Chooks

Well I've changed my mind, it's a womans perrogative ok? I'm not getting Bantam Araucanas after all, because the eggs will be too small, 2 bantam eggs to 1 hens egg. I remember when I kept the Pekins, I used about 8 for a decent omelette.

So after a lot of research into different breeds, I've plumped for Marsh Daisies. They're an old English breed. They were developed in Lancashire in the early 1900's. They're slightly smaller than large fowl birds, but not as small as bantams, hens usually weigh around 5-6lbs the cockerels larger, but I won't be having a cockerel as I don't want to upset the neighbours. They don't tend to go broody very often which is a big plus. Don't eat very much compared to other breeds, lay standard hen sized creamy/beige shelled eggs, and do well on boggy ground and wet conditions. Sounds ideal for my garden.

I think they'll do very well, and not being as big as some other breeds, the three of them will have plenty of room in my beehive hen house. They'll have all the garden to roam in, which suits their character as they don't like being confined.

I'll be getting them in April when they'll be about 19-20 weeks old.

Not sure how Bonnie will take to them. She used to spend hours stalking the Pekins, and peering round corners at them. I'll just have to keep an eye on her and teach her not to chase them as they're producing food and not something to shake like a toy. That will be interesting.

Next door's cat made the mistake of getting into the garden the other evening at dusk. I didnt realise it was there and let Bonnie and Midge out to toilet. Bonnie spied the cat straight away and was like a rabid sow! She chased the poor thing and almost caught it, but it managed to scale the 6ft dividing fence and throw itself into it's own garden and safety. Goodness knows what she'd have done to it if she'd caught it. Yet she's fine with my cats, even a little scared of them. Especially after tormenting them for a few minutes and when they stick their claws into her she runs away frightened.

Apart from the housecat Lily of course. But then Lily does think she's a dog. Bonnie and Lily play together almost every day. Bonnie will drag her along by the scruff of the neck and then Lily will jump up onto Bonnie's back and ride her like a bronco, biting Bonnie's neck into the bargain. They're both as bad as one another, and both seem to enjoy it.

It's a damp wet miserable old day today. I have to go and remove the special duvet style bedding I put ontop of some dry moss in my nest boxes, as the Tits don't approve, and have spent all day pulling it out, tiny piece by tiny piece. If I left it in there, it would probably take them a month to get rid of it. So I must go and do that shortly.

I'm dog sitting today. My elder brother, Nigel and his friend have gone to London. So I'm dog sitting Gizmo, his dog. Gizmo's a cross breed but a cute little feller. His mother was a Fancy Chinese Crested and his father a Papillion. He looks like a Gremlin, with huge ears and a funny little face.

Nigel and George are having a sight seeing tour of London, sort of. Both being model railway and steam enthusiasts they'll be going to the National Transport Museum and somewhere in North London where there is a huge model railway exhibition. They were hoping to take in the British Museum as well, but I doubt they'll have time for that.

They'll be back just after 11pm tonight, to collect the Gremlin. Lily is quite disgusted he's here and keeps peering through the bannisters to see where he is. She'll overcome her disgust by this evening, and come into the sitting room for her usual cuddle and doze on her recliner.

The recliner was supposed to be mine. My brother bought it for me, as I only have a large sofa in the sitting room, and it gives me extra seating when I have visitors. Thats funny, because I rarely have visitors. It's a nice recliner, it also rocks and has an electric vibrating system which I never use. It also has a matching cream leather rocking foot rest/stool. I've only sat in it  once or twice, briefly, Lily claimed it, so after putting a pet blanket on the seat I've let her keep it. She is most indignant if I sit in it and glares at me with those big green saucer eyes of her, flicks her tail in disgust and stomps off in a sulk, then sits about 10ft away staring at me to make me feel guilty and let her have it.

My pets always seem to rule the roost. I treated myself to one of those electric heated mattress covers, because I was fed up with sleeping on the edge of the bed with no electric blanket under it, because Midge, Bonnie and Lily were hogging the bit that the electric blanket covered. Yet I don't seem any better off, they just spread out more to enjoy the heat, but at least the edge I'm allowed to sleep on is warm now.

