BLOG 28 🏡January 2018🌸

🏡A New Year starts….🏡 Seaton Beach looking good🐾🐕 Chickens are still laying, all the books say they take a break during Winter, but reckon as they were late starters –November– then maybe that’s the reason they haven’t stopped ? Grateful to the chickens still for all these eggs🐔🐓🐔 🐓Look at this tiny, tiny egg 🆒🐔 What do you reckon on the weird egg ? Didn’t use it ! 🐓Porridge for breakfast🐔 🐊 🐏🐑Can I say hello 🐏🐑Lovely Lyme Regis on a calm day..🏖 ☔BUT the difference on a very WET day !!🐾🐕🐶☔ oh dear ! 🏡🌊🐾🐕🏖🏡🐾🌊

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BLOG 29 🏡 February 2018 🌼

🏡 Bird Flu has hit a few areas of the UK so the whole country has to take precautions. So bought a disinfectant sachet to wash boots each time entering chicken run…. let’s see how long it lasts 🐔

See this huge egg….look what was inside, first double yolk 👍🍳

Decided to plan a vegetable plot & compost heap, think the plot is big enough ! Lots of homemade compost, great start.

🎃Already have saved pumpkin seeds so we’ll see if they grow nice & big for Halloween !🎃 A future blog, hopefully if they grow. So the Vegetable Diary & books have come out, started to keep a record about our last plot a while ago, of vegetables & fruit that grew well & the disasters too ! Choosing things to grow that you enjoy eating they say is best & not too many ‘fancy things’ so will decide soon & get planting…🍎🍓🍅🌶🌱 but when the weather improves !

This was before their dog walk at Lyme Regis Beach, not too happy with those towels !! 🐾🐕🐾🐶

BLOG 30 🏡March 2018💐

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SO what can be said about the 1st day of March ! ❄⛄ VERY heavy snow blizzards hit the UK with huge snowdrifts, hitting our area where normally it NEVER snows (not for last 5/6 years!) ⛄❄

Views from the house….here it comes !

Lyme Regis….. (photo on News) If only the Christmas tree was still standing, that would look so pretty.

The chickens seem ok with the snow, their drinking water freezing over so checking it regularly. Decided to cover the coop with a sleeping bag, an old blanket & waterproof cover & this was hopefully helping to keep them warm 🐓🐔

How much the weather can change in less than a week !! We were walking on beach at Burton Bradstock last weekend, just along from West Bay in brilliant sunshine ! 🌞 Think this snow is here to stay for a while, but hopefully not ! 🐓⛄❄🐔❄⛄🐓

BLOG 31🏡 April 2018

🏡 Decorating time ! Once we start it’s ok but it’s the starting that’s hard ! But we did start on the bedroom, deciding to match in the colours from the curtains including a feature wall colour. After clearing the room, made a start using Dove Grey, Taupe and Classic Red…..but would the Red look right and we were happy with it, but it took 3 coats to look right ! Finished off with Camel colour carpet & oak colour furniture matching the walls. Good job !

Next bedroom using Dove Grey, Victorian Lace & Princess again using colours in curtains. Also happy with this feature wall colour Princess. Having white furniture in this room, make a decision on having same colour carpet in all the bedrooms or different colours ?

Very different bedside tables, cute ! 📚

Moving on to next bedroom, lots of paint left, maybe use in other rooms ?

🐔New plastic roof going on for the chicks to hopefully help keep them dry. 🐔🐓

Cleared out Summer House, what a mess made by mice deciding to pull apart the sun lounger & use the foam for nesting !! Also eaten the grass seed & box, the bird food & box, they were lovin’ life in there !

And now a big TREAT of fish & chips at the seaside ! #lymeRegis #TheCobb 🌊🏖

BLOG 32🏡May 2018

🏡 Thinking about the colours for next bedroom, this bedroom is bigger and all the walls have artex so guess this will be fun ! Also will be a challenge as it has a very high ceiling with black beams, they will be painted to blend in, (if we can reach !),

not one wall is straight up & down so choosing colours is fun !

This end of the room has different levels and a “lovely stained” ceiling from the original leak through the thatch.

Would still like a feature wall which will have to be a lime based clay paint as it is the original part of the house before the extension, the other two bedrooms are part of the extension so traditional paint was used. Trying “Riding Hood” as colour choice for this wall. A project still to start, weather has been so good so been in garden so will be taking a while I reckon. Did start in September so all about it in Blog 37.

It’s the chicks ‘brooding’ time, started with Dawn, Pam soon joined her ! When we eventually gather the eggs they are so lovely and warm 🐔🐓🐔this ‘brooding’ could happen for days or weeks I’ve just read, I hope all four of the chicks are not going to be broody all together, not sure where they’d all fit !

🐔Nessa and Gwen….you next ? 🐔

🐔Help needed to drink 😉🐔

Managed to collect the eggs when Dawn moved out the Coop ! 🐔🐓🐔

Lovely Lyme Regis 🏖🌞🐾

Lovely Seaton Beach…..chill out time, sitting on a blanket with a Latte with just the sound of the sea, Wonderful x 🌊🌞🏖🐕🐾

BLOG 33🏡 June 2018 1 Year Living in Devon

🏡 Starting this blog with a picture of a visitor we had recently in the garden !! Also a small shrew arrived in the house, played at hiding very well but managed to get it to run into a box & put outside !

Views across to Axminster on our doggie walk 🌾🌻🌳🌲

What’s going on here ? ! Still brooding I reckon ! Only 2 eggs being laid at the moment so have a reasonable amount of eggs to cope with 🐓🐔🐓

🍓First strawberries & add some clotted cream, delicious ! 🍓🍓

Early morning in Lyme Regis, very quiet, started running this week, so a good idea to give it a try along the beach front with Katherine 🏃🏃

Went to visit Beer Quarry Caves, now me & caves do not get on but would wait & see when I get there to see if I go in, on their website description it says ‘no crawling involved’!!

