Curiosity Killed the Hen

Last Friday, after a day of work, DH and I arrived home and were surprised that we weren't welcomed in the usual way with a bouncing dog very pleased to see us home like he usually is. I wondered if he had accidentally been locked in the house with no way to get to the dog door but no, I checked, he could get out. When I found him he was outside with a chicken on the loose. My favourite hen Charlotte had escaped because curiosity got the better of her and the dog had found her. Not a very good outcome at all. Charlotte now free ranges in chicken heaven. 

The positive side to this story is that now the hens have a much bigger and safer run. I had been wanting to build a bigger run for them for a while but unfortunately it took a very sad accident for DH to agree to build one. Friday evening I researched chicken run images on Google and found one that looked easy to build from looking at the pictures.

Perfect I thought, we can make this work. On Saturday morning I worked out the measurements and the amount of timber required and then off to the local timber yard to purchase the wood we went. After we built one side we decided to change the design a little because the angles on the other panels to make it fit with a sloping roof were making it just a little to difficult to work out. So we opted for a flat roof and all the walls the same height which is much easier to move around inside it anyway. By Saturday afternoon we had the frame finished.

Sunday came and off we went back to the hardware store to purchase roofing, wire netting and more nails. On went the roof. I decided a solid roof would be the way to go so that the hens could still be outside when it's raining. We made the roof slightly sloping so that any rain will run off it.

Then the wire mesh went on. Now you might be wondering why there is a gap on the right side at the bottom. That is so it can butt up against the existing coop.

A perch was added, which I am yet to see them use.

It was all hands on deck to help move it from the garage to the yard. Here you can see Blossom and Buttercup enjoying their new space.

Just days before this all happened I had added two new ladies to the flock. Let me introduce them. 

On the left is Daisy and on the right is Delilah. They are Orpington hens. Feathers don't actually grow on their legs but they have so many that they hang down like a long skirt. They are an English breed that does well in cold climates so here's hoping they will lay through the winter for us. They are settling in well and the hen pecking from the other two (especially Blossom) is getting less and less. 

Did you notice how big the new run is? I can pretty much stand up in it if I watch my head. The best part is that I can fit more hens in there now. YIPPEE!! What breed or breeds shall I get next and how many? Hmmm ... Watch this space!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Yes that's right I've very busy on the crafty front. I seem to have inspired myself. Since I wrote about WIPs and UFOs I have actually finished a few things. YAY!!! I'm very pleased with myself and can't quite believe that after all these years I now have a new picture hanging on the wall and a nativity set for Christmas.

I decided to tackle the cross-stitch picture first. I knew that there was only a little bit of the back stitching to be done and then I could frame it. So one morning I ventured into Te Awamutu to the picture framers. Unfortunately a pre-made frame didn't quite fit as my picture was too short in the up and down measurement which was a shame as the frame itself was very nice. I hummed and harred over many different styles of frame but I wasn't really taken by any of them. Then, the lovely shop assistant had an absolutely brilliant idea! If I was to add about four or five extra rows at the bottom of the picture by expanding the porch, then it would fit the pre-made frame perfectly. What a fantastic idea! That lady is a genius! Even better, the frame was only $20 instead of $60 for a custom made frame. Wahoo!!! That suited my wallet much better. So off I trotted home with my frame and mounting board all wrapped up in brown paper.

I stitched the five extra rows and then extended the porch back-stitching too.

You might be able to spot a slight colour difference in the new rows - I checked many times that I had the correct shade of thread but my picture must have faded a little which I can't quite believe how that happened as it has sat in the dark, in a bag, for a very looooong time. However now that it's framed and on the wall you can't really see the difference. I did all the mounting onto the backing board myself, a handy skill I learnt at the embroidery shop some time ago.

Then I popped it into the frame, turned it over and.......

I'm very, very pleased to see it finished and hanging on my wall. BUT, it's going to have to be moved as the wall is just too big for the picture but I haven't figured out where it's new home is to be just yet.

I also finished my knitted nativity set. When I left it so long ago, I still had to complete a donkey, two wise men and one more shepherd.

