Saturday 21 December 2013

Winter's Depths

It's the winter solstice today, and it's not as if we need a reminder that we are in the darkest, dreariest part of the year, but the weather is doing a great job of hammering it home. Rain is lashing against the panes of my rickety windows, and wind and wet are leaking under the back door, soaking the mud-sodden mat. Sigh. Thank goodness for Christmas to bring a bit of light and cheer.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a wreath-making workshop with my friend Nicky and a couple of her other friends, run by Rachel. It was a really pleasant way to spend a morning, with chat and copious cups of tea, mince pies, punctuated with removing poisonous foliage from the dog's jaws. The smell of moss and pine and orange and cinnamon was olfactory heaven so I can thoroughly recommend a wreath workshop rather than simply buying one. We also mooted the point that wreaths need not just be for Christmas and perhaps we should investigate spring, summer and harvest wreaths as possibilities too. Well, once the creative juices get flowing...

Due to the weather, I've hung the wreath over the fireplace rather than have it bashing around on the front door. It's so bloomin' cold in the house I'm not terribly worried about it drying out in the heat (ha!) and it means we get to appreciate it rather than just the postman:


I realise it is a bit lopsided but I'm really pleased with it :-)

Saturday 7 December 2013

A Visitor

I had quite a surprise when I let the hens out this afternoon, as they were joined by a female pheasant in the garden.  The ducks weren't quite sure about her either - she seemed really tame but was limping slightly on her right leg. Amber gave her some corn which she gobbled up before Emu and his two got a look in:


I love the colouring of the so-called 'drab' female game birds - the blends of browns on the individual feathers are exquisite.


Thankfully Scruff was indoors at the time - he's so good about not chasing/mauling the rabbits, ducks, chickens and guinea pigs but I think resisting a pheasant wandering in his patch might prove too much for his Springer spaniel instincts. He spends a lot of his time sniffing out rats as once again the garden is riddled with them. I don't see them at all in the summer, but it's almost like the BST/GMT clock-change is some sort of signal for them to all take up residence in the hedge again and cruise around the poultry pens. I found one suspended in the ducks' pond the other day looking like a, well, drowned rat...ugh. I have asked the cockerels not to do their macho food-scattering as soon as I put the bowl in for them but they don't listen, and then of course none of the hens eat the spilt food, leaving a rat buffet once dusk descends. I have got a treadle feeder but it's outside the run.

I must get on with some knitting this evening. I'm making a tunic version of Kate Davies' owls jumper and I'm on the first sleeve, as I have been for some time now. It's a quick knit really as it's on big needles and I'm using double Aran yarn and the pattern's wonderfully straightforward, but I don't have much time at the moment, so it's proving to be a very slow knit. I've also been short on time for drawing and painting so I need to sort out my priorities...

Thursday 5 December 2013

All Quiet

It's that time of year when quiet descends outside in the garden, and it finally feel I can make some progress before the plants see my attempts to curb their growth and raise their game accordingly. The hens are enjoying all the nettles I'm pulling up as a welcome bit of greenery, and the rabbits work their way through the apple tree prunings, while the ducks and starlings do a great job of clearing up the windfall apples.

I've had to swap the chicken coops around as Emu needs a more accessible ladder than the previous one he was in. He will now go in this one with Mary, and his other wife Emily will go in to this one with Simba and his two [called Honey and Hazel: I knew you were dying to know]. I need to make an extension for Simba though so I came up with a cunning plan! I've taken pallets and stuck willow whips in between the gaps, and woven them between the planks, then stuck them in to the ground. They should root, and provide a living enclosure and disguise the ugly pallets. I will put chicken wire (ugh :-/ hate the stuff) over the top for now, but if it grows well I could loop the willow over the top to provide a roof. It won't be entirely fox-proof so I will keep them in the smaller bit when I'm away from the house, but it means while the other hens are having their turn in the garden, Simba and his 3 girls will have a lot more room. Anything to reduce the amount of chicken wire I have to wrestle with!

I do love keeping cockerels - they are so beautiful and engaging to watch - and the hens prefer having a rooster in charge rather than an overly dominant matriarchal hen. However, it does mean a rota system for letting them out, and trying to encourage the boys to go and forage with the hens rather than posture and scrap through the wire of their pens with their rivals.

Christmas has now landed in our house, and we bought a really nice tree, although it's probably rather too large as the fairy is squashed against the ceiling. Last time we had a tree this big I could still actually move in the lounge as we had less furniture, but now the door has to be open or shut due to the large armchair that's been relocated to accommodate the tree, which means the dog spends his whole time whining to be let through and is driving me mad. How he can manage to lacerate the bathroom door with scratches or barge in to my bedroom when I'm getting dressed yet not manage to negotiate this door unless he has at least 3" clearance each side is beyond me. That and the long-running territorial dispute over the possession of the Michael Bublé Christmas Album amongst my children means the spirit of the season is sometimes left wanting but hey, we'll get there :-)