A Friction-free Move
The ducks are moving into the veg patch and they will have a bunch of friends for a while as I shall soon be getting in a batch of Pekin ducks to raise for meat. They will all need accommodation so today’s task was to move a garden shed from the top paddock, where Rambo had been using it to hone his headbutting skills, into the veg patch. It would need some TLC too.
We managed to heave it onto a barrow cart but the soil was
too wet and it just all sunk into the ground. Besides, this way we would have
to pull the cart the long way round as we wouldn’t be able to take the shortcut
through the gate. The whole thing was rather too unstable.
So Plan B was hastily hatched. We reverted to Stone Age
technology, using some old fenceposts as rollers. This worked better but the battens
that support the floor ran in the wrong direction and kept catching on each
post as the shed rolled over them.
So Plan C was put into action, a cunning plan which made the
most of the wet conditions. We managed to position two long decking boards
under the shed and used them a bit like railway tracks. The shed slipped easily
over their wet surface. Whenever we reached the end, I just tilted the shed and
Sue pulled the boards further along.
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| cornering |
In this way we quickly had the shed in the position we
wanted it. It is as far away from the planned new duck pond as possible to
encourage the ducks to stop off on their journey and forage for slugs.
While we did this the geese made the most of the gates being left open to wander out and discover the new pond I have put in at the back of the house. I can not leave a gate open for two seconds without the geese spotting it and making a break for it.
