Bank Holiday

Chris and I don't "do" the typical British Bank Holiday. We hate getting in the car to join the throngs of people stuck on the A55, and any local theme days such as "fun in the sun" leave us cold. So I donned my scruffs and started to strim the field and Chris had breakfast in bed, then retired to his study to work.
The guinea fowl disappeared last night into the next door field and this morning only the male could be heard chattering away like a deafening machine gun. Neither bird has returned to my field to eat, and I was not surprised when neighbour Ann passed by on her horse this afternoon with news that she had seen a fox in the stable's menage this morning and nearby was a huge pile of white feathers, we all thought that the white female had copped it!.
The news of a fox around is very worrying, and this morning I have reinforced several of the hen houses with chicken wire and metal catches. A snatch attack in the daytime I think may be unlikely as I am usually around and the graveyard always seems to have someone pottering around in it, so danger time, I think may be after the girls retire to bed....
The buffs, with their gentle inquisitive natures, spend much of their time watching passing traffic and walkers from the field gate. Little Pirrie can just be seen with them, posturing like a good 'un, and many passing cars stop dead on the corner to give them a second look
As Chris relaxed with his knitting (my first jumper is almost finished!) I cleaned out the pig enclosure. Nora watched my every move with interest and nibbled my wellies as I worked. She is less shy now and seems to enjoy the company of others, even though food may not always be involved. I am seriously thinking of having piglets next year...........

Typical of the British Bank Holiday, the rain started at 4pm, so I retired to the cottage for a bath and a relax. Steve has kindly agreed to lock the birds up for me later, Chris and I are off to see Coco avant Chanel (2009) Coco before Chanel,

Above one of my young cockerels, a fine looking black rock cross, of course I am not going to cull him

No news Sunday

After returning home after an all day shift I was ready for a home cooked meal and no big jobs....I did lock up the birds (the two guinea fowl have gone walkabout tonight, but they DID wake me up at 5.30am with their amazingly loud calling and trilling!) and then walked the dogs, but by 10pm all I wanted to do was to veg on the couch with a cracking black and white movie.

After trolling through hundreds of the sky channels, could I find a classic film..? could I cocoa!

I felt like an old Bette romp, such as Jezebel (1938) or In This Our Life (1942), but just where are they when you need them? Not on Sky or TCM that's for sure.

I had to finally settle down with a passionate Barbara Stanwickj in Clash by Night

Guinea Fowl and other new girls

I was given a pair of guinea fowl this morning, and flighty, nervous little things they are too. I agreed to take them as they are supposed to be an excellent early warning system against foxes and the like as they will shrilly call out when a predator is seen.
After feeding and watering these two, I let them out of the nursery run, and they promptly legged it into the hawthorn hedge that borders the field. Time will tell if they decide to stay or not

The young pullets I was given yesterday are still going through their initiation with the other more benign hens in their run, and minor skirmishes are the order of the day. Jill and Ruth (above) have spent most of the day hiding, and the pretty Lillian (below) only seems to come out when I am around to "protect" her. It will take a few more days for the new flock of 7 to gel properly

I am working tomorrow on a long day, so the rest of the afternoon I have cleaned out Kate Winslet and her chicks' run and and sorted out Blanche's broody box while Chris has made a HUGE show of cleaning the kitchen.......why is it dear reader ? ( and PLEASE SEND ME ANSWERS ON A POSTCARD PLEASE) when some men complete a job that their spouses are usually responsible for, do they need CONSTANT, AND NEVER ENDING PRAISE after it has been completed?

............perhaps it it one of those unanswerable questions that all relationships experience.

Apart form this hiccup..it's been a nice day

and finally.....

I want to end up like this...........
(not far from it...I can hear some people whisper...)

Ventures

Now I have absolutely NO idea of how to hang onions, but tonight I gave it a go with a length of raffia , no sense of style and a bit of old fashioned swearing. The effort was good enough to be praised by Chris when he got home from Ballroom dancing.....only another 50 of the buggers to hang tomorrow.
I have spent some of the day delivering posters for my next "chicken course" to various feed wholesalers,libraries, pet and livestock dealers and a chicken breeder. The chicken breeder is probably the best in the area, and while I will publicise his pure breed hens he will give my course a plug, which seems like a good swap.
I already have had two people enrolled so far.....and that is since I put the posters out this morning!
This afternoon another contact through my friend Helen at the feed shop, deposited some unwanted hens on me. I have not photographed them yet as all three are young, slightly stressed pullets which needed to be housed in a dark hen house, but I must say, they were a real bargain! two pretty pheasant buffs and a white pure breed hen.....to keep with the "Archers" theme I have named them Jill, Ruth and Lilian.....they have been housed with the other two new girls Shula and Peggy.
Old Mrs Jones called round before dusk with a little box of tomatoes for me all wrapped up neatly and with care, I had left her some duck eggs on her doorstep the other day and she wanted to repay the gesture. She is a small, vital woman with an eager eye and an infectious smile, I do have a soft spot for her.
The weather has closed in tonight, so I have caught up with friend Nige by phone. He is a good source of sanity sometimes especially as I have been worried a little over a close family member who has experienced some health problems recently. We chewed the fat for a while then had a frivolous conversation about films for an age...........the type of conversation only old friends can have
As I was talking the dogs collapsed around me in untidy heaps
Meg needs a haircut, me thinks

Beach

Height of summer and we were the ONLY people on the beach

I am 47 ....you wouldn't guess

Us in 1960 catalogue pose

Mixed Bag Thursday

Blanche hasn't moved from her nest, so it is fortunate that her tiny chick has been able to venture down the coop ramp to eat his first meal of chick crumbs. I have removed all the excess shells, so hopefully his mother will get off her arse tomorrow and show him round his little pen

I picked one of my best pumpkins today and in a fit of culinary excitement I banged out a pumpkin pie! I caught up with Nuala this afternoon which was great as we haven't chatted for an age....she couldn't quite believe that I had been baking for most of the afternoon!

The two new skinny hybrids are inseparable and extremely shy. I have an awful feeling that the scrawny black rock may be a cockerel but I guess time will eventually tell. I have named them Shula and Peggy.

I picked Chris up from the station in Prestatyn at 6pm, two days ago, one of the coastal trains (the one he usually catches) caught fire at Prestatyn station (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8221386.stm)..

Given the fact that trailer trash often seem the frequent these trains I suspect that a stray fag had been pushed down the side of a seat somewhere! anyhow on the way home I managed to snap a photo of the new "community art" instillation which has been erected on Prestatyn Hillside recently. (It is a half buried Roman centurion's helmet which reflects the Roman settlement in the historic Prestatyn)

Now some people would think that this type of sculpture is a waste of money, but I honestly don't!..I love seeing this sort of "art" next to the average semi detached or playground.

Mind you a new sculpture on the beach has been cordoned off from the public because of health and safety reasons.......apparently some woman tripped on a very visual step!

Modern Britain eh!

sigh

400 blows

It seems an age since I had the opportunity to "analyse" the naturalistic narrative of François Truffaut's famous 1959 movie, and it was all the better for not having 150 disinterested 18 year olds muttering in the audience around me as I did at the Sheffield Showroom days during film studies.

We sat back and really enjoyed 400 Blows, not because of the famous "Mise-en-scène" but because of the wonderful central performance by Jean-Pierre Léaud as the deadpan pre teen anti hero. His haphazard journey from an unloved family homelife to correctional school is heartbreaking and compelling, and looks as fresh today as it did 50 years ago.
8/10