"I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, "(Margo Channing)
End of an Era?
Strange as it may sound , I will miss all these older characters when they indeed shuffle off this mortal coil.
I feel even more wheezy today, and feel I have a slight temperature this evening. Drove to Manchester airport this morning to pick Ann and Tim up after their epic San Fransisco,Las Vegas and New York........They were very giddy after a wonderful holiday....I am looking forward to our trip new year.
Shouting at the tv
Back on vacation
Autumn
The field population has settled down a little from yesterday's disaster. Of course we have hardly had any eggs today but that is par for the course.. I have re set the electric fences and have treated the injured chicks with bread and wheat. Both of them look ok today.
Ewan saves the day
I grabbed a hoe and ran out to the field where the young dog from the riding stables behind the Church was bouncing through the fencing of the smaller run.I shouted and chased it through the graveyard, then went back to survey the hens and ducks.
The big buffs where hiding in their hen house safely and the turkeys and ducks all looked ok. Stanley had moved the larger flock behind the hen houses , so with a heavy heart I realised that the dog had centred his attack on the small juvenile flock in the smallest run. Two sides of the fencing had been knocked flat and I could only see one of the smaller white chicks (top of pic) walking in circles. Big piles of light feathers lay all around (with the quills pulled out by the roots) The smallest hen house was empty so I quickly checked the A frame ark where I found a rather shocked Rogo and the amber hen,Nonnie hiding there, Linda,Bunny and Susan were missing as were the three other small chicks (above).
Thank god, Ewan had spotted the attack ,even though he is not in the best of health, his prompt actions had probably saved many more of the hens and ducks.
I searched the field and found Bunny (a small black hooker chick) lying in a dust bath in the big enclosure. She was shocked and had been bitten but was alive, I placed her into her coop in the dark (hens can die very easily of shock and need quiet and warmth to recover) and after giving her some antibiotics and water went to search for the others.
After an age the smallest black chick (above) looking battered and worse for wear tip toed out of the long grass by the hedge and strangely allowed me to pick her up to rest in her own coop. The final "mottled" chick I found frozen and also injured up in the churchyard, but she certainly looked a little more alert than the others, and it took an age to catch her.There was something quite valiant, in the fact that all the smaller chicks somehow survived
There was no sign of Linda and Susan, and I suspect that the feathers I found was from one of them, but who knows?, I have been looking for them for most of the day.
The owner of the riding school was incredibly apologetic and agreed to pay for the damage that had been done, I just wish that she had properly invested in fixing her boundary fences, You may remember that I had already complained about the dog a couple of months ago
Mad as Cheese
In this instance, I think a letter that could be read and even re read, may convey the right message, or at least the message that I really wanted to share which could have gotten lost within a verbal interaction.
In the end I actually wrote 5 letters before I got back home and spent a relaxing 5 hours digging before Chris got back.
This evening I actually went to Church! The Harvest Festival service was a little more dour than I expected ( the Children's service was this afternoon which was probably the reason). The Church was decked out with fruit,veg and the odd tin of beans- and looked rather sweet (all the food was going to a homeless charity in Rhyl) We did have a fit of the giggles however, as we spied a very large box of tea bags in on the main window above the altar.Obviously it was the most "expensive" gift, so had a special pride of place, above all the tins,apples and bags of spaghetti.Most of the service was in Welsh ( in respect for the Village Chapel congregation which had come to support the event), but at least I could belt out the hymn "We plough the fields and scatter" in English......I love a good hymn
ps the "Cheese" reference is a direct quote from a newly appointed professor who works with Nigel...she was describing Chris............tee hee
Harvest Festival, new flocks and Stockport
The weather has been better today, so I have had a chance to watch the field population a little closer than of late.
The juvenile hens in the top enclosure have now formed into a tight knit little flock with Rogo in the lead. I will leave the 9 of them together as they seem to get on so well.
A Welsh Dick Van Dyke and City of Men
My chest still feels awful today, but lots of cough syrup seems to be helping. The damp wet day hasn't helped at all