Snow Day!

Well, I apologise to those of you suffering in the snow, but the weather today filled me with joy! I was able to work from home, so I did not have to struggle through the snow! All my clients were happy and accounted for by 10am!

I am so grateful that our boiler packed up a few months ago, as I woke to the sound of our nice new one working hard at six this morning!

Today has felt like a gift, time to relax and feel cosy at home! It has also been wonderful to hear the children's laughter as they travel down the little grass hill in the park at the end of our road. It isn't often that we are given the chance to simply stop, and as a Nation we have been given a little holiday!

Although we had snow falling most of the morning it was not as bad here as the rest of the country, listening to the local radio last night, I was so sorry to hear about people trapped in their cars but there were also some wonderful stories, like the cafe owner who had delivered over two hundred free cups of tea to stranded drivers. I think we are a caring nation, it is just sometimes we need adversity to bring us all together.

This has been a wonderful day, a chance to stop and enjoy the sensations, the crunch as it settles under my feet; the wonderful swirls and patterns left by the ice, there is nothing quite like the silence that comes with snow. A great opportunity for mindfulness, just enjoying the moments! What made a wonderful afternoon was that C had been sent home early so we had a lovely afternoon together!


The snow wasn't so popular with the chooks, they were reluctant to leave the coop this morning, usually they are squawking loudly! They spent most of the day in their little dirt den, which gives them an opportunity to scratch round the dirt, but protected from the weather as it has a little roof. However, Edna and Dolly were more than happy to eat the bird seed I put on the roof of the coop, their favourite place to watch the world go by!

What a fabulous day!

Vanals not chickens!

I don't have chickens, but garden vandals! The girls love to wander round the garden especially in the flower beds. I heard they really enjoy slugs and was quite happy to let them wander however, as gardeners they aren't all that successful, it seems they don't understand the difference between flowers and weeds!

Edna has a particular penchant for busy Lizzie's, the pots are now full of stalks rather than flowers! It is such a wonderful way to De stress, watching them as they scratch and peck! They are so fascinating and very inquisitive. They will follow me all over the garden, running full pelt to me when I step outside the door. (Of course I realise that they are just hoping for corn! and it isn't my chicken magnetism!) It is amazing how fast a chicken can run, it makes me smile every time I see it.

We have eggs!

It has been a glorious day, sunny and warm, I let the chooks out into the garden, they love scratching around. They would be really good at weeding except they don't know the difference between a plant and a weed! We have eggs now! I am like a child on christmas morning, when I go down to peep into the nesting box, finding an egg there! It is wonderful. They now have their own personality, Daisy will do abosolutely anything for corn, and is quite happy to be held and stroked. Edna is the escape artist, always looking round to see if she can find a way out! May has settled in well, following the others, but Dolly is the scary one, she makes awful squarking noises, won't be tempted by corn and generally seems to be a little bad temperd! Still, they are laying and (Dolly excepted) seem to be very happy.

This is Edna scratching around, the problem with trying to take their photo's is that they usally have their faces pecking the dirt and their bottoms in the air! Such a lovely girl!

Spaghetti!

Gave the girls some left over spaghetti today, they went mad! Running off with it in their beaks, and trying to grab it off one another! I don't think I have laughed so much for ages!

Yesterday C has been out visiting the various hardware stores, purchasing wood and netting, today he has been creating a new framework. We are designing a bigger run for them to be safely out and about while we are at work.

The cat ran away frightened when she came across a chicken so I think they will be safe! However there is another reason for the pen. When we first thought about getting chickens I thought it would be wonderful to let them waddle across our garden. C spent a lot of time creating lovely decking and seating areas, with nice flower borders and pots here and there. Now knowing how much they love to peck plants and the amount of poo they produce we thought it better to confine them to one area! Although it is supposed to be good for the garden, it doesn't look nice on the decking!

Chickens

I have always wanted to keep chickens, since discovering a coop at the bottom of my Gran's garden! Imagine my delight when I discovered you did not need a farmyard to keep these amusing creatures!

I realise the value of my wonderful man in my life, when he saw how I loved the chickens he was soon bidding for a lovely coop on the Internet! Only after we had a trip to the farm for me to handle the chickens to see if I can do it! Isn't it a lovely home? We are going to build a bigger run, so they have more room to run about when we are at work! So after only a week we have chickens! They are only 16 weeks old, and will be coming into lay hopefully the middle of this week!

If you ever feel stressed or depressed, then get yourself some chickens, they are such intelligent animals! It did not take them long to realise that I often came bearing a handful of corn, (chicken sweeties) and the disappointed looks I get when I don't give them any! However their favourite by far (and it did send them into a bit of a frenzy!) was the left over spaghetti! They really went mad on that! (in tomato sauce as you can't give them meat under any circumstances!)

They take themselves to bed very nicely as soon as the light fades, but a little run down to the coop at six is challenging at weekends. No eggs yet, but hey any day now!