As I said, it's wet  and mucky out today. I got so fed up yesterday having to clean Bonnie each time she came in from the garden. She only has short little rat's legs, and so her legs and belly get smothered in mud. So last night I spent an hour or three, as you do, on Ebay, and found just what I was looking for.

An all in one dog coat. Washable and waterproof, think it's nylon. It will cover her whole body, apart from a little bit under her bottom, for obvious reasons. I'd looked on some pet sites and they were extremely expensive and rather fancy for what I wanted, but the one on Ebay is excellent and cheap too. Just over a fiver.

She won't be wearing it when we go out, just in the garden in wet weather. I don't think she'll appreciated being strapped into it, but tough! I don't appreciate having to wash and dry her umpteen times a day. She doesnt mind wearing her other jackets though, so maybe it won't be such a struggle to get those little ratty legs in it and zip it up.

Not sure if I've already mentioned in a previous post what she's like in the car? In a word RABID!! She jumps all over the place barking at pedestrians and cyclists.  A total nutcase. So to stop that happening I invested in a special doggy seat belt that clips into the normal seat belt clasp and holds her in the passenger seat. You should really put them in the back seat, but she's used to the front so that's where she sits. It hasn't stopped the barking. She tends to sit bolt upright like a meerkat using the seatbelt as support and thats how she stays til we reach our destination. She does look funny. The only thing it has stopped is her throwing herself from back to front in the car and up on the rear parcel shelf. Which one day collapsed and dropped her into the boot below. All I could see in the rear view mirror was a ragged little white head bobbing up and down as she tried to get out. Goodness knows what the people in the car behind thought. But I didnt get a visit from the RSPCA so didn't worry too much.

If I can insert a photo here I'll try. I don't seem to have much success doing that. Here goes!



oh it worked! Well there I go. Cleverer than I thought. LOL

Speak again soon, hope you enjoyed my ramblings today.

Catch up

As there is yet another Party Political Broadcast on the TV it's given me time to update this blog. If there's one thing I can't stand it's politicians bleating about how marvellous they are and what miracles they'll perform if we're daft enough to vote them in.

Well I'm pleased to say old Midge has made a wonderful recovery. She came through the operation very well, and had 2 teeth removed and the others scaled and cleaned. However the next day she wasn't at all well, so unwell I had to ring the vet and take her into the surgery at 11pm. The vet listened to her chest, and told me her lungs were very congested but her heart was still ok, even though she has the heart murmer. She had three injections and a fortnights course of antibiotics.

That night she was no better, and back to the vet we went in the morning, another two injections and back home. At 3am in the morning I had to ring again and take her into the surgery. Driving along narrow country lanes at 3am in the morning is usually quite good, you can get up to speed as you can see any other cars coming towards you by their headlights. Thankfully there were no other cars out at that ungodly hour, and the road surface was covered in thick ice, so as much as I needed to get to the surgery as soon as possible, it would have been madness to put my toe down and drive hell for leather like a maniac.

When we arrived at the vet's she had another two injections, more antibiotics and an appointment for 9am the next morning.

After a sleepless night, with poor Midge moaning and groaning all night I managed to get about an hours sleep altogether, and at 9am were back in the vets waiting room. Her breathing was still quite bad, and the vet thought that when she was having her teeth extracted that some water had entered her lungs and caused the problem. So what she was experiencing was similar to bronchitis and pleurisy. No wonder she was in such pain.

She gradually improved day by day, and I'm pleased to say she's back to her usual senile but happy self. After the final check up at the vets last Tuesday, she has to come off the heart pills, which I don't quite understand, but stay on her arthritis pills. The latter being the size of golf balls almost, and not the easiest things to get her to swallow.

My other dog, Bonnie the Westie, who looks at the moment like an explosion in a pillow factory as she's in dire need of a trim, is in season. I'm still wondering whether to have her speyed or not, it's not like she's ever out of my sight, and the only male dog she encounters is my brothers little dog Gizmo, and he's been doctored. At the moment her season isn't a problem, apart from her trying to hump the cats at every opportunity. They're not too keen on her amorous attention.

Nothing really exciting has happened since my last blog session. I got a second hand double glazed front door and frame, but when a double glazing guru arrived to see if it could be fitted, it was 1" too wide. So it will be going to a new home shortly, at the moment it's stashed in my shed.

