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I haven’t blogged much for a while … and I miss it. I’m not sure why … because I’m never short of something to say! Perhaps it’s because I’m not sure that anything I have to say is of any interest to anyone else?
Nor do I have anything specific to say now! But I’m sitting quietly listening to DH practice some piano pieces – he promised DD1 a long time ago that if ever she took grade 8 he’d do it with her … and that time has come! I love to hear him play, and it’s especially nice to hear so many new pieces in a short space of time. For years we have listened to DD1’s pieces over and over again … and DH himself has a fairly limited repertoire – more because of lack of time than of interest. But now he has something to work on … and it’s proving a major distraction! Although, tbh, we’ve been so busy for so long, it’s a good thing.
I’d have more to say if I shared the story of our hens with you … but I have another blog for that, and I suspect you would become quite bored if you don’t share our interest 
Just one observation then … we recently rescued some Barn Hens. I once used to buy Barn Eggs as being cheaper than Free Range but a more responsible purchase than eggs from caged birds … but these birds have convinced me that intensively farmed chickens suffer just as much as caged birds … yes, their legs are stronger, but that’s about all the advantages I have seen.
I haven’t actually bought any eggs for nearly three years, and bought Free Range before that for many years … but it makes me sad to think that I was complicit in supporting the industry at all. I suppose many would make the same claims for chickens bred for meat … at least their suffering is of much shorter duration. I know that’s not good enough. I hope I do what I can (most of our chicken meat comes from the Co-op) but I wish I could do more.
That’s it for now … but I’ll work on it
… because our dearest hen Bridget is gone. I was out in the garden and noticed a sudden kerfuffle amongst the girls who were all gathered round Bridget and I thought perhaps she was ill, but by the time I reached her, she was already gone 
She was well over four years old, one of our first hens, rescued from a battery farm, so she lasted well.
I realise, looking back at old photographs, that she was never a hen ‘with character’ … there are few pictures of her unlike the others, so she was a quiet hen who caused no trouble, but as the last remaining ex-batt she simply slipped into the role of chief hen when the others passed on and she did it well. There were few disputes, and even when she was old (by hen standards) and no longer laying good eggs, she had little difficulty maintaining order and her own position.
I’ll miss her … although I’m concerned about how easily the new pecking order will be established, since she’s been top hen for some time.
I did promise DH I wouldn’t let the hens take over my CM blog … but I’d still like to introduce you to our latest arrivals … meet Honey Chooklet, who with her sisters, Treacle and Sugar, are currently living in the ark.
Honey Chooklet
For now, the Chooklets – 11 week old Welsummer chicks – are being kept apart from the laying hens until they are much older and big enough to defend themselves. Today was their first time out in the open … I let the hens out into the garden so the Chooklets could have the Hen Garden to themselves. The hens appeared to be playing hide-and-seek and paid very little attention to the chicks …
No hen will see me here ...
We’ll introduce the Chooklets to the main brood after our summer holiday, when we’ll be around to keep an eye on them all. They’ll be about 20 weeks by then, and well able to look after themselves as a threesome. They might even be starting to lay.
For more pics, see an online album here and my Hen Blog here
DH carried on with the Baptism prep session this morning as planned … but I think by the end of the morning he wanted to crawl back into his corner and hide. A couple of church members came by as they knew he’d be there – I don’t think he was quite ready to talk about it all just yet. Nice of them to make the effort though.
I went to the flat. BIL doesn’t want me to clear the wardrobes until after the funeral. I understand why, but it’s hanging over me as a job I could be getting on with, and I don’t want to do it the week after the funeral as it’s half term and I want to spend some family time with the girls, so it’s just sitting there on the horizon, blocking the view. However, he said nowt about the kitchen, so today I stripped out the food cupboards. For various reasons I threw a deal of stuff – open packets, unidentified origin (home made jams etc) and out of date (I know we all have out of date stuff in our larders, but it does mean it can’t be passed on). Some stuff I put to one side for the local homeless shelter, and the rest I brought home. Apart from the canned stuff which I’ve left until another day as I ran out of bags to bring them home in.
I’ve recently had some shelves put in the kitchen and have moved stuff around to make space in cupboards … all I can say is they’re stuffed again, now!
Home to cook lunch and do some gardening … it’s been a lovely hot day. Too hot for me, really, so late afternoon I sat in the shade with a cup of tea and just stopped for a while.
I’ve been looking round for some new hens – young, ready to lay birds. I had a clear idea of the breeds I’d like, but it’s proved impossible to find anyone with any available. Tonight I found (on the internet) another breeder I’d not come across before … the website was impressive and they have a conservation certificate, so should be reliable. I rang to enquire about available birds, but they too only had young ones available. She was so helpful on the phone, however, that we decided to go along and take a look this evening … and as a result, we now have three nine week old Welsummer chicks – far younger than I had considered buying. So when we arrived home we had to do some quick thinking as to how to make our set up suitable for them … we didn’t finish until after nine, so it’s really time I stopped now. I’ll write more about the hens on http://henkeeper.wordpress.com/ tomorrow!
Another long day … I’m looking forward to a day off tomorrow, I think we’ll pack a picnic and just go – anywhere, I don’t mind. The weather is ideal, so refreshing to see the sun.
Thinking Aloud 
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