Box in the boot....

Sorry, sorry, sorry! Being hassled to update my blog! *wink* Just haven't had the time lately!

Ok, finished work last week at 11am, so headed home for a nap and then Jase and I went a-brambling. The blackberries were ready just down the lane, not far to go but we drove anyway. We picked nearly 3 kilos, thats 6.5 pounds in old money. *smiles*


I have used most of them as bramble jam cooked together with some of Mum and Dad's apples. Did a couple of portions of apple and blackberry filling for crumbles too - safely stashed away in the freezer for Winter.




Jase went back to work and I popped along to a chicken breeder, not a million miles away. I was planning to just have a look to see what she had. Now, I am not known for my self control, not that I wet myself, but with regard to purchases of a chicken nature.

Two little bundles of fluff were loaded into the cat box that I just so happened to have in the boot *wink*.

So.........introducing Agnes and Cornelia! My 11 week old chickens!!!!!! YAY!!!!!

Agnes is a Buff Sussex













and Cornelia is a Barnevelder



Sorry for the bad picture quality - camera playing up.






They are both still cheeping and are adorable.

The 'old' girls are really not sure what to make of them yet. They are being kept confined to the blue eglu and run for a few weeks until they are big enough to stand up for themselves.

Elsbeth is going to be trouble and has already made her feelings known by patrolling the perimeter of the run like a guard from Tenko. Laverne is not impressed either but Prudence and Winifred are fascinated by them and always strolling over to have a look. I hope that Winifred, as top hen, looks after them ok.

I was woken by Laverne doing her nut by BOK BOKING at 6am. She didn't stop all day. The new girls were running in and out of the eglu, not really sure what to make of it all. They keep going up to the side of the run, hoping to make friends with their (much) larger counterparts, but only Winnie s showing a real interest. I do hope she Mothers them.

Laverne soon got used to the new additions, but is still giving the eglu run a wide berth!

As they are 11 weeks old, it will be at least 7 weeks until I introduce them to each other properly.

We have agreed to stop at 6 chickens. We don't really have the room to house more, unless we make a large walk in run down the side of the house, which is currently home to some unruly wild hedging and god only knows what else. It is on a slope, so would need to be levelled. The plan is to put a green house and more raised beds or a fruit cage there, but it needs some serious time, money and effort.

I have a picture of the runner beans I bottled the other day. Glorious colour aren't they?



Shame when I rinsed them 3 times, then boiled them, that they had absolutely no taste! Will work on some way to keep the harvest for longer, rather than just freezing them.

Next door are on holiday and I have been asked to help myself to anything that is ready. I resisted the urge to pop over with a trug the minute they pulled out of the drive! Will go round tomorrow and pinch some tomatoes and beans.

We lit the open fire again the other night and sat with a Chinese takeaway. Lovely. There is a definite nip in the air and the trees are starting to show their autumn colours. I like autumn, something nice about nature slowing down for winter. Meals with gravy and dumplings, heavy puddings with custard. The smell of a fire, burning away in the lounge. Heavenly. The only down side is that I see less of the girls, as they are in bed so early when the days shorten.

I have one flight back home from Nice tomorrow, then I don't have to be in until 7pm on Friday! Home early on Saturday morning, ready for the TV crew to come and interview me. Yes, I am going to be mean and not talk about it yet. Let's just say that it has something to do with........CHICKENS!!!! *wink*

Thanks all for the lovely comments you leave. It means a lot to me.

C x x