The other 'new' possession is a beehive chicken house. Made by a man who makes WBC beehives as a business, one day he was feeling artistic and made one with nest boxes on the back and a perch inside instead of bee stuff. It's a lovely little house, made from cedar so will last for years, and made as well as a cabinet maker would make a good piece of furniture with dovetailed joints and finished perfectly.

I won't be getting any chickens yet, as after pondering which breed to keep (the little house will only be big enough for 2 or 3) I couldnt decide which breed to go for. Pekins are my favourite chickens, like little feathery footballs with feathered feet and very tame and docile, but the eggs are not very big and the birds go broody at the drop of a hat and can't be persuaded back into lay. You could tie them to a rotary line for a week by their feet and they'd still want to brood eggs afterwards. Not that I've tried that, but you get the gist.

Finally I decided on Bantam Araucanas. They're lavendar grey in colour, with fluffy hats, fluffy cheeks and fluffy beards. Quite pretty feather and colour wise, but rather eagle eyed so not really the prettiest of birds. They are very hardy and cold tolerant though, and the don't eat as much as some other breeds, and the plus is that their eggs are huge, like extra large hens eggs and the shells are a pretty blue colour. So Araucana's will be here in about 3 months time. I'm having 3 from someone on my Pekin Heaven website who lives down this way. At the moment they are only a month old, so she is growing them on until they're old enough to bring them here.

I won't be giving them names, as they'll all look identical and I won't be able to tell them apart. So they'll all be known as chook. They will have the run of the garden, but if I find they rip up my plants then I'll have to consider making a run to confine them. Hopefully they won't be too distructive. I'm used to picking up bark chippings from the lawn after the blackbirds and thrushes have scratched them about looking for breakfast.

 Talking of birds, I bought two new bird boxes for the garden, as the three I had already put up on the fence are already occupied by pairs of bluetits. I'm not sure if these new boxes have been adopted yet, in the mornings pairs of tits do an inspection and a bit of housekeeping, peck around the entrance hole and then disappear for the day.

When I was at my brothers this week I pulled a lot of moss out of his lawn to bring home, so I could put some in the new boxes to try and encourage them to nest. It was a rainy day, so the carrier bag of moss is now hanging in the airing cupboard to dry off. I just hope they haven't already started nest building in them, or the poor female bird will end up with a couple of inches of moss ontop of her when I poke some through the entrance hole.

The ying yang frog spawn has started to evolve. It looks like they'll be normal frogs and not Chinese ones after all. I'm still not sure why the original spawn resembled ying yang, but I'm pleased to say the little round dots are now little crescent moons with a tiny head forming. The clump of spawn I left in the pond hasn't been touched by the fish. So much for people telling me the fish would eat the lot. They're not interested in the slightest. The two clumps of spawn in the half barrel are at the same stage of development as the pond clump. If they all hatch out I'll end up with thousands of baby frogs in the garden.

I think once they're ready to hop it, they'll all leg it down the garden, across the field at the back, and make their way down to the river at the bottom. It will be interesting next January when they all return to breed. A migration of thousands is on the books, I can see it now.

Well I think I'm going to leave this now, before you fall asleep at the computer. I'll write another 'episode' soon, not sure if it will be one of the tales of my life on the small holding, or something current yet. But whatever it is, I hope you enjoy reading it.

It's a worrying old time

Haven't had much to write about the last few days until now.

Midge my ancient border collie has had to go to the vet today to have a tooth extracted. She had about ten removed 4 or 5 yrs ago when I lived in Norfolk, and wasn't too good afterwards, mainly due to some antibiotics she was allergic to. This time it's just one tooth to come out, after a really nasty abcess the other week, and a good clean of the remaining teeth.

So I'm on tenterhooks today. Not only is she very old to have a general aneasthetic, she also has a heart murmer. So they are monitoring her while she's 'under' to make sure nothing goes wrong. But you still worry don't you?

She's been a wonderful companion. I've had her since 1995, when I bought her from a farm in Dizzard, near Crackington Haven. She was in a litter of about 6 pups. Two girls and the rest were boys. They all looked typical border collies with white ruffs, apart from Midge who didn't have a ruff but white legs, chest, end of her muzzle and the tip of her tail. She's a Tri-colour, so has lovely golden feathers on her legs and gold fur on her face and chest. She's a beautiful dog.

