... on eggs. Real ones!

I've got a few eggs to show you. A while back there were some mickies nesting in the wattle tree out the front, and one day, soon after tiny whistlings started coming from the nest, I found an egg on the ground. It was almost-intact, save for a small hole in one side, and it must have been shoved out of the nest as a dud. 

Then, another bunch of mickies nesting at my Ma's place. They'd built in a hanging branch of a paperbark tree, quite low to the ground, and it contained three of their lovely brown-speckled eggs. A few days later though, my Ma reported that the nest must have been raided by a bigger bird, for the eggs were gone (as were the mickies) and the nest was hanging crookedly from the branch. Did I want the nest? Oh yes please!

Can you see the wonderful stuff they've used to pad the nest? I'd seen a few nests where the birds have sourced fluffy building insulation to use, which is generally white or grey, but these mickies have found some two-toned synthetic green material, and used that. 

There has been some interesting chicken egg action around here lately. Normally my Pekin bantam girls lay white-to-pale-brown solid-coloured eggs, but have at look at this delight that awaited me in the nestbox recently. 

A speckled egg! There has been only one, and I have my suspicions that it's the result of some antibiotics that I have been giving Ginger, trying to combat an ongoing case of bumblefoot. Isn't it special? (Ginger is much better, too!)

Lastly, a couple of oddities.

That big egg at the back is a regular Pekin bantam egg. The little white one in front is an end-of-the-season egg from my Ma's English Game hen, Major Hoolihan. The tiny brown one to the right there is a bit special because it's come all the way from Stanthorpe, through the mail, from fellow BrisStyle member, Sarah. I believe the egg came from friends of hers, and it's extra-special because it's the very first egg one of their bantams has laid. Shortly I'll make moulds of those two wee eggs, and see what happens next!

... on plants.

There has been so much going on in the garden recently. It seems that just about every day there's been something new to sniff. One of my favourite flowers as far as scent goes are those little old-fashioned white freesias. This year I got a stack of bulbs from The Digger's Club and put them in a big shallow pot on the deck.

The native bees are still around, and it seems they like freesias too. Look at their little pollen balls!

My big pots of pansies, heartease and anemones have been flowering spectacularly for weeks. I don't think I've ever had such success with flowers in pots before!

The vegie garden (with the new hardwood edges) is packed full of greens, and they're now at the stage where we can hardly keep up with the output and need the chooks to help out! There's some carrots up the back there too, they should be ready in a couple of weeks.

 

This morning there was a first flower on my extra-special purple beans. I do so love purple food.

Speaking of chooks, (who are somewhat garden-related as that's where they live) Marilla had been sitting in an expectant trance for three weeks. Over three weeks, actually, as it took me about ten days to source some fertile eggs for her!

Of the twelve eggs, five hatched, which isn't a bad result considering the eggs came through the post. There was a possibility none would hatch, as who knows what happens to a fragile package en route? But there's now five one-week-old Pekins cheeping in their coop, which is just a wonderful thing. 

Look at those feet! Time for me to go and pick a colander of greens for our dinner, and squeeze a few chicks. Not a bad way to finish the afternoon!

... on 'when things don't work.'

Chicken casualties abound around here. Despite three visits to the specialist avian vet, my two favourite Pekin bantam hens have had to be euthanised, for reasons unknown (without me parting with an even more astronomical amount of money for a probably-equally unfavourable outcome), and I'm left with a nitwit and a pecker. The flock has halved.

It's always the most likeable, beautiful and personable ones that die, isn't it?

So. The nitwit (on the right) is Marilla. In the mornings (starting at first light, about 4.00am) she'll make the loudest, most insistent noise she can. I think she wants food. There's plenty there! It goes 'raaaaaaaaaak Raaak Raaak Raaak Raaak. RAAAAAAAAAAK RAAAAK RAAAAK RAAAAK RAAAAK RAAAAK!', and it's on repeat, and thank goodness the neighbours haven't built on their block yet, because she's worse than a rooster.

Bent, on the left, is so-called because when I got her as a pullet I noticed that her whole face was... well, bent. She must have had an accident as a chick which caused her beak to swing off slightly to one side. It's straightened out now but she uses it with great force and accuracy to peck at any limb you may care to wave in her proximity. The Pecker.

Here's something else. You know that corn I was raving about a few weeks ago? How green and lush it looked in the vegie garden! How promisingly full the cobs! How succulent the kernels! How, one evening, carefully steamed and much anticipated (despite the large caterpillar I found munching away as I peeled it) BLOODY AWFUL it tasted!?

