Dear Santa...for my PP Christmas, I would like....

[FamilyWiggs]

Almost needed another early present. It was an angle grinder to get the padlock of the oil tank recently when I lost the key and the oil was being delivered the next day. Turned up in Mrs. T's jewellery box!!!!. So, no angle grinder needed this year but my own key safe would help :roll:

Just don't forget where you put the key to your key safe! :roll:

Yes - I always enjoy emailing "fraternal greetings from the colonial overlords" to colleages on St David's day. They really are very expressive in their returns. 8)

On the Christianity wearing off MiLady, I have recently taken to describing myself as a "radical Anglican atheist". It sums up neatly my devout neo-Darwinian core mixed with my love of traditional ceremony and belting out a good hymn or carol at Christmas.

On the present thing, I've just bought an iPad and in less than 24 hours am totally besotted with all things Apple. It just works and is oh so very shiny and pretty!

 

[Penners]

I'm about to embark on a major overhaul of our hall, stairs and landings and we have very high ceilings. And I get very wobbly if my feet are much more than 18 inches above the floor.

Dear Moo, I'm very worried about the idea of you trying to reach some of the highest points of that stairwell with a ladder - particularly given your 18-inch altitude limit. I can't estimate the highest that you'll have to climb - that is from the nearest ladder resting point up to the highest necessary access point - but at the very least I think you should have some sort of properly braced ladder. Something like this (taller ones are available at greater cost):

http://www.screwfix.com/p/hailo-9312-combination-ladder-3-x-12-rungs/11709

It's not cheap, but then neither is domestic help if you're laid up for 6 weeks in a plaster cast.

 

[Feltwell]

Just don't forget where you put the key to your key safe! :roll:

Hmm - that's pretty much why I have one of these bolted very securely to a very discrete part of the outside of my property. I got fed up of phone calls along the lines of "I'm stuck outside with the kids and the keys are inside" and having to dash home from work to let them in. Admittedly Mrs F was heavily pregnant at the time and, by her own free admission, going through a very dippy phase!

http://www.screwfix.com/p/master-lock-5-key-combination-key-safe/77908

 

[Juju]

I announced a few weeks ago that I would like a dishwasher in time for Christmas. That caused a heated debate with Mr juju about where said dishwasher would go as we don't have plumbing or space for it. This then led to me saying ok I won't have a dishwasher cos it's too much upheaval and agreed I would be satisfied with painting the kitchen cupboard doors as a way of sprucing up the kitchen. Well, once we started painting the cupboards and liked it, we decided to go the whole hog so we have chiselled the tiles off the wall, removed the secondary glazing (very ugly), repaired the old window, and now ordered a new oven, hob, worktops, sink and guess what, yes I'm getting a new dishwasher. Yay result! (Even better all I've paid for is a tin of paint and a few brushes - Mr Juju has had to raid his savings for the rest).
I'll post piccies when it's all finished - which will be before Christmas. We must have a finished job to present to visitors!
Juju

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, Juju, how lovely for you. You must post pics.

I'm also worried about Moo going up on the platform over stairs. I like my platform from Wickes, and I feel safe on it,
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/170008

- but if I had Moo's beautiful hallway I'd be looking at mops, brushes and rollers on great long extending poles.

I didn't use the platform for the dining room as it's a total pain to move it around the edges of the room and I worried about marking the floor. I stood on tippy toe on a good step ladder, that's the best thing for me. You have to move it every 5 minutes, but that's easy, unlike the platform.

Oh, very jealous of Mrs Pford as well! We don't do surprise presents here. (because the house gobbles up every penny at a frightening rate)

 

[Moo]

I've been giving some thought to the matter of high ceilings, stairwells, and my vertigo, and have decided to take the sage advice of Them As Knows Better.
My builder has agreed that I can do all the bits that I can reach, and he'll then send in the painters to finish off the scary bits.
So I'll cross 'posh ladders' off my Christmas wish-list and put the money towards the painters' wages.

