Short blog tonight, very tied after a busy shift. mind you the daughter of one of the patients I was looking after, happens to breed poultry. I got talking about her birds (like you do) and hey presto , she offered me a young turkey hen.
Apologies for the brief rant about the weather, but it has pissed down all day today. My allotment is in dire, dire need of some sun to bring on the veg naturally, as some of the beans,parsnips are dragging their feet in the wet soil.
Compared to yesterday's sociability, today has been a bit of a bust as the rain has left me alone with my plants and chickens. Got a text from Sheffield mate Mike, who will be meeting me for a night out in the city on the 23rd,- which sort of kept me going until Chris got home.Off for a long clean bath now, with tons of dettol added.....doesn't half gets you squeaky clean after a dirty gardening day.
It has been one of those busy and nice days that sort of creep up on you, every minute has been filled with activity, even though I have only one cake made to show for the energy I feel I have expended.
Sister Ann stationed herself at the makeshift entrance and "shop" Everything for sale was grown and processed from her own allotment.
The turn out was respectable indeed, I think around 30-40 people turned up in small groups, and all got fed and watered, (my chocolate cake went down very well). The garden was immaculate.
Below Hazel and daughter Polly, with Aunt Judy.
Great neice Ellie and Tim turned up at around 7pm................and everyone else seemed to enjoy the evening. In the end Janet made 180 quid for charity.which was an amazing amount
Quick blog this morning, I have not had my coffee yet! When it was dark last night, I sneaked out to the shed and secreted the little black chick underneath Broody Nolan in an effort to reunite them after her attack on the little fella yesterday; so it was with a heavy heart ,that I checked on them all this morning.But the trick worked! and now Mz Nolan has five chicks to look after,
The buff chicks have also reached a milestone and now have ventured out into the big world for the first time. In a small way I am sure that I feel like a father does when his kids go to big school for the first time.I love this song. Heard it twice today, the first time was Roberta Flack's wonderful original, and the second time was the Buena Vista social club's latin American version on cd. I couldn't find the "social club's" musak-ish but ever-so-likable song on YOUTUBE, so will be content with Roberta.
The lyrics are stangely memorable, so I felt I had to research them on trusty wikipedia:-
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. The song was inspired by a poem by Lori Lieberman, "Killing Me Softly with His Blues", which she wrote after seeing a then-unknown Don McLean perform the song "Empty Chairs" live.[1] Don McLean does not wear his glasses when performing, thus the line "he looked right through me as if I wasn't there"
Not the best photo, but a tiny black chick was hatched out this morning. Hoping that Broody Nolan would take him in (3 days after the original brood was hatched) I sneaked him under her as she was sitting. Typically, she was having none of it and flung the little one across the cage time and time again. Quickly I grabbed the unfortunate baby and put him under the lamp in the buff's cage, the plan is to return him when it is dark (hens are quieter and more compliant at night) hopefully she will accept him then, but I have my doubts.The brown hairy thing in the photo is a stuffed teddy bear bought quickly from the charity shop, thought it might provide the chick with some comfort.
The buffs have been put into the old triangular duck house, and now have a large covered run and a small outdoor run. The weather has been too wet today to let the five of them out yet, but at least they have been set up ready. The low run to the left has the rabbit hutch inside it, and Broody Nolan and her 4 (hopefully5) chicks will be transferred into it net week.The field , as you can see has been attacked by a large number of moles.
Have not done a great deal outside, as the weather has been bloody awful, so got on and baked two cakes and a batch of fudge Brownies ( how bloody Betty Crocker?) for Janet's open garden evening tomorrow.
Had a nice evening last night in the village pub ( it was only the third time I had gone in since we came to Trelawnyd.) Met Geoff for a geeky poultry chat and ended up taking part in that bastion of Britishness, the local pub general knowledge quiz.. The Trelawnyd quiz is truly a "local" phenomenon, with pockets of elderly competitors bagging their usual tables and chairs (and bringing their own lucky pens)- we felt obliged to move as we sat in one such group's chairs causing a melee of confused milling behaviours.The whole thing reminded me of those Sheffield days , when Nigel,Ruth,Sarah,Al, Vicky and I all piled into the Princess Royal in Crookes for the Monday night quiz,lock in and hangover in the early nineties.
rts especially provided a twinkle-in-the-eye youthful welcome to the horde of visitors passing back and forth.
The poppies have run riot on the allotment over this weekend and finally the whole wild flower thing seems to be working. I have sown them in between the Jerusalem artichokes, which are not the prettiest of vegetables, and which tower to a height of five feet.
Broody Mz Nolan has been transferred from the rabbit hutch to the large cage beneath the 5 buff chicks. We have had another black chick overnight, so I thought it prudent to keep the little ones safe in the shed. The mother seems pretty doting and sweet with the little ones, so hopefully they may all survive these fraught first days
My Yorkshire patient sadly died on today's shift, but at least her family (with those broad Yorkshire accents and gentle politeness I miss so much ) had a good chance to say goodbye with time and what I like to think was a good support.