Monday 16 August 2010

Nature lessons...

::Human Nature::

Monday.
There happens to be some lovely people around these days.
In the shop where I work, a customer visiting from Scotland came in to purchase a birthday card and had left his money in the cash-point, he was pretty gutted, but I said that round here we're quite an honest bunch and he may find someone had handed it in at the bank.They indeed had, it made his day and in his words had 'restored his faith in human nature'

Wednesday.
My truck did not want to start. At all. Not a bean from the old beast. Turns out the battery was flat as a pancake and two of my lovely neighbours helped me sort it all out and charge it up and make me feel a bit less of a dumb blonde. Next week I'm learning to change a wheel...

Thursday.
After what happened last night, I think I really do have the best neighbours. I'm very lucky indeed.

Saturday.
Parcels.Oooh how I LOVE parcels.
There really are some nice people in the world, especially blogworld. A lovely lady called Ella made me this beautiful, beautiful cushion.Crochet is something I just cannot master, I end up casting on like knitting, but ask me to cast on to knit and I wouldn't have a clue! So when this lovely lady asked if she could make me a cushion for Florence, I leapt at the chance and as you can see it is just gorgeous.GORGEOUS.

Cheered me up no end that did.
Gave me one of those lump in your throat things at the niceness of a stranger, but really cheered me up.


::Mother nature::

Wednesday.
I do so love my hens and my cats and the old black dopey hound.
Far too much for my own good.
I spoil them and talk to them and just sit and watch them somedays, wasting precious time I shouldn't be wasting really.

Wednesday turned into a very bad day.

That pesky fox came back for his chicken dinner.
I was late putting the hens in,sorting out my truck, trying to cook some tea,answer the phone and feed the other animals when I heard the most awful commotion in the hen run. I knew instantly what it was ,the noise will haunt me for a long time. I ran barefoot across the garden to find feathers everywhere, silent hens in a state of shock lying across the ground and one poor girl crying out in pain.I panicked, I couldn't see properly as the light was fading and they are in the darkest part of the garden,under the big conker tree.
I was devastated, wracked with guilt and crying and there was no-one home to give me a hand.

My lovely neighbour came to her door in her dressing gown to find me in floods of tears clutching an injured hen in a teatowel. They were brilliant, I sat in her immaculate lounge with the chicken still in a teatowel, whilst her husband collected up my poor remaining girls,checked who was alive, who wasn't and put them safely away.The burnt tea went in the bin and a hot sweet cup of tea was made.I wasn't looking forward to the following morning.

Thursday.
The big clear up. Not nice.The injured girlie has a badly bruised neck but surprisingly survived the night.Hand feeding her is keeping her going but I'm not so sure I'm doing the right thing..should I do the decent thing or let mother nature take it's course?
Betty, my oldest hen refuses to open her eyes and Bessie has lost the majority of her tail feathers and refuses to move and big Elsie looks positively ragged.
Dolly and Violet unfortunately didn't make it.

I'm down to 5 and a half hens now, it all looks a little empty in the hen run.

Mother nature created a devious creature with the Fox.
Such a beautiful looking animal with such cruel ways. Sneaky ways.
A fox will destroy a flock in minutes and only take one for dinner.This foxy didn't get the chance for dinner and left over the 6 foot fence empty handed.Oblivious to the few seconds of chaos and the resulting horror.
I've no doubt he'll be back again so I'm off to shut them in extra early..

Next post I promise to be a bit jollier with some pretty stuff. x

17 comments:

  1. I am so sorry about your hens, i fully understand how devasting it can be, a couple of years ago a bedlington terrier got into my hen house and killed 10 of my chickens and then got in to a seperate ark and slaughtered a hen and her ten week old adorable chicks, heart broke was,nt the word, i had the owner of the dog prosacuted by the police . .. On a brighter note I love your blog and glad you have posted! We sghare a passion for fox terriers , gardening and much more, if you get time pop over to my blog, bestest wishes,Linda.

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  2. My friend was looking after her neighbours hens and had not long let them out but at 9am a fox killed one and injured another in broad daylight. She had to chase it away!

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  3. SO sorry to hear about your chickens! Silly stupid fox!! I hope they all recover :)

    That cushion is pretty darn lovely though...i wish i got things in the post like that..i just get bills!!

    Looby xx

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  4. I am so sorry to hear about your hens, it must be devastating and heart breaking to have such a thing happen. Our hen run is like chicken Colditz but the foxes seem to find their way around even the best security. Apparently (so I have heard) a good way to ward off foxes is to let men piddle (trying to think of a polite way of saying it) around the run and the scent wards off the fox!! Hope the girlies recover.
    Love the cushion, by the way, lovely, I wish I could crochet.
    Jo xx

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  5. I'm so sorry your lovely hens were attacked by that fox. I'm thankful right now to live in town, far away (I hope) from predators that would upset my ladies.

    Glad that your week had some wonderful people in it at least.

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  6. Sounds like you have had a tough week, I'm so sorry to hear about the incident with the fox, that is auful news.
    On a brighter note the cushions look lovely.
    I hope this week is a better one for you.
    Have a good day.
    Gem xx

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  7. So sorry to hear about your poor hens...how upsetting for you.
    At least there was a little ray of sunshine in your week with the kind gestures.Although it doesn't really compensate for your loss,I hope it cheered you up a little.

    Bellaboo :o)

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  8. How awful. Foxes seem able to overcome the best security. Hope your girls recover from their ordeal. x

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  9. Don't give up on that hen! We had one stick its head in a rat trap, it was half dead so my husband wrung its neck (used to be a gamekeeper so he is used to dispatching animals quickly) and put it under the hedge to be fed to the dogs later. Imagine our surprise when we saw that hen walking round later! it wasn't right for a long time but made a full recovery. We called her Lazarus.

    Take care of the others, foxes are nasty animals and will keep coming back for more - even in broad daylight.

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  10. really pleased you like the cushion, thought it would make a change to the old CK style!....so sorry to hear about the hens, hope this week is better and that darn fox hasnt been back...... x x

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  11. Oh, that is so sad about the hens. Poor little things!

    I've been meaning to email and say thank you for the lovely post you wrote for me when we lost Oskar. I was many miles from home and it made me so happy.

    Have a good week. Much love

    claire x

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  12. So sad to hear about the fox attack. Hope everything turns out ok. On a brighter note, love the cushion. What a lovely thoughtful thing to do. Sounds like you have fab neighbours too.

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  13. fox is fox and he will remain one, dont think that he did it to hurt you, its how he operated, dont you have a dog to guard the premesis, its better to have some catch installed to catch the beast, liek you blog a lot

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  14. i love the cross stitch pattern on the cushions, very neat and very beautiful - i one saw a bed sheet made of this pattern and it looked soo lovely, was expensive though, i liked your post a lot

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  15. God Sairer that's such bloody awful news about your hens. Hopefully they can get over the shock and make it.

    X

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  16. Just popping by to say hi and that I have a big giveaway over at my blog including lots of Cath Kidston, Dorset Cereals, Sarah Smith, Keep Calm Gallery, vintage and homemade goodies. Please do go and have a look and feel free to enter:

    http://diaryofatinyholder.blogspot.com/p/giveaway.html

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  17. Hi my heart stopped a beat this morning as I forgot to lock ours up last night and we have had similar raids like you.All okay fortunately but I know how lucky I've been

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