Ain't Nobody Here Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 What a lovely boy you have - your account made me a bit sniffy too! A little boy in my class (I'm a learning assistant in a special school) insisted on me calling the SSPCA to rescue an injured gull last week. His compassion was heartwarming too. I've just been watching this clip from This Morning about an 8 year old boy on the spectrum and his lovely dog. For those North of the border- click - as the clip above won't play there for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 My health goes down. I need a cow/I'll find some wheat. And one egg now /This sweet, sweet, treat. All I need is sugar cane/I'll make some cake... Thanks to da Henz, we have tonnes of eggz. I have given eggs to neighbours. I have given over a dozen to my respite carer for her family. I have eggs in the freezer. I have scramble nearly every morning. We have no shortage of eggs, and in the hallowed tradition of half term and holidays, son and I are baking cakes. We opted for rainbow cakes this time round, but there's more than enough eggs for me to double the batch and freeze a few for tea-time nibbles. Because e-numbers and my son don't often mix well, freezing cakes is often the best strategy to keep him from eating the lot. And myself too, might as well be honest here. Da Henz are having a very productive spring, with a regular amount of double-yolks of a size which makes me wince and cross my legs in empathy. No epidurals for Henz, bless them. All the girls are laying, and the neighbours and carer bring me dandelion greens on a regular basis to give the girls treats, in exchange for a few more eggs if they need them. No bad deal, really. Today the sun is out (and I'm perfectly aware I just jinxed it by typing that. Sugar.). Da Henz are having their late morning constitutional and my son is checking every three minutes to see whether the cakes are ready to frost; I have tried to explain hovering over them and breathing on them won't make them cool down any faster, but hey ho, I may be able to distract him with some Minecraft for a bit. In the meantime, wishing you all an idyllic-looking Easter from da Haus: idyllic because you can't see the weeds, mess in my haus, unfinished laundry or piles of dishes. You know what I'm talkin' about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaKiw1 Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) What a lovely outlook and update combined. Glad you're feeling better and the Henz anecdotes can continue. I hope you realise how lucky you are getting regular double-yokers - for most of us, even one getting one is like finding the Holy Grail! Edited April 11, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 I know! This us some sort of weird egg karma to have all Henz laying AND get double yolks every fortnight. Granted the Henz are young, so maybe that's why. Cakes for everyone, as a result! /cake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 What fantastic pictures - all of them. I am fairly druling over the cakes and the veggie plot looks so 'the good life' . . . the lovely outlook too. Dead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Spring is springing, and da Henz are enjoying more time scratching about and generally doing Hen things. With the spring there's also an influx of fruit in the shops, and while I expect they are still imported, I got my first strawberries of the year yesterday to share with my son. Normally, I compost old fruit; stuff we didn't catch quickly enough in the fruit bowl, cores from apples and pears, and so on. I had the strawberry tops from this morning all ready to go in the bin, but instead I wondered if da Henz would like their share of the bounty of spring. I think I have just discovered da Henz version of chocolate. Oh my various deities, strawberry tops are The Thing. Feathery knickers were flying as the ladies each tried to get to one of the tops first and abscond with it before anyone else caught up with her. I realised rather quickly that three tops for four Henz was going to end in tears -or at least in indignant squawking fury, so I went and cut a few more to throw in. Chaos ensued, although it was mostly a race to see which hen could get as much strawberry down her before another hen took the s"Ooops, word censored!"s and dashed off. I shudder to think of the damage if the Hens had handbags. Or hands to hold the bags with. I will add strawberries to the list of things to tempt Henz with if the need arises. At least it's a break from cabbage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaKiw1 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 There's nothing funnier than watching them chase each other, whether it's a strawberry or a worm or any other little treasure they think one of the others has got that they haven't! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Yes, mine will kill for strawberry tops . Have you tried giving them cooked spaghetti - it turns into a frenzy of grabbing bits off each other and running away rather than the sensible option of each eating the bit you have in your beak then looking for a new bit . Very entertaining to watch though . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaKiw1 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I agree - it's like that scene in Lady and The Tramp where the two dogs are eating the same strand of spaghett - although with chooks it's not a case of sharing a loving mouthful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 "When in Doubt, Make Cake" - I have no idea what the proper Latin is for that one, and any attempt is going to end up resembling the Latin grammar but of Life of Brian so I'll stick with English for now. *I had photos - but they were huge, and I lack the brain right now to post them. Cannot brain* So, I have managed to survive (barely) through Easter break, and only spent one day out of the lot in A&E when my back went out so horribly I had to call emergency services. I was once again re-acquainted with the medical establishment's befuddlement when a patient uses the term "chronic illness" and after just enough pain meds to get me home begore they wore off, I had a week to stagger through before son returned to school. And then a scant week back, then a bank holiday...good thing I don't gave to do anything like, yanno, work or anything... but I digress. As I wasn't able to do much, and I have four Henz all doing the egg-thing, I looked around in a bit of a panic on Friday and realised I had a ridiculous amount of eggz. Srsly. Remember when I was wringing about not having any eggs? You can begin laughing now. We do eggs BIG here. I have been freezing them by the dozen as I am all too aware in the distant future -sometime around October, I expect - the girls will moult and then due to the fading daylight, I will end up once more in eggless wasteland. I have prepared for the eventuality by freezing eggs