The Chicken Project count down......

Pushing on with getting the chickens and geese out of the courtyard now,

and into a home of their own.

It has taken a long time,

with lots of dithering about where we should put their lodgings.

After much discussion,

it was decided that some of the front garden would be sacrificed,

but I did not give in easily to this loss of space,

and did make quite a moan for a while.

Common sense prevailed though,

and so that section of garden has been fenced off in to an 'L' shape..

 

 

...at the bottom of the 'L' was a thick hedge covered in brambles...

 

..... and now that is cleared,



 

 

....and looking from the lane,

yesterday Lester put two fence posts in to block the gap where the hedge had been.

 

 

Now all we have to do is cement the poles in,

then put the wire up,

and then sort out the chicken house, and goose shelter,

and then we are rolling,

or rather, then we can have the courtyard back

so we can tidy it up.

 

The fencing of the rest of the garden was finished in January,

 

and that now gives a framework to that space.

 





No many flowers planted yet, 

but at least the space looks better than it did after the first stage of renovations,

back in 2008...

 

 

 

eight years on and we now have a garden....

 

]

 

Back indoors,

and the Lazy Susan hanging rack has now come in handy for drying herbs.

All the chamomile was dehydrated,

but there is also a lot of self seeded coriander plants.

It seemed a shame to plough them in to the ground,

even though they are still in flower and not yet set their seed,

so I pulled up a couple of plants,

and on to the Lazy Susan I put them.

 

The Rayburn is now having its summer rest,

but is coming in handy for putting jars of dried herbs for immediate use.

As for the rest of the kitchen,

I am gradually getting used to having a good sized kitchen,

and even though I haven't finished the curtains for the storage cupboards,

it still looks good.

I didn't want a modern looking kitchen,



and I think we have achieved that.

I wanted the kitchen to look as if it had always been part of the old house,

before the time of its partial collapse into a ruin.

All the old features were too damaged to save, such as the big old fireplace,

and the bread oven,

but at least we have kept the renovation simple.

 

Off to a BBQ tonight,

and tomorrow the band is playing for a picnic by the riverside in Riscle.

Shame that the weather is being tiresome,

with heavy air laden with moisture which sucks the breath out of the lungs,

and then rolling thunder storms to make sure that the moisture in the air stays put.

We are supposed to be walking down the High Street of Riscle tomorrow morning,

playing our instruments so the assembled villagers

can walk down to the river accompanied by music.

Trouble is rain and high winds are forecasted,

and to be quite honest with you,

I do not feel much enthusiasm for walking in the open air,

buffeted by winds, spat upon by rain drops,

trying to play an accordion,

meanwhile hoping I do not slip and fall over,

because the accordion tend to make me top heavy,

which means I can topple over easily.

 

I think, that on this occasion,

I shall be content to not be part of the band,

and join in with playing with them again once they are down by the river,

or indoors,

as I think a wet weather hall has been organised.

 

Hope you have a good weekend,

Bye for now,

Vx