Woe is me

I'm feeling ill again.
Feeling ill is rubbish, I hate it!!!

I'll post some pictures up before the weekend of some of the adventures I've had in the last few weeks (on the days I haven't felt poorly) including the wonderful Belstone village fete that John was asking for (but I didn't take that many) and some photos of the baby chicks who are growing up so fast.

I'm off to retire to the sofa to drink apple juice and wait for Midsommer murders to come on TV.

Jess x

Breaking news

Gwenny fairfaxs 4 eggs have all hatched.

Photos tomorrow as right now I really need to water the garden.

Jess x

P.S tomorrow is also my favourite summer village fete

Little weekend miracle

On Saturday whilst checking on the gang before going out to (a really rubbish) village fete Isabel came stalking out of her little box shrieking and growling like a mini monster. So (taking my life in hands) I had a peak in the nest and saw one of the eggs had a little crack in it, my first thought was that Isabel had stood in it and broken it, I carefully picked it up and heard it pipping so I popped it back in and left Isabel to it. This was what I was greeted with yesterday morning when I opened the box up.

This is the first set of chicks that I've (you know what I mean) hatched out and I've found the whole thing so incredibly amazing. Sorry to all those that this is old hat to but its mind blowing.
I put three eggs under her as she's so tiny so 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Ben's the daddy but I'm not sure who's eggs I picked out, I can rule out the 2 Welsummers and Maran, Tallulah the bluebell and wonky (her eggs are of a curious shape). I think I tried to avoid picking the 2 Light Sussex's (but can't be 100%) so in theory that leaves Boo the buff Sussex, margo, and sugar and honey the warrens. Hmm will have to wait and see.

Gwenny Fairfax's (the Cornish/Indian game) eggs are due this coming weekend, I put her and Isabel on eggs at the same time but after 6 days Gwenny had somehow got out of her little run and in with the chicks she may have been in there all morning for all I know so I ditched the eggs and replaced them with some fresh ones. She is being really sweet and docile which is very unlike her usual feral nature. I hope it may long continue and that she is as lovely to her babies as Isabel is.

Jess x

Roll on November

One of my mates emailed this to me last night



I've watched it like a million times since (ok so that's an exaggeration but you know what I mean) and every time I get goosebumps.

I'm so glad they're doing it in 2 parts and I really hope its as good as the book.
When I read the book at the end of the first chapter I slammed it shut in shock and cried. Oh how I'd have loved to have been a kid when these books came out.

Jess x

P.S if you want to see it not sliced in half (as my blog seems to have done) here you go

M.I.A

I am still here, just.
I've had a few things going on that have made me want to retreat into my own little world for a bit then I've been ill, then the broadband went down for a few days and now hubbys on holiday so we've been busy fixing fences and henhouses and gading about the countryside. Yesterday we went to Paignton Zoo I didn't like the crocodiles and walked round clutching hubbys t-shirt with my eyes shut (what a baby) but feel in love with these little fellas what a fabulous mustache.

I shall return next week with news of isabel and her trio of eggs (due saturday) my three new hens I bought over the weekend and the 4 ex, exbatts that I'm picking up tomorrow evening, my garden that I have been neglecting and stories of the village fetes I'll be going to at the weekend.

Right I must go and wake up the Mr, its our 2nd wedding anniversary today so I plan on taking him out somewhere, where he can buy me something pretty.

Jess x

catching up

So it feels like a while since I've talked about the chickens (and quail and ducks)
I'm planning a few changes and shake ups over in my field. So my flock of layers ruled over by gorgeous Ben the light Sussex are all laying like mad and enjoying dust bathing in the sunshine. My star layers are wonky, Margo and pixie. Over the weekend I'm going to introduce the little quartet of bluebells to their paddock. The bluebells are about 16 weeks old now and getting quite big. I expect ructions from cloud (my delinquent welsummer) and general superiority from Margo and pixie. I haven't given them names yet as I'm still unsure if I'll sell a couple of them or not. The little one who suffered quite badly from having her tail feathers pecked out and her vent damaged has come on great guns but I'm still worried about whether or not she;ll be able to get an egg out. A few times over the last couple of months when she's look uncomfortable passing droppings I've thought about dispatching her but we'll see what happens when she comes into lay.