The man who bred her loved his Border Collies, and had entered most of them in One Man and His Dog, and local sheep dog trials with great success and his house was full of certificates and cups. Sadly he had died prior to Midge's litter being born, and his wife and their 'mentally challenged' (retarded) son didn't want the bother of the dogs, so was selling them all off to get rid of them. Midge cost the princely sum of £10 and she's been worth £1,000,000 to me. Had the old chap still been alive Midge and her siblings would have cost around £1,000 each due to their pedigree and bloodline, but we got nothing with Midge, not even her pedigree as 'the wife' didn't know how to fill them in and couldn't be bothered. Not that I cared, I just wanted a pet and I also wanted to get her away from that place.

The pups and their mother were down in the bullock sheds, covered in cow pooh and wet and cold. To catch the pups the retard son put 3 shredded wheat in an old metal pie tin, the kind that you buy meat pies in and take the lid off. Well the lid was off, looked like it had been hacked off with a chisel, as there were rough and sharp edges all around it.

The adult dogs rushed up to get at the food, and the retard started hitting them with a piece of blue alkathene pipe. I immediately had a go at him and he and his mother just stared at me. Several of the dogs, including Midge's mother had open cuts and whelts on their backs, heads and ears from what was probably regular beatings.

Finally the pups rushed over to get some food and the retard picked Midge up. I'd said I wanted a girl and as he dangled her infront of me by the scruff of her thin filthy little neck he said 'I think this one's a gurl, cuz the boys look a bit diff'nt, they got dangly bits.'

I could see she was indeed a little girl, and snatched her from him and put her inside my coat, cow pooh and all.

I wasn't very well off at the time, between jobs I think, I can't really remember, but money was tight. I paid the ten pounds, wishing with all my heart I could afford to buy all the dogs just to get them away from there and then rehome them, but I just couldnt afford it.

I kept wondering how they were all getting on and if they'd been rehomed or sold for months afterwards.

Once I got home, I ran some warm water in the sink an shampooed Midge. She looked like a little teddy bear. Short stubby nose and tiny tiny triangular ears ontop of her head. She just sat there and let me wash her, massaging the soap into her fur to get the cow pooh out, and being careful not to get any in her eyes. What eyes they were too. Great big brown ones, full of sadness.

I showered her with love as soon as I had her, and still do. She was so intelligent, almost knowing what I was thinking. I taught her the basic sit, stay, down and come commands and then decided to take her to dog training classes.

I had to drive to Okehampton, which was quite a drive. The classes were held in Okehampton Town Hall/Community Centre.

The woman taking the classes suggested Midge go into the intermediate class, as she was by then 6mths old and too old for the puppy class. We sat at the edge of the ring, and watched as each of the owners walked their dogs around, teaching them to walk to heel, sit, lay down and stay while they walked a few yards away then called their dogs to them. Finally it was our turn.

Midge was amazing. She did everything the other dogs had done, and better, and I didn't even have to tell her to do anything. I was shocked to be honest at how intelligent she was.

After the class was over the woman told me that she didn't think I need to take Midge anymore as she was very obedient. I'd never had a dog that good at learning things before. I felt so proud of her.

For most of Midge's life we lived on a small holding, where we kept orphan lambs and a few sheep, a couple of piggies for the freezer, a herd of pedigree Anglo Nubian goats, which we milked and also had a stud billy called Cupid. We worked part time to buy things we couldnt make or grow ourselves, and the rest of our income came from our milk, eggs, and meat. We also bred and showed Rare Breed Poultry and Waterfowl, and were very successful at the shows. I think we had about 19 breeds of large fowl, and 11 miniatures with 4 or 5 different true bantams. We also had lots of different breed of duck and Embden Geese.

I remember one day hubby and myself were in the large vegetable plot and Midge came running over with a wet chick in her mouth and dropped it at my feet. It had obviously fallen into the stream and she'd rescued it, within seconds she'd laid 2 more at my feet. I dried them off and put them in a box by the Rayburn in the kitchen where they soon fluffed up and could be given back to mother chicken. Midge has always been so gentle with the chicken and ducks. Any young animal she seems to know has to be treated with care and protected.

