Single hen

[Melanie]

Hi everyone,

 

I just wanted to share this with people who appreciate eglus and think they are great, who don't describe them as a spaceship, a tellytubby house or a hippo!!!

 

Yesterday afternoon sometime between about 3.10pm and 4.20pm somebody flicked bright turquoise paint (gloss, we think) over my front fence, the lid of the eglu (it is just behind the fence), the grass, the driveway and a smallish amount on my car. My neighbours' property was also damaged but not so extensively - one had her fence targeted, another their driveway, another their house name sign and someone else a bollard in the grass verge. There's also some paint in the middle of the road over a distance of a few yards.

 

I discovered the damage to my property just as I was leaving the house to walk Barley the greyhound and collect my daughter from the bus. I was already running a few minutes late and it was dark but when I saw the paint and that it was still very wet, I knew I had to try to remove it as best as I could before it dried. So I looped the dog's lead over another part of the fence and set to with kitchen roll to mop up what I could and then copious water and an old washing up brush. And then my lantern packed up. So I went next door to explain what was happening and see if I could borrow a torch.

 

Meanwhile the bus has arrived ten minutes walk away and my daughter is in the pitch dark, having left her torch and reflective armband in her bedroom - we live in a semi rural area with no streetlights or pavements. Fortunately her mobile phone hadn't also been left in the bedroom and I was able to let her know what was going on and she went to a friend's house right where she gets off the bus, to wait for me.

 

It was on the walk back from the friend's house when I noticed that neighbours had been affected too, so after Sophie and Barley were safely back home, I knocked at the neighbours' houses to let them know what had happened.

 

I couldn't tell from shining the torch around if I had managed to remove all the paint from my property and I just had to keep my fingers crossed until the morning.

 

This morning I was relieved to find that I had got it all off my car, and nearly everything off the fence but very sad to discover that there were still some smears on my lovely eglu which I've only had since 1st November And of course it was now dry And then I made a mistake: I thought I'd tackle it with cif cream (cos I've always used it on my plastic bath) and when it didn't work with just water and a cloth, I used a scrubbing brush. Oh dear!! The paint smears just about disappeared, but so did some of the green colour of the eglu and I ended up with several whitish patches. I wish I had phoned Omlet first for advice. I came indoors and blubbed, cos I love my eglu!

 

It is such a shame - I have lived here for 15 years and we've never experienced anything like this before. Hopefully it was just a one-off but you can't help wondering. I did report it all to the local police and they gave it a crime reference number but I don't think they think they can do anything. My neighbours and I suspect it was a schoolkid/s cos of the time it happened and pretty much no-one else walks down our road except for neighbours and other dog walkers, so I did suggest that perhaps an Officer could come back at the same time today and see if they could catch anyone blue-handed but he said he was unavailable to come at that time! Oh, and when I first rang up the Parish policeman last evening and he asked me if it was about a crime, he said he didn't deal with crime but discussed it with me anyway and ended up doing a report.

 

Well I'm going to sign off here, but I don't know if my 'signature' with the little symbols is going to come up properly - if it does, it's thanks to my daughter, cos she did it, me being no good with computers!

[gooner.girl]

Well done Melanie the signiture worked! So sorry to hear about your eglu though... What a shame

[Martin B]

That is such a shame!

[Cate in NZ]

Melanie, how dreadful. Senseless vandalism like this really makes my blood boil

Thank goodness that you managed to get it all off the car, putting that to rights would have cost a small fortune if it had been left to dry.

Pity about the faded colours on the eglu where the paints been scrubbed away, but the hens will still love it as a des res, and hopefully the patches won't show as much after a while as the colour fades very slightly with age.

I know that's not really the point though.

[Egluntyne]

Blimey. Poor you.

 

What pleasure can anyone have gained from doing that?

 

How spiteful.

[Lesley-Jean]

How dredful. I've got a couple of sugestions for you.

 

1 contact Omlet and ask how much to replace the lid section, put a claim for it into your house insurance, you have a crime number so they may pay out.

 

2. Get some acrillic paints and paint flowers on it to cover the marks. We have a member who has done that. Should be a picture in the galery somewhere.

 

Ah.. Found them.

 

http://club.omlet.co.uk/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=6010

 

Hope that helps

[AnnieP]

So sorry Melanie. I would be devastated if that happened to me. I know it sounds trivial in the grand scheme of things: Nothing broken, "Ooops, word censored!"ody hurt, but its so infuriatingly mindless isn't it?

Well done for the quick action which probably saved you a lot of money on your car.

Kate is right: The colours do fade a little after a time, but that's not the point is it? Its horrid when you have something so lovely and new and it gets spoilt.

