..... more chooks

We regularly re-stock the chook pen because hens either stop laying, die of old age or sadly occasionally have gotten way too reckless around the ride-on mower......the lure of restless bugs in the freshly cut grass makes them an easy speed bump for an overzealous mower man who just wants to get what seems to be an endless stretch of lawn mowed!

Anyway we decided maybe we need some robust girls as a welcome addition to the hen house. Sussex chooks:

Silkies

How lucky am I? I have been given an early Mother's day present of 5 silkies....chinese chickens.
They are so docile and amiable, so unlike the other 10 robust chooks in the henhouse. They are still settling in and unless I guide them out of the chicken coup they will sit in there all day, as was the case yesterday. I did not realise they had not moved since I guided them into the coop the night before.
My usual morning ritual is to let the ducks out of the pen and into their grassed yard that has a pond. I try to do this just before sunrise so I can collect the eggs before the crows snatch them for their breakfast. My runner ducks randomly lay around the yard and usually at night.
It appears I will need to rouse the new silkies out of bed at sunrise until they get into the routine of venturing outside of the henhouse. They must have had such a long boring day yesterday....wth only the four walls of the hen house to look at and each other. I suppose some entertainment would have been gained from the occasional visit from the other residents visiting the nesting box. Must brighten their day today!!

Is it really 6 months since my last blog entry?

Time flies when you are having fun.
I have just realised it has been several months since I last posted a blog entry.
I thought life was supposed to be slower in the country? It certainly doesn't appear to be the case of late.
The most notable of my doings since September would be a holiday in Japan and the purchase and renovation of a unit at the beach.
Still plenty of cooking, farm animals, sunrises and sunsets to remind me how peaceful life is in the country.

Oh and by the way, I am not so much an empty nester at present.....my almost 21 year old has moved here with her boyfriend for a change. After completing her hairdressing apprenticeship in a busy coastal salon she decided the slower pace of a country salon might be a welcome change.
When she visited me last year she fell off one of our horses and shattered her elbow...three months of re-couperation here with me gave her enough of a taste of the country lifestyle to lure her back for a bit :)