She was never very good with the sheep though. They, the sheep, used to gang up on her and push her into a corner and try to head butt her, so she's always been frightened of them and would stand behind me or run ndoors if they came too close. But she did have a herding instinct. She could herd the chicken and ducks and when we used to take her to Widemouth Bay for a day out, she'd run from side to side behind us to herd us together.

She loved going to the beach, nuzzling amongst the rock pools and looking for crabs, which she'd grab and throw into the air. Not sure the crabs were so keen on being launched into the air though.

Midge has been with me through thick and thin, good times and bad. Especially when my husband was very ill. That was a traumatic time for all of us, myself and the animals. He'd had a very bad car accident and couldnt work anymore. Sadly he became mentally ill, suicidal and alcoholic. It must have been frightening for him, it certainly was for us. Midge would hide behind the sofa or run up the yard into the barn until things had quietened down.

After my husbands death I couldnt manage the smallholding on my own, so sold up all the stock and Midge, myself and the 6 cats moved to a small cottage with a normal sized garden. There, in the summer, she would lay on the lawn and watch the birds and bees. She still loves to do that now, but she can't see so well nowadays.

She's been a very healthy dog, I've been very lucky really. The only problem was 4 or 5 years ago when she had about 10 teeth out, after having several abcess in her mouth. Since then she's been fine. So today will be a bit of an ordeal for her.

She has suffered and still does with Arthritis. She's almost at the end of her month's course of injections, and will be taking glucosamine tablets for the rest of her life, but it has helped her a lot. She still creaks a bit, but she can manage to jump up onto the sofa again, which she hasn't been able to for some time, and her walking is 50% better than it was already. She also has a heart murmer now, but thats all due to old age.

She's a great age for a dog, but everyone who see's her tells me that she doesnt look her age. She has no grey hairs at all, unlike me.

So today is a bit stressful for Midge and myself. She's a tough old bird, so I'm sure she'll be back home this afternoon a bit groggy but ready to go on for another year or two yet, bless her.

Update: 1.40pm Thursday  11 March - The vet has just phoned and Midge got through the operation ok, heavily monitered. She had two teeth removed, the one that had the abcess underneath last week, and one on the other side that was also rotten after having the plaque removed. They're now cutting her claws which are rather long as she doesnt walk much, and I can collect her at 3.30pm today. Phew! What a relief!

Spring has sprung - for now

It's a gloriously sunny day, bright blue sky with large white fluffy clouds being swept across it by the bitter cold wind. Well we can't have it all can we?

Midge is looking much better after her last trip to the vet, the antibiotics are kicking in and the swelling on her muzzle has gone right down so I think she feels much more comfortable now. She has to have it checked on Tuesday when she goes for her 3rd arthritis injection, and depending on how it is, she may have to have the tooth removed.

She certainly looks and acts a lot brighter, thank goodness.

My brother visited yesterday, with his little dog Gizmo. So Bonnie the Westie and Gizmo spent most of the day wrestling and chasing each other. My brother stayed overnight instead of driving all the way back, so while he watched the footy on tv I managed to get online. I can't go all day without my dose of internetitis.

I don't have any plans for today other than housework, I should really bring the bookcase downstairs and put in the kitchen so I can unpack the dozens of cookbooks and others that are still in boxes under the stairs, but yet again I can't seem to get motivated to do it.

Our village newsletter was delivered today, both Gizmo and Bonnie were like rabid beasts trying to grab it as the poor woman tried to push it through the letter box. It seems we have an official opening of our multi-million pound village hall at the end of this month. It's about the size of the Olympic Stadium, or seems to be. God knows why they wanted one quite so big.

For the opening there will be a parade from the village green, led by the Holsworthy Majorettes. Deep Joy! I can't stand majorettes at the best of times, but to have them twirling their batons outside my house to the rather out of tune band will be worse than japanese water torture believe me. Then they'll wobble off down the village green, past the church and into the new village hall, where someone famous in these parts who I've never heard of, will cut the tape. Then there's some boring speeches by more people I've never heard of and in the evening a hog roast with dessert and drinks at the bar. Why the village hall needs a bar is beyond me as there's a lovely village pub on the green, not 500yds away. There's a live band, well a dead one wouldnt be much use would it? The whole shebang finishes at midnight, so we'll all be kept awake by people not used to alcohol trying to get their keys in their cars and shunting and reversing them out of the village. So a late night that night.

