Oh my godo what a morning :/ I have been chasing to get this drs note for college which resulted in me being informed at 9:30 that I needed to come in and see my new dr at 10 (apparently the one I'm supposed to be under has retired not that I ever saw him as it has all been womens problems since the move). I went in a t-rex bite me t-shirt and belly dancing skirt as they were the first clothing items I came across. Then I managed to get Mary into her pushchair and out the door and closed it - guess who did not have her key? Tried to phone Alaric and phone died - white screen kaput! Walked to the Drs surgery as fast as I could which as I was in pain wasn't that fast :/ Arrive at Drs fifteen minutes late but that's ok as he was still going through my notes - get in there and he's like - your notes are vast and a mess did you ever actually get a diagnosis? Me: erm I don't really know I know what they told me I had... go through med history, he's rushing me off a note today so I can pick up tomorrow for college on Thursday and he wants to sort it all out so I am now booked in for a sweet of blood tests and have to keep a pain diary :/ Then I leave and find a pay phone - phone my parents house which is like the only number I can remember but got answer machine so left a message to phone Alaric and tell him that I was walking to his office to get his keys - I made it there and back - was gifted with crisps by an elderly man on a scooter who's way I blocked by being slow and lathargic with a pushchair and now I think it is time for a cup of tea - as soon as I can stand up again :/ Mary liked her adventure.
To weeks of chickens and they are producing between 1 and 4 eggs a day with an average of just below two a day. We have had one more soft shell which is a shame but they all seem healthy and have the good food and vits etc... They are simultaneously malting and growing their feathers back at the same time!
They are becoming cheekier and keep sneaking into the kitchen when they think no one is looking - I am now of course writing a story for Jean and Mary about it!
They are also trying to enclude the rabbit in their peaking order - his response is to bound away and huffling sit in his run so we are making sure he gets some quality non chicken time in the garden - he on the other hand does run up and start sniffing at them and tries to get into their run so it is not a one sided thing.
The kitten watches them out of the kitchen door forlornly and even tries to pounce them with a run up leading to thumps and yowls as her head hits the glass! I let the chickens in to see what would happen and they flapped at her and she went and hid!
Of course the great escape onto the decking appears to be facilitated by a certain 2 and a half year old who opens gates!
Oh and given the chance I think she would move in with them!
Though she does announce they are naughty for pooing as it is not in a potty (the litter tray being the kittens potty you see).
Our chicken egg tracker is almost ready for everyone to see 🙂 And we've been planning on building the bigger run/avery sooner rather than later (I don't do chicken shit on the decking ok - just no).
Also I am finding that even on miserable days I am spending more time outside - there has only been one day when I was feeling really bad pain and fatigue wise that they didn't get let out of the run straight away when we got up and Al went and delt with it anyway and I still got to feed them and round them up. Alaric also seems to be enjoying the jet washing of the run once a week.
And Jeany is going to have a birthday party (yes I know her birthday was actually last month but well..) where all the cakes are made with home grown eggs 🙂
It turns out chickens like to sunbath - if it gets sunnier I will need to put sunblock on their bald bits!
So yeah we are still happy happy with our chickens 🙂
The cats are still making up their minds - the chickens seem to be winning the great stare down comps!
Autumn is here as is harvest time and so when ever possible I have been out foraging! I have already made two batches of chutney, crumbles and cakes and sauces with the various fruit and veg so I thought I would try something different this year before heading down the jam and wine making path again.
I found some old recipes for butters/cheeses and thought I'd give it a go - there is no dairy in these but they either spread like a curd or you can cut them like cheeses and the names pre-date the modern terms which have a narrower meaning.
Basically it is just a butt load of blackberries and crab apples cooked until mushy, pushed through a sieve, the puree is then put in a pan with lots of sugar and reheated and stirred like making fudge - I was aiming for a cheese but my arm started to spasm so I had to give up but I'd already gone paste the butter consistency. I was really pleased it kept it's shape when removed from the mould!
Interestingly I discovered that depending on the age of the book there is a huge variance on how long such a thing will keep - 2 or 3 months in the newest book, 2 years in ones from before 1985 and indefinatly but will become more crystalline the older it gets in my older early last century and victorian cook books. We plan to just see what happens with it as it is going to take some time to get through!
Next step with this stuff I think is going to be a) seeing if adding some condenced milk turns it into a lovely fruit fudge and b) if I get even more fruit to reduce down can I make it without adding sugar? Lastly c) make it with lots of other fruits 🙂
I just love dew and frost and rain drops on spider webs 🙂 These are the pots I have the blueberry
The chickens have been with us a week now and have so far delivered unto us 14 good eggs and one soft shelled mess. The kids are grumpy with us for imposing an egg limit in their diet of 2 eggs each plus what ever is baked into cakes, pastries and other sundries they might get down their gullets in a week. They both love collecting eggs and then eating them 🙂
Mary gets incensed if I go out to the chickens without her - to the point that when I was bedding them down for the night on Friday she got her welly's and coat on whilst I was out and cried when I came in and said I'd already dealt with them - I then had to explain that I had tucked them in as it was their sleepy tired time!
I also found her in the garden naked bar welly's talking to them - it was no nappy time. We can distinguish Doggy and Felix but Mario and Lilly are still interchangable unless we watch their behaviour for a while first! They are starting to grow feathers back and I have spent even more money on them getting supplements as I was concerned about the soft shell. Alaric is now writing a fun little application that we can use to track money spent verses eggs for academic interest as it were!
Yep I've taken to videoing them now 🙂
I found it interesting that they are perfectly happy to put themselves back in the run! Though we are still planning on building the bigger encloser as I just don't think this one is really big enough to be honest but should be ok for now - they seem happy and winter is coming so they will need each others warmth etc..
So far looking after them has not been that hard as though the cold is starting to hurt my joints and stuff again I can do the morning egg check quiet quickly and have the kettle boiling ready for tea when I come in. It is all on one level with the kitchen so no stairs or anything involved (something that used to do me in were we lived before for the veg plots). I do the proper inspection and food later on with the girls helping with carrying water, food and grit! I have to say they are a lot tamer and passive compared to other chickens I have known - I would say they are smaller too but I think that is just because I have grown!
So one week in and we are really chuffed 🙂 We are taking egg presents around to the neighbours today as they can be nosey etc.. some cake baking may also lurk in the future 🙂
Health, Sarah | sarah | 
Tue 24th Sep 2013 12:28 pm | 
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