My worst day as a smallholder yet.

I know I know I promised wonderful things and I haven't delivered. I fully intended to blog today, to talk about the hens and the new additions, baby stuff and pictures of pretty views and beach's. And to say thank you for the comments and messages about the baby (thank you x)
Butbloodshed put the stoppers on that.


Last night a mink got into my big main hen house, My hubby went over to let them out this morning, so thankfully I didn't have to deal with the carnage in the house ( he said it was like something from a tarentino film). Somehow it had squeezed in through a gap between the door and after its killing spree got it self caught in the rat trap. When hubby came and woke me to tell me what had happened he couldn't tell me exactly how many hens had been killed or who they were as there was blood and feathers and bits lying everywhere. But he had a rough idea who was missing when he let them all out into the paddock.

He went back over to clear up the mess and deal with the mink (that he described as the most evilest looking creature he'd ever seen thrashing about in the cage) giving it the full blast of a 12 bore.

I went over there expecting the worse as hubs bless em can only recognise a few by name but they few he'd told me that were missing were the ones I was dreading. And sure enough that F-ing mink took most of my favourite girls and one of my boys.

Its so quite and empty over there, Its missing a funny sounding crow, a couple of banshee like screech's.
If you've read my posts about my hens who'll recognise a few names :

Holly my gorgeous silkie cockerel, who I've nursed through sour crop, mycoplasmia, injured leg and wings, he was a little fighter he always pulled through and came back stronger, and he always pulled this funny face when he crowed bending his neck at an almost 90degree angle.
2 young sweet bluebell pullets who had just started laying on this week,
Boo my beautiful bossy buff sussex who was always the first to see me when I enter the field and would shout to all the others and run towards me flapping her wings trying to be the first to get at what ever food I was bringing,
Honey an ex batt who would never lay in the nest box in her house but always find a way to get into the other paddock and use the bantams hen house.
Wonky, my lovely sweet wonky with her lopsided wing and a lopsided leg who was the most friendly hen I've ever had she was also the most greedy, she would also wobble about chattering to self in her own little strange world and try and jump up on to my knee whenever I sat down.

But whats feels the hardest is that it took 2 of my original ever girls Tallulah who was beautiful and sweet and always looked after any new hens that got put in with them. When I put Boo in with them all the others really picked on her and wouldn't let her perch but tallulah would snuggle up next to her. She loved being picked up and cuddled. And margo my squawky glamourous boss hen, she has laid an egg everyday except 8, since I got her she was grumpy, stroppy and loud, but I loved her.

It really strange atmosphere over there even the other group in the other hen house are acting quietly. I've checked over the remaining girls and they all seem fine not bites and already I can see new groups and friendships forming. Ben the cockerel is very quiet, he has bite marks and bald patches on his legs where I'd like to think he gave the mink a good kicking trying to save his girls, margo and boo were his main girls, everynight he'd perch with them too either side of him. And holly was his little sparring partner, When I moved all the flock about holly and his girl isabel were left without a run and a home so I put my sweet little chap and isabel in with ben knowing I was taking a gamble introducing two dominant cockerels together, straightaway holly went for ben (even though holly was 3 times smaller than ben)ben gave as good as he got and holly ended up on his back and ben just muttered at him and walked away to dust bathe, since then they've got on fine like to old geezers sat in a pub drinking ale together and avoiding the wives.

I have a lot of hens there and I'm lucky it only got 8, but it hurts that it took them. There are some new additions there, still nameless, a few exbatts, some young lightsussex Hens that I would have been sad to lose but even though I've had them for a few months I didn't have a bond with them like Boo and wonky and tallulah. I know if you have animals you shouldn't care more for some than others, but its inevitable you'll build a relationship with some. I know to some people they are just chickens, just livestock, things we use to get eggs and chicken nuggets and there are far worse things happening in the world, but as sad as it may sound to some people they were like my little friends and I miss them already, its so heartbreaking that some evil vermin just broke in there and destroyed them.
I don't even want to go over there, I just feel so sad. There is a saucepan full of cooked up veg peelings, potatoes and pasta I made up last night for their lunch today, I added extra potatoes because wonky being wonky and slower than the others always misses out on potatoes bless her little heart and right now I can face not seeing her face waiting and calling to me.

