A nice ripe pear (pair) and the Ghost hens are released

I have returned all of the borrowed chairs and tables to Prestatyn vicarage this morning and have delivered all of the raffle prizes to their respective ticket owners.
When I was in Prestatyn, I had a brainwave and called into the grocers to see if they had any ripe pears. I remembered that Boris was a sucker for soft fruit and although I had released him from his house early this morning I noticed that he still had not eaten anything.
I explained to the young girl on the till that I needed a very ripe pear for a sick turkey and she yelled my request to an unseen guy in the back of the shop!
After a minute or so the guy called back
"I can't find any pears but I've got a manky orange?"
"No" I replied..." He only likes a ripe pear"
"Don't we all" responded the shop owner with a chuckle.
After a few more minutes, they kindly found some fruit and above is a photo of Boris eating his first bit of food in over four days. The big guy looks dreadfully weak and wobbly at the moment, I only hope he may have turned some sort of corner

This morning I have also released the ghost hens from their prefab run. One fat hen ,caught up in the excitement of it all ran the length of the field on stiff fat legs only to return breathless ad fraught when she realised that she was alone.
They have not ventured far from their coop but it's early days yet......they are beginning to resemble healthy young hens

A Childhood Regret

AJ's on her blog " A Little Farm With A Big Heart" http://wwwaj-oaks.blogspot.com/ wrote a rather moving piece on a major regret she still has regarding a rather cruel but fairly minor childhood spat she experienced when at junior school.

It was fascinating that decades after the fact the perceived slight she caused still haunted her, and it got me to thinking if I still harboured some sort of childhood regret.
Do you know, I have!
When I was eight, school holidays in summer were always slightly boring affairs. My mother was never one for trips or "activities" so we were expected to play outside out of the way. Now this, we usually did ( my twin sister and me) except on those days that my grandmother called up. She did this at least three times a week and always in the mornings, where she would prepare vegetables for dinner,help with house work and iron the mounds of washing whist telling us stories about her wartime exploits in Liverpool.
Her presence was still a normal factor of extended family life that had almost disappeared in today's world, and as children we loved her warm and funny despot humour.

At lunch one day and Idea spring into my mind and thinking I was being clever I piped up
"You know Gran when you come up here, it must be good as you get a free lunch three times a week!"
I think I must have laboured the point a little too much as little boys have a want to do, and I only shut up (eventually) after my mother said quietly and rather uncharacteristically for her " That will do!"
My grandmother ate her lunch without speaking and I remember realising that I had said something wrong but not quite understanding exactly what it was I had done. She was clearly very hurt by my words and I still remember to this day, that "pang" of shame when I watched her cut her food up without being able to lift her eyes from her plate.
It was one of those moments that make you grow up just a little
Funny what seeps into your consciousness when it is pricked by someone else's stories and experiences !

Anyhow today it's back to normal.
It is just after 6.30am here and the first coffee of the day is just about to kick in. The dogs have all nosedived back to bed after their mornings ablutions and Albert is busy dispatching yet another vole on the kitchen floor...I need to clear the back shed of gosling droppings all of the gazebos and seating needs to be returned to Prestatyn Vicarage....and I am pondering what to do with old Boris if his antibiotics have not done the trick

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!!!

Casanova's still with us

Hurried post today.
Mr Sex is still with us, but looks very unwell.
All be can do is rest him and wait and see

Help Trundles in

The weather has closed in this afternoon, so my last minute strimming and weeding has been put on hold until tomorrow.
I have started to bake cakes and an apple pie for Sunday, and have been (nicely) interrupted by a steady stream of donations for the day!
Auntie Gladys must have been up at dawn baking as 60 neatly bagged scones were ready for collection at 10am, and this afternoon Pat braved the torrential rain to deliver two Bara Brith loaves.
Now for those that don't know, Bara Brith is a traditional Welsh fruit loaf where the fruit is usually soaked in cold tea. The Welsh name means literally "speckled Bread" and the loaf is served sliced with lashings of butter! It's delicious
Pippa galloped past with the dog last night stating she will bring her cakes on the day as will Heulwen and Pat's daughter Joanne, who has made a carrot cake. More sponges are winging their way from Sylvia from the Flower Show and old Mrs Jones ( the old farmer's wife I caught hanging on the back of a tractor a way back)
Chris, (the guy that owns Theresa the turkey on loan) is dropping off some old farming implements to display and another allotment holder Graham has just rung and agreed to set up a stall of his home grown produce for sale on the day!
Things are starting to come together

The Prestatyn Flower Show (and Boris update)

The Prestatyn Flower Show got off to a slightly wet but hugely successful start today. Entries were up a third on last year and must admit I was very impressed with the flower and vegetable classes
Janet ( twin sister above) wiped the board with firsts for her Orchid, Cut flowers and best garden in Prestatyn while Elder sister, Ann won for her floral art entries and nabbed the "best in show" award for one of her displays.......I was left somewhat in their shadows but was pleased I won a first for my beetroots!!!!

