Find the SecondStar and soar, and then straight on till the morning…

SecondStar

On Sunday, my partner cut the remaining slabs and finished off the paving in the run - it needs some sand brushing in between the slabs, but it’s laid! He also put up some of the roof supports - we need 2 more 10ft lengths for the roof supports, and some more 8fts to build the door.

I began painting the fence on Sunday, but after doing all the jet washing on Saturday, I then use my new hoover head for 5 minutes and threw my back out! It’s been twinging over the past few days, so I’ve only been picking at the fence painting. I’ve got 1 coat on the fence behind the run, and will do a 2nd after work today, and then the wire can start to go on.

As expected, the painting is taking longer than the washing did, but at least it’s not as messy and wet! The grey is looking really nice, and is melting the fence away into the background, which is exactly what I wanted.

I also got some masonry paint samples for the outside of the house - white, cream-yellow, and pale pink. The front door is red, the gutters and trims are black, and the roof is dark grey. I had imaginings of living in a colourful cottage, but I honestly think the white might be the winner - clean, classic, in keeping with the area - and I’m going to paint the white UPVC windows to match the red front door! The windowsills will go black to match the rest of the trims, and I think it’ll look really cute.

I’ve heard some horror stories about how long and arduous it is to paint pebbledash, and so since it won’t be done for a while yet, I’m choosing to not think about that yet!

We have our first reenactment event on Monday! Just a 1-day event, but it’ll be nice to get the kit out again, and the weather should be nice.

dawnybabes

Hope your back is better soon, have you restrictions on the colours you can paint the front ? White is classy and easy to cover later if you fancy a change 

KajiKita

Might be worth looking at a cheap (semi disposable) or hiring a paint sprayer for the pebble dash? I know from experience quite how hard it is to paint that stuff! 😉

You are making really good progress 👏😊 It does sound like you could both do with a day off though … 😉

KK

SecondStar

Thank you both! No colour restrictions, the village is like Balamory, and some houses near me are painted as well. I think white is the best shout - it’s classic, simple, and very easy to get hold of for touch ups or further coats in the future. I’d love to have the pebbledash all stripped off and the house rendered smooth, but that’s not in the budget!

I keep saying that there’s no timeframe on the rabbit run, but that’s not 100% true. I’d like to have the old run dismantled and removed ASAP, so that I can start plotting out the rest of the garden. There are summer bulbs which are calling me, and I may have bought an apple tree from Tesco yesterday…

I know that gardens aren’t created in a season, but I’m keen to get as much of my vision into reality as I can!

SecondStar

I’m still chipping away at painting the fence, and it’s starting to bore me now! I’ve got 1 coat on all the inside boards, apart from the dividing fence - I couldn’t jet wash off the old stain as I would’ve soaked nextdoor’s yard, and so I’m experimenting to see how many coats of grey it takes to cover the old red stain. It may be 3 or 4 by the looks of things.

I’ve started on the 2nd coat on the inside, but ran out of paint so will need to go and get another tub. The outside should go faster as there aren’t the same horizontal support beams - just the flat vertical boards. I’ll be glad when it’s done though, I’m spending every spare moment I can find painting, and everyone is sick of hearing about it!



I was out on Saturday afternoon with some of the ladies from my reenactment group. We went to get our ears pierced, and then for coffee. I’ve not spent time with them outside of reenactment events, and I wasn’t sure about going at first, but I’m glad that I did. The truth is that I don’t really have many friends, and I find it difficult to cultivate friendships outside of set activities. I have had previous experiences of turning down 1 too many invites with another group before, and they then stopped inviting me and became close friends together instead, which I understand but still makes me a bit sad; so I thought it best to take the invite offered to me this time.

On Sunday it was setting up for our first reenactment event of the year. My partner and I went down to help the group load up the van, and then build the tent ‘village’ on site. Monday was a full on day of public, trading, and demonstrating. It was lovely to see the group all together again after winter, and to dust off our kit and stock. We made a couple of hundred pounds between us both, which will go back into the stall - buying stock items in for trading at the big events in the summer. It was really cold though! Glad it was just a single day event, and not an overnight stay - that’s not till Ostara next month.

I missed out of some bantam hens and a coop on fb, which would’ve been just right for what I’m looking for, but it wasn’t meant to be just yet.

There once again doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day, or days in the week!

