On going backwards and other such things

We realised, with great joy at the thought, that this weekend is the first of five weekends at home. That's five consecutive weekends with only a few bits and pieces in the diary. With a burst of enthusiasm we've made ourselves a list of projects we'd like to work on, almost certainly more than we'll get done - but its good to have aims in life!

First things first though, the bathroom. You may have noticed we've gone quiet on that one, and that's because the project has gone quiet - in fact with no help from us it's been going backwards. We've hit two snags...

Where the sink was....

The first is that around a week after rejoicing in the final fitting of the sink, we discovered that it was not to be the final fitting after all. A very slow leak appeared, coming from a manufacturing fault in the sink itself rather than our plumbing. This one has been really frustrating as plumbing leaks we can deal with (usually by applying a hefty dose of silicon sealant), but a flawed sink means it had to come out and be sent back for a replacement, damaging the finish on the worktop in the process.

Getting ready to refinish the scuffs and other damaged caused by removing the sink.

Our other set back is that the paint on the wall in one particular corner has started to react. Slowly but surely its been bubbling and peeling until we could ignore it no more.

Since the corner in question is the one nearest the bath and shower we debated if humidity was the problem. We stripped off the dodgy paint, made sure everything was dry and applied a fresh coat - and within a matter of minutes it started to bubble up again. Oh.

After the first coat of base coat the bubbliness was still coming through a little
- not very easy to photograph though!

Time to pull in the big boys. Over the course of the weekend we've applied several liberal coats of Base Coat by Polycell - the same people that make Polyfilla, which is supposed to seal in whatever is behind and allow you to paint your colour of choice over the top.  So far we seem to be winning - but we'll have to keep an eye on it.

So this weekend has been re-painting, re-varnishing and putting up the mirrored cabinet that arrived this week.

Forward progress at last - fixing the new medicine cabinet to the wall.

In other news, we've taken the old bath to the tip, revealing the lanky grass that's been hiding underneath it, and bonfired away some more of the bits that have been covering our patio. Oh and Lemon is having her first broody spell of the season - we had a couple of warmer days apparently and she was off, hunkering down in the coop at every possibly opportunity - eggs or no eggs. So starts the annual battle of wills....

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In the Chicken Coop

We've just handed care of Lemon, Pepper and Frog to these two for three months...

... good luck guys!

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April in the Chicken Coop

This month in the chicken coop...

... it's birthday time. Our girls were born at the end of April 2012 and came to us in August of that year. We helped them celebrate with an extra handful of corn or two.

Early days with the hens - Pepper in particular looks decidedly young.

... Lemon decides spring is here and has had her first broody bout of the season. Funnily enough we've never had problems with any of the others but for Lemon it was a regular occurrence last year. It becomes quite a battle to persuade her to stop sitting on nothing and literally cool down!

Yes, she's even neglecting to sit on the egg that Frog kindly laid her.

... the sparrows are back. Both years we've lived here we've had nesting sparrows, followed by a dozen fledglings hoping round the garden. They make extensive use of the bird feeder and the girls love pigging out on their discards. We have great fun watching them charge across the garden every time they see a bird.

... and of course it's been a sad month with the loss of Fizzy. The other three have showed no signs that they've even noticed, but we've found it very strange to see them wandering around as a trio.

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Who's Who - One Year On

To celebrate the arrival of the hens on The Urban Cottage - and because we've now been chicken keepers for one whole year - we're declaring this to be Chicken and Egg week. Starting the week off - a guide to the girls themselves.

For all our new followers (you're very welcome), and as a reminder for some of our regulars, we thought it was about time we did a who's who in the chicken run. To add a twist we've gathered together the photos we took one year ago, when this was all new and before our garden knew what had hit it - just for comparison.

First up we have Pepper, the bossy boots of the coop and also currently one of the most tame. She's a full size light sussex.

Next up is Lemon. Large and very fluffy, prone to bouts of broodiness and very talkative (read: really loud). She is a full size Orpington.

Moving onto the bantams, we'll start with Fizzy. Fizzy's character is the most changeable. She can be shy or demanding, friendly or scared, top of the group or left on her own. It all depends on the weather it seems.... She's a bantam Orpington.

Finally we come to Frog. Small and unassuming, she's quick and nimble and much more willing to fly than the others. She'll enjoy a cuddle once caught, but good luck catching her! Frog is a bantam Wyandotte.

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