Always at the last minute!

So... we are on the eve of departure for our Christmas Break.Will was cheese making today.Yesterday, in preparation for our absence I blocked up most of the 'chook' pen entrance but left a gap at the top and fitted a ramp on the inside and a branch ladder on the outside so that chickens 'can' get in and out...but, the idea being, that foxes can't!I was most worried about the 3 little chicks being able to cope but miraculously come dusk yesterday everyone had managed to negotiate the obstacle course and everyone was roosting in the shed. It seemed it was all going smoothly....except this morning Arce, Iris, Long-Mu and Dou-Mu couldn't seem to fathom the way out again ('Up the ramp you idiots!'). I tried to coax them out with grain and lettuce but they couldn't seem to realise that they had to go up the ramp to get out. The 3 little chicks managed it and when their mum couldn't get out they just went back in again.Everyone else had a lovely day wandering the garden but the other four spent the whole day cooped up...but they have to learn.I went over and let the neighbours hens out and then met Will in town and we got some material to make curtains for the van.We came back, cut the material and Will got out his old sewing machine and he tried to hem the curtains. I set to making sure that if we needed to have the windows of the van open at night no flippin' mosquitoes could get in. I ended up sewing suction cups on to some mesh that we can stick on the outside of the van over the windows.Will was having no luck with the sewing machine, the thread kept on breaking so we gave up and ended up sewing the hems by hand.We got the curtain wires fixed up but had to stop at 6.00 because as it was Thursday we always go to Ballandean Tavern for tea. It was dark when we got back and we went to check the chickens....we counted who those who had managed to get back to the shed...2 were missing.Luckily we found them not too far away and lifted them back into the safety of the shed. Yesterday they had negotiated the way back in. Why not today. It was worrying because tomorrow we won't be here to help them if they can't get back in. We can only hope that come the morning they all manage to use the ramp out and get used to it other wise we will have to reopen the gate and they will be more vulnerable to fox attack while we are away.We had no time for TV tonight, we had more curtain sewing to do, Will went out to plant some plants in the dark, he also tried to remove the spare tyre from the van as it was flat but it was too hard in the dark. Then we wrapped some presents before the Cheese Maker retired to bed. He is getting up at 3.00 am tomorrow so he can be home earlier. We need to be heading off to Brisbane before 1.00 pm.He left me wrapping still more presents then I hemmed the last two curtains before I could sit down and do this.Christmas eh? Bah Humbug!