Blog Archives

Who is David? Where has he gone?

28/7/2011

Well yesterday Mum went to the car superstore and asked the young man on the counter where she might find the Isopon. He looked blankly at her and asked what you did with it. Mum replied in some detail and he pointed to the 'Car Repair Section'. Off went Mum in search of the pot. She found a similar looking product - same sketch of the car on the top of the tin and it clearly said Isopon P40 - but no mention of David. The original pot that Dad had showed us looked very ancient though - almost as old as Harvest.
The young man said: "Aaaah! So that's what that is for!" Mum paid and left.
Dad seemed pleased in a funny sort of way.
Mrs Pippy penned a ditty for David -

Who is David?
And where has he gone?
Seeking out rust anew
To cast his eyes upon

Mandy and the Guttering

24/7/2011

Mandy is a very good friend of mine - Heeey! Just because Neddie and Seagoon have appeared on the scene -- no need for those incriminating thoughts! We were discussing, amongst other things, the calorific value of a Jam Cookie and the fact that Harry's tail was falling out. We like to share secrets and debate on the latest goings on at Wattlebury Down. Well Dad was all togged up today in his thick plastic glasses and woollen hat. He had a length of gutter which he had to fashion into a corner piece. It was tin (he said) and he was welding - hence the glasses. Not sure about the hat - Mum thought it was to stop his hair catching fire. He pondered his predicament (something he normally reserves for bath-time) and lo and behold eventually re-jigged and mended the guttering. Only to find, after having tipped a bucket of water along it, that there were two more holes around the bend! So he has been waving an empty pot of David's P40 Isopon around. (That's what Mandy said it had printed on the pot).
"We need some more of this" he declared. "But not today". Gordon xxx

Neddie Seagoon

23/7/2011

Mrs One-Eye, Neddie, Seagoon and a Cookie

Mrs Black has a sister called Mrs One-Eye. This is for reasons apparent when you meet her. She is slightly smaller than Mrs Black, and rather timid due to her limited range of vision. The two sisters are the progeny of a Vorwerk cockerel and a Black Frizzle hen. There may be a bit of something else in their make up as well. Anyway Mrs One-Eye sat on a couple of her eggs in the corner of the loose box and a rosecomb popped in and out to lay her contribution to the clutch. As the majority of the eggs weren't fertile - being Mrs Blacks and Mrs One-Eyes, just two small chicks hatched out.
"Two more baby Rosecombs" said Dad. I hid in the shed.
"Gordon, why are you having a go at the Bossy Rosecomb?" Mum asked recently. And I nonchalantly sauntered off to play with a plum.

Help! Hide me quickly!

"Gordon!" Mum took me to task. "These two baby rosecombs have gold feathers down their backs! What have you been up to?" I legged it as fast as I could, but Mum caught up with me in the barn.
So we tried to think of names for them. I came up with Neddie and Seagoon - the Harry Secombe character from The Goon Show - as they are a Secombe of sorts!

Mr Buzz and The Slippers

22/7/2011

Mr Buzz - he is here - honest!

It was a lovely fresh morning - Mr Buzz rose slowly higher and higher above Mum's head and she attempted to take his photo. You must bear in mind here that Mum cannot see very well without her glasses and although the buzzard was extremely clear to her at umpteen feet in the air, when she looked through the viewfinder of her [Instamatic 100] camera it was impossible to judge whether she actually had Buzz in the picture at all.

Haa Haa Haaaa

Lois was watching the debarcle with much amusement as Mum tottered around in ever decreasing circles and could no longer suppress a rather long and loud guffaw. In fact when we saw Mum and Dad walking back to the cottage after a meal at the Big House last night, and they were swinging their two pairs of slippers in a carrier bag, we realised that they are indeed
going the way of all older humans.
As chickens, we have a lot to be thankful for. Gordon & Sylvia xxx

For Chris

21/7/2011

Chris was a very dear friend and sadly she passed away earlier this month. She loved the trees and birds, nature, poetry and life. If she could have changed her name it would have been to Dolores. And her favourite song was 'Wild Thing' by The Troggs.
Keep thinking up those inventions and daily proverbs. Until we meet and can share such laughter and companionship again. C xxx

The New Baby

11/7/2011

Mum came running into the yard just now, quite excited. It must have been important as Mum doesn't do running nowadays, unless in times of major emergency.
"Gordon!" she cried. I scooted around the corner of Bird and Ellen's box where I had been sifting through the millet remains. Mum had been walking Honey and Harvey.
"We have just seen a baby roe deer sitting in the corner of Lois' field. It was so well hidden, but Harvey seemed interested in something and so we peered through the brambles. It was so sweet and amazingly Harvey moved silently back, although the baby was only three feet from us, and we all crept away." Mum paused for breath.
I nodded delightedly. It could be another Charles. Life goes on. Gordon x

Mysty and Charles, the White Pigeons and Eggs

10/7/2011

Lois watching Mysty eating the leaves

Mystique the young female roe deer loves to sit under a big thorn hedge in Lois' field. She keeps Lois company and we saw her nibbling the tender leaves the other morning. We think that she is a year old - born last spring. Her mother and father are never far away, but we haven't see their new babies this year. Mysty had a brother called Charles, but sadly he was hit by a car two weeks ago and died. They lived totally independent lives, contentedly going about their day - but never too far from the wood where they were born. Mum pulled Charles away from the road into a sheltered leafy patch. Poor Charles. We will miss him. Sometimes all you could see in the oilseed rape was his two little horns as he mooched happily about.

High wire acrobats

The white pigeons are still in the barn - we hear them swish around and they were trying out their highwire balancing act on the Very Important Wires above the field yesterday. We think there are only three now, but sometimes there are five - I think they are friends from a nearby barn over for afternoon tea.

And Truffle and Mrs White reluctantly came out of their stable this morning for a drink and something to eat - yummy chocolate swiss roll - one of Harry's favourites - and we peeped in their 'nest' - oh dear! Loads of shiny, well sat-on eggs, and not one of them fertile. Who is going to tell them?!
Not me!! Gordon x

Truffle & Mrs White's cache

Summer

1/7/2011

The field of wheat has turned from the mossy green through a delicate brushing of peach to a now creamy lemon colour. It is alive with birds of all shapes and sizes, the smaller ones darting to and fro from the edge of the rew and the pigeons concealed so well amongst the ears that only Harvey knows they are in there.

The wild plum trees are weighed heavy with an abundance of fruit. The smaller ones are discarded on the ground and they provide interest for us to study. They are a bit sharp to eat though and we are waiting for the big juicy ones to drop. And there are so many butterflies and insect creatures around. I love July - summer at its best. Gordon x

About Us

Hello! My name is Gordon and I am a Gold Sebright and my best friend is Sylvia. She is a Silver Sebright. We live with our foster parents on a small farm in the country. We thought that we would put our take on life and what we get up to through the year into a diary for you. All the characters are real and the events are a true record, interpreted with a modicum of poetic licence. We hope you enjoy it. Love Gordon and Sylvia

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