Wednesday 20 January 2016

Brrrrr!

Welcome to Fast SOS, a new follower :)

It was so frosty this morning that I couldn't open the chicken coop to let the ladies out. I finally manage to knock the lid open with a hammer and then had to lift them all out and over into the run - cue a lot of squawking and flapping. Every morning normally, Maggie hops up on to the side of the coop, trots along the edge and flaps down into the run all by herself (normally with Jets nose following her feathery bottom!) this morning however, she resolutely refused to hop up and stood firm inside the coop until I scooped her up and deposited her in the run myself - contrary madam!
I had to go back out there about 90 minutes later and bash the door open with a hammer. I can only assume the door had swollen with all the rain we'd had. I'm wary of planing it down too much in case there's then a gap when the wood shrinks back in the lovely Summer weather we're going to have!

I had to turn the heating on during the day on Sunday for the first time this since November at Mr D's bequest. Normally it has a brief blast early in the morning and another late afternoon but other than that I have managed with extra jumpers and hot water bottles. I'm aiming to have a few hundred pounds to reclaim on the next heating bill. It becomes like a battle against the cold for me, which is fine as I'm normally on my own here anyway.

It's been so lovely to see the sunshine though! I had a lovely walk along one of my favourite roads yesterday to go for a coffee with an old friend. There are lots of different styles of houses - terraced, semi-detached and detached and they all have interesting front gardens to look at. The coffee shop I was headed to is a really nice independent coffee shop - not cheap, but to be frank if I'm going to go to the effort of treating myself to a coffee/tea out and about, then I'd prefer to have a nice drink in stylish surroundings. I resisted their yummy toasted bagels and cakes at least! It was good to catch up and we always chat about our life goals and plans which is great :)

I had my final physio today. Not a pleasant experience over the six sessions, but certainly effective. I presently feel as if I've been trampled by a herd of stampeding wilderbeast (the same ones that fail to wake my teenage son as they pass through his bedroom!!), but tomorrow, or the day after, it will feel much looser.

Youngest daughter enters her teenage years today - does seem that long ago that we welcomed her into the world! Just another reminder how fast time passes and makes me even more determined to move forwards with our plans :)


8 comments:

  1. I had to crow bar the chicken house open this morning and the duck house, and just bashed them shut again this evening I am not complaining I am welcoming the freeze we need it :-)

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    1. We certainly do, of only to kill off all the bugs! I love the crunchy ground and bright sunshine :)

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  2. Yes we really do need some freezing weather to kill off all the bugs....we've had so many flies still around here as it's been so warm. It was a gorgeous frosty morning with bright sunshine, but OH couldn't get into the shed, the lock was frozen solid.

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    1. I used to get that with the car! But I'm loving this weather :)

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  3. The latch on our gate freezes shut when it's really cold (it hasn't got above freezing here all week). A quick squirt of WD40 soon frees the latch again. Don't know if this would work on any metal parts on your chicken coop if that's the problem. We had a wooden front door which used to swell in the rain and wouldn't open or close properly. I shaved some wood off it but then it rattled around in the dry, windy weather. Can't win x

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    1. The whole wooden lid had stuck shut and the little wooden door to the ladder was frozen shut too. In fact the only part that did open was the metal catch! This morning it opened fine so im glad I didn't rush into planing anything off the door!

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  4. This morning was our coldest sofar this year. The dogs lead had been left out and the lock froze solid, cats are bored but won't go out more than a few minutes. They are getting up to all sorts of mischief inside. Not grumbling really, love winter, all my winter wollies and my wood burner.Had a period with Kiropractor sessions in November 2015. Bawled my eyes out every time, she was brutal, but it has made a difference. Pam in Norway

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    1. I may need a follow up with the chiropractor for my neck. I feel the vertebrae need loosening. Not that I want to put myself through it - all that clicking as they manoeuvre your joints - YIKES! It's when they say "now just relax...." you must be kidding! No pain, no gain????

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