Abundance

I have an abundance of blackberries.  They are ripening and decaying quicker than I can use them.  They are putting down runners everywhere and invading every possible space.  Decomposing berries litter the grass and attract the wasps and gastropods. Part of me just wants to tear the plants down so I don't have to 'deal' with using them up rather than seeing them go to waste.

A strange mood has descended upon me.  I have been restless for days.  I watched the decline of my hen as she got closer to death.  I fed her berries unwittingly as the internal parasites fed on her.  I will never forgive myself for not being vigilant enough in examining her sooner.  I was due to get more hens this year but have made the decision not to keep hens anymore.  I can't protect them from the foxes without taking away their freedom and I can't deal with the health problems and ensuing vet bills.  I feel that a chapter of my life is over - and it is.

Where to now?  I just do not know.

RIP Comet

My remaining hen succumbed to fly strike.  I have bought her body back from the vets to bury in the garden.  I am going to dig up half of the wildflower meadow and lay her to rest.

A Hens Dream

One night in May, by the light of the perigee moon, Popcorn the hen had a dream.  As the moon beam shone down onto the hen house she imagined herself being carried by the moon beam and up onto that big old silvery face in the sky.

She couldn’t believe her luck when she landed. Flocks of hens surrounded her and welcomed her to the fold.  There was plenty to eat and gentle flowing rivers and no chicken there had even heard of foxes or farmers!

She spread her wings and gave them a big stretch and found that she could fly.  She danced a happy hen dance and then settled down to sleep.

She was so happy in this magical place she decided to stay there. 

R.I.P. Popcorn 

(Moon picture from my archive of photos)

A Heavy Heart

The sun is shining and my heart is heavy.  My big white hen died in my arms this morning.  I am so glad that she is not suffering anymore but I am sad for her passing.  I only have two hens now.  Polo was the hen that held the group together.  I don't know that I will ever keep hens again once the other two have gone.  I had an idyllic image of hens roaming free around the garden.  I had to scrap that idea once the fox population grew in the area.  I see foxes every day now whereas when I was a child I think I only ever saw one fox.

I am unable to find a vet who is knowledgeable or who even cares about chickens.  Many just see them as livestock.  Now I know there will be vets who do care but unfortunately there aren't any around these parts. In addition to this, chickens are susceptible to a wide range of health problems.  They need to be wormed every month, they can get red mites and become anaemic, if they eat corn they need to eat grit to break it down, they need oyster shell or calcium supplements to help them produce hard shells etc, etc.

If I haven't put you off of keeping chickens, I would urge you to research as much as you can about them before taking them on.  They are not an easy option and they do require lots of attention just like any other pet.   I didn't realise, until Polo got ill, that the large Sussex type birds are more likely to suffer from a prolapse due to producing extra large eggs.  If I had been equipped with this knowledge beforehand I wouldn't have chosen this type of bird as a layer.  Make sure you can find a vet that specialises in chickens too so that you can get expert help when needed and not driven into a panic like state as I have been over the past week.

Retreat

I am yearning to retreat.  I want to sit quietly and meditate and make the World go away just for a short while.  Since Saturday I have been dealing with a hen that has had a prolapse.  I clean her up, make her comfortable and keep my fingers crossed that the next day she will be well again.  Today I phoned the vets who the hens are registered with and was told that they don't deal with chickens.  They gave me the number of their sister surgery who told me that they don't deal with 'exotics'.  The original vets then phoned me after being contacted by the other surgery and told me that a vet would see my hen in the morning to 'fix' the prolapse for £90.00.  If I thought that this would work I may consider it but they had already gave me the impression that they don't know how to deal with poultry.  Tonight I have bathed her, cleaned her and once again isolated her from the other hens.  I hope that she will pass away overnight.  I cannot bear to think that she may be suffering. 

A Glorious Day

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far.  Angel clouds descended over my garden.

 The washing was hung out to dry and the hens roamed happily in their new enclosure.

 I spent some time outside getting to know them again.

 Popcorn is my favourite hen.  She is a bit quirky, like me!

 Gizmo was a bit bored with all the attention I was giving to the chickens.

 He skulked off down the path..........

...............and made himself at home under the hen house nesting box.

Finishing and Starting

I have finally finished making my fairy cards so it is time to move onto something else. After seeing the pictures of hens made by potato printing in the March issue of  Country Living magazine, I was inspired to have a go myself.

 I cut a potato in half and cut a crescent shape out of it.  I applied acrylic paint onto the potato in the colours of a chickens plumage and then pressed gently down onto paper.

 I produced these images after a couple of attempts,  OK, they are not fantastic pieces of art and have an amateurish cartoon-like quality about them, but the good thing is I know I can do better!!!

I need to refine the potato shape and play about with the colours too.  Why not have a go?  It is great fun and you don't need to be an artist to do it!

A Good Day

Today is a good one. See that shaft of sunlight across Popcorn's leg? Well, that is because the sun has come out!!! I haven't seen a glimpse of the sun for weeks!!!

I let the hens have a while to free range but they preferred to play games and follow each other in a circle. Daft birds!

A sunny but frosty day.

The cornflower blue sky fills me with so much hope.

I even managed to hang some washing outside to dry. So what if it is as stiff as cardboard when I bring it back inside later. At least I had the pleasure of hanging it out, listen to the birds sing and feel uplifted in a way that I haven't felt in ages.

I am humming the theme tune to Little House on the Prairie, imagining I am in a long cotton dress and sunbonnet and running up a hill! 'Da da dada, da da da, da da dada.............!

