First Frost And More Layers Than You Can Shake A Stick At

Letting The Girls Out

Yesterday being Johns birthday, I decided to let him have a lie in and went to let the girls out as soon as I thought it was light enough, that being 6:45. Thats not to say that I didnt think about letting them out earlier, but the thought of how cold it would be put me off slightly. What I wasnt ready for when I left the house was the frost. The mornings lately have been cold, but this really was something else for me. Rita and Alison hadnt been laying for a week or two, but to my surprise the was an Alison egg sitting in the nest. I like to think that she knows her eggs are Johns favorites and layed one especially for him to have for breakfast on his birthday. I did laugh a little bit when Marge padded off for a drink and seemed slightly confused as to why the water was hard. Given the freezing weather I hurried off home to say happy birthday and warm myself up a bit.

Picola Finds A Pallet

Back off to lotty in the afternoon I was there for five minutes before I realised I needed to go to the shops for some provisions. On my way there I noticed a wooden pallet in the car park of the high school next to the allotments, so on the way back I popped in and asked if I could have it assuming it would be the same size as the ones we normally get. Slightly off the mark it turned out to be about 6ft by 4 1/2 ft and extremely heavy. I do like to think that I can do everything myself, and I thought 'its not that far, i'll be fine.' I'll admit I should have gone and fetched John to help. What should be a two or three minute walk turned into a half an hour trek lugging or trying to drag the pallet which felt like it weighed as much as me. One jacket less and alot of sweat later I swung the gate to lotty open and announced that Santa had arrived. John seemed happy with my find and got to work straight away taking it apart. I did have a go at hammering the screwdriver underneath the planks and like every other time Im given a hammer to use I came away with a lovely bump and bruise on the top of my hand.

Roll On Spring

Yet another frosty morning today I decided it would be better to wear a few more clothes. So with a t-shirt, jumper, jacket and yet another jumper and two pairs of socks on we left the house and hoped I had enough clothes on to keep me warm, maybe tomorrow i'll pop on another top.

Rita and Betty came running out but Marge looked out and seemed to be in two minds as to whether or not she should go back to bed until the sun came out. Alison was sat cosily in the nest keeping all of the eggs warm. I did feel sorry for Rita who appears to have the same problem as me in keeping herself warm as she was standing up by the hut this morning with one foot off the ground shivering. Being Rita I think it probably meant 'John, im quite cold enough I think its time we were off home for a cup of tea and some toast.'

On our second trip of the day to lotty we got to work putting up the legs to the structure that is going to house our aquaponics system. Using wood from the pallet I found yesterday we attached the legs together and screwed in a few extra planks for stability. All we need now is the corrugated plastic for the roof and the tanks and we'll be able to start using the system.