Making the chooks temporary digs comfy

Some of the rubbish removed from the chook shed today.

The girls testing their new perch

The new nest box filled with pine shavings.

Today I cleared the chooks temporary home of all debris and did a little remodelling.  First step was to rake and clean the actual yard and shed floor.  What a mess and can't understand why the old tenant left it in such a state.  Second stage was to take out the two boards the plastic nest tubs were screwed to.  Not an easy task in a shed with a low roofline and lots of chook mess about me, not to mention ancient spider webs I kept touching,  eeewwww.  Anyway, I got to work on the two pieces of timber, cleaned them up, measured and cut one in half with an angle to it so it would be easy to complete the task of making a new perch.  All the screws and timber were recycled from what was here or what I had in my bits and pieces box.  Once I had the timber cut, I screwed a length of dowel in place for the perch and then screwed the frame in place.  Didn't take the girls long to investigate and test it out.  They seemed quite happy with their new night perch and kept playing the jump on and off game for ages.  I then scrounged a plastic tub and filled it with pine shavings for a nice nest box, which help deter mites and lice.  Will be interesting to see if they use it tomorrow.

Twist them Turns.

The paddock that will be the main growing zone

The view from my back yard (kangaroos abound here)

Kelsey watering the new strawberry bed

I have found that life, in reality, is made of many twists and turns.  We can either fight against it, or roll with the flow.  So, I have decided that I will allow myself the luxury of rolling with the flow.  Two weeks ago I relocated to new digs, yes that's right, starting over again.  The old place became unliveable and to my way of thinking, unhealthy as well.  When I say I relocated, I have moved almost 30km east of the old place.  The new place is situated on slightly hilly aspect, with an iron bark forest over the back fence and an acre of dirt to establish my lovely food foraging zone and orchard.  Then hens and Elvis managed the uplift well and settled quickly in their temporary pen.  Snake, the cat,  became sullen during his first week of being entrapped inside until he got the idea, this is now home.  Once he was allowed outside, he settled well and began to explore the yard and attached paddock.  Strange how he never leaves the boundaries at all, but so glad all the same. On Sunday night I journeyed to nearby Murchison to pick up my very first WWOOFer to share the new place with me.  She is a lovely woman from America, with a very mature outlook on life for her very young 23 years.  Kelsey has proved to be a godsend to me here and in the first two days after her arrival we got a great deal done.  First we placed the chookmahal in it's designated zone, ready to have the fences and gate put up for the permanent chook yard.  Then we built the first garden bed and planted the strawberries from the old place in that.  Next we tackled the northern boundary of the paddock from top to bottom.  Raking rubbish, then barrowing it to the pit up the back of the garage.  We pruned low lying branches from the trees along that area and discussed plans for the entire zone.  Today we took a trip to Kyabram and spent the morning at Chat n Chew,  cups of tea, coffee and pancakes shared with a nice group of women.  Then back home to pick up the tape measure and mark out the area for the orchard.  Gazzoookkks folks,  we had to quit work when we were bombarded by the most persistant mosquitos I have ever come across.  They didn't seem to go after Kelsey so much, but my back, arms and legs are  now like a bumpy ski slope and extremely itchy.  A big thankyou to Kelsey who then researched organic mozzie repelants and found a good recipe.   25 drops of lemon eucalyptus ( or citronella) mixed with a tablespoon of vodka.  To spritz or drink,  that is the question .  All in all, I love my new digs and can't imagine ever wanting to move again.