Storm - R.I.P

My lovely Bendish Blue hen called Storm has died. I found her 'asleep' in the hen house this morning. I posted about her back in May when she was very ill but somehow by a miracle she pulled through. She put on weight and started to lay eggs. Over the last week I noticed how light she had become and seemed to be off her food. However when I put some chopped up pear in the run last night she fought the other chickens for it!

I feel so sad. She was my favourite hen. I will miss the soft cooing sounds she used to make, her soft blue/grey feathers and gentle nature.

Goodbye Storm. I will miss you.

Under the Weather

Today was not a good day. The whitish/grey cloud hung low all day and blocked out all sunlight. A misty, murky soul-less day. The pictures in this post show pink clouds against a blue sky just moments before sundown. Let's hope it is a sign of good weather to come.

I have been feeling very under the weather. One of my hens who we ironically named 'storm' is unwell. Truth is I do not know if she will still be with us by morning. I feel so helpless and hopeless and downright rotten.

There is supposed to be a silver lining behind every cloud. Lets wait and see.

Fox Cub Update

Yesterday afternoon there were two little foxy faces peering out at me from under the junk pile. Luckily my husband and son were around to witness them.

Later that evening, just outside my dining room window I had the pleasure of seeing not one, or two, or three or four or five but SIX fox cubs playing out in my garden! It really was a wonderful sight.

Why did this event have to happen just as we get chickens again? Anyway, there is no way that my hens will be free ranging for a very long while to come. I just can't risk it. I won't disturb the cubs, or feed them but I have left some water nearby. I hope that they quickly grow into adulthood and move on. Then I will clear my recycling pile so that foxes won't be able to set up home again.

I tried to get some night time pictures of the cubs but they didn't come out clearly. I will try again tonight by the light of the full moon. Did you know that this moon is called the 'egg' moon? How very appropriate now that one of my hens has started to lay!

Tuesday Garden Rake No.4

You never know what you may find in the garden. Whilst emptying some vegetable peelings in the green recycling bin and under the canopy of the huge stockpile of recyclable goods we have accumulated, I heard a scrabbling about noise.

Out from the pile of old lawn mowers, the barbecue and assorted piles of tat, appeared the sweetest face. A little fox cub had come to see what I was doing. I rushed inside to get my camera and he was waiting for me.

After a couple of flashes of the camera he decided that he was better off within the confines of the recycling mountain and off he went.

Inside the greenhouse a pane of glass has been missing for a couple of years.

Its disappearance was caused by giant firework. You can see the scale of it next to the broom.

After much sweeping of glass the greenhouse is fit for use again (after we have replaced the pane)!

Outside the greenhouse is a nice little secluded area. I plan to smarten this up and read lots of books and eat lots of cake until the sun goes down and then I will sit by candlelight and take in the sounds and sights of the night until I am too sleepy to stay out!

This beefsteak tomato will be going into the greenhouse as soon as I have placed and sorted out the grow bags.

Some of the climbing french beans are in place and ready to wind their way up the canes.

Geraniums and verbenas should add a lovely splash of colour to the garden before too long.

A teeny tiny pear has formed beneath the blossom. I think it is going to be a good year for pears!

My dwarf Victoria plum has a minuscule plum right in the centre of the blossom.

The wisteria is in bud and about to bloom over the next week or so.

After the shock of seeing the fox cub I was equally shocked to find the first egg in the coop today! It weighs 30g and is not a bad size for a first one. Now, I wonder which hen laid it? I think it was probably the Hertfordshire Honey White as she was in the coop this morning.

What have you been up to in the garden this week?

Friday Cake Bake No.12 and a Little Eggstra!

I am so pleased to be back! I had a couple of days blogging break and then I lost my Internet connection!!! I have so much catching up to do. Anyway, here we are back to the Friday Cake Bake. Today I made a Lemon Tart from the Wholefood Harvest Cookbook by Rachel Hunt and Paula Cloonan. It has a wholemeal pastry base and is filled with ground almonds (sorry Lyn!), Muscovado sugar, butter, lemons rind and eggs and topped with lemons cooked in Demerara sugar and water and the water/sugar syrup poured over the whole thing.

I haven't made it before and am looking forward to eating it chilled from the fridge. I get through a lot of eggs with my Friday Cake Bake and general cooking so I invited some Hens to stay to supply me with lots of lovely eggs!

This hen is a Mimram Magpie. She is very inquisitive and talkative!

The youngster above is a Hertfordshire Honey White. She is a little nervous and I expect she is the baby of the group.

A beautiful St Pauls Walden Sussex (sounds posh eh?)

Last but not least the Bendish Blue who has lovely soft blue/grey feathers. They have settled in nicely and made themselves at home.

Here they are all together having a communal dust bath! They haven't been named yet but I have a few ideas in mind. Any suggestions on what to call them will be most welcome.

Have a lovely weekend. Hopefully I'll be spending mine in the garden and will report back for Tuesday's Garden Rake! x

A Mixed Bag

This week has been a bit of a mixed bag hence the title of the post. My peonies reached peak perfection.

We discovered this Dragonfly Sanctuary whilst on route for somewhere else.

If you click on the photo above you will see an electric blue dragonfly in the centre of the picture.

The views were stunning but you cannot tell the scale of this meadow by the photo.

A view down the stream.

Open space that just goes on and on.................

A family of ducks protected within the confines of the sanctuary.

Back home I have had some weird and wonderful wildlife in the garden such as the strange caterpillar above.

We have had many of these butterflies visit this week.

I haven't a clue what this is going to turn in to but it is very pretty in fashionable stripes!

This creature always features somewhere in the garden.

I've been busy painting creatures too.

A well-loved toy cat......

............and a curious pair of chickens.