If I wasn't preggers right now I think I'd get drunk.

jess x

P.S I got ill for a few days a couple of weeks ago and didn't get out to feed sidney always missing him and seeing him swimming far down the river. So he decided I'd stopped loving him and has gone (I hope he's found some friends) but I did manage to remove the string from his leg.

P.P.S on a happy note the baby seems to be doing really well and regularly dances about in my tummy and gives me the odd roundhouse kick, I have high hopes of a riverdancing kung fu master.

P.P.P.S I will return with a new look blog and happier regular posts soon..............promise.

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

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.

Always a sucker for an underdog

A month ago I bought some hens from the local auction (no surprise there). I bought 3 little brown hens who looked a little rough around the edges but out of all the sad and sorry looking ex-free range layers or exbatts this 3 were the best looking of the bunch and I may be a hopeless sucker for a hopeless case but commonsense tells me to sadly avoid the really sorry looking ones. So I got my 3 home and put them in a quarantine pen for a week (If you ever get birds from markets/auctions you really need to do this as you never now what the may bring into the flock) Good job I did as they had worms and lice after an extended stay in isolation, I introduced them to the flock, expecting trouble, but they were good as gold. Ok there were a few scuffles from Margo and pixie (anything less would have been out of character) and big Ben had a go. But within 2 days they were laying in the nest boxes, perching at night and going to bed (slightly after the rest) on there own. I was expecting them to be flighty and feisty towards me but the are lovely (in fact they could teach some of my other hens a thing or too about showing me some respect) very friendly and wonderfully easy to handle.

Now I hate to say I have favourites but some chickens I have a little more fondness for than others (That's not to say I don't love them all) and I have a special place in my heart for this little lady





This is wonky, an unfortunate name I know I had planned on calling here Clementine or cinnamon but well wonky kind of stuck.
She is not the most prettiest of hen, she's very scruffy, had an outrageous lice infestation, her beak had been trimmed badly and was overhanging like a broken nail, she limps slightly and is lopsided (hence the name). But after a couple of days beauty therapy treatment, some dusting, a beak and claw trim and a bath she looked a lot better. she started laying eggs again with a week and bless her has laid everyday since. Now it wasn't her sorry looking condition that has made fall in love with her its her character. She is the sweetest of hens, she is a little bit simple and slow and gets picked on by cloud (my delinquent welsummer who was at the bottom of the pecking order) but she just bumbles along unfazed by pecks on the head. She has difficultly pecking at the grass (so I tear her little bits of and hand feed her), has a little bit of difficulty climbing the ramp to the house (so I often give her a hand). She follows me everywhere snuggles into my arms when I pick her up and makes the cutest little noises (unlike cloud whose vocals would scare a banshee).
I love little wonky she is truly a poppet. Her two sisters sugar and honey are also little sweeties too. I'm so glad I bought them and given them a happy home.

Jess x

P.S cloud my delinquent welsummer also has a special place in my heart for her feistiness, she shrieks like something possessed all the time. she has a habit of escaping and she has a piecring sidewards sneaky peering look. she hates being picked up yet is quite happy having a cuddle when you catch her but she will try and peck me and pulls my hair. I'm wondering if she is picking on wonky because she's worried shes no longer the apple of my eye.

P.P.S that's enough blogging for today I have tons to do outside and the ducklings are waiting for their bath.

A happy ending.

I promise I will blog properly soon but with all the rain we've had in the last few days my garden has gone mad and even though I have been more organised this year and have lots of seed sown and plans of where things are going and weeds under control I suddenly have that overwhelming feeling that I have lots to do and won't be able to keep on top of things. But anyway what I wanted to say was.

Yesterday I rehomed Boris and Ivan

and a lovely young maran cockerel ( I say lovely, he was lovely looking very friendly to me but was hassleing 2 of my hens and startng to challenge Ben for superemicy).
They have gone to live with 100 exbatts, a couple of turkeys, and a pair of geese at a school farm for troubled and expelled teens. I am so happy they've found a home espesicaly as the Maran was becoming a real pain and hubby had given him bank holiday monday as a (quite literlly) deadline to be gone.

Now Big ben is king of the castle.

someone stick the kettle on, I need a cup of tea

I'm sorry about my absence but I've been so rushed of my feet with all of this,








And some of this





And there was this






And if all that wasn't enough to keep a girl busy this came along







And finally there is this


Yes they are in my bathtub and yes they were throughly dried off with my best hand-towels before snuggling up under a heat lamp.

