All Our New Feathered Friends

When our daughter announced that they would be here at the farm  for our grandson's  2nd birthday, they requested that we may be able to have a  batch of  chicken eggs  in the incubator ready to hatch out while they were here with the  kids.
So we did just that and the first one hatched the night they arrived.

The kids were  totally enthralled with the process and helped their Pop transfer them overr into to incubator and spent many  hours up there looking at the tiny chicks.

The chicks quickly grew,

and before long we had moved them out of the brooder to what we call "The Halfway House"
This is an ex- rabbit hutch that Brian has rigged up a  red spotlight into for warmth and light.

They grow really fast at this point with heat, light and constant food supply, they usually stay in the halfway house2-3 weeks.
At this point we  decided for the first time to fit them with leg bands so that we will always know their correct age( which I record in my farm  book).

Brian had removed the old set of  6 small solar panels that used to run the house when we purchased it 13 years ago and set them up down at the small  chicken shed that we built attached to the orchard. He wired up  some 12 volt lights for them  so that they will continue to grow well.

We then relocated the  birds down to this shed. They no longer have heating, just lighting and shelter.

Meanwhile while , we knew thast our turkeys had been laying and we started watching  them closely so that we could find their nests, and we did, one in a  big pot under a shelter, one under the apple tree and two laying together under the lemon scented geranium bush.

The first two batches hatched out fine under their respective mums, but  over the period of two days we lost quite a few babies, so we made the decision to remove them to the brooder to hopefully keep a larger number alive.

The  last batch we decided to remove them from the mum at pipping. We placed them into the  pre warmed incubator, added some extra moisture and left them to hatch.

After they fluffed up they joined their relations over in the brooder all be it with a divider between them as the  size difference between the two groups  was a small concern.

Brian attended a poultry auction and decided that we needed a new rooster, so he bought this beautiful boy to add to our  menagerie .

He appears to have settled in well and is extremely happy with his little harem of  3 Light Sussex and 3 Isa Brown hens..
Our poultry numbers have grown rapidly, as well as this Brian has now set  about 35 guinea fowl eggs into the incubator to try and hatch them, this will be a first for us, so wish us luck.
I hope you all take care until we meet again,
Best wishes,
Cheers
Jane.

A Roof Over Our Heads.

Between all the other jobs my wonderful man does, he finally got time to  work on getting the roof up onto our new back verandah.
He started with a layer of chicken wire,

The reason for this wire is to help hold the foil insulation sheeting firm and to stop it from sagging down over time.
After  putting one row of wire up, they also put one row of the silver insulation followed by one row of the corrugated iron roofing.

The foil not only acts as insulation in the summer, but also when we have frosts in the winter it catches the condensation drips and holds them until absorbed by the sun and prevents those rotten drips from falling down onto all the outdoor stuff on  the verandah.

By putting the first row of iron up, it gave the men a solid surface to then work from as they slowly progressed across the roof.
It was about at this point that I  disappeared. I had  been invited away on a small girls weekend. We had helped  a  friend  move to another town about 3 hours away, about 3 or 4 weeks previously  and  didn't have room for her extensive collection of potted plants and shrubs so we decided to take a trailer load to her and have a nice little catch up in the process.
We got  about 2 hours into our trip and blew a tyre on the trailer, on a busy highway.

We were lucky my friend belonged to  NRMA roadside service, as the wheel spanner that was in her car did not fit my trailer wheel nuts, so the lovely man  sorted it for us.

We had a wonderful weekend once we finally arrived and we wandered the material and patch working shops, sorted a bit of gardening,

had some great food and wine and watched what we wanted on tv and giggled like schoolgirls half the night.

We then returned home and  when I arrived back at the farm, all the corrugated iron was up on the roof.

The next day our son arrived and helped his dad  screw down  the roof completely and add the very last sheet that had to overlap onto the existing house roof.

A few days later my lovely Sister In Law and next door neighbour was celebrating her birthday so we decided with a few other neighbours and friends to get together and christen the verandah and  celebrate her birthday also.

We had a wonderful day, even though it poured rain in the morning, having the roof overhead meant we were  able to continue on regardless of the weather situation.
It showed me that this will be a wonderful entertaining area, plenty of room for tables and chairs to easily seat 30 + people. I am sure it will be   used on a very regular basis.
 Brian then got in and added the  roof guttering and laid the groundwater drain system around the concrete.