I had to wrack my brain a little to remember how to cast on and I googled one other stitch but all in all knitting came back to me fairly quickly and I quite enjoyed a change from crocheting. Again, finishing this project didn't take me long either.

Here they all are ready and waiting for Christmas. Well they're in a box now waiting patiently.

I've just realised that I haven't made crooks for the shepherds! I'd better get onto that quickly hadn't I?

I found an EFTPOS receipt when I was tidying up the bag with all the wool I had used and although it was faded I could still make out the date. 30 May 07, seven years ago! At least the nativity set has not been waiting as long as the cross-stitch and the quilt (more on that soon) to be finished, I figure them to be over 12 years in the making.

A more recently started project that has been finished is this garden. Remember, it used to look like this a few weeks ago...

...but now, it's finished!

You might notice a few 'sticks' on the left at the back. Yes well, they are hibiscus. Yes I assure you they are. Sadly they got frost bitten but I have planted them out with high hopes that they will recover. One of them has two new leaves, the other I'm not so sure about. I think it might just be too cold for them here in the winter which is such a shame as I really do enjoy how they flower almost all year. This is my many colours flowering garden and I'm looking forward to watching it grow, flower and fill in over the seasons.

That's all for now but hopefully soon I'll be showing you my finished quilt.

Ride To Raglan

Last Sunday we took a ride out to Raglan. It took us an hour to get there and that was even with taking a wrong turn. How did we manage to get it wrong you may ask? Well... we typed into maps on our iPad 'Raglan' and pressed start. All was going well until we listened to the lady on the iPad who told us to take a left turn and so we did but at this turn off was also a sign that actually pointed us to remain on the road we were on. Why oh why did we listen to a stupid computer generated voice who has some very strange pronunciation of places? Why didn't we trust the road sign to get us there? Well anyway, we carried on up the windy road with me starting to feel more and more sick as we went. We pulled over and took another look at the map to see exactly where we were being sent. Aaaargh! The stupid computer generated lady was sending us into the middle of the Pirongia Forest Park not Raglan at all! So this must be the centre of the Raglan district but not Raglan Village itself which is where we wanted to be. Ok so next time we will have to be more specific. Luckily where we pulled over was a road that would take us down to the village. A quick u-turn and we were on our way again. Oh no! Now we are on a narrow gravel road. Thankfully I'm driving now so I can keep the nausea under control and we eventually end up in Raglan Village. First stop was to have some lunch that I had packed. We found a sunny spot on one side of the inlet then we walked across the foot bridge into the village centre.

We walked up one side of the main street and stopped in at a few shops. I found a Trade Aid shop which I especially like going into as they have some lovely ideas for gifts and are very reasonably priced.

We wandered down the other side of the street, across the foot bridge and back to the car to go in search of the beach. While crossing the bridge I noticed a couple of people in the water swimming. They must build them tough out here! While it was a nice sunny day it wasn't that warm to go swimming I thought.

We parked the car and wandered down a steep path until we found the beach with it's black iron sand. Of course master 12 insisted that we bring a sample of it home so that he could experiment with a magnet to pull out the iron. Luckily being a Mum with all sorts of things in my handbag I had a paper bag to carry the sand in. 

The boys entertained themselves with jumping off the sand bank a couple of times.

Despite Master 12 proclaiming that he would not get wet (like he usually does) of course he did.

Somehow Master 13 appears to be made of Teflon because water nor sand seems to stick to him! Even when he jumps in the water.

There were some rocks in the middle of the beach and Master 12 spotted a star fish which he named Patrick, of course. I had to time getting a photo of it very carefully so that I would avoid the waves.

It didn't escape my notice that if you walk down a steep path eventually you will have to walk back up it. Oh boy! I'm so unfit! So I took a few photos of the view of the bay on the way which meant I had an excuse to stop, thank goodness!

The trip to Raglan turned out to be a success in the end. Master 12 requested that we return in summer to spend the day with our boogie boards. Of course we can, I'll even take mine.