And if all that wasn't enough fun for me to handle I met up with the gorgeous sara from Completely Quackers who came down to see me for a good old chin wag about chickens and other animals and to take 4 of my bantam hens to join her flock of mad bantam boys. This left me with a vacancy for some more hens, who are currently in quarenteen quarters for the moment, oh and did I mention the little bluebell pullets.

I shall tell all about everything and everyone later, right now the glorious sunshine is beckoning back outside.

Jess x

P.S Bonus points will be awarded to anyone who can identify the chicks in the 2nd 3rd and 4th pictures, I know what they except the little grey one on the right of the 3rd picture. Extra double cherry on top points to anyone wanting to have a stab at telling me the sex.

home needed for handsome fellas

I know this is a long shot but what the heck..........

I need to find a new home (or homes) for dear little Boris and Ivan



They are gorgeous little characters very friendly, very funny and very sweet. They need a new home as Ben my main Cockerel is getting fed up of them! Poor Ivan(the silvery one) is trying so hard to be a gent and attract the ladies but they are having none of it being fully paid up members of Big Bens fanclub.

If anyone in devon has some little hens who are missing a bit of romance then leave me a comment or send me an email
C-jess@hotmail.com

In other news I got some quail yesterday and am smitten with them, they are adorable. Also the chicks are nearly feathered up and might go out and play in the sun this sunday.

Jess x

P.S I found the charger for my batteries but now lost the batteries, maybe I need to tidy up my house a little.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

So this was the babies a week and a half ago...........









They look nothing like that now. Well except the little Auracana and the little silvery one and the little stripy one. I have no idea what the little stripy one is, which is kinda cool because it will be a surprise when suddenly I look at little 'tommy' (he/she looks like a little tommy) and realise what he/she is, (I have a few ideas). I think the little silver one could possibly be a silver spangled hamburg, I have no idea why I think that I just do. All of the rest are light sussexs except one big fluffy buff orpington.
They are just over 3 weeks old now and turning into right little hooligans, I'll give them until the sunday after next and they go outside and spent their days in the garden until they can join the field gang.

But first I need to straignten up the garden I currently have the little bluebell with the pecked vent destroying what was left of my lawn (being kept company by one of the little silkies, who I'm certain are both boys) I thought it best to separate her until she heals up well, luckily its just superficial damage. I established the ring leader of the feather pecking but she seems to have calmed down now, the Stockholm tar helped, except when I got it all over the kitchen floor.

Right I really must go and finish re-planting this border, I'm so lacking in inspiration at the moment, thanks to being stressed and tearful last week. Thankfully things are brighter this week.

Jess x

P.S I try and get some photos later today of the babies, that's if I can get them to stay still longer than 10 seconds

could I ask you for some help?

So I will be posting an update on my little bundles of fluff tomorrow. However I need some help first with the latest additions, 4 little bluebell pullets. The little sods have started pecking (more like ripping out) each others tail feathers, I've just sprayed them all with purple spray as there was blood, but I was wondering if anyone can recommend the best thng to use to stop this, as tomorrow I can get to the feed store to pick something up.

Antipeck spray ?
stockholm tar ?
Yellow sulpher cream?

As there isn't one main offender I can't seperate them, so tomorrow I'll move them to a huge run with plenty of things to try and distract them.

But any advice would be a huge help.

jess x

P.S that little jezabel yorkie next door has come of heat so alfie has returned to his normal naughty self, and sadly I didn't win the euromillions so won't be buying a papillion this week.

WARNING!!!!! more cuteness than you can shake a stick at

So the chap up the valley who bought my Maran cockerel asked me if I'd like some freshly hatched chicks for free.....

Well it would have been rude to say no.

There is 10 in all 4 are definatly light sussexs, ones a araucana and he can't remember what the rest are, he'll call me when he finds the list.

Needless to say I love my new babies. The silkie babies are a bit jealous as but they'll get over it.

jess x

Please excuse the slightly bluriness but trying to snap a chick with the flash off and get them in focus is not the easiest thing I've ever done.

Thursdays favourite plant

Hooray its back.

Is it Thursday today? this weeks been a bit of a blur!

Anyway may I present.....

