Easter

Happy Easter and all that. I'm not overly religious - I have this inbuilt Christian thing thanks to many years of forced Sunday school, where if I or others are in deep doo doo I pray to God but at the end of the day I don't think he/she/it sits there being all benevolent and looking like, well anything really. At the end of the day we die, we rot and we do get reborn but at a microbiological level as we simply become part of the earths eco system once again. I prefer to think of Easter as a time where things are new and fresh and a time for birth - following the whole egg-as-a-symbol-of-rebirth thing. Anyhoooooo, moving on swiftly because thats just a bit heavy for a Sunday night really isn't it.

I have spent the weekend outside. Its been glorious! Ranging from a slightly windy but otherwise very sunny 14 deg C to a tropically oppressive 31 deg C in the greenhouse.

Yesterday I fenced about 50 m along the western perimeter of our land - joining in the gap between the stone dykes - this is mainly because the farmer next door has put all the surrounding land to barley and its just popped through and is green heaven for hungry chickens but not at all fair for the poor farmer. That and the fox is getting bolder and now sunbathing on the riverbank whilst keeping a beady eye on my girls. We'd shoot it but we don't have the shooting rights on that bit. Anyway, thats it fenced now and so the girls are now enclosed - still very much free range its just their free ranging has been curtailed to about 1000m2 :) All are well and the 13 rescue girls are looking so well and chirpy. One of them though has started pecking some of the less-feathered girls and is now marked first for the pot. I hadn't planned on eating them as not sure of their drug past but I'll not suffer a pecker and I'll not waste a good carcass.

Speaking of carcasses - Nick and I became a mobile chicken dispatching unit for a friend today. She had far too many cockerels. We left them hanging (the cockerel, not our friends) awaiting their post-mortem future as cock-a-leekie soup. Below is our friends Dorking (which we didn't bump off)

Then it was a visit to Nicks parents and then via M***** Plant where I once again fell over at the prices but bought some books and my Chicken porn mag (Practical Poultry) and then to BA Stores where James persuaded me to buy even more wild bird food and I discovered that check shirts are only ever stocked in Medium and XXXXXXL and certainly don't go down to a girly Small. BAH! Nick however bought a new exhaust for the tractor and fitted that 10 mins ago.

I still have no Landrover. It failed the first MOT mainly on a hole in an outrigger which Nick duly repaired. It also failed on two dodgy tyres (oooops) and you'd think it'd be a case of slap some new one soon and off you go eh! Not so. Unfortunately I was running on 750 R16's which are IMPOSSIBLE to find nowadays according to the garage (even though I am sitting here looking at a page of 750r16 remoulds - but of course a garage can't fit them) and so have had to replace all four tyres to 205s. But still waiting....... If not done by tuesday coming am taking it home and doing it ourselves (which probably should have done initially but didn't because we thought it'd be quicker) I miss it! I also miss driving to work instead of taking the bus AND I've lost money because I've not been able to do any baking for the shop because I can't take it on the bus!

I am also tired and have a killer sore throat so that explains my moaning mood this evening :)

Garden wise, leeks, oregano, onions, brussel sprouts, lettuce, rocket and french beans are through and I've planted 2 tomato seeds. 2, yes, 2 because last year I planted them all and we had 400 tonnes of sodding tomatoes. We may also be getting some tomato plants from friends so best not to go OTT anyway.

Oooh yes, I saw a Goldfinch this morning too. Not that common round these parts though apparently something akin to buses... (none for years then all come at once)

Right am off for a bath before I attempt to recreate John Torodes Fish Pie for tea.

Some of the Rescue girls looking a bit happier than they did.




Rocky, looking sexy in the sunlight. Well sexy to other chickens anyway...