Clearing the Patio

After the atrocious weather we have been having in our wonderful summer, we have been getting ourselves together and clearing the patio out. As we were re-arranging our garden so that chickens were more weatherproof, we have been tipping loads of stuff on the patio. Its been a bit like clearing the attic, I dont know how on earth we managed to create so much junk. Little by little we have made a space now and we can actually see our beautiful cedar decking. It just needs a bit of sprucing up with a preserver and it will look as good as new. I am looking forward to having the "sun" umbrella up and drinking a little glass of chilled white wine whilst waiting for the barbecue to heat up. We have put the chicken keeping courses on hold whilst we have been doing our renovations but we will soon be raring to go again.

In the meantime we have just hatched some gorgeous little Poland chickens under our broody whose name is India (because she is an Indian Game) a bit lacking in imagination that one, but she suits it. She reminds me of a pretty little bird. She is a typical female colouration that you get in garden birds, not flamboyant like a cockerel but she is stunning as she is. She is mostly dark but she has lovely markings on her feathers which light up in the sun. She is also such a sweetie and a fantastically dedicated mother. I will put some pictures of the chicks on soon so keep looking.

My Sister and Me

My sister, whom I love very much, has told me off for awful spelling. She cannot seem to grasp that technology runs, kicking and screaming, away from me as soon as I come near.  She is the one who has created these web pages. I have just learned to text. Not very well I might add. It takes me hours to do what comes naturally to her. Please stop giving me difficult tasks to do. Dumb it down. I'm not a typist. Or a good speller. Be gentle with me.
All my love
Your thoroughly exasperated sister
Jane

Courses for Horses

We have been getting into the swing of doing our Chicken Keeping courses for this year and we have to say that we have thoroughly enjoyed doing them. We have been very lucky to have picked some good weather for our dates and we have been very fortunate to have met some great people at the same time. Its a great feeling to know that we have passed on some of our enthusiasm for chicken keeping onto others. Keith is our main presenter as he is highly skilled from his years of holding seminars for the NHS. He delivers with a great mix of humour and attention to detail and I am very proud of him. I act as his sort of Debbie Magee and provider of the most delicious oven fresh scones for our Cream Teas. I have to confess that since we visited Cornwall I am also now addicted to clotted cream, so I can indulge myself whilst baking, and if I am lucky enough, there may be one left over at the end of the day so I can scoff with a guilty but very happy smile.

Duckies Now Appear to be Drakes!

Our 15 week old ducks that I had high hopes would be female are not quacking, they still sound like males. I cant say I am not disappointed.  One of them is a beautiful light colouration so he/she will be particularly good as a breeder.  The other is more like a Dark Campbell. They are fantastic layers it has to be said. My original 2 Silver Appleyard ducks started laying just after new year and have rarely missed a day. That is a fantastic record and duck eggs are marvelously tasty.

I have two more ducklings at 7 weeks old and they are quacking so at least I have females there I think.

Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Just watching the Queen's diamond jubilee concert and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  Robbie Williams rocks!