Iris reticulata



My most favourite of the early spring bulbs. Easy as pie to grow just pop the bulbs in twice as deep as their size in the autumn, wherever you'd like a splash of gorgeous colour. I always put a few in small terracotta pots too. They look lovely in window boxes as well.
The colour of these little sweeties is lovely, there are many different varieties with different depths of blue, including a pale washed out blue and mustardy yellow, which frankly I'm not found of (I think you need bright colours after a long dull winter) and a gorgeous purple one whose cultivar name is I think 'Pauline' (but don't quote me on that. If you have heavy clay soils add a handful of grit to the hole before placing the bulb in to give it a bit of drainage (good idea for any bulbs).

In other news I've said goodbye to another cockerel today. I saw a wanted ad in the local feed store for a Maran cockerel, rang it up and a lovely chap from further up the valley came and collected him for his flock of maran hens this morning. And he paid me for him. So that leaves his slightly smaller brother (who I may keep to set up a breeding trio with, not sure yet) Boris and Ivan (the two chaps in my sidebar) and fancy looking but bad tempered bantam. That will leave me with Sawyer my gorgeous gentlemanly Welsummer, Big gentle ben the light sussex and holly my partridge silkie. There is also the two silkie babies, snuffkin and little my, I tried dowsing them with my wedding ring and a bit of garden twine last night and got a different result for each, but time will tell.

Right Sidneys appeared in the middle of the field wanting some dinner and he doesn't like to be kept waiting.

jess x

peace in the valley

Well Its a known fact that I have far too many cockerels and I even though I've killed and eaten a few, I'm still very soft and besides the ones I can't eat have names (unintentional) and characters.

Today I managed to re-home 2 of my favourites (ok so not favourite enough to stay but still I liked them)




Yes my dear blackberry and little frody, have gone to live with a lovely veggie lady (so no need to worry about them ending up in a pot) and her 11 lonely hens.

I know they will both be in chicken heaven and won't know what to do with themselves. They along with Sawyer my welsummer cockerel have been confined in a bachelor pad run away from the main flock. But now its just Sawyer and his 2 new ladies that were acquired at the weekend.

Yep poultry auction season has begun.

Now I wasn't planning on doing much buying at auctions this year but I went on Saturday to sell a big galvanised feeder and have a look around. Loads of birds there they had to open up another section. Hubby was quite worried, but he had no course to as there were a few things I fancied but not enough to bid for. Except some wee little ducklings just 2 little'uns in a huge cage labled as "black and white ducklings 4 weeks old". I planned on bringing these home but they went for £6 (and that's a head). I remember last summer seeing 4 Muscovy's going for 50p the lot. I was quite sad to miss out on them as in the few minutes I decided to bid for them I'd named them and planned where to put them. Also I thought 2 random babies would be a good introduction to duck keeping. However when I saw the chap who'd bought them show his little boy and the look on the boys face I was rather pleased for their fate.
Anyway what did I buy. Well after watching lots of POLs and Hybrids going for twice what you could buy from local breeders, 2 Indian game hens came up, I'm guessing no one really knew what they were as the only interest was from the bloke who was buying up all the unwanted lots for pennies, cockerels and drakes and I have a fairly good idea about their fates. He bid a pound and I bid and won at 1.50.

Bless them they have already paid for themselves in eggs laying every day including in the box on the way home. However they have the worst case of scaly leg mite I have ever seen, It looks like they are wearing spats, but I'm treating the problem and as a precaution treating sawyer too and in a month or two the will be good as new.

I like Indian game birds, the males are good eaters and the hens are so petite in a beefy nightclub bouncer sort of way. They make the funniest little trilling sounds and have a slightly feral attitude about them. These 2 can stay with sawyer until their legs improve then they can join the main flock and sawyer can have 3 welsummer brides of his own to breed with.

I've also been making the most of the sunshine and getting out side and doing some seed sowing in my tiny plastic greenhouse. So far I've sown sweet peas, leeks, lettuce, pak choi and black Tuscan kale. My very expensive heritage red flowered broad beans went in to and I have tomatoes and snapdragons on the windowsills. The baby silkies snuffkin and little my have doubled in size and are now eating a mix of crumb and growers pellets and spending a few hours in the sun running about in alfies dog cage, helping to scracth out the patch of chicken trashed lawn ready for me to re-seed it.

Oh and the duck is still here but his girlfriend comes and goes (the hussy) thinking more and more about catching Sid and buying him a paddling pool.

Right some boring housework beckons.....

