Working Through the Weather

Somehow on Saturday in gale force winds and heavy, heavy rain we managed to get the floor and walls of the shed in place.  I say we, but it was obviously Lovely Hubby that did the majority of the lifting and shifting with me standing like a soggy wet wall support, holding valiantly on to the sections while the wind tried to whip them away from me as LH was busy screwing things together.

 

The top picture shows the fault with the shed, the floor was too big for the walls!  The walls should sit on the edge of the floor all the way round as you can see the side wall doing with a lip of wood hiding the floor, but we had to modify the front panel to sit on top instead or there would have been a large gap. This is just the last of a line of problems we have had with this shed.

 

 

On Sunday in drier and much milder weather and with the sun shining on lots of occasions, we managed to get the roof in place, amazing what you can do with a man's muscles and a girl with a big broom to hoick things up!!  It all looks quiet at the shed ....

 

... but a whistle and 'Hey in there' brings the worker with the power tool out for a photo :-)

 

Later I got him again as he stood pondering the little paved area he's putting in at the front, I joked I wanted a front porch so I could sit like Granny Clampett on my rocking chair, it's not quite that big, but I could perch on the edge of the step with a cup of coffee, and while away time watching the chickens.

Talking of chickens we had to do the hardest task of all last night, well LH did the deed while I gritted my teeth and skulked indoors. 

 

The three Silkie chicks have all grown up and turned into the biggest bullies, they were completely upsetting the flock and doing serious damage to their Mum of all birds!!  So we took the sad decision that it couldn't go on.  So after a day of them playing in the sunshine (when they weren't plucking other birds that is) LH calmly went out to the henhouse at closing up time and managed to remove Grey Boy and then five minutes later Tabby and despatch them swiftly and surely.  Snowy lives to squawk and peck another day as it would have been too traumatic for the birds to have LH go into the house again to get him (he was sat out of reach).   Already this morning things are a little more sedate in Chicken World but Snowy is sealing his own fate if he continues to be a bully. 

 

This has taught us a valuable lesson, we had no need to buy Ebony and her four cute little chicks, we had gone to the sale for some Hylines, but it was an 'aww...look at those moment' (yet again) and unfortunately for us ALL her chicks turned out to be boys.  The good thing though is that Ebony is a lovely little bird, a well loved and important member of the flock and her fourth 'son' Flash is a little star, a young pretender and aid to Caldwell the master of the flock, so I guess it's not all bad.

 

And now I almost have my Chicken Shed ...  I'm leaving totally empty for a few days to dry out after lying in the rain for the last couple of weeks and then I can start filling it up and hanging those nets :-)

 

Sue xx