Now all I have to do is the really difficult bit - choosing the colour.

 

[Penners]

Thank goodness, Moo! A wise decision (with which I'm sure Mr Moo agrees).

Choosing the colour of the paint may, sadly, produce rather less marital harmony. In this house, it's always the closest that Mrs P and I come to armed warfare.

If only she wouldn't insist on having an opinion.

 

[LadyArowana]

Thank goodness, Moo! A wise decision (with which I'm sure Mr Moo agrees).

Choosing the colour of the paint may, sadly, produce rather less marital harmony. In this house, it's always the closest that Mrs P and I come to armed warfare.

If only she wouldn't insist on having an opinion.

Be thankful for the saintly Mrs P, it could be worse, I don't believe in having an opinion, I give instructions :lol:

 

[Moo]

Luckily for me, Mr Moo doesn't like getting involved in aesthetic decisions. He has far more important things to think about.

 

[AMc]

On the day I would recommend all those with a reasonable sense of balance to get one of those 4 section (11 different ways) ladders that can turn into a working platform with the additional metal plates. It's the best £100 ever spent for the garden and house.

I bought a 4 section 3 step one from Been and Queued when we lived in a flat with high ceilings and no storage (aboutt £50)
I more recently bought a 4 section 4 step one which is also very useful.
The video here shows how handy it can be - I used them for mine and have no complaints
http://www.laddersandscaffoldtowers.co.uk/acatalog/multi_purpose_ladders.html

Both are small enough to be easily portable and storable.

I probably need a 3 section ladder long enough to reach the gutters but then I'd only have my dislike of heights to excuse myself clearing them more often. And I'm sure if I went up there I'd see the facias need painting too so I won't be putting a ladder on my list.

 

[vicky whitworth]

I'd like to buy my husband some electric fencing for Christmas so that we can let the chooks out of their run but contain them in the orchard or on the veg patch (after the recent incident when they headed off to the pub). I've never bought electric fencing before. What would I need? I want to be able to put something up quickly and easily.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Vicky - you need green elecrtic poultry netting with a charger. It's the bees' knees - but not cheap. It needs regular checking and lifting awy from the leaves, you get very quick at pulling out the plastic posts and reinserting for better tensioning too.

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Hotline_Poultry_Netting_Kits.html

Ebay also has plenty. You'll need a battery from a caravan shop I believe. (mine's on mains) Get a 25, 50, or 100 metres of netting around your girls' house, you can dispense with the fox-proof run altogther. Honestly. Foxy doesn't come back for a second shock. Have mine ever been attacked within the netting? No. Have they been attacked outside of the netting? Yes,plenty. You keep them within electric netting and you've got happy free-ranging birds not continuously sifting amongst their own poo, and laying rich-yolked eggs. It's worth every penny. I've got a 100 metres around Shed 1 and am about to buy 50 metres for Shed 3 just for when we go away. (Poor Shed 2 takes its chances, but those little poots really need rehoming into 1 or 3)

 

[Feltwell]

Joce - given the care and attention that has gone into the glorious names for your various fowl, I am very disappointed to learn that their residences are termed Sheds 1,2 and 3. Far too agricultural - I do hope the chickens don't hear their country residences being described in such a demeaning way, it could shatter their illusions of grandeur you know. :lol:

 

[Feltwell]

On the day I would recommend all those with a reasonable sense of balance to get one of those 4 section (11 different ways) ladders that can turn into a working platform with the additional metal plates. It's the best £100 ever spent for the garden and house.

I bought a 4 section 3 step one from Been and Queued when we lived in a flat with high ceilings and no storage (aboutt £50)
I more recently bought a 4 section 4 step one which is also very useful.

Good to know. I've looked at those things before, and wondered if they would be too flimsy to be of any real use. The link says they are rated to over 23 stone, that leaves more than adequate room for "future expansion". Now, where did I leave that pie?