We also have a kids easter egg hunt on the village green this month. Can't remember if it's before the village hall ceremony or after. It's for the little ankle biters up to 6yrs of age. Well that won't last long, there's nowhere to hide the Easter eggs on the green as it's just a flat area of grass, unless they're going to import some trees and boxes for the occasion, which would sort of give the game away. So another day of torment, listening to excited shrieks and painful screams all day.

The newsletter also mentions the village Agricultural Society are holding a meeting in the new hall next month, and also includes a photographic section, and all are welcome, members or otherwise. Hang on! Is it for gardeners or hobby photographers? I'm confused. I like both, but don't particularly want to combine the two. To sit and look at someone elses photo's of their potted petunias or prize winning leeks would just about send me over the edge. I'm halfway there already.

All we need now is for the W.I to have a best decorated matchbox competition and best marmalade or chutney competition and that would just about make my year. Not!

Talking of the W.I they seem to have vanished into the ether. I never hear of them these days, not that I want to enroll. I'd be bored to tears. At one time thats all you got in a rural community. Young Farmers and the W.I. Both now seem to be on the decline. Perhaps the Young Farmers are too busy to hold events because they're showing the old biddies in the W.I how to grow marijuana in their Blue Peter designed greenhouses and conservatories?

Yes it all happens in this village. All sorts of events to ruin your rural idyll.

And I mustn't forget the Hunt. Banned it maybe, but I don't think our Hunt is aware of the ban, as they meet regularly, again on the village green, with their red jacketed riders and bay mares or geldings dropping huge piles of steaming horse manure all over the pavement and green, and lets not forget the huge hounds who are about as obedient as a jack russell after a cornered rat. They run all over the green and people's gardens, cocking their legs up your car and wheely bins and crapping on anything that doesnt move for more than 30 seconds. No-one clears up after them, and the next day the village kids are out on the green rolling around and playing in it all.

Once the Hunt begins, or preferably well before, I have to make sure my cats are safely locked indoors or else they'd be fair game for the hounds. Then we, the pets and myself, sit indoors with the radio full volume so we don't hear the sound of the baying hounds and the hunt horn, which sends chills down your back with visions of a poor moth eaten old fox being chased for all it's worth across the adjoining fields and gardens.

And finally a little note on the end of the newsletter asking if anyone has any spare land they could let the Church have, as the cemetary is now full. Hmmm.. I thought it had to be hallowed land? One of my neighbours has a large field and lives near the Church, I'm hoping they don't read the newsletter and bin it like I normally do. I don't fancy having funerals and burials at the bottom of the garden. And with the shortage of land around these days you'd think everyone would opt for cremation these days. I'm sure they could cram a few more in the Church Yard if they had vertical burials.

Oh well no good sitting here rambling on is it. I have work to do. I'll get the Dyson out and give it a burn up through the downstairs and call it a day I think. Then sit and listen to the birds singing while I can still hear them. It won't be long before everyone in the village starts up their mowers and strimmers on days like this. You're lucky if you can hear yourself think then.

The joys of rural life eh? You can't beat it.

It never rains but it pours!

Poor old Midge the antique border collie who will be 16 this November, is due to go to the vet tomorrow for her second injection of the course of 4, one a week for a month. The injections are to help her body produce the oily substance that greases the joints, as she's already on the doggy version of glucosamine (that helps her produce the waxy lining on the joints).

However, she's not been herself the last few days, and I'd put it down to her arthritis, but last night I noticed the right side of her muzzle swollen, so it looks like she has a tooth abcess. She doesnt have many teeth, as she had most of them removed about 4yrs ago when the same thing happened.

I rang the vet and explained and have to take her in this afternoon at 2.15pm. I'm not quite sure how they'll go about treating the abcess and bad tooth, because last week they found she had a heart murmer, so I would think general aneasthetic is a no-no, but with medical science as it is these days, maybe they can just spray or inject the site and remove the tooth.

Medical treatment for humans and animals has advanced so much in recent years. Just a few years ago dogs with arthritis would be given pain killers, some with very nasty side effects, but these days they treat them with medication that helps their bodies heal and repair themselves. Amazing.