And within a few hours of installing the drainage, we had a shower of rain and it all worked really well.

We have since added a great pull out clothes line under the cover which won't replace my  big outdoor rotary line but just compliment it.

This will give me an extra 35 metres of drying line, both for wet days and hot summer days.

Our friendly neighbour and electician called in a few days ago and he and Brian got my new LED lights up and running, it lights up  superbly now, the photograph does not  show it  as brilliant as it is.

This area is just going to be wonderful, it will be used to death I am certain.
We have really struggled without a large area here under cover, as we had on the coast, but this has really made a massive difference to our  life here.
Yesterday an old workmate of Brian's from the coast called by unexpectedly and it was just so lovely to sit out there for coffee and  a chat, he was very impressed with Brian's  handiwork as am I.
Brian was only saying yesterday, that 2 years ago he would not have had the confidence to do this job , but after having worked with our older builder who taught him a lot, I think he really surprised himself and is very proud of the finished  job, as well he should be.

All that is left now is for us to build a small retaining wall at the end of the verandah and halfway down the side. We haven't decided what material to use , we will will think about it for a while until we  find what we want at the right price.
We have purchased a drone and have been  taking a few  high up shots of our farm and this one shows out place, tucked in nicely against the hill. The new roof area on the right hand side of the house is the new verandah. We were surprised to actually see how big of an area it was.

We are having a blast with the drone, being very mindful of our neighbours and only  filming their  properties upon their request or permission. I understand that these can be very invasive of peoples privacy and we  are aware of all the rules and regulations regarding their use.
In another post I may post some of the pictures we have been taking.
So until we all meet again down the track,
Take care of you and yours,
Cheers
Jane.

Progress !!!!

Our concrete  verandah base  has had a few weeks to cure.  We had visitors in the interim ( our daughter,son in law, grandchildren and some friends of theirs).
We  had a big pig on a spit and celebrated the  2nd birthday of our grandson. It was a wonderful few days and we deliberately postponed the building as we didn't want  all that going on while the children were running around.
So the morning they left, Brian  and an old mate he used to work with started to build us a verandah.! .

We are using a product called Groove Tube, which comes in 8 metre lengths which have to be cut to size. We had to  attach one beam along the  width of the house first before anything else could be done.

Another friend and neighbour popped in to lend a hand to help get this initial beam up.

To this long beam, brackets are attached at measured intervals to slot the horizontal beams into at a later stage.

One vertical post up and one horizontal and it was morning tea time.  I was the gopher, cuppas, lunches and everything else that they needed.

Brian then continued  slowly on his own,  while this was all happening, he  had helped hi brother next door to load some whether sheep to take to market and while rounding them up at speed on the motorbike took a nasty tumble and was black and blue and very sore for a few days. Luckily no bones were broken.

It's a fairly big area and the front view of our house above  shows  how it sits in relation to the house.
Later that afternoon we wandered over next door and I took the photo below looking back at our house.

Over the next few days  Brian just worked  on the verandah alone, as he found it was easier, and I just gave him an extra  balance or lift as  and if he needed it.
This  system really works well and goes together  quite quickly.

Rather than carrying the big steel  beams up from where our deliverer had left them down in the front paddock, Brian was bringing them up a few at a time on the ute, and then I would help him  place them ready for cutting. There was very little waste here, as all the  cut pieces will have other uses in future projects.

The  rest of the  horizontal  roof beams all went  up  quickly,

I love this photo of Brian, proudly  sitting looking up at what he had built, and I think he has every right to be proud
The next day he got onto attaching all the brackets up the centre to take all the centre beams.

Finally he was able to finish all those smaller central beams and  now the structure is really strong and looks great.

It has been a big two weeks, but I am amazed at what Brian has been able to accomplish in this time as well as all his other jobs and his injuries.
This week we will travel to Dubbo to purchase, support netting,silver thermo foil lining ,electrical wires,switches and lights and all the  extra bits needed to complete the job.
I am so excited that finally it is all coming together.
Then we will need to do guttering,drainage and some minor landscaping.
We had visitors on the weekend and  temporarily put our verandah furniture back and  were really able to visualize what a great space this is going to be for us, year round hopefully.
I will update when the  roof is  fully up.
Until we meet again, take care everyone,
Cheers
Jane.