The bluebells are currently living with the two adorable black silkie boys who are tiny but have suddenly become men, crowing (which sound so cute) and doing the little 'well hello there ladies' dance and trying to mount the blues (who are 3 time their size) up until yestrerady I've been umming and ahhing about keeping them to increase the gene pool when I finally get some Silkie hens to breed from. However yesterday these little balls of fluffy cuteness crossed the line. i let them all out in the morning and straight away they started hassling the bells so being as I was standing in their run I intervened and gave them a stern talking to about chivalry and how it was the decent thing to let the girls grab a bite to eat before trying to sexually assault them when the little monsters turned on me. Which would have been hilarious If I wasn't wearing shorts and very inappaortiate footwear. I was lucky to escape with my life. I almost fell over the electric fencing fleeing from the little devils and have some nice scratches on my ankles and a peck on my shin. So they are now officially on the market ( They are still adorable and my hubby laughed so much when I told him about it he got the hiccups)

The little gang of chicks are all growing up fast. There is definitely 2 cockerels there a light Sussex and a splash Andalusian (I finally figured out what he is) The other 5 Sussex's all look to be hens, and some of these I plan on selling when they're a bit bigger. My little auracana is such a poppet when I'm in with them she comes running over to me and stands by my foot cheeping waiting fro a cuddle. I crouch down and she'll hop up onto my knee then my arm and chatter away to me.
For this reason I think shes a she, not having any experience with the breed I can't tell by looking at her but shes small and dainty with no signs of any comb or wattles. She also very placid unlike the two little cockerels so I'm really hopeful. I'm also hopeful my Buff Orpington is a female too. To begin with I thought a boy as its wattles grew over night but so far its comb is still tiny and neck and tail feathers haven't grown longer. If this is the case it Will mean out of ten chicks 80% are girls which will be amazing. They are so funny as well acting proper childish, always being noisy and always being the last to go to bed. I'm sure I've seen Margo tutting at their naughty behaviour.

I'm planning on getting rid of Sawyer my welsummer cockerel, originally I planned on breeding welsummers for selling but I'm going to set up a group of rare breed chickens when I decide on what breed to get. Sawyers lovely but he's very much a big fish in a tiny pond and doesn't have the suave smooth romantic attitude to his ladies Ben has. It doesn't help that his ladies are all small and very fast, so his advances are easily escaped from. Also they have gone broody.
Primrose my little Indian game x wyandotte has been broody for a week siting clamped down in the nest box and sounding like a velocaraptor when ever I move her. I've been adding china eggs to her nest to see how many eggs she could comfortably sit on (about 5) as shes a tiny yet buxom little maid. Gwenny Fairfax the Indian game is playing at being broody and lays eggs in the same nest box, Primrose is also still laying too. Isabel the silkie cross bantam has gone broody too and every morning she's been escaping from her run and abandoning Jim Morrison (holly golightly) my big chief silkie to squish in next to primrose and fluff herself up. Tomorrow I'll finish the twin broody coops and select some eggs from big Bens run for them to sit on and fingers crossed will soon have some light Sussex and light Sussex x wels/marran/buff Sussex babies.

Sadly on Sunday morning sweet little violet, primroses daintier prettier sister died. I'd noticed on Friday afternoon she wasn't eating much but drinking a lot. I managed to catch her which was strange in itself as her and primrose are almost feral and hate being picked up and her crop felt full and squishy. I gave a a little olive oil and gently massaged her crop and could feel a hard little lump in there, I managed to break it up a little and popped her in a box with some water and yoghurt over night. Next morning her crop had got bigger and squishier so I gave her some liquid paraffin and some live maggots (from the fishing tackle shop) she ate these but it was blatantly obvious she was in a bad way. She gotten that tail down eyes half closed pose. So to avoid the stress of being on her own I caught sawyer and relocated him (much to his annoyance) and popped her back in the run with her freinds. She showed no signs of improvement in the evening so I tucked her up in the nest box all nice and cosy in a thick bed of straw. When I opened up the house in the morning poor little lass had died. Which in a funny way I was relieved about, because if she been the same in the morning Hubby would have dispatched her in the evening. She was tiny and very flighty and like my little silkie I lost last year to sour crop didn't have the constitution to regain her strenght, so at least her demise and exit was swift.

