Weather Problems, Good Will, A Canada Goose? and "going light"

Now I won't bang on too much more about my Open Allotment day...
Even I am getting somewhat jaded with it's organisation
Suffice to say that after looking at the Met Office Weather forecast ( and around 10 other on line predictions) I have decided to postpone .
It's only a week further on ( the 24th of July) so hopefully my small army of cake bakers can reschedule their baking for seven days or so! New volunteers need to be conscripted, extra gazebos need to be organised and I need to re flyer the village again, but apart from being a royal pain in the arse ( I am working night shift next Saturday!), the "move" is do-able.
The forecast was for rain all day and blustery wind.......not a good backdrop for an outside event ........so I am hoping that the 24th will provide slightly better weather.I have a great number of people to contact today

Just a quick insertion here!...I have just contacted all of the cake makers from the village and all bar one is able to bake for the ammended open day date! Several have volunteered to fill in the gaps in staffing and I have also had three others offering to make more cakes for the day!

In addition I recieved a parcle from Dronfield in the Peak District  this morning filled to capacity with home made aprons and other needlework........thank you Kathryn for your contribution to the day....it is much appreciated

Anyhow on to nicer things
CJ the gosling is doing fine. He/she has now almost lost all of his baby down and is turning ( for the most part) into a somewhat beautiful black goose!.
With the lighter markings on his face...I am begining to wonder if he actually is a Canada Goose? perhaps someone could enlighten me?
 The "angel wings"  that I taped up, remain in a "normal" position , and by this weekend I will remove the bandage to see if he "looks" better.
Badger, the hen (you can just see him behind CJ'S neck) remains a constant companion, and by next week the two friends will be set up in their own  run outside with the three new bantam hens.
It is so sweet to see the two of them together.

Speaking of bantams, sitting quietly in the shed, and waiting to die is one of my old girls, a sweet natured bantam called Mary.
Poultry keepers will identify with the strange phenomenon of "going light". This occurs when a hen slowly starts to loose weight and her appetite and literally starts to disappear over a period of days or even weeks.
It is obviously due to some illness, but despite antibiotics, extra rations, TLC and other poultry  tricks of the trade, there is generally nothing you can do for these sad little birds except make them comfortable and wait for the inevitable to happen.
It is almost as if they give up totally and just fade away....

Funny...I have seen the same thing occur in patients sometime, it's as if the spark of life has left them in some way

This morning I removed her from her cage and placed her with the benign CJ and Badger. A bit of company won't do her any harm in her last days....even a dumb bird deserves a bit of companionship at the end eh?

Open Allotment 2010

I'm Knackered.
After four hours of open day, over three hundred visitors have ambled around the allotment and field, scoffed a trailer full of homemade cakes and downed a fair few gallons of tea out of china cups!
We are officially a success!
The weather kept fine enough for the numbers to exceed last year's event and this year I noticed a greater number of children attending (they got in for free too!!! which is not bad seeing that everyone entering got a cup of tea and a cake!!!)
I think we have raised nearly 520£!

Hazel with new boyfriend and kids in tow

Chris was on tea tent duties with my hard working sister Janet and Aunt Judy and her sister Bridget (top photo) whilst my elder sister ran the gate, raffle and all the produce sales.

The chap that brought his own allotment produce to sell, did a cracking trade and gave me a nice donation for letting him come, which was very kind

I made lots of contacts with other hen owners, a duck enthusiast, a pig breeder and even a couple of bee keepers from Dyserth, approached me in respect of setting up a hive here, so all the hard work has paid off two fold

Anyhow I have found the whole "open allotment" experience a very positive one. I have found the many small kindnesses very touching as many villagers have gone out of their way to contribute to the day. Apart from the ton of cakes baked by the ladies of the village ( and Geoff of course!)Jars of jam and bunches of beautiful lavender tied up with ribbons found their way onto the gate table with a score of freshly cut vegetables, potted up seedlings and cakes and scones all wrapped in clingfilm and priced individually ready to be bought. My sister in law dropped of a ton of goodies even though she has a lot on her plate at the moment and we even had a donation of some ancient allotment implements ( above) to add some interest to the filed borders

Thank you everyone for your hard work and big thank you for everyone who took the trouble to attend

I even got 2£ for my prize winning beetroots....result!!!

Ann's Allotment open

Ann's co-operative allotment held its first open evening tonight, with all proceeds going to a local Hospice.The small group of invited guests had a good chance to wander around the beds, ask questions and have coffee and cake and everyone seemed friendly , good natured and appreciative of what was on show. A local retired policeman Mr Cook seemed very interested in my allotment and poultry and asked if he could arrange a similar "visit" to my field in Trelawnyd, Mind you my allotment is not a patch on Ann's huge walled garden but I would be happy in showing it all off.

The chicks seem to be doing fine. Quiet, and still rather "depressed" looking, they totter around like little balls of cotton wool on pipe cleaners and don't actually look like they do anything else at all. Joan unlike the dogs, doesn't even notice that they are in the kitchen, mind you she is not looking too well today and has spent the afternoon on the couch, not moving even when William and George joined her for a while.

Judy and her sister Bridget called in for coffee and a fuss from the dogs which was a nice surprise, and I have spent the rest of the day gardening and clearing weeds from the back garden.

Chris rang from Canada and says Banff is beautiful. I am sure the views of the Rockies is lovely, I have seen the Mountain ranges around Seattle from the air, and I remember just how BIG everything looks.

He seems happy enough being over there, and not at all depressed as he usually is. I have told him to buy me a nice pressie .