Update for Mrs Fickle

Mrs Fickle ( who is the American Mid Western (Minnesota ) version of Mrs Trellis from North Wales!) has dropped me an email wanting an update on the field animals. She says I have been a little neglectful on animal stories of late ( blame the royal wedding and my sister blog!)....so suitably chastised I will rectify the fact with an update.

playing "down" for the camera

Constance has a lame back leg. Its nothing serious, I think she has just pulled it jumping out of the car, but a little pain has transformed her from a fairly normal Bulldog into the biggest drama Queen this side of the Welsh Border!
For most of the day I can find her lying pathetically on her own sofa ( we have moved one of our couches from the living room and into the kitchen) and when approached she will groan loudly and offer her painful leg up for inspection and in a vain hope that she will  receive some gentle physiotherapy and nursey attention.
I have not seen such a good death bed scene since Margaret O Brien gasped her last in Little Women!

As for the field.....well in true Orwellian style, the power base out on the field has changed drastically since the selling of  Lizzy ( you may recall that she was the aggressive Bourbon turkey) Since she left for pastures new the three geese have taken over as the field bosses so to speak. The village children who come to collect eggs regularly do so a little more warily as Russell will be a touch more vociferous in his "defence" of Jo and Winnie....but so far the only extent of his aggression has been some over exuberant hissing.

The geese "patrolling" the field borders

The New Orpingtons

The New Orpingtons have settled in nicely, although I find it  strange that they are all singled out by Angostura the white Guinea Fowl for some consistent low level bullying. I now have a nice flock of 11 assorted buffs.

Ruth, the last ghost hen, spends the longer sunny days sunbathing  and resting. I watched her for a while this morning as she happily tucked in to bowl of corn and strange that it may sound, I did have a sudden rush of affection for this , the last survivor of the broiler runts that were delivered a year ago.
Perhaps it is a sign of the "small life" I now live, that a knackered old obese bird can have such an effect on me,, but affect me, she does. Ruth remains a kind of mascot for all of the thick-as-mince underdogs in this world.

Anyhow Mrs Fickle...there's a brief update for you.......I guess there is more to tell you,( William is on steroids for a skin allergy; Bunny the disabled hen died in her sleep the other night and Boris has been shagging the other turkeys like there is no tomorrow)...... but I need to get off to the doctors and have a million of one jobs to do in a "make hay-when-the-sun-shines" kind of way.........
It's a pity you live in St James ......we have an allotment open day on July 17th..with field tours, lashings of tea and homemade cakes.....you'd love it