day.  they are beautiful creatures to watch!!