It's not that simple Roberta. Many breeds are not built for the cold, and so do fare worse than others. And remember, domestic chickens derived from a tropical or semitropical species, the red jungle fowl. It'a an amazing feat of human ingenuity that we've been able to develop breeds from that species which are able to do well in the cold, but not all of them are as comfortable in winter. Ginam, do a search for chicken or bird enrichment, and I'm sure that you'll get all sorts of suggestions. The bird seed block is a great idea. Try also hay flakes spread on the coop floor, with or without treats strewn inside, evergreen boughs scattered on the floor or hanging from the ceiling, good leafy green hay such as alfalpha in a hay rack on the wall for them to pick at, a head of cabbage suspended from the ceiling, plain or with holes drilled for treats or mealworms, plenty of hiding places, hay bale barriers work great. Whatever you do, you need to change enrichment ideas frequently, to prevent them from becoming bored with just one, and have it become just another part of the daily routine. The most important thing to do to prevent picking is to provide ample space, not adequate as described in a square footage per bird in most books, but ample, in as much as possible. Good luck.

I've been to England only once on business before I retired. The gentry still take afternoon tea at about 4 pm. I noticed an unwritten protocol: When you first visit a business, the top mamager greets you first and has the first coversation and does the first entertainment. (He sizes you up.) Next, you are passed to the next in line of authority, and so on doen until you arrive at level where you both can go out on the town and party and talk at abandon. There is a way to cut your alcohol consumption at a noon time visit to a pub and still be "with the flow". Office workers often visit a pub for lunch. Instead of ordering a beer, order Chandry (spelling?). Chandry is made with 50% beer and 50% lemonade. its quite good. Of course, you can stick with sodas, too. Watch out for Guiness beer. Its alcohol content is higher than stateside beer. That was a smart move to hire a driver. He'll be your guide as well. You won't have to worry about reversing your driving reflexes. Driving courtesys are a little different than stateside - also parking rules. In small towns, parking is not allowed on main traveled roads and streets because the lanes are too narrow, that is, until after 3 pm or whatever the local ordinance is. After the parking curfew lifts in late afternoon, people are allowed and do park on the sides of the street. When there isn't enough space, they drive one side over the curb and park with about 1/2 of the car in the street. Even at that, sometimes meeting and passing an oncoming car is dicey. That's where the courtesy come in. The driver who intends to yield to the oncoming vehicle, flashes his headlamps. That's dome with the turn signal stalk, a common feature now on US cars. It wasn't always that way in the US. It got that way when US car makers copied European features into the turn signal stalk making our cars more compatible with the rest of the driving world. Whilst driving in the countryside, you may pass over a short bridge and notice that the concrete guard walls have pockets that lean outward. These are very curious. I was told these are pedestrian safeties!! If a pedestrain happens to be caught part way across a bridge when a fast car suddently approaches, he can get into a pocket and lean outward to permit the vehicle to pass. Don't sneeze. There's only inches of space between you and the vehicle. The driver expects the walker will pop into a pocket and probably won't slow down. Be aware of this. Most of the populance speaks an understandable version of English. However, old dialects still exist and is the "mother" tonge for some. A scot's brogue is unintelligble to a US born person. He may as well be speaking Celtic or Welsh. Once you get to know people, I found they were a warm-hearted and caring bunch. Steep yourself into the culture and you'll enjoy it. Be careful in hotel lobbies especially when you are occupied with checking in. Pick pockets abounded in London. I don't know about Ireland, but it does not hurt to use caution. If you see street urchins, mostly boys, lurking in the lobby, that's a tip off. The wife of one of my associates lost $8000 of jewels at the check-in counter. She was carrying her jewelry in a small bag. She laid it on the counter and a few seconds later it was gone. Guard your passport like it was gold. A passport is a highly marketable item in the undergound world. Loose it, and you'll have a world of trouble. Remove all references to religious preference from your billfold/purse and person when you travel on a plane that is capable of flying more than a few hundred miles. If perchance a religious malcontent tries a hi-jack, they home in on other religions for torment and object lessons. Don't let yourself be that object. This is a precaution only. Its not meant to scare. Airport security has improved from 10 years ago.

HalloBlondie, thx for your ideas. The part of the lawn that is inundated with the coarse grass-like clumps is all we have in front of our townhouse. Probably 30' by 30', roughly. We did plant a gingko where the elm was but it will take many years to supply the same shade as the elm... We'll give your idea some thought; we'd be renegades, tho, vis a vis the adjoining neighbor's front yards (kids sometimes like to play all the way lengthwise across the the long span of lawns that extend across the front yards of the 5 townhouses...) If we really redo the whole space by adding shrubs, etc, it would kind of preclude that type of neighborhood play. I am wondering if yourself or anyone can ID the main clumps of stuff in my first pic and LMK how what can be done about it.....

Well, it's certainly going to be tough. The cabinet in the photo is exactly the right size for the front of the sink, 27-1/4". Maybe I'm misinterpreting the specs drawing, but it also appears that the sides of the sink (which must be supported from underneath) are not parallel (the sink gets wider front-to-back). How she will install this sink in an off-the-shelf cabinet and make it look good, well, it'll take ingenuity!