Most of my pets are old timers, besides Midge I have 4 cats who are all in their teens. Mother cat Sophie was found under a sink unit as a kitten when the 'owners' had done a moonlight and left about 40 cats of varying ages behind. A neighbour alerted the RSPCA who came and collected them all, but somehow missed Sophie.

A friend of mine heard a kitten meowing and got her husband to 'break in' and rescue it. Which meant he had to practically dismantle the sink unit cupboard to reach her. They then brought her over to me. I'd already got about 10 cats back then as I had a small holding and they were all employed as rat catchers.

Sophie was an adorable kitten. I kept her indoors until it was time for her to be speyed, but the night beforehand my late husband accidentally let her out. Needless to say the randy old tom from the farm next door soon spotted her and they mated. So poor Sophie was a child bride. I then decided to let her have her kittens then have her speyed afterwards.

A few months later Sophie jumped onto my lap and was in quite a state, frightened and trembling. She then gave birth to the first kitten (a female we called Tootsie) on my lap. Once the little thing slithered out in its prepacked pouch she grabbed it and ran underneath the tv in the corner.

We hurriedly prepared a cardboard box with newspaper and blanket and placed her and the now unwrapped kitty inside. She had two more kittens, both toms. One pure black we named Soots (yes very original) and one white with black ears and tail who we called Spot. It was such fun watching them grow up and Sophie teaching them all the cat things they had to learn.

Once their eyes were open they were like little tigers if we went near them, spitting, arching their backs with their little tails fluffed out like loo brushes and thrashing from side to side. After a few days of patiently trying to stroke them, with lacerated hands, they soon became as tame as their mother.

Once they were old enough Sophie decided it was time for them to venture outside. She led them through the kitchen, out through the porch, up the steps to the garden and sat at the top while they took in the big wide world with their equally big wide eyes. This soon became boring, they started fidgeting so Sophie ran like the wind across the lawn and sped up a telegraph pole nearby that I'd covered in chicken wire with the intention of planting a clematis up it at some point but never got round to it.

Up the pole she flew and clinging on with all claws deeply embedded in the wood she looked back at her kittens as if to say 'well come on then'. They looked at each other then Tootsie and Soots dashed after her leaping up at the pole and clinging on just below her. All three peered back at Spot, edging him on until finally he plucked up courage and ran full pelt across the lawn, his little legs almost a blur as he ran as fast as they would carry him. Almost to the pole he gathered even more speed, and instead of leaping up after his siblings, he hit the pole head on and dropped back onto the lawn dazed.

He's never been 'all there' that one. My husband used to say he was starved of oxygen before he was born, and I'm pretty sure he could have been right. Poor Spot. He's grown into a beautiful loving cat though. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As a kitten he was downright ugly. We both agreed that we'd never seen such an ugly kitten. He looks almost oriental now he's older, little yellow slitty eyes peering at you. So he has the nickname of Hirohito occasionly and I often bow to him and say 'aaah soooo', but he just looks disdainfully at me as if I've lost the plot.

His siblings, Soots and Tootsie are normal thank goodness. Imagine having a brood of mentally challenged cats. Oh my!

They're all 13yrs old now. So getting on a bit I suppose.

The other cat I have is an indoor cat, Lily. She's a long haired Calico cat. Now here's another interesting story.

When I moved to Norfolk in 2005 just after my husband died, with the intention of earning more money as wages in Cornwall are dismal, I was on my way to the doctors surgery one wet and windy night. The rain was torrential and the wind almost gale force. A real dirty night. Driving down an avenue between thick woods the headlights picked up a box at the side of the road with 2 glinting beads. I wondered whatever it was, so slowed down and stopped to take a better look. Something I wouldn't normally do on such a night, especially near woods, but something made me want to investigate further. As I got out of the car I had to hold onto the door as the wind almost ripped it off it's hinges, and the box tumbled further into the road. I ran after it and grabbed it and fought against the wind back to the side of the road, and found it was wrapped practically all over with brown parcel tape, and the two little glowing beads were infact, two little eyes peering up at me like luminous saucers. Full of fear, but the little face so drenched with rain you could see more skin than fur.

