I am now over Coburg and into Fairfield and Northcote (my stomping ground)!  That’s because we had our hard rubbish collection this weekend.

The general theory, agreed with Clive, was that I would throw out MORE than I collected.  I have definitely delivered this year (although there is still Thornbury hard rubbish to come … next week I assume …).

I started putting stuff out early. Last Monday I put out 4 bikes (we have a new ‘rule’ that we only have ONE bike each with Clive as the exception – he has 3), 2 boogie boards, an old bike pump, a metal planter and other stuff I can’t remember any more.  By Friday it was all gone.  Then I started the second round – bits of our old kitchen (the sink went straight away), building materials from our garage-to-studio renovation, some lovely teak and metal chairs that I collected in Hawthorn a couple of years ago (gone before I could say boo).

You know, if someone doesn’t take your stuff the crushing truck comes around and just crushes it.  So many great things gone forever!

Which is why I display all the good stuff prominently on the street, to tempt passers by.  And celebrate when it gets picked up!  The things that remain out the front of my house now are just bits of timber and metal that I don’t mind being crushed.

But… I am sure you are wondering … what did I get?

Well, amongst other things,  I got a chook house!

At Easter we collected some eggs up at the farm, and we brought them home (along with the incubator) to grow some chickens.  They traveled 4 hours with a hot water bottle, and I have turned them every day, and with all this effort they feel like ‘more than eggs’ now.  I was hopeful that at least one of them, at the end of 21 days, would result in a live chicken – that was until Saturday, when I accidentally left the lid off the incubator for about 2 hours, and they got cold.

I have prepared the girls for the fact that the black blob we can see through the shell when we put a torch up to it may not be alive anymore.  We’ll know by the end of the week.  If we don’t have any luck we’ll just have to get some more eggs, and try again (that’s farm life for you).

But, if they are strong little things, and do survive against the odds, we are now prepared!  This chook house is the perfect size for us.  We can move it around the yard easily enough and it is a great height for the kids to access the eggs.  It came with a little wire enclosure that I can add on so the chooks can wander about a bit without ruining all the garden. It is easy to open and close and the kids love the heart shaped door latch!?

Fingers crossed.