SecondStar

More fence painting today.

The majority of the fence which had been jet washed now has 2/2 coats on the inside, and is looking very smart. The dividing fence which did not get jet washed has 1/3-4 coats on, and is looking shabby and ugly. From the test boards I did though, it does look redeemable after 3 coats!

I’m trying not to think about painting the huge expanse of the other side of the fence.

I’m hoping that we can get the last of the woodwork on the run finished, and the wire added, this weekend. Maybe the roof on too, that’ll depend on if we can collect the roof materials or if they’ll need to be delivered. It would be lovely to have my rabbit moved in by mid-week, and to begin disassembling the old run.

Sorry I don’t have anything more interesting to talk or muse about at the moment! These have been big, time consuming projects, and they’re moving slowly. 

New_in_the_fens

Fence painting is like painting the Forth Bridge! I go around every year doing a stretch here and a stretch there. But at least once they’ve been done properly once, it’s just a one coat job 😂 your bun will love their new home 🐰

SecondStar

Inside of the whole fence is painted! I *might* do a 4th coat on the dividing side, but it doesn’t *need* it.

The rabbit run also has a roof! and most of its wire! There is still some wire to put up around the top, which I’ll work on during the week - we only have off-cuts left, so I’ll see if I can eek it out, rather than stump up for another whole roll. It looks incredibly smart, and is a pleasure to look at through the kitchen window. I’ll paint the wire black, so it’s easier to see into, and strew the whole structure with hanging baskets of tumbling flowers.

I have an idea to rebuild my rabbit’s old playhouse, which was dismantled when I moved house and not put back up again. It needs a new floor and a new roof, and some repair work done, but it would provide a nice ‘indoor’ space for him. I’ll either build it inside the new run, or just outside and then buy a tunnel kit to connect the two together so he can go in and out.

I’m hoping to have him moved in by / on Saturday, which feels like a realistic goal. 

Next project is dismantling and moving my shed. I’ll scalp the grass down the far end of the garden, lay weed fabric, pick up some paving slabs, and then empty and take down & rebuild in the new position. I’ve built plenty of sheds by myself, so I’m not particularly phased about this bit!

The tulips I planted late are starting to flower! They’re so pretty already. The apple tree I got from Tesco is starting to bud as well. I also filled a couple of pots with summer bulbs, with more to go in, and picked up some bare root plants from Poundland - 2 roses, 2 buddleia, and 2 other shrubs I can’t recall. The roses have been potted and are starting to sprout, the others are having a soak overnight before planting tomorrow.

Please ignore the uprooted bush, and the pop-up gardening bag!

SecondStar

I got the wire on the run finished off on Tuesday on my breaks and lunch when working from home. I still want to paint it back, but it’s up and secure for now which is the most important bit

I pulled out the walls for the playhouse and scrubbed them down, they’ll need another coat of paint, but they’re in good condition. I stopped off at the builder’s yard on the way home from work yesterday and got some OSB board for the new floor and roof, and some wood strips for the floor to stand on. I also managed to pick up around 10m of the same wire that I used for the rabbit run - for free! That’ll go to good use for when it comes time to build the chicken enclosure.

Speaking of chickens…I’m picking up an Omlet Eglu after work today! It’s about an hour away, so I’ll be going after work, but I’m very excited.

The weather isn’t to be great the next couple of days, but I’m hoping to get the playhouse built on Saturday and have a move-in day next week.

SecondStar

I collected the coop yesterday - just about!

It had been a woman listing it on her dad’s behalf, and it was him that I met and picked it up from. A lovely, friendly, proper country person. The coop is an old-style Omlet Eglu Classic, with a 2m run - it’s had a lot of life, but for £130 vs £539 for a new Omlet Go, there were no second thoughts.

I had been so sure it would fit that I never bothered to measure my boot! When we went to lift it in, I was appalled and embarrassed that it just wouldn’t go!

We ended up taking the roof off, angling the base in and then wedging it up onto my front passenger seat, then putting the run pieces on the bottom, and squidging the coop roof on top of everything. The drive home was a little hairy, but I somehow still had vision out of my front windows and side mirrors.

It was torrential rain but he time I got home, so I didn’t get chance to take it out and play with it. That means I’ll be commuting to work with it this morning! Let’s hope for no rain later, so I can actually get it out of the car.