TWIN LAMBS! And renovating a small room on a ZERO budget
Happy 'parents' to twins!
I am so happy to report that we have twin lambs! They were born tiny, possibly premature, but perhaps its normal for twins. The male, Basil, was a bit weak, but after 9 days they are both thriving.
If you've been checking my Instagram feed you will have seen Billie and Basil's progress, including bottle feeding for a few days. It was important for them to rely on their mum for at least the first 24 hours as she was producing Colostrum, full of goodies for their immune systems. After that we supplemented their feeding a couple of times a day until they started to put on a little weight and their energy levels improved. Little Basil didn't have a very good sucking reflex. He kept spitting the teat out of his mouth sideways, but his sister is a little greedy guts, so she's having no problems at all. In fact, whenever she sees a human coming her little face lights up and she walks towards us. Basil runs and hides behind his mum.
You can watch a short video of Basil feeding here:
Basil feeding week 1
The texture of their wool has improved too. Initially it was quite thin and barely a covering. When I scooped them up from the long wet grass on the day of their birth they were both quite warm, but shivering. It didn't seem such a long way to the shed at first, but they got a bit heavy after a while! Such sweet little things. Now they know to run into the shed annex for shelter when the weather deteriorates. We've also placed a steel cube, a recycled fertiliser hopper, as a mini shelter in the newly named 'Maternity Paddock', lining it with straw. They love popping in and out of that, playing hide and seek.
The fate of our lambs... Eek!
The other day I was driving home and overtook a semi loaded with sheep, all huddled together and felt sad that this is going to be the fate of our dear little lambs someday. We all feel a bit torn about this. Perhaps they will go to backyard people looking for a four legged lawnmower...
Renovating on a zero budget
In other news, I spent the entire day renovating our porch, the wet area, when you come in the 'front door.' (our house faces the valley for some reason, so access is through the back, into the loungeroom via a very small porch.) What a mess it was! Just too much crammed into a small space. It was driving me mad.
We had a fair sized Art Deco hallstand in there, which really was too big for the space. There were boots and shoes and mud and various doormats and dog stuff and my plant cuttings and umbrellas... phew! And it meant visitors really didn't have anywhere to put their shoes.
So, what was my budget for this reno?
Zero.
I had been mentally planning it for weeks. I wanted 3 shelves for my cuttings, for jars and potted out plants within the window frame where they could continue to get lots of lovely sunlight. Hubby found some bits of wood and cut them for me on the dropsaw after I measured what I needed. Now I KNOW it's not the neatest job you ever saw. And if you're a carpenter or woodworker, please don't look too closely! I wanted to do this project on my own, with all its inherent frustrations and a bit of swearing (oops, did I say that?)
I had to pre-drill the blocks that were supports for the shelves before attaching them to the window frame. I think the whole thing will look better when I paint it all white. I moved the hallstand out of the tiny room, providing plenty of space for all our boots and boot racks. I used my brand new drill/screwdriver to attach large hooks to the back wall for the long jackets and a row of lower hooks for Kidlet's jackets on a separate section. Next I attached the blocks and then shelves to the window, ready for the jars and pots. Recycling milk cartons meant no spills on the shelves.
I cannibalised a shoe rack for the floor to keep our boots tidy.
Look at the result! I'm really happy. The only things left to do are paint the shelves white and buy 6 blue containers for the cube unit of shelves, for consistency's sake. I can't wait to hear what the next visitors say when they see it!
I am so happy to report that we have twin lambs! They were born tiny, possibly premature, but perhaps its normal for twins. The male, Basil, was a bit weak, but after 9 days they are both thriving.
You can watch a short video of Basil feeding here:
Basil feeding week 1
The texture of their wool has improved too. Initially it was quite thin and barely a covering. When I scooped them up from the long wet grass on the day of their birth they were both quite warm, but shivering. It didn't seem such a long way to the shed at first, but they got a bit heavy after a while! Such sweet little things. Now they know to run into the shed annex for shelter when the weather deteriorates. We've also placed a steel cube, a recycled fertiliser hopper, as a mini shelter in the newly named 'Maternity Paddock', lining it with straw. They love popping in and out of that, playing hide and seek.
The fate of our lambs... Eek!
The other day I was driving home and overtook a semi loaded with sheep, all huddled together and felt sad that this is going to be the fate of our dear little lambs someday. We all feel a bit torn about this. Perhaps they will go to backyard people looking for a four legged lawnmower...
Renovating on a zero budget
In other news, I spent the entire day renovating our porch, the wet area, when you come in the 'front door.' (our house faces the valley for some reason, so access is through the back, into the loungeroom via a very small porch.) What a mess it was! Just too much crammed into a small space. It was driving me mad.
 |
| what a mess! |
We had a fair sized Art Deco hallstand in there, which really was too big for the space. There were boots and shoes and mud and various doormats and dog stuff and my plant cuttings and umbrellas... phew! And it meant visitors really didn't have anywhere to put their shoes.
So, what was my budget for this reno?
Zero.
I had been mentally planning it for weeks. I wanted 3 shelves for my cuttings, for jars and potted out plants within the window frame where they could continue to get lots of lovely sunlight. Hubby found some bits of wood and cut them for me on the dropsaw after I measured what I needed. Now I KNOW it's not the neatest job you ever saw. And if you're a carpenter or woodworker, please don't look too closely! I wanted to do this project on my own, with all its inherent frustrations and a bit of swearing (oops, did I say that?)
 |
| pre-drilling the holes for the screws using a piece of wood to drill into |
 |
| the support block after its attached to the window frame |
I had to pre-drill the blocks that were supports for the shelves before attaching them to the window frame. I think the whole thing will look better when I paint it all white. I moved the hallstand out of the tiny room, providing plenty of space for all our boots and boot racks. I used my brand new drill/screwdriver to attach large hooks to the back wall for the long jackets and a row of lower hooks for Kidlet's jackets on a separate section. Next I attached the blocks and then shelves to the window, ready for the jars and pots. Recycling milk cartons meant no spills on the shelves.
 |
| this cutting has grown terrific roots while in water for a couple of months, ready to pot up |
Look at the result! I'm really happy. The only things left to do are paint the shelves white and buy 6 blue containers for the cube unit of shelves, for consistency's sake. I can't wait to hear what the next visitors say when they see it!
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