Big hugs.

xxx

[Lesley]

Sorry to hear that Melanie

 

I think making a claim on your insurance is a good idea.

 

It was me who painted the two Eglus. If you go down that route, you could always try a Jackson Pollack - that should cover any marks!

[Beauty-Box]

 

How terrible! It's hard to understand how someone could be so mindless. When my car was scratched in our road (not where we live now) I was furious and it cost £90 to repair.

Try and keep your chin up! X

[Lesley-Jean]

It was me who painted the two Eglus.

 

Yes, I found your pictures in the gallery Lesley and it reminded me how beautiful they look

 

It could turn a tragedy into an opportunity for Melanie

[Lesley]

Thank you - I can't take the credit for the idea though - that was Jane/Motherhen. Her painted Eglu is with Kaz now.

[Lesley-Jean]

Aha yes, thanks Lesley. Here it is

 

http://club.omlet.co.uk/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5974

 

Hope you feel better about it soon Melanie

[The Dogmother]

That's dreadful Melanie - wanton violence like that makes my blood boil.

 

Please make sure that the other neighbours all report their damage too using your URN as reference. I do a lot of work with the police, and if they get enough complaints about a particular episode then they will investigate it. Bearing in mind the time that it happened, could it have been schoolchildren? If you think that's ther case, it might be worth talking to the headmaster of the local school and asking them to talk to the children in assembly.

[chocchick]

Oh, and when I first rang up the Parish policeman last evening and he asked me if it was about a crime, he said he didn't deal with crime

I'm sorry, it would be nice if you could claim off the insurance

Not a nice thing to happen.

[Trish]

Oh Melanie that's awful, your insurance should cover it I would have thought if you don't fancy the artistic cover up. Not nice finding out people that unkind have been in your street. Hugs

[theherd123]

Oh Melanie how horrible for you - some people just dont know the misery they cause!!

[Melanie]

Thanks everybody for your kindness. I knew it would help to write about it on here

 

I'm not brave enough to have a go at painting a design on the eglu, as my skills as an artist leave much to be desired It certainly wouldn't look as nice as Lesley's!

 

A piece of good news - I rubbed a tiny smear of sunflower oil over one of the smaller white patches and it did reduce the whitishness a fair bit. I'm wondering whether to do the other patches as well but perhaps I should talk to one of the guys at Omlet who know all about the plastic to check that it wouldn't have any adverse effect. Maybe it's only a temporary disguise, as it were, and later the patches could show through again, but at the moment it makes me feel better

[The Dogmother]

Perhaps the scrubbing has just abraded the surface slightly, making it appear lighter, but not reducing the colour at all (if you get my drift). This would explain why the oil helped.

 

Just an idea

[Tamsin]

Thats awfull

[red]

What about pianting polka dots Melanie - you can't go too wrong with those?

[ubereglu]

I hope you get it sorted out soon.

[[x].sophs.[x]]

hiya its sophie (melanie's daughter)! Im newly registered on here so im not an expert like every1 else, but im sure i'll manage.

 

I would like 2 point out that Tilly is MY chicken i named her and officially adopted her, but she hasnt laid me an egg yet cos shes the little baby of the group. Pecky and Feathers (Feathers is very funny) are mum and dad's birdies and Barley is the family doggy! He is a retired greyhound and is 8 years old. We adopted him about 3 days before my 11th birthday and he is fawn colour and very timid.

 

My mum loves her eglu, its her pride and joy. I love having the eglu and new hens because it is easier for me to look after the chickens and relate to them more if there are less of them (before we had 7) and the house is easier to access and clean.

 

I'll be posting more stuff around as i get more used 2 what 2 do, this is my first post. I doubt there are many other thirteen-year-olds like me but that doesnt matter.

 

Cya xx

 

p.s. i hope my signature turns out ok!!!

[Mrs Frugal]

Hello and welcome Sophie! Your signature looks great ! There are a few younger forum members here and I'm sure Martin, our under 16s manager will make himself known to you so if you have any problems, give him, me or any of the moderators a shout.

[AnnieP]

Hi and welcome Sophie! Ubereglu (Liz) is 14 and if you didn't already know, Martin, is our Under Sixteen's Manager, so he and Liz will look after you I am sure!Glad you are enjoying the Eglu!

[[x].sophs.[x]]

Thanks, gosh people do relpy quickly on here i had no idea it would be so fast! its good 2 know there are other teens like Martin who do this sort of thing instead of just going into town or meeting their friends all the time. i'll chat 2 Liz and Martin sometime soon.

 

[x].sophs.[x]