Motivated Motion

Oh, And Did I Tell You I HATE Pigeons?!

(you can click on any photo to get a bigger view, but back-page out of it to get back to the blog)

"I am not really one to be a killer, but in war sacrifices must be made."

Lynn Tucker
:from My World Is A Battle

Al, Cam and I took a roadtrip to Peterborough today.
Some University stuff should have been delivered to the apartment, Al wanted his bike to go up earlier than the load we take when he goes back, plus we had a grueling task ahead.

Peterborough is a 2hr drive from our Town of Newmarket. We drive on the country roads, and the farms want to educate us so every time we leave an area we get a sign denoting the products produced there. We drive through Sunderland which grows gravel (haha) Then we go through Cattle Country, and we know that cuz the sign tells us.



















Then we go through the area with the sign saying You Are Now In Corn Country.

Just past Corn Country is Little Brittain. A quaint town with an all-way stop, and a great Chip Truck. Just a few farms beyond the hub-bub of town there is a farm that has this field of sunflowers. The day was overcast so the flowers were unable to face the sun. Just the same I thought they were a spectacular site. We don't normally see whole fields of sunflowers here. Mostly it is Hay, Corn, and Potatoes.

















The last day we were in Peterborough we noticed this field on the way home. The faces were up to the sun in a mass of grand yellow.
They looked like soldiers waiting for the Elf King to pipe them into battle.

















We got to the apartment sporting a newer table to replace the old one inwhich the legs were falling off, hand tools(I love hand tools) and a whole load of zap straps (I love zap straps, and the biggest roll of Duck Tape ever!(I love 100 mile an hour tape!). We also had several pieces of steel strapping. The kind that are the base line of holes for the shelves that cantilever in them.


This view of the fields reminds me of an oldie:
(Seasons in The Sun)
We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun
But the hills that we climb are just seasons out of time.....
(click here to hear tune and see lyrics of the song)



We had three jobs. Pick up school info pack if it was sent. They said mid August....and still no pertinant papers. Second job was to put the AC in to the office window. Third job was to devise a structure that would hold bird net over the opening of the balcony so pigeons cant nest there.
Cam and I had meticulously measured the space we need and adjusted the metal strips to be the exact length we needed. We used mini zap straps to join the pieces of metal strapping together. We wrapped the long end of the tree mesh to the length (248inches) of metal, and zap strap locked the mesh to the metal.

We then used a metal glue as a secondary security to glue the metal strapping to a metal ledge at the roof of the balcony.(the strapping comes in varied lengths longest is 48inches, like this link) The primary holder were hi tensil metal clamps (the kind that look like booster cable grips). We created a second metal strapping lenth the same to create weight to the bottom of the mesh. We attached it to the bottom long side of the mesh with zap straps then rolled up the mesh around the strap so we could adjust the length of the mesh to exactly fit the space we needed to fit on the outside of the balcony rail. We then zap strapped the metal strapping the floor of the balcony by wrapping the zap strap around the railing posts and through the holes in the metal strapping. The pigeons cannot get in anywhere. and the mesh is taught and black so it doesn't hinder the great view.




This is how we found the balcony after a summer basically away from the apartment.
Some of the old mesh in tact, yet not deterring the birds. They would climb through the small space at the bottom of the balcony railing.
They lay eggs and lay eggs there. There are always eggs in a nest or babies in the nest and Alex doesn't want to kill the babies.

Notice the scarey owl is on the floor and pooped on.


We were gonna kill babies today. Egg babies. But the war had begun. Alex cut up the couch while Cam and I created the mesh frame I told about above. We got the mesh secured then went to eat dinner.

After we got that done we went to Swiss Chalet for chicken.....and burgers (just to prove we are the The Great Carnivors of The Battle).


If you're not from Canada, there are two places that represent Canada.... Tim Horton's Coffee shops, and Swiss Chalet Chicken. If you come to Canada you have to ask where the closest Swiss Chalet is. It is a rotissary chicken served with fries or salad and a secret (dont worry if you are on a diet it will equal salad dressing serving in calaries) dipping sauce. Plus your choice of fresh french fries, or salad. The restaurant also has Ribs and vegitarian choices and light fair for really low cal diets).

This restaurant is a huge Canadian chain. And there are no surprises for the customer. They can go to any Swiss Chalet and know exactly what they will get.







When we got back we had to get the job finished......










Alex had a couch on the balcony. It was covered in poo.
He sawed it up and wrapped it in tarps and green garbabe bags to protect anyone from the toxicity of the poo. Then Alex and Cam carried the wrapped battle ground to the dumpster.

Cam scraped poo as I swilled the cement floor of the balcony. I used Pine-Sol lavendar fresh. I scrubbed the balcony in full, ten times. Then rinced it twice.


A year ago we cleaned up a mess like this too. With a nest. So this time we have a sweet setup with our ingenious frame that is perfectly measured to fit the whole opening of the balcony.


Did I tell you I HATE Pigeons......!?
(sing to Seasons in the Sun)

Goodbye... you Pigeon Die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that summer is aware of
Pretty big messes every where
Think of ME you rotten pair!..........

We had joy we had fun
We had Seasons in the Sun
But the hills that we climb are just seasons out of time


By the time we finished everything it was late into the night, so the finished product pics have to be on hold till we head up next week or so.




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