The last post of 2025, and as I sit, we’re right in the middle of ‘Betwixt-mas’. That weird time between Christmas and New Year, when the effects of excess cake give rise to the question ‘When Is Bins’? Frankly, I’m dependent on neighbours to know which bin goes out when. However, I am a master of my own destiny when it comes to the farm! Well, sort of.
Things not covered in this week’s report;
- The annual pilgrimage North to the in-laws.
- Unexpectedly large bills.
- Never ending dog barking.
Husbandry
Felis Catus
The cats seem to be slowly progressing upwards from spiders, through worms and on to mice. They’ve even been spotted making daft attempts on bird.
The move to mousing is rather welcome as we’re seeing more and more evidence of the mice in our storage area. As much as I don’t mind sharing with wild animals, they are starting to destroy soft furnishings.
We’re not entirely sure who is the better hunter, but we have seen Bonnie bringing in two small and formerly furry criters. The chewed up ball of mouse above didnt seem to quite make it in the door, much to Bonnies confusion.
Both cats are continuing to push their hunting boundaries. Bonnie has been seen in the lane, although she may have just been following us! While Clyde has started prowling the field!
And all this extra activity seems to be tiring them out. I’m not sure if they know about Christmas presents under the tree, but they really should have asked for a new box for their ‘main’ present.
Porcine
The piggies are really starting to grow now, and they definitely won’t let us forget a feed. The auto-filling water trough has gone down well; they even seem to have worked out thatthey need to take turns.
They’ve enjoyed a couple of extra feeds in the last week, having become something of a local tourist attraction. Well, the neighbours’ grandkids and other school kids have been to visit.
They’ve also been given the last of the windfall before it becomes inedible. That was a very happy day for the piggies. I think they may have gorged themselves as they spent the afternoon lying in something of a dog pile.
Megashed 2.0
Plastering Touch Ups
Last week’s write-up ended with the application of expanding foam and plenty of polyfilla to bridge some of the holes. The gaps were of my own making, where the boarding wasn’t especially tight.
Fortunately, the gaps filled up rather well, and once the filler was dry, it could be scraped and sanded back into shape. The final result was far better than I expected.
With the gaps filled and prepped, I could finish off painting the ceiling. Fortunately, I had precisely the right amount of paint!
Ceiling paint work finished and wall primed, the whole room was cleared out. The vapour barrier was tidied up and pinned down ready for flooring.
With the pallet scaffold piled up outside, the Megashed 2.0 looked rather rustic.
Top Coat
A new day, and the final layer of paint could be added!
I’ve opted for the Dulux colour of the year, Tranquil Dawn. According to various online articles, the colour should promote peace and tranquillity. It was also on offer at B&Q.
I had expected to spend a whole day painting the walls at my usual precise but slow pace. However, a visitor and long-suffering friend arrived, took pity and smashed it out in an hour. His extra height probably helped.
Final Window
When we brought the carport down earlier in the year, there was a small incident with one of the window cill pieces. Applying 200kg of flying beam to a plastic trim part doesn’t end well.
This meant the installation of the final window had been much delayed. After months of trying to find some second hand trim in a light oak finish, I finally had to bit the bullet and buy some new materials.
Once the new sill arrived, I could finally install the last window and seal up the whole building. While the addition of the final reclaimed UPVC unit didn’t significantly affect the heat, it certainly helped with humidity.
Flooring
With the paint probably still drying on the walls, my attention turned to the flooring. So far, only a thin 9mm sheet of plywood has been in place as the subfloor.
Over the subfloor, I’m installing a 22mm Caberfloor. The tongue-and-groove is glued together as the sheets are installed with a minimum of screws.
All in all, it took about three hours to get the flooring down. The trickiest bit is around the door where the ductwork comes up from the plant room.
While I was on such a roll with finishing the interior, I just couldn’t stop. By 9 pm, I had recovered the underlay and carpet from the downstairs of the farmhouse and reinstalled it in the shed. This is a level of comfort we’ve not enjoyed for a long time!
And the following day, we started moving in. Once I had my computer over from the farmhouse, the children descended, and much of the rest of the day was spent on Minecraft. A fantastic way to end the week.
Vehicles
Motorbike – BMW F650 ST
Regular readers will remember I had a rather unexpected but welcome trip out on a motorbike last week. Well, during the day out, I might have done a thing!
Through hit-and-miss texts when the signal allowed, I ended up buying my first motorbike. And as I had not yet returned the team bike trailer, an early Monday morning saw this beautiful machine brought up from the Midlands.
From the picture above, I’m sure you can see that within hours of the bike arriving at the farm, the boys were round and had it stripped down! However, towards the end of the week, I had the back wheel back on and took her outside for an overdue wash down.
In a rare breakthrough of warming sun, the bike was introduced to some of the other farm equipment and allowed to bake. Of course, it rained before I took her back inside! I won’t give too many updates on here; I have a whole separate blog for car and automotive things, BXProject.co.uk, which I hope to get back into shortly.
And that’s all for 2025.
I’ll be taking a few weeks’ rest from the write-up at the start of 2026, so don’t panic if you don’t hear from us for a few weeks. If nothing else, I need a few weeks to catch up physically from the Megashed 2.0 build.
Until next time.
NothingToFarm