In happier news the quail are nearly all laying, only one more to go. Yesterday another laid her first egg and you know how tiny hens eggs can be when they lay their first well this new egg was half the size of the others I weighed it and it didn't register on the scales.
As for the ducks well thats another story in it self that I'll save for later as I've rambled on for ages now and I'm watching alfie out of the corner of my eye trying to catch a mouse thats scutterling about under the tv and better try and catch it before chaos breaks out. Or it runs over by bare feet and I start screaming like, was going to say girl but that makes no sense lol.

Jess x

P.S quail make really strange almost whistling sounds when they're laying. A world away from the shricks and caterwalling the chickens make.

P.P.S The bullocks are now trying to eat the leaves off the cherry tree.

Bullocks!!!!

So first it was the naughty puppy chewing plants, then the chickens destroying the lawn and up rooting shrubs, then ducklings squashing and flattening flowers and now I have these hooligans.


Please pray for the integrity of my fence.

jess x

Thursdays favourite plant

Late on parade again.

This weeks favourite plant is courtesy of my naughty puppy under gardener. One sunny day last spring when he was but a wee little bundle of fluff I was on the phone to my mum chatting away,after a few minutes I realised Alfie wasn't sat sleeping on the sofa

This was him then, you'd think butter wouldn't melt

I put my head round the kitchen door to see him destroying a willow tripod thingy (made by my fair hands)I rushed out to yell at the little tyke and saw the horror and devestion one small pup with small Sharp teeth had done. The little ratbag had chewed through a clematis right down the base. Needless to say it never flowered last year and I was not a happy bunny.

However that little monkey actually did me and the clematis a favour, as this year its flowering its socks off from the ground right up to the dizzying heights of my climbing rose.

Clematis 'Ruby Glow'

There are two more clematis in the garden that are making my heart sing right now (as well as two montanas but these are at the top of the garden on the fence being nibbled by some cheeky young bullocks in the field, buts that's another story).

I have no idea what this one is, I picked it up at the end of march as a pot with a half dead looking twig at the village hardware store for 50p.

And the beautiful Guernsey Cream

Which I also picked up at the plant graveyard section of a local nursery. Everyone has space somewhere in their garden for a clematis. I've planted about 4 or 5 where ruby glow is, all beautifully tangled around the bare bottom of my old climbing rose. Remember to always plant them deeper than they are in the pot, you want to bury the first set of shoots. This will encourage great roots and will cut down the risk of the plant getting clematis wilt Clematis like their roots in the shade and their heads in the sun so cover the area where the roots are with a thick mulch or some piled up stones. One more thing some clematis flowers are prone to fading in bright full sun like the pink and white candy striped 'Nelly Moser' Plant them somewhere on the shadier side to keep the colours truer. One more thing clematis flowers aren't actually petals but modified sepals.


Jess x

P.S Since Monday I've been trying to compose a post about my day out last week but blogger has been acting up and taking ages to upload photos (one took so long that I was able to make a cup of tea, open a packet of biscuits make a phone call, then drink my tea and it still wasn't uploaded yet), so I gave up. However I think I've figured out what its problem is. So I'll try again later. Right now I need to shout and wave my arms about at the young bullocks

Thursdays favourite plant

I think I did this one this time last year but what the heck its a stunner





If you want to read the old post its here I don't think I can say much more about these beautiful little flowers. If you can, get yourself out in the woods this weekend, because a woodland floor covered in bluebells is one of the most beautiful sights in the english countryside.

Jess x

P.S I'm very excited, tomorrow I'm off to the devon county show which kicks off my season of shows, fetes and village fairs. Can't wait to have a look round the poultry tent.

At last

One of my little quail has laid her first egg.

Now I need to cut some really small soldiers.

jess x