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DIY giant castle

dollyanna

Alpha Buck
ETA this bit was written 3 days ago, I couldn't get the photos uploaded!!

Thanks to a couple of facebook freebies (an Ikea table and a single wardrobe!) Odin and Freja now have some new housing - rather stylish if I say so myself! I'm quite chuffed with it, chopped the end off the wardrobe to make the smaller tunnel, the door opens on top for ease of cleaning the big tunnel, the house and the small tunnel just pull away to clean. No floors on anything, and we've put a EVA horsebox mat under it all for warmth and a nice soft permanent surface.

Next task is to fill in the side to make steps up to the upper deck (another freebie, midsleeper bed) and to complete the floor above - until now they've just had half of it because that's what we had when we pushed all the bed slats together.

And then I need to make a fabric-hammock-roofed box to take the place of the cardboard baby box- they seem to really like snuggling into the dipped hammocky lid, so I want to make a permanent versio for them, and give them an enclosed box beneath too. For now it is also giving Odin a bit of reassurance as he struggles with new housing arrangements - seems to have worked, so far they have really enjoyed exploring and then falling asleep in the hammock lid!

 
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And then yesterday hubby finished the gaps while I was shopping, building two platforms to make steps to the upper deck, and extending the upper deck to full length with just an access hole. Eventually I want to cover this deck with foam too once I see how it works (and green comes back in stock, I don't want black or bright pink!). They now have a permanent platform for the catflap instead of the fold-up stools we've been using, and lots of gentle steps up and down. I think the access hole needs to be slightly deeper to get a better angle up and down, but they are happy enough, we'll alter that in the next couple of days to reduce to strain longterm.
They seem to know this is it, they've been so happy bouncing around it and we haven't had nearly the amount of stress humping we usually get from Odin when we change the boxes - and hopefully this means that big changes will be drastically reduced longterm, this all comes apart very easily for cleaning and then can be put back together within minutes.

 
Wonderful.

Thought that I saw a third pair of ears. Last set of pics. Bottom pic, top shelf. Think its actually a couple of pieces of kale!!!
 
Wonderful.

Thought that I saw a third pair of ears. Last set of pics. Bottom pic, top shelf. Think its actually a couple of pieces of kale!!!

Haha, yes, they have a wire rack that hubby takes great pleasure in stuffing with their leaves to get them stretching up and exploring a bit more!
 
So we finished the job today, finally extended it out to the full width of the summer house all the way along their run. And their lovely new flooring arrived too, EVA stable mats in a nice green, so they are fitted too!! Hoping it makes a nice warm, soft, non-slip and easy to clean surface, but time will tell if it is giant proof :lol: There are no loose edges so they shouldn't be tempted to chew (they rarely do anyway) but I'm not sure how it will stand up to any potential digging!
They came and helped us by standing on my back and throwing tools around, but seem happy enough, soon settled to munching on brambles and grass. It'll take Odin a while to settle down, but then there are no more big changes needed for the forseeable all being well.






Been hard work but I'm so pleased with it! In the long run it will be so much better for Odin's allergies, and so much easier to take apart and clean regularly.
 
You have to be super proudf of yourselves, I love it and I'm sure they will :D I hope it IS giant proof :lol:
 
Well it has survived the first night! The buns feel really happy about it, they are so full of cheek right now it's adorable, and other than redecorating with copious amounts of (easily swept up!) poo, they haven't destroyed anything yet! I think they like it :love::love::love:
 
You have to be super proudf of yourselves, I love it and I'm sure they will :D I hope it IS giant proof :lol:

Thank you, it's been a constant process of redesigning since the night we decided to try and bring Odin home, but I'm kind of glad we hadn't built loads of stuff in advance, because they have helped to build it by showing us what they really like and what works for them.
 
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