Below : a selection of show photographs:-

Janet's winning cut flowers

Cake and craft tent

The Flower and Vegetable Tent

My Beetroots were stunning!

Janet's winning garden

I had a nice mooch around the show with Meg tucked under my arm. We shared a ham roll and a cup of tea and listened to the Jazz Men musicians as the weather started to brighten just a little! I hope that our Trelawnyd Show is half as successful as Ann's show seems to be.

So this afternoon I am back in my dirty wellies and scruffy pants. Boris remains ill and droopy after his collapse yesterday. I have spoken to the new vet who is at a bit of a loss of what actually happened but suspects that because Boris has been so "preoccupied" with matters of the flesh,so to speak, he has become run down and has picked up an infection of some sort.

I gave him his antibiotic and sat with him for a half hour stroking his bald head. He looks very shaky bless him.

Crisis of confidence and a sex injury

I have a lot on today. I need to get my entries in for the PRESTATYN FLOWER SHOW, which opens tomorrow, and I still have tons of things to do before the Open day on Sunday.
I had a crisis of confidence about the day yesterday after I bumped into a few villagers who apologised for not being able to attend, Auntie Glad was one of those people, which upset me a little as at ninety she has always had the energy to ....having said this she rang with the offer of making a "few" scones for the day...... I had to laugh when she asked "will 60 be enough?"
I do so hope enough people will attend

So this morning, as I was planning which vegetable would be best to enter, I heard a strange dull thud and tuned just in time to see Boris fall to the ground after climbing onto Gloria to mate for the millionth time !
I ran over to find the old guy panting a little as he squatted on his knees and he did look pale and shaky. As he is normally fit and well, I have the awful feeling that he has suffered some cardiac type event after his mating exertions. How the hell do you take the pulse of a 15 kilo stag turkey? and what is a normal pulse for one anyway? I have no way of knowing
I know that hens run on incredibly high blood pressures and are prone to strokes and cardiac arrests, but turkeys?
Anyhow I picked him up and put him in the quiet of his hut with food and water and NO FEMALES to distract him. His head is down and he looked shocked which is not a good sign. I do so hope he will be ok

Last night I made black current jam into the wee small hours, and subsequently felt sick all night after tasting the jam too many times to see if the sugar had melted. The kitchen looks like a gypsy encampment at the moment, with everything piled up ready for Sunday. My sister Janet ( who is more than a list maker than I am) gave me her check list for the day and I think I have ticked every box so far.
Sometimes I wonder if it all worth the effort. after all , all of the money raised will be going to the
Church and not me! I could do with a few hundred pounds........I need a new hen house of the Ghost hens!
hey ho

A Little Victory

My babies have flown the coop, metaphorically speaking that is. Both Winnie and Jo, have been released in the duck enclosure and they have immediately taken charge over the three quieter magpie ducks. Out of , what looks suspiciously like devilment, they challenge the ducks with the typical neck stretch threats of adult birds, and tower over them even at the tender age of five weeks. I have tried to get them to come over and sit on my knee as they did only a couple of weeks ago, but theyare having none of it.

The Ghost hens have turned the corner too.(touches wood)

I sat and watched their antics yesterday, and all of them are now walking normally around their small makeshift run. They seem brighter and more alert in themselves now, and with some encouragement have even eaten cabbage hearts and sprout leaves, rather than their preferred pellets and corn.

They don't bicker or fight at all and will continue to lie out all together, even in the rain , but the frozen passivity that characterised their behaviour when they first came ,has all but disappeared.

The new hens have just about settled in to the buff coop. The delicate cochins with their big fat feathered feet that resemble scuba divers' flippers, are shy and nervous, but are comical looking birds..I have a feeling I will be buying a few more very soon......