Wee chickens and wee guitars

So our babies are a few days old now and out of the nest with mama.

She is busily bokking away, showing them where to eat and drink.

Peck peck peck, bok bok bok, here babies, look!  Nom nom!

Heh heh, google surpassed itself again.  :D

They are still in their safe little pen in the chook dome but we have been fixing up the old baby chicken one ready to move them to give them more room.  We've safely raised a few sets in here, but the foxes have been so bad this year, taking out whole flocks of other people's chooks, so we are taking no chances with our babies.  We upturned the old cage and covered the floor with wire too, so now there is no way for a fox to burrow into it.  Good old Andyroo came to help me!

I quite enjoy this sort of job.  It always involves a lot of problem-solving and ingenuity and reminds me of the old colonials of this country and the way they made do with what they had on hand to resolve every requirement.   We used a set of old telescoping tent poles to reframe the base so the wire is more rigid without adding too much weight to it.

It's all set up now, and just waiting for me to decide when to move them.  It is forecast for some bad weather sunday and monday so was considering leaving them in the dome until then, but they really need a little more space.   Maybe tonight's the night!  If we move them by night, come morning they'll be more settled.

We've got shadecloth that we can put on or off depending on the heat of the day, and a tarp to throw over if it rains.  It's nice and close to the window so we can hear and see if any mischief is being got up to!

I don't hate foxes as some chook owners do. I appreciate that they do what they need to do for their own families, and I don't attribute malice to their actions.  However, even as a nature-loving druid, I draw the line at making it easy for them to make my pets part of their diet!

Me! Me! I'm your pet too!  Got anything to eat there?

We've also been keeping busy getting ready to move the closest shed back.  It's time to do some work on the west side of the cottage. I'm envisioning a verandah to replace the little blind, keep the rain off better, and make a fly screen door possible. Then, a shady tree, our vegie beds moved across, and maybe even a little lawn.  Yegods!   The luxury!

Why did we put it there?  Silly!

First, though, we had to level the area for the shed to move to, and to do that we needed to remove a long-dead peppermint tree, because we knew that, when it came down, whether on its own or with help,  it would come down right where the shed is going to go. 

Nice placement hun!

What seems like a simple project always ends up with so many steps to actually take before you can  get to the project itself.  :D

In other news, I got my Bday prezzie early!  Weee!

Want to learn a musical instrument and never have?  It's not too late.  Go get a ukulele, and hit the internet for all the cool tutorials, song chords and even local uke clubs you can find.  Before you  know it you'll be having a ball!  I only picked it up so I could get my youngest niece playing an instrument she could sing along to, and hey presto, another uke convert.  :D  Roo wanted his back so, hey, meet Cherry the Uke!  Maybe one day soon I'll record a song for you on it.

Art in all its forms inspires.  We had to go into Perth the other day and as I was walking along, I came across this sight out of the blue.

How cool is that block of flats?  Funky art and green balconies all the way, and only visible because some big building has been torn down and soon another one will be built and block this view again, maybe forever.

I'm feeling pretty chuffed today for another reason.  I finished the first draft of my latest book yesterday!  Yay!  73 715 words! 

It's my twelfth book, so I guess I am not as excited as I once would have been, but it is still an achievement, and it still feels pretty darned good!