Entrance to the caves….oh dear !

Great, a gate to escape back through if need to….!

Well, pleased to say it was very spacious inside so made it out again after the hour Tour which was informative! Still would not want to get lost in there, so when you buy your entrance tickets they also give you little red plastic squares so on entering the caves you hand your tickets in & on exit you hand in red squares & they make sure that same number been handed over, so no chance of hiding in there for the night ! Interesting but simple idea, think it’s all to do with people sometimes wandering off !! (Health & Safety).

My treat for being brave was a ‘Cream Tea’ after ! 🍰🍰 Nice to chill out for the day🍹

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BLOG 34🐔 23rd June 2018

🐔 Welcome today to Doris, our new Warren ginger chicken, age around 22 weeks. Always wanted a brown one too ! She’s been in the run with the others from early evening, a few pecks later Doris has stood up to them & doing fine, she’s quite the bossy one ! Just checked them all for bedtime & all nice & quiet in the coop, left the door open if she feels like moving around, but looking good so far 👍

Had been advised to gradually introduce her so put the fence panel inside the run, but she wanted none of that & through the panel she climbed ! So let her carry on🐔

Dust bath time, settled in well then ! Let’s see how they all are in the morning 🐔🐓🐔🐓

Update first morning Sunday… Doris sat in with Pam & Dawn this morning all cosy (they’re still brooding), all up & about now, great ! 🐔 Monday morning….bit of pecking with Nessa & Doris if they’re near each other !

As far as the brooding is concerned, have read that need to close the coop, stop them entering it & see if that stops Pam & Dawn ? Will let Doris settle this week & then give it a go, have just put door on side of coop for now to stop that entry & main door will give it a go next, Wednesday…..giving it a try & closed the coop 🐔🐓🐔🐓

BLOG 35 🏡July 2018

🏡The month of July started with a trip to Falmouth Cornwall, lovely weather, pretty place.

Our new chicken, Doris has started laying, tiny eggs🐔

Lacking eggs at the moment, one time we had too many to eat but the broody hens, Pam & Dawn, who have finished brooding now, are slowly laying again, but we do collect 4 eggs so getting there ! 🐔🐓🐔

A project started outside with all this wonderful weather is painting the wind-up Gramophone in ‘Clotted Cream’ colour, (like that name) we bought it recently ! I hear you say why ? It’s a project to strip everything out and put in a vinyl turntable & speakers, we’ll advertise items as spares. Have bought the turntable plus need speakers & cd player to finish it. It will all fit in the unit plus all our vinyls (including my Osmond vinyls, & on that subject did you ever read my Osmond Blogs if you fancy click here ! http://tinamckenzie.blog 🆒👍 Back to this blog ! So original wooden gramophone looked like this…..

Nice varnished lid keeping the original wood colour to finish it off. 🔊🎶

Ready to go ! 🔊🎛🎶🎵🎼

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BLOG 36🌻 September 2018

🌻 This was a surprise Sunflower, it just started growing next to our Bay tree, nice one !🌻

🌷Bucket found buried in garden when clearing it, so why not plant something in it !🌷🌹🌼

What a very HOT August that was ! When I look back last year at September’s Blog I started it with the line ☔What a wet August that was☔ You just never know what our Summer months will be like here in the UK ! So we had severe ❄snow falls⛄ beginning of the year & a 🌞heatwave Summer🌞 what’s next ?!!

🐓Time has come to put a Coolbox outside & make a sign to sell the eggs, we are back to the situation of too many eggs to cope with, even giving them away ! It’s a good problem to have but they must be eaten !🐔 Omelette tonight & maybe next night too !! Update:- Now we’ve a problem again with same two brooding again, Pam & Dawn, getting them out so many times during the day, after reading about broody hens we’re going with the plan to keep coop main door closed during day after others have laid ! 🐔🐓🐔

Pumpkins are growing & more on the way 🎃 looove pumpkin soup.

🍅Fruit & vegetables finishing, some tomatoes still going 🍅

🐔🐕🏡🐓🏡🐕🐔🏡🐓🐕🏡🐔🐕🏡

BLOG 37 🏡 End September October 2018

 

 🏖 We knew this was going to be a huge effort painting this bedroom, it has a very high ceiling with beams, it has uneven artex walls, sticking out here, there & everywhere !! But of course that’s the charm of the cottage, do not want to have straight smooth walls, it has to be quirky !

The beams are painted black but thought we’d like to brighten the room and painted them the same colour as ceiling. It’s something I wouldn’t have thought of doing and changing the colour but previous owners painted them black so wanted it brighter

….it’s the same as the original window frames when first bought the Cottage, all black, they needed changing as rotten & not double-glazed so changed to oak colour & against cream colour of house, very pleased.

This photo showing new window frames being fitted….

Finshed result…

Back to bedroom….Look at this end of room, all different levels !

Other end of room….

Ceiling painting too hard !

Now don’t be shocked by the ‘Riding Hood’ colour, which is a clay based paint due to old part of house, it does look better when wall covered.

Now it looks a completely different colour!

Skirting board all around was next as floor was replaced due to a roof leak during the time the house was empty, floor was sorted, skirting before carpet fitted. Job next is to varnish skirting & let that dry.

Door needed varnish…it has been moved from the kitchen, too many doors in a small area. The old bedroom door was short & as door frame was made higher this door is ideal.

Picked raspberry colour, should feel warm & cosy.