Bad timing and good footwork

I was due to go to Oswestry today to attend a meeting to discuss the Provision of Spinal Injury Care to patients from our catchment area, but as it had been a busy night I fell asleep on the couch when I got home and overslept the deadline of 9.30 am!

Subsequently the whole day has been knocked somewhat "out of kilter" but at least the main jobs such as walking the dogs on the beach and egg delivering were completed on time.

It has rained heavily all afternoon, so I capitalised on the soggy conditions by amalgamating the flocks for a second time. Cold and wet, the older hens seemed less interested in fighting and more interested in sheltering, so apart from a couple of lacklustre skirmishes, all has been peace.

The hen eggs in the incubator are due to hatch on Friday or Saturday, so I have moved 6 of them under the broody Kate Winslett (the buff that kept breaking all of her eggs!) and have moved her broody box in Halleh and Blanche's old enclosure. If she is careful, I am hopeful a couple of chicks will brighten her up as the duckling did for Blanche?

Chris is working away yet again (this time in London), so tonight I will have a bath, complete some phonecalls and have an early night. I think Chris has not quite recovered from his dance feast on Saturday! by the look of the photo (above-with my sister Janet looking glam in her new dress) they all seemed to have a grand time!

rabbit fight broken up by hens

I was e mailed by a friend last night asking if cockerels actually break up hen fights...well yes they do!!!!!...they are programmed to do so naturally and this video actually supports this notion even though the fighting is actually done by rabbits!!!
working tonight! bummer!!!

Genova

Seeing that Chris is flicking heels up with the gayest of abandon with Janet in Liverpool, I managed to persuade Hazel to bunk off work early to go to Theatre Clwyd to see the movie Genova (2008). We needn't have really bothered as it was all a rather pointless study of grief and the necessity of time and space required by the bereaved to cope. I was slightly bored by it all, and found myself staring at Colin Firth's new set of teeth for much of the film!
5/10

Saloon Brawl

The new girls Maureen,Patty,Jenny,Faye and Sheila have settled down famously, so I have let them out into their bigger run with cockerel Poppy, who accepted the newcomers with a conceit of a male that knows he has 5 adoring fans.
Fired up with this success, I fed the 12 adolescent hens still enclosed in their small run inside the main enclosure and on a whim I opened up their run and let the two flocks merge for the first time!
At first there was quiet!, then the old bald bruiser Mildred Pierce, clucking loudly to herself, waded in and launched an attack on the lead hens and Suddenly a calm, feeding scene was turned into what only could be described as a old fashioned western bar room brawl as both sides got stuck in.
The smaller hens and bantams ran around in circles screaming loudly and the braver hens slashed away with beaks and feet! I am sure that if there were any wooden tables,chairs and bottles of whisky around they would have been smashed with gay abandon.
Even Stanley, who would have stopped any fracas dead, stood stock still, bemused by the riot. I must have looked a bit of an old fart as I ran around shouting "STOP IT! STOP IIIIITTTTTTTTTT!" (as if hens with brains the size of an average peanut understand English!)
Luckily I had a yard brush in my hand and after several attempts managed to sweep most of the new girls back into their run. I also gave Mildred a good clack for good measure as she ran past spitting out a mouthful of buff feathers ....message to self, leave the teenage hens a little longer in their own run


Chris has been pretty stressed in work these past few weeks, so I think he is looking forward to the Ballroom dance night he is going to tonight with Janet in Liverpool. They have been practicing for weeks now, sparkly new outfits have been purchased and a hamper of goodies will be organised for them !....

Halleh

Halleh is now a buxom, robust and almost adult sized duck. I let him (or her- I haven't sexed him yet) out of his small enclosure today with the loyal Blanche in tow. He didn't venture too far but did laboriously haul himself into the pigs' old water bowl for a proper swim, and bath I will move him in with the young runner ducks tomorrow, hopefully he will team up with them.
William and Meg had to be tied up against the old bath, which is now housing my young tomato plants, and watched his antics with unrestrained interest.

The Archers Theme Tune - Barwick Green

Just for People not familiar!!!

A Funeral day

The view from the Gop is quite beautiful in nice weather, and I took the dogs for their walk slightly earlier so that people attending Mrs Ellis' funeral could park in our driveway. I didn't know Mrs Ellis, but it was clear by the hundreds of people that crammed themselves in and around the Church that she was a popular and well loved woman.

I was thankful that the weather was good this morning, funerals are hard enough to deal with in sunny weather but seem a damm sight worse in rain. The cockerels called back and forth to each other as the funeral procession passed by, I hope people didn't mind too much.
I wrapped up some duck eggs and packaged some broad beans, and took them to Mrs Jones. I caught sight of her looking the mourners arriving at the church from her house on the main road and knew it would be another particularly hard day for her. I am glad I called in.

I am a firm advocate for organising your own funeral; as years go by, and the number of funerals that I attend increases, my resolve for doing so increases tenfold. I won't divulge my plans too much except to say that I would insist of the theme music from The Archers when the coffin is carried in........... not too tacky????
pic @adam watson

Do I take my animals too seriously?

PS. If I EVER have a photograph like this taken of me and Albert (or indeed of any one of my 83 animals) PLEASE, PLEASE SHOOT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!