by the dozen (not whole eggs, mind you, I crack them out the shells first). Even with these precautions, and making and freezing waffles for my son for weekends, and eating my own weight in shirred eggs...I still had loads of the things. So, it was time to bake, back be d***ed. My son wanted toffee cupcakes, and a request for a rainbow cake was made. I'm currently to tired to bother eating he piece I cut for myself, or even to do a decent attempt at the cake (I knew exhaustion would kick in halfway), but still, cake. Too bad it isn't laced with Oramorph... The Henz are doing well indeed - the warmer weather suits them, and they have provided a fair bit of entertainment when I throw them a handful of overripe strawberries ( that is never going to get old). I have even proven the expanse of dandelions in my front garden (which my neighbours do not approve of) all have their place in the Grand Order of Things by providing the greens to da Henz as treats. At least it validates my style of weeding, which I've always just sort of thought of as a guideline rather than a law. As I have found getting up in the mornings at an early hour a bit of a challenge (and not done without a fair bit of groaning, joint-popping and sometimes copious swearing) I have taken to tentatively leaving the door open on the Cube at night. I was worried at first but every morning I am greeted with da Henz giving me one-eye chicken looks and demanding to be let out of the run for a bit, so all well there. At least it means I don't need to hobble out at 5am at the moment. Slow going here at da Haus, but I'll get back into my rhythm again soon enough, which means I'll moan less. And a relieved hurrah was murmured by all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 You moan all you like, that's what we're here for . Sorry to hear about your back, sounds horrible . You're very organised, freezing eggs . Didn't even occur to me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaKiw1 Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Aren't there some neighbours, family or people at your son's at school that you/he could give eggs away too? Particulalry anyone who may sometimes have been a bit hard on him or lacked understanding of his condition in the past? Sorry to hear about your back too. I like your use of the 'banging head against wall' emoticon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Anyone got a magazine? I went out for the morning hen-check and egg-hobble; all the Henz are laying rather early of late, although Misako-hen has been lacking in punctuality, which is rare for her. She is usually stridently announcing her eggs at every turn, but she has been rather quiet and unassuming of late. As Misako is an absolute diva, I've been surprised - she has gone right out of "fashionably late" territory and into "Is Diana Ross actually performing tonight??" levels of tardiness when it comes to doing her business and getting out of the eggbox. And today has revealed the reason. I introduce Broody McBroodysen, da Hen formerly known as Misako. Good grief...she had parked her feathery butt on the eggs and wasn't budging. I didn't get the hissing but she had swelled up like a football and there were a few feathers in the nest as she must have been pulling them out. I got full One-Eyed-Chicken-Look but I am not having any of that. Off you go, Missus, and after shooing her off the eggs I closed the door of da Haus, and thus it shall stay till eveningsong. It's raining but there is tarp cover for the girls, and once Misako fluffed her feathers rather frantically, I enticed her to roam about a bit with the coveted strawberry tops - which all da Henz are convinced is manna from above. So with the cooler temperatures outside I am hoping she gets over her current Delicate Condition, but I suspect I'll have to punt her out of the nestbox a few more times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 You tell such a good story I think you should be writing a book (and I don't mean a kindle) complete with pictures. Good for hen reading while they are, as we call it in this house, 'on the potty'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 You tell such a good story Agreed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Took me about half an hour to read all your posts in this thread, but it was absolutely worth it! I take my hat of to you and Da Henz (if I had a hat, that is... Never been a hat person, but just saying...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Cheers m'dears. Granted I can get kindle books on my iPad with pics and the lot. With the added perk of adjusting the print sizing for me poor eyes! Kudos appreciated but I don't gave the concentration to write books anymore. A post once in a while is doable however! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted June 28, 2014 Author Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Henz are gonna hen. How gave you lot been? Forgive my absence but I have felt rather bloody awful. Specialists are still trying to figure things out so most of my days have been about sleeping, drinking tea, sleeping some more, gathering eggs, sleeping, and ZOMG FLEAPOCALYPSE!!!!! Srsly, worst outbreak of fleas EVAR due to the drought which has resulted me in flea bombing ALL THE THINGS and nearly deciding I just needed to nuke my house from orbit to get rid of them. I covered the cats in diatomaceous earth...they're all black so it was moderately hilarious -then have dusted da Henz with it, covered everything in flea spray, tried two different products before I hit on something that worked (Capstar for the win). I think I'm on top of it now, so all that needs doing us to let the fleabites to heal. My legs look like a giant dot to dot with so many dots you could probably connect them all to make a rather accurate rendition of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. And I still feel pants...however the system with da Henz is working well enough I just gave to feed, give water, gather eggz, let them have a roam and then done. My main worry was what would happen if I had a really bad patch (I jinxed it, probably), but all is well. And no more damn fleas either. Now...back to bedzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzzzz Edited June 28, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaKiw1 Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Really good to see you online again as I've missed your funny chicken tales but sorry to hear you're not feeling too good - and fleas are a real pain. Hoovering manically is also good way to try and suck up any blighters from carpets. Is your son being helpful with the henz? Not long until schools break up now - but maybe that is going to tire you out even more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaKiw1 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Are you feeling any better yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
