Banana frenzy

Joanne from the village dropped off a whole big bunch of over ripe bananas this morning and I never tire of watching the pigs' absolute delight at receiving these small treats.
Gladys (above) is especially partial to the fruit and stamps her feet in piggy excitement as soon as you pull one from your pocket.

Deva Memories

It is amazing what you can find on the Internet when you are mooching around trying to keep awake! I remember this corridor very well from my student nurse days way, way back in 1983! The corridor linked several of the "back" wards to the main hospital, and was one of a whole spider's web of enclosed tunnels that made up the old Deva asylum just outside of Chester.
When I was a student the hospital was in its death throes. The push for total community care was just beginning to come into vogue, and the psychiatric care of the aging long stay patients although certainly old fashioned was I remember, always very professional yet based in tradition and habit.
I always thought, however, that no matter how much your tried to look at it, the hospital always looked Gothic,foreboding and at times totally terrifying!....

Nuns on the run

No sleep today- not even a quick 30 minute nap after nights-! next door is demolishing a wall or something so the noise is pretty constant, I can't complain though for as neighbours go they are the best
So I am a bit overtired to be thinking of blogging today, but this story in the paper did make me chuckle somewhat!! I just love nuns............

Three nuns who hurried towards Pope Benedict XVI's holiday home after learning that he had suffered a minor accident were stopped by police for speeding at 120mph. Sister Tavoletta, 56, was at the wheel of the Ford Fiesta, and two other unnamed nuns, aged 65 and 78, were passengers when police pulled them over.
When stunned officers asked why they were speeding, Sister Tavoletta said: "We had heard how the Pope had fallen over and we were on our way to make sure he was OK."The nuns were stopped while an hour's drive from Pope Benedict's summer holiday chalet at Les Combes. Earlier, the pontiff had slipped in the bathroom and fractured his wrist – new which caused great consternation at the nuns' Salesian convent. The trio immediately jumped in a car to try and visit him.
A spokesman for Turin's police, said: "Hopefully Sister Tavoletta will be making sure she confesses her bad driving the next she goes to confession. But in the meantime, she will have to pay the Euros 375 fine (£325)."

The sound of silence?

It is 11.20am. Chris has gone to St Michael's and the Church bell has just finished its 10 minute solitary call to worship. I have finished the morning jobs on the field and the dogs are all sleeping after their two staggered walks around the village and country lanes a half hour ago.
The cottage is silent.
Usually on a Sunday I will be listening to Radio 4 whilst pottering around the house. I always listen to LBC talk radio as I feed and water the birds early in the morning, but right now, as I jot down a few notes for my chicken course, tucked carefully away at my desk in the bedroom, I am enjoying the silence.
Of course, there really is no silence , even when you are alone.
There is the dull whirl from the washing machine in the kitchen as it battles yet another heavy load of dirty, animal stained work clothes............
Even through double glazing I can hear the "QUARK! QUAAARRRK!" from a trio of runners as they squabble over something minor by the lane gate and beyond them the deep baying of Scotty the last remaining buff cockerel drowns out the lighter crowing of Rogo and Roger........
There is the intermittent patter of rain on the windows behind my head, the occasional sleepy sigh from Meg curled up on the bed nearby........and far in the distance (although they are only 50 yards away) the thoroughbreds from the riding stables are thundering around their paddocks rather too playfully and with very heavy feet.

Even though I spend 80% of my time at home, I think I don' t spent enough time with just the above sounds for company, I don't think that many of us do. The radio is often my constant companion, and although It stimulates thought and ideas, those thoughts and ideas are mainly of external things.
Just now, It is nice to zone away from the bigger stories of the day, and think of other things.......so I am thinking of my introductions to my chicken teaching course!, I have planned to re organise my vegetable plots in my mind and have daydreamed of perhaps obtaining a new plot of land (there is a small plot potentially free nearby which would be away from the crop destroying chickens)
I have planned to do an extra shift that would pay for the car being serviced and I am looking forward to catch up with old friend Nigel in Manchester on Thursday evening.
Other mental lists get added to, in these quiet moments......I need to chase up my volunteer job at the Scala cinema on Tuesday (The Burma VJ documentary that I missed a week ago is showing there too!!!), The Trelawnyd Flower Show committee meeting is on Wednesday, the last one before August's show, and we always have mountains of jobs to complete before the big day and to cap it all my sister's Prestatyn Flower Show takes place towards the end of next week and I have not even organised my entries for that as yet.......
I need to get some antibiotic powder for Susan who still looks a little wan and the back garden looks a mess and needs clearing and weeding........................................
sigh.......perhaps I shouldn't be thinking too much..................there are just too many things to be done....

