Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Mother of Chaos]

@kattabelly , I just finished reading Ann Cleeves’ newest Jimmy Perez mystery, The Killing Stones, set mostly on Westray but some on Orkney proper.

Her late husband was a birder, so I kept an eye out for mention of katabellies (or Matabele, as my iPhone prefers), but no joy.

A good read, but I was crushed that on all the multiple ferry trips the characters took, there was no mention of a resident toting chickens with them.

 

[Perris]

The water main under the garden burst, again. Wondering if the repair will be complete before dark, or whether they'll work under lights, or whether they'll leave a girt big hole for the rain to collect in overnight...

 

[rural mouse]

Not as well as I and the eldest think he needs to.
The waiting lists to see various specialists is long, priority rightly being given to those who are unable to leave hospital. The whole business is painfully slow because the NHS is underfunded.

Heart attacks and strokes tend to be of the, one minute you're fine, the next minute you're dying, type of events. They're not just shocks to the body, they can effect ones outlook on life should one survive them. It's that outlook on life bit that determines the rate and completeness of recovery.

The eldest can only do so much during the day because she works. Luckily her company will let her work from home. My view is he needs to get outside in wild and in the weather as much as possible. It has that ability to put one back in touch with life and the vibrancy of nature.

Is he close enough to go to the allotment with you?

 

[kattabelly]

@kattabelly , I just finished reading Ann Cleeves’ newest Jimmy Perez mystery, The Killing Stones, set mostly on Westray but some on Orkney proper.

You mean mostly in Westray but some on the mainland
(Sorry I do know I'm being a pernickety dick but it's one of those stupid little things that really grates, for some reason)

Her late husband was a birder, so I kept an eye out for mention of katabellies (or Matabele, as my iPhone prefers), but no joy.

A good read, but I was crushed that on all the multiple ferry trips the characters took, there was no mention of a resident toting chickens with them.

Maybe there was one but none of the characters found it remarkable enough to pay much attention to

Pedantry tax: they aren't especially tame and usually grabbing them to put them back in the cage where they sleep is a bit chaotic, but tonight the chicks queued up and let me give them both an underbeak and crop rub before stepping up onto my hand for a lift into bed.

Everyone was so much calmer today with that cockerel gone.

 

[kattabelly]

The water main under the garden burst, again. Wondering if the repair will be complete before dark, or whether they'll work under lights, or whether they'll leave a girt big hole for the rain to collect in overnight...

I hope it's sorted quickly! Has much of the garden turned into a lake or is it not too bad?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

You mean mostly in Westray but some on the mainland
(Sorry I do know I'm being a pernickety dick but it's one of those stupid little things that really grates, for some reason)

Maybe there was one but none of the characters found it remarkable enough to pay much attention to

Pedantry tax: they aren't especially tame and usually grabbing them to put them back in the cage where they sleep is a bit chaotic, but tonight the chicks queued up and let me give them both an underbeak and crop rub before stepping up onto my hand for a lift into bed.
View attachment 4268186
Everyone was so much calmer today with that cockerel gone.

Haha, I wondered if you’d mentioned that.

Since I’m unfamiliar with the geography there, I kept Google Maps handy in an attempt to keep track of where all the characters, and it labels Orkney as “Mainland.” But then, their sycophantic leaders obligingly retitled the Gulf of Mexico, so they’ve proved that they’re unreliable idiots. Next I tried Wiki, which also called it Mainland, but then any idiot can edit Wiki. Finally found The Map Centre (I seized on the spelling!), and their Ordnance Survey maps called it Mainland, so I give up.

It does seem weird to me, because in Hawai’i, “mainland” refers to the continental US, not to the island of Hawai’i (the Big Island.) Orcadians need to start a campaign!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

The water main under the garden burst, again. Wondering if the repair will be complete before dark, or whether they'll work under lights, or whether they'll leave a girt big hole for the rain to collect in overnight...

Is it time to branch out into ducks?

I hope it’s fixed soon, and properly. “A Swamp for Christmas” sounds like a terrifically bad Hallmark movie.

 

[kattabelly]

Haha, I wondered if you’d mentioned that.

Since I’m unfamiliar with the geography there, I kept Google Maps handy in an attempt to keep track of where all the characters, and it labels Orkney as “Mainland.” But then, their sycophantic leaders obligingly retitled the Gulf of Mexico, so they’ve proved that they’re unreliable idiots. Next I tried Wiki, which also called it Mainland, but then any idiot can edit Wiki. Finally found The Map Centre (I seized on the spelling!), and their Ordnance Survey maps called it Mainland, so I give up.

It does seem weird to me, because in Hawai’i, “mainland” refers to the continental US, not to the island of Hawai’i (the Big Island.) Orcadians need to start a campaign!

I don't see that that's necessarily a problem. Maps don't usually include "the" in the name of somewhere, even when it would be used in speech or writing (the North Sea, the Hebrides etc)

 

[Molpet]

Haha, I wondered if you’d mentioned that.

Since I’m unfamiliar with the geography there, I kept Google Maps handy in an attempt to keep track of where all the characters, and it labels Orkney as “Mainland.” But then, their sycophantic leaders obligingly retitled the Gulf of Mexico, so they’ve proved that they’re unreliable idiots. Next I tried Wiki, which also called it Mainland, but then any idiot can edit Wiki. Finally found The Map Centre (I seized on the spelling!), and their Ordnance Survey maps called it Mainland, so I give up.

It does seem weird to me, because in Hawai’i, “mainland” refers to the continental US, not to the island of Hawai’i (the Big Island.) Orcadians need to start a campaign!

I was watching a travel documentary and they were discussing how that island was called mainland and confusing for tourists.

 

[Perris]

I hope it's sorted quickly! Has much of the garden turned into a lake or is it not too bad?

amazingly they are out there again now - when the day shift went home, I thought they'd just left it for the night, but now there are lights and action, and the night shift must have moved in. The tree huggers won't be getting much sleep! I was surprised they went to roost in the usual (quite-near-to-the-leak) tree, regardless of workmen in orange fluorescent jackets; they may be regretting it now Still, better than a big deep hole full of water in the morning...