Tuesday, 25 November 2014

The start of sports



The End of the year approaches and school is nearly out. I New Zealand this marks the start of the spring/summer transition. With our daughter about to embark on her schooling next year, we felt it was time to introduce her, and our younger boy to what will hopefully become an important fixture in their lives: sports. 

Athletics seemed like a good start and the nearby town runs a great little group on a Wednesday night. Our son loves the running and he always sleeps well afterwards. 


Friday, 10 October 2014

Monday, 25 August 2014

Building a hen-house on a shoestring budget

"Look! They laid an egg!" 
When we were told that we were being given six laying hens, we imagined it would be an easy task getting a henhouse and all of a sudden we'd be getting eggs each morning. No worries.

First of all, the henhouses and runs on trade me and other websites were in the range of $300 and more, plus they were tinny and barely fit three hens. We were going to need to build our own.

The early stages: Still in two parts
After looking a few examples off various blogs we follow, we decided on a simple run and a basic hutch with a door; big enough to fit an old shelf unit which would serve as the nesting area. Using materials we scavenged of the farm and corrugated steel left over from the shed, we were only left with the purchase of some wood and mesh.

The actual construction took a few hours over a couple of afternoons. Transporting it on the back of the trailer down to it's current position was probably the biggest challenge.

It still has a lot to be done; most notably more wood for the door and walls, but we'll get around to that in time. For now it serves it's purpose as a super-budget henhouse and the eggs are rolling in :)

Thursday, 14 August 2014