Date afternoon

Sometimes we don't make time for some of "us" time....I guess most couples that have been together almost a decade can get into the routines of work and jobs! and don't slow down enough to do something nice.
Today we made the effort to go out. I had a bath and dressed up in a clean set of clothes and NO wellingtons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, and we went over to Llandudno to have lunch at Osborne House!
The food and service was as usual top notch and the maitre' d, an efficient and friendly woman who could sell sand to Arabs, made a point of recognising us and served us personally.
I would love to stay at this small hotel just once, as the owners have restored it to it's original Victorian condition, and the individualised rooms look wonderfully ornate yet comfortable. After a nice meal there, you hate to get up and travel home....I could have sat on one of the overstuffed sofa with a wine,coffee and papers and made a day of it
I snapped a quick photo of Chris before his lunch but as you can see he absolutely hates his photo being taken.....

Chick updates

The baby bantams I was given a few weeks ago have turned out to be wyandottes and I hope they are two hens. I cut their wings, treated them for worms and housed them in their own rabbit hutch with Bunny,Roger and Mary.

Meanwhile Kate Winslett and her 6 tiny chicks have ventured out in their own run for the first time thanks to a break in the dismal weather. The chicks look slightly incongruous seeing that they are black (except one tiny yellow chick)..she remains a doting mother

Winter!

In an hour Autumn turned literally into winter. The wind got up and the rain lashed down in almost horizontal fashion, and all but the ducks scattered for the shelter of the houses on the field (including Halleh, who followed his flock into the A frame!
A huge tree on the outskirts of the village got caught up in the storm and came crashing down, right across the main road. Thank god it didn't catch any passing car! Apparently local villagers and farmers got stuck with chain saws and tractors and cleared the road before any of the emergency services could sort it out....yes all very Whisky Galore!

The weather seemed far too severe for poor Kate and the new chicks, so I picked up the entire broody box and placed it in the shed. I think that was the right decision because only an hour after the chicks started to show themselves. The two baby bantams that usually inhabit the shed didn't seem to mind being relegated to the cage roof, where they already like to perch. In a week or two the pair will be moved into the one spare small coop I have left!

This afternoon I made jam and finished Chris' expenses.....the rain has continued to fall

Autumn

The rain has lashed down all night, and this morning the field, as it did last year, has become a mud covered swamp. It is cold today, almost autumnal infact , and I have made sure that all of thew hen runs have extra cover as hens do not like to become wet AND cold!

Kate Winslett had to be prised off her nest this morning and would not eat and drink in her desperate efforts to return to her now six chicks.....not a buff amongst them as we have 5 black and 1 white baby, but all seem to be doing ok. I have put water and chick crumbs in small containers inside the broody box and will construct some sort of awning to cover the front poop hole as the house is tiny and driving rain could well get in with mother and babies.

The circle of life continues on its small way here: Poppy went yesterday and one of the very old hybrids, Rose (Blanche's sister) died in the night....yet we now have these 6 new babies, the 2 scruffy bantam chicks still in the shed and the 12 "teenagers" in the main run, which makes an extra 20 mouths to feed.

The turkey eggs in the incubator have not hatched as yet (they are due today!) I bobbed them in warm water earlier and no movement could be seen....shame! perhaps young Boris is firing blanks????

I will do the basics outside today and will, I think make some rhubarb jam and start to organise some of my teaching course which starts on the 27th!