Jess xx

P.S the walls have dried out but its still flipping freezing

A winge

Now I don't normally like to be a grumpy pants but today I'm fed up, in fact the last 3 days I've been fed up.
I'm fed up with the cold. I'm fed up with the rain. I'm fed up with mud, really fed up with mud. My boots get stuck in it, my jeans are plastered in it and my poor chickens are squelching about in it looking thoroughly fed up. I'm fed up of muddy paw prints all over the house (and on my bed). I'm fed up of falling over boxes and bags of poultry feed that are sitting in the hall waiting to go over to the shed. I'm fed up of having my hands stained with purple spray (why is it you always end up with more on you than the bird your spraying). I'm fed up wearing the same old clothes everyday. I'm fed up with the drizzle making my wavy locks go all frizzy. I'm fed up of my chickens runs and houses being bodged together with bits of old wire, feed sacks and baler twine. I'm fed up with waiting for my hubby to get some wood so I can build a raised bed. I'm fed up with grey skies.

On Saturday night I was thinking about moving back to the city. Living in a nice tidy beige flat, with views onto a street maybe over a pub. Of having central heating and hot water taps the actually contain hot water. Of having soft hands and manicured nails. Of spending my money on high heeled boots, designer dresses and expensive cocktails. Of getting my eggs clean and in a nice box on a super market shelf.

Sometimes the good life is BAD but anyone who lives it knows that!!!!

So this afternoon after having a bad nights sleep thanks to Holly the silkie cockerel and his old english game mate crowing all night in the cardboard box in the bathroom, Then spending my morning in the pouring rain and mud trying to repair their broken run and house in a different part of the field and checking and re-spraying the other valiantly brave cockerels who got in their way when holly and his mate went on the rampage after the run collapsed. I settled down with a pot of tea a few wee drops of single malt and half a chocolate cake and sought solice in my Darling Buds Of May dvd



Oh why can't my life be like that????
I know I know the darling buds of may is such an unrealistic slice of country life and I know that it was never that romantic in real life, but to me its like a rose tinted blueprint of how I want to live.
And when ever I've got the grumps I snuggle up on the sofa and pull out the dvd and it makes me happy.

Now I need to head back over to the muddy pit of a chicken paddock and take back the girls who I evacuated and bathed (wet chicken smells worse than wet dog) to their newly positioned less muddy run, play hunt the eggs, take the pups for a walk in the muddy field feed all the ducks that aren't mine, make dinner and wash my filthy jeans.
After that I'll be having a hot bath, straightening my hair, painting my toe nails pink and having an audrey hepburn dvd marathon.

Tomorrow is another day (so said scarlett) and it might stop raining.

As for the beige flat and central heating.............
Well where would be the fun in that. As my mother always says "its character building".
I must have one hell of a character.

jess x

I am so naughty

So yesterday morning I went to a poultry auction, with absolutely definitely totally no intention of buying anything. There were a few birds I quite liked but nothing I wanted to bid for except possibly some quail. There was a box with silkie chicks 4 weeks old written on it. Stupidly I lifted the lid.
I hung about while the auctioneer did his thing seeing lots of birds (mainly lone cockerels) not selling, waiting on the quail (which went for more than I could buy from a very good local breeder. As he went down along the cages he drew near to the box he started the bid at £5, £4, £1 how about 50p for the pair, he looked around at no interest and was about to deem them a no sale, when like a automatic reflex action up shoots my hand.




One of my many new year resolutions was to NOT buy (unsexed) random chicks at auctions and another was to not buy silkies unless they are point of lay.

So there's 2 broken, but seriously how could I resist. So to add to my already crazy brood I now have 2 adorable little babies (who knowing my luck are baby boys) who cost me less than a diet coke.

I had planned on trying to steer my posts this week to the subject of gardening but hey ho.

jess x

P.S I counted Sid, his lady, 7 mallards and a moor hen this morning. Hoping for some flamingos tomorrow.

I'm still here

Flipping blogger has been acting like a damn fool. I've tried to post a blog about 4 or 5 times but it just vanishes........
The weather hasn't been helpful either with power cuts and broadband going off and on.

Anyway enough moaning here's some pictures of the gang looking thoroughly unamused by the snow.






As you can see up top the undergardener has been having great fun in it (glad you like the photo john)

P.S can anyone tell me a way to get photos up without a huge flipping code and to get them where I want in the post instead of said huge code appearing at the top and having to be dragged into place. It used to work fine now its being a right monkey.

P.P.S I know this is 15 days late but HAPPY NEW YEAR