Integration for the poultry nation!!!

Chickadees are about 12 weeks today and I'm desperate to mix them with the main flock and give them more space.

They are showing signs of boredom like flying at me every morning when I let them out. Black pudding and glen coco are the main culprits.

 We set about making a separate pen within the main coop so they can just look at each other and still be safe. 

We then made sure they had water and food and moved them in. As soon as we put them down they started foraging and scratching around.

I'm I'll keep checking on them every hour or so as their still a bit small and could get got at!

The worms are in!

My big bag of wriggly worms arrived and the wormery is ready to go!

Cardboard for bedding!

 Mix with newspaper and dampen down with a water sprayer

Empty your wriggly buddies into the nest materials with the compost they come I and a bit of your own if you have some

Add the top tray with your waste food and some more cardboard the put the lid on and let them settle in!

Keep adding waste tray by tray and when you get to the last tray the bottom layer should be ready to go on your garden! 

1 + 1 = aghhhhh!!!!????

The other  weekend we went to one of my besties surprise party. It was lovely to catch up with nearly everyone I love (there were some absentees) and celebrate our friend. I had some chats to some other mums and most of them mainly wanted to know how it was to go from one child to two...I'd had some panics when I was first pregnant mainly about managing a baby and W, I was worried he'd be sad or feel left out, I worried I would feel too torn and not give the baby or W enough....thankfully the human race doesn't work like this and very cleverly allows you space for each and every child you don't love one more than the other; a question we've all wondered of our own mothers.

Time however is a different matter there are times when W needs me just as I've latched E on to nurse, or W wants me to read or watch something with him when I'm cooking. It has and will continue to get easier as they get older so it's just a question of managing expectations till then I think.

Things that make it easier are slings!! I wear E for most of the day, apart from coming down for some food and a change. When he gets a bit wriggly or bored then he goes down for a kick about on his mat with a few toys nearby. 

Now that E can be carried on my back it's even better as I can cook and wash up and bend down! When he's on my front it still feels like being pregnant so is a bit limiting but so nice for cuddles.

Not the happiest face but he was about to nap! The sling is a woven Yaro Wrap

We also bed share so I'm getting so much more sleep this time around so I feel less frazzled which means I have more patience for W. This doesn't work for every family but has been amazing for us.

W's age has made everything easier too he's nearly 5 so is a bit more independent from me and more understanding of E's needs he's also very keen to help and hold E and entertain him when I'm tied up with something. The downside to have such

 a gap in age is that W is desperate to play with E bit he's still too little, a friend with older kids also pointed out that when on holidays you won't be able to please everyone with whatever activity it we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!