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Lesley

The Good Life - an update! - photo heavy...

By Lesley, in The Nesting Box

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Lesley Eggsistentialist

Lesley

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Some of our table birds are bok bok bokking each day as they let us know they've started laying :(

 

We do it every time......we watch and wait for them to be big enough and then they are all ready when we don't have time to despatch them.........and then they start laying......and growing to turkey size! :shock:

 

At least we'll have plenty of turkey-sized chicken dinners at Christmas time :roll:

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Lesley Eggsistentialist

Lesley

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It's a lovely sunny day here - still cold but it feels like Spring!

 

We've let the cows and sheep out of the barn into the small, attached, paddock so that they can enjoy it all as well. The barn is quite open so it isn't overly warm but the animals are protected from the worst of the elements. One of the sheep had frost in her foot when we moved them in and just keeping them on straw underfoot helps to sort problems like that. We're not letting them into the next paddock just yet as we have vaccinations to do before we move them away from the enclosed area and the cattle crush.

 

We didn't have the ram in to our ewes last November due to the uncertainty of our other (paid) work so no lambs of our own to come this year. We have spoken to a friend who has sheep - he's not a farmer as such, he rents fields and does his farming in his spare time. We've offered to take any cade lambs for him..............he starts lambing on the 19th :shock: We've got a large cardboard box ready to put in the utility room and have also made a small pen in one of the outbuildings where we can use the heat lamp. Bottles are at the ready......... If we do take any they will start off in the box and then move to the pen.

 

Fingers crossed......... :D

 

Other news......not anywhere near as exciting........The Big Green Poo Machine has a problem again :? Two years ago it kept overflowing and we had to pay to have it emptied three times in just a few weeks - it should need emptying every three years or so. We worked out that it was a soakaway problem - we think the previous owners/builders attached the nice new BGPM to an old soakaway :twisted: We think the soakaway has collapsed somewhere along the line. Then we had the big floods of July 2008 and water flooded the electric pump housing, we lifted the pump clear and left it to drain for a couple of days....when we switched it back on it all worked and the flood had obviously cleared the soakaway :D

 

....but now we have the problem back again :( We phoned on Thursday to ask for the tank to be emptied and it can't be done until Monday.....we're trying to use as little water as possible in the meantime......

 

I had my belated birthday outing yesterday - an evening at the ballet in Birmingham.......instead of a lovely shower to look forward to I had to jump in as soon as the water was just off freezing and shower really quickly :shock: - not quite what I'd been looking forward to :shock:

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Lesley Eggsistentialist

Lesley

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Looking forward to seeing any lambies Lesley :D

 

I shall spend a penny before we visit or use your hedgerows! :lol:

 

We were just thinking of visiting you Clare :wink: - I've just been eyeing up one of the dogs' poop bags :lol:

 

We might have to resort to building a straw bale loo earlier than planned!

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Valkyrie Cocka-doodle-loopy

Valkyrie

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Nice to see the update Lesley. Have you ever thought about a reed bed for poo problems (you probably have though as you seem to have everything covered as a rule :D )? Could be the answer for sometime in the future for you and you wouldn't have to rely on a machine at all. Then the water is all yours to flush to your heart's content! :lol:

 

Claret you might find a new meaning to family flush when Lesley comes to visit! :lol:

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Valkyrie Cocka-doodle-loopy

Valkyrie

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Aha - a trip to Ryton to see how it works! I remember quite some time ago on a programme that a family was trying to change to a greener life, now whether it was a garden makeover or self-build project I don't know. I think it was a family of 4, the reed bed was fairly near the house but not a huge pond. From what I remember I think it may pong a little until the reeds get established. You'd never know from Ryton - no smell at all, but it is huge (but they have to cater for lots of visitors so it needs to be).

I have no idea of the cost, but it must cut down on emptying expenses and reduction in water rates. :think:

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The Dogmother Eggsistentialist

The Dogmother

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An acquaintance has a reed bed system, seems to work well and never pongs.

 

When it's just Rosie and I, we do family flush at home anyhow - saves water. :wink:

 

Which poo bags were those Lesley?

 

I don't think anybody will fit in my house at the moment - the kitchen is distributed between the dining and living rooms and everything is covered in dust

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Lesley Eggsistentialist

Lesley

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Just the starch poop bags Clare - I haven't used the flushable ones yet as I need to check whether they can go in the BGPM - I'm glad I hadn't used them or I'd have been wondering if it was those casuing the problem.

 

A trip to Ryton sounds like a good idea - perhaps their reed bed needs a bit of thinning :wink:

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