Who let the chicks out!

What chicks?

The ones in the cages,

being kept safe from local predators,

by being penned up. 

It became not a good idea over time,

as the chicks grew from fluffy bundles,

into scraggy feathered half grown chicks,

who would patrol up and down
along the length of the wire mesh doors,

up and down,

up and down,

stressed,
strident,
bored,

making us feel guilty every time we passed by their runs.

Oh they were fed well enough,

although they would have argued that they weren't,

but they began disregarding all of the food,

and chose to become picky,
perhaps because they could,
perhaps because they knew of our guilt.
But we were keeping them 'safe',
at the cost of their quality of life.

And so the day came when it became too much for us,

and the cage doors were left open,

and the chicks were set free.

Better that they have one day of being free,

of being a proper little chicken,

of being who they are meant to be,

better to have that and then go own the throat of a predator,

than to stay 'safe' in, what to them, is a prison,

for days on end.

One was sent to its end by Blue,

One was sent to its end by Boolie,

Two went by natural causes,

and we are left with fourteen.

Blue and Bools are not predators as such,

they are just dogs,

not wanting to share their bones,

a quick snap being sufficient to end the life of little ones,

little ones who only wanted to share the bones.

However, the cat, magpies and crows,

well, they seem not to want to partake of chick flesh,

at the moment.

And so it was me who let the chicks out,

as I say,

better to have a life well lived, 

even if that life is not very long,

than to stay 'safe' 

in the confines of a 'cage' cell.

Oh glorious,glorious, mess

It was all the fault of this:

....bought a while ago, it is a jam making pot, and still virgin.

2.5 kgs came off our apricot trees,

a low yield for sure,

but it is better than nothing.

5 kgs of apricots and peaches,

this is what I purchased in our local market.

It was not a happy day though,

could not remember hardly one word of French,

felt like a right dozo,

but tried not to be cross with myself, 
it was, 
after all,
a spankingly hot day,
during which one's head prefers not to be active.

7.5 kgs of mixed apricots and peaches,

de-pipped and cut up,

and oh what a sticky mess that made,

not to worry though,

nice pile of fruit to jam,

so all into the big jamming pot.

All was going well,

stuff gathered, 14 jars prepped, jam simmering,

jam setting,

hot jars brought over from the kitchen,

jars being filled,

oopps, all jars filled,

pan still filled with jam.

Lester to the rescue,

went hunting for more jam jars,

urgently washed and warmed them,

over to me to fill them,

but I was busy with trying to get the jars sealed,

and dammit, 

the elastic bands were rotted,

kept breaking, 

jars not sealing.

Oh bother.

Quick hunt in the cupboard,

found some spare elastic bands,

onwards.

Lester piling the jam jars beside me,

filling them, 

hot jam all around.

Working fast.

Whoo-a-doops.

Jar knocked over,

which was full of hot jam,

which drizzled happily 

all over the place. 

Not to worry,

carry on,

mop up later,

'"Lets get these jars sealed".

25 jars in total we made.

And this is the most glorious of messes

which I have ever made!

Below is my contribution to our end of season choir party...

DIY chevre soft cheese,

cheese biscuits made with DIY cow and goat cheddar.

Just to say, that I don't always get into a mess,

when I am doing things in the kitchen,

but,

to be quite honest,

I seem to be able to drift into a state of messiness,

quite, quite, easily!

Bonny, naughty Bonny.

Bonny is doing naughty cow.

It is a nuisance that she is thus so.

Time is burnt up, you see, by her efforts
not to be a sweet little thing.

It is hot, hot, hot, here. 

Must be around the forties in the Courtyard,

everywhere else, low thirties. 

Time outside is limited if one does not become cooked,

there is enough moisture in the air,

the humidity being very high,

to simmer us quite, quite, quickly.

We do not have enough time, therefore,

to chase a little cow hither and thither.

So here was the plan:

Separate her completely from her mum,

leading her to fro on a rope,
which would stop the romps all about the place,
and milk her mum twice a day.

Went well on Bonny's part,

oh she complained for chunks of the day,

but not too much.

Did not go well for Elise though,

who was most upset,

and got herself all in a lather,

so much so, that she got into a hell of a mood,

so that when Lester came to milk her,

having decided to do this twice a day from here on,

it was impossible to do.

The heat has brought every single type of insect out,

small ones, medium ones, big ones,

and most bite.

Ouch!

To defend herself, 

Elise swishes her tail.

If one is sitting near the udder hoping to milk,

one is likely to be flicked in the face in the face,

and swatted,

as what happened to Lester last night.

To defend herself,

Elise chucks her head up and down,

making her fidget.

It is therefore difficult to keep bucket and udder in line,

as what happened to Lester last night.

To defend herself,

Elise kicks and stamps her hind legs.

Buckets get stepped in to,

kicked over,

as what happened to Lester last night.

Elise was already upset,

by the flies and heat,

not to mention her drum tight udder, which,

she thought,

should be going to her calf,

and nowhere else,

most certainly not in a bucket,

and so she grew difficult.

This is what Lester found out last night.

Project Evening Milk thus became aborted.

To release the milk,

Bonny was put back with her mum,

but taken out again when the udder was empty

and the little tummy was full.

Perhaps tonight it will go better.

Lester had already had a day of it,

been at his computer all day,

earning us the income 

so we can keep building the house and farm

into a smallholding and retreat.

Yesterday was not a good day for him.

So continuing to merrily swelter in this heatwave,

the soggy wetness of those weeks of rain,

all forgotten.

Saying bye for now,

x