This is our " Lying down" attempt.
TITLE " HENPECKED"!
All involved loved it.

Well, the pond is holding water! As yet---but I am ever pessimistic.
We now are faced with another problem. We have a proposed trip to Shanghia coming up in november, and we are faced with the issue of having our chooks minded. We had thought we had it all worked out, but that has collapsed, and we now need new arrangements.
Why do people not offer "chook minding"-- or chookeries--- like kennels? There must be lots of people who need this service. I am sure our chooks would love a change of scene.
We cannot really take them in our luggage--they would not get through the security screen, and what would we do with the eggs on the flights?
Perhaps we could get the scrub turkey to chook-sit.

The saga of the pool continues. First we have an emptied pool, very sad that and a lot of work. Then we need to dig our the supposed seal, get a plug, and an expensive new seal called Sikaflex, and a gun, to apply it, and off to work. These guns are VERY hard to work, ( at least for me), and it took ages. Now , as you can see, we have a grey mound of Sikaflex,and --- we shall see.
Meanwhile the poor water plants are in a tub. And, as you can see a nest of baby spiders has decided to hatch. WOW!

A whole month since we posted! How time flies. We have catapulted into spring and summer, all at once, it feel like. 32 o days and then back to high 20s.
Everything has started to move, and last there has been a bit of rain--not much but a few rungs on each tank. I even had to mow--first time for months.
We are having a lovely time with the scrub turkeys. The other night I heard a racket out in the back garden, just on dusk, and there in the silky oak, which is VERY tall was a scrub turkey, -half way up, being chahsed up from branch to branch, by our butcher babies. I cannot imagine how it got down. They cant really fly that well, maybe it hopped down the same way.
The other major excitement is around our (projected) pool. I have at last dug out the hole for the bathtub, in the creek bed. That, in itself was a killer, as the bed is nearly all stones.
Then ,the issue was to seal the plughole. Much consultation at Mitre 10 and I came home with a product that you have to knead until it blends, and the stick it in the hole.
So that was done, and thento my advisors next step, fill one third with dirt and worm castings, water and then plant water chestnuts etc.
Great. Then, the next step was to catch fish to eat the mossies, and Bobs you uncle!
All done except the fish-- much going to admire all this, when suddenly , no water.
Back to square one.
Lucky we had not caught the fish.
So today it has been,---out with all the dirt and plants, clean and dry, and wrestle with the hole AGAIN.
Will keep you posted.( if anyone has suggestions, they are welcome!!)
The other big job has been resiting the chook pen in preparation for our absence to Shanghai.
They now have 2 homes, home home, and holiday villa, with nesting boxes an all accomodation. What luxury. Edie has spent hours removing all the straw from the villa,no idea why.
They lay four fat eggs a day, and I am sure that is because of their adventurous lifestyle.