 

[vicky whitworth]

Thanks Jose. Do you think the cat will be OK if he touches it? Presumably it won't kill him or it would kill the chooks every time they touched it. In addition to the netting and the posts and the battery do I need anything else? What connects the battery to the netting?
Our two hens are the most expensive things I think we have ever bought after the house and the cars! OK, that's not strictly true but what with the hen house, the chicken run, the feed bins, etc, etc it's a good job the eggs are fantastic.

 

[tobydog]

I'm 15 stone and a bit on a good day and mine doesn't creek. My knees do!! Touch wood I haven't had to practice any old style parachute landings although I would reiterate that a sense of balance is helpful.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Joce - given the care and attention that has gone into the glorious names for your various fowl, I am very disappointed to learn that their residences are termed Sheds 1,2 and 3. Far too agricultural - I do hope the chickens don't hear their country residences being described in such a demeaning way, it could shatter their illusions of grandeur you know. :lol:

:lol: Shed 3 is "Mallards" (see E.F. Benson "Queen Lucia" series) Sheds 1 & 2 are headed for the bonfire. We need this, please Santa:


http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/The_Gypsy_Daydream.html

(and it will be called Gypsy Daydream)

Vicky, when thinking about the cost of your two hens, it's best to think about expensive hobbies like skiing, golf, yachting, travel, fishing, shooting. That will make you feel better. It also helps if you think of them as living landscape design - look at how much people spend on a pond or a patio!

When your cat touches the fence he'll learn not to touch it again, he might be a bit surprised, but it won't do any lasting harm. Your chickens will learn that a little brush with thick feathers doesn't matter but not to stand on it, that won't take very long either. The fence doesn't really hurt - I make Chris test ours with his fingers all the time as he's tough and doesn't care about a little shock. He wears wellies and socks though, if you're wearing sandals on bare feet and your soles are wet the shock is worse, which is how it is for an animal. The thing is they can't rationalise the pain like Chris can, so they just think nasty object - best avoided.

The collie that belongs to the sheep farmer using our field understands the sentence "It's alright boy, the fence is off" and "Careful, the fence is on!"with appropriate gestures. Amazing.

The kit on the Flyte So Fancy website comes with an energizer, that connects to your 12 v battery. I haven't got that system so can't comment on it in general, but am sure the Flyte So Fancy people would talk you through your purchase. I love them and won't use anyone else.

 

[Feltwell]

We need this, please Santa:


http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/The_Gypsy_Daydream.html

(and it will be called Gypsy Daydream)

£3,900 :shock:

Blimey. I suspect Father Christmas will decree that in these recessionary times the money's needed for your house!

I know you're not seriously thinking of buying that (I hope!), but clearly there are people out there that will spend that kind of money on a hen house, which is lunacy. I could knock something up which has the appearance of that, even if not the same quality, for a tiny fraction of that amount - and the hens would be just as happy with it. Even the infamous "duck island" was less than half that!

 

[AMc]

Good to know. I've looked at those things before, and wondered if they would be too flimsy to be of any real use. The link says they are rated to over 23 stone, that leaves more than adequate room for "future expansion". Now, where did I leave that pie?

I'm only 13 stone but never felt the ladder was under any strain. Mine both did duty during the 9 months of serious building - stood up to being left in the weather for weeks on end and generally abused by the builders. A bit of sand in the hinges has made one slightly more awkward to fold/unfold but otherwise continues undaunted. I even managed to fix the hinges when one of them mistook the catch locks for buttons not sliders and popped one out.

The page I linked to has a little video of the seller going through its various configurations which is quite entertaining.
I also reminded me of the "self supporting" ladder set up which I've never used but I now feel I should find a use for.
The horizontal platform made trimming the hedge a simple job for the first time.
The fold out step they now offer looks like a great enhancement for working at height with a paint tin or whatever.

@JoceAndChris can I suggest
Shed 1 = Buckingham
Shed 2 = Balmoral
Shed 3 = Sandringham

 

[Penners]

green electric poultry