C was well involved with his cob beside me as I took the first bite. It should have been grand - it was cooked to perfection, glistening with butter, sprinkled with freshly-ground pepper and an appropriate scattering of Maldon sea salt flakes... and I got a mouthful of something that tasted and felt ever-so-much (and unsurprisingly, when I reflected upon it later!) like a spoonful of cornflour. Absolutely revolting, with no flavour whatsoever, and it stuck to my teeth in the most appalling fashion, too. I tried again... no. Glue. This stuff was unpalatable! I now know why some bright spark hybridised corn! That'll teach me to try growing a heritage breed, goddamnit!

I uttered an oath of disgust, and C looked at me, mid bite. "This is bloody awful!" I cried. "Why are you eating it!?" and C said  in a small voice "Because you gave it to me." Oh hell. Gardening AND cooking guilt wrapped into one!

At least someone will eat it. Good on you, Bent!

... on why the Ekka was good.

I flew solo to the Ekka this year. This meant I could linger for an embarrassingly long time in the poultry shed, and leave in a couple of hours once I'd had enough. Perfect!

For a while, I had the Pekin Bantams to myself. I was interested to compare them to my ladies (I think Shirley could be a real beauty on the show circuit... if I was into that kind of thing. Wait...!) and noticed that the exhibited Pekins seemed much larger than mine. Then I realised that they'd all been blowdried! which could account for it.

This First-Prize-winning Birchen lady seemed desperate for some human contact, so I gave her a good scratch behind the ear while I congratulated her.

The Pekin roosters were such handsome, charismatic-looking fellows. I missed Boyd.

Over in the Budgie section the ribbons on the tiny cages were so voluminous that they sometimes obscured the winners within.

Although I spent quite some time with the birds, I did have an ulterior motive for visiting the Ekka on Monday: it was long-haired cat judging day. I had the absolute delight of meeting this Maine Coon, Sebastian. I have admired him via the website of his breeder for some years, so I was extra excited to finally hold one of his (enormous!) white paws in my hand.

Apart from the dissatisfaction of not being permitted to stuff this cat in my bag and make off with him, it was a thoroughly good half-a-day!

... on gardenness and chickening.

It was raining like billy-oh in Brisbane on Saturday. Not the best day to be trying to catch chickens and move them and their coop to the new house here, but we managed it! The box of wet grey ladies chatted amiably amongst themselves on my lap for the half-hour journey from my Ma's place to ours.

"Brrrrrr! Brr brr brr brr brr!" (Where do you think we're going?)
"Barrrhhhhh bhhhh bhhh bhhh BHHH!" (I don't know. Does anyone know?)
"BrrrRK!" (You're standing on me!")
"Rarrrrk. Rark. RaaaaaaARK." (Sorry. Not much room in here, you know!)
"Brrrrrr br br br BRK!" (Shh! We've stopped!)


The poor ladies... we had them out of their damp box and into their coop with a fresh dry nestbox and food and water in a jiffy. They took one look at the magpies strolling nonchalantly about the lawn and went into a meltdown.

At one stage all four of them were jammed trembling into the nestbox! At Ma's place we had a particularly vicious magpie who made it his mission to terrorise the chooks. He'd zoom down making his attack call, beak snapping, and woe betide any chicken who found herself in the open. The maggie would even approach anyone hiding behind the feedbins and pull at feathers. He was a really nasty character, so I could understand why the poor ladies were frightened.

However! I'm sure they'll be okay once they realise that their coop is safe. I'm mildly optimistic that maybe the maggies here won't be so intolerant of chickens! This lot of Pekin bantams are recent purchases - and unfortunately they came with a host of parasites to be sorted out. That pale one is anaemic and has a dreadful case of scaly leg mite which I've begun to treat - hopefully she'll come good. They're already taming up quite nicely and their arrival really makes this place feel like home - and the back yard is starting to look like the little urban farmyard we're aiming for!

Speaking of which, the spuds have come up. I was a bit worried that the seed potatoes would have started to rot away with all this rain... nope!

I'm also pleased to report that a choko that I bought at the supermarket has sprouted, so it looks like my dream of having a front fence sprawling with a choko vine might just come true.

And today? Today is 'Operation Herb Garden' day, so that's pretty good, isn't it? I'll report back later!

... on things that are good for the soul.

A box of chickens came to live with me on the weekend. These four bustling swishing ladies with their feathers that come right down to the ground and make them look like they are wearing long full skirts are absolutely entrancing, even more so when they trot about and occasionally trip over their own feathered feet.
I could sit and watch them all afternoon!