I put the box on the back seat, turned the car around, and drove back home.

Once indoors I put the box on the worktop in the kitchen and after hunting for a pair of scissors starting carefully cutting away at the tape. Whoooooooosh! As soon as the opening was big enough the two little luminious eyes got even bigger and the soggy little kitten shot out and ran behind the armchair in the dining room.

What was left in the box wasn't a pretty sight, and my heart broke at what I saw. Left inside were 3 little kittens. One the mirror image of luminous eyes, one tortoiseshell and one tortoiseshell and white. All dead. One still slightly warm the other two stone cold. I stood looking at them for what seemed hours, tears running down my cheeks, sobbing loudly. How could anyone do this to such innocent little creatures?

After I'd pulled myself together, I put the box outside in the boot of the car, came back in and tried to catch luminous eyes. It wasn't easy. She's hidden up under the armchair and after half an hour of poking around I managed to grab her and put her into a cat carrier.

I took her and the box of dead siblings to my vet straight away and he kindly disposed of their little bodies. Luminous eyes was like a tigress. Biting and spitting and every single hair on her little body stood on end as she was so petrified.

Grasping her as only a vet can, he gave her a thorough examination. She'd got hyperthermia, worms and was in a sorry state, but not beyond saving. So after an injection or two and handing me some worming tablets, the vet helped me put her back into the carrier to bring her home.

She was tiny, and the vet and myself both agreed she was no more than 5 or 6 weeks old. Just weaned probably. But my she was a beauty.

Once home I closed the doors to the dining room, which was inbetween the lounge and the kitchen, making it a 'safe place' for her. That house was very odd, you walked through one room to reach another, both upstairs and downstairs. No passage or hallway. But this strange layout made it ideal for keeping the kitten safe.

I left out some kitten food and biscuit and milk, but she didnt touch it while I was in the room. I peered through the glass door from the lounge and caught her creeping out once or twice to grab a mouthful of food or a few licks of milk, but always turning her head to see if there was any danger that could harm her. She was totally wild.

As I sat and watched her from a distance, I thought of ways of taming her and getting her confidence. There was no way I could catch her, and I wouldnt want to stress her out by chasing her round and then grabbing her. So I bought a cat toy. A funny little bird on elastic attached to a long green thin plastic stick.

I sat for hours dangling this damn bird infront of the armchair trying to coax her out. Eventually after a week or so, she would stick a little paw out and try to grab it. Then an arm. Next her head and shoulders, until she was completely out from under the chair and visible. One luminous eye on the bird one on me. It took a good two months or more to even touch her. I would hold the stick closer to the bird each day, until she knew I wasn't going to hurt her. Eventually she let me stroke her silky fur. Within another month she would jump up on the chair next to me and sit on the arm, but wouldnt let me touch her, if I tried she would leap off and hide away.

It must have taken a good 5 or 6mths until one day she decided enough was enough and this huge two legged thing wasn't going to hurt her and she jumped onto my lap.

After a few evenings of having her on my lap I took her to the vet for vaccination. I hoped this wouldnt put all the hard work of gaining her confidence and trust back but it didnt.

And now 3yrs on, she's as tame as all my other cats. But if someone visits she runs away and hides under the bed upstairs and won't come out until they've gone.

She is definately the most beautiful cat I own, and I love her dearly, it was so rewarding to gain her trust and love. I love all my pets equally, but Lily is my special girl.

So where's the storm?

Batten down the hatches we're in for a big one the weathermen warned yesterday. Torrential rain and high winds to gale force, in excess of 60mph they said.

I woke this morning to the blissful sound of bird song and church bells. Wind? None whatsoever, only from the senile Collie curled up fast asleep on the bed snoring her head off.

So after a cup of tea and a ciggy, I went into the garden to feed the birds and the fish. No more frog spawn had been left in the pond, I felt slightly disappointed after finding 3 huge balls of the stuff yesterday morning. I walked across and checked on the 2 balls of spawn I'd put in an ornamental water tub, not expecting to see hundreds of tadpole eyes gazing back on me, but just to check they were still ok and hadn't been eaten by birds or other predators. They were both safe, floating beneath the water. I have noticed that those 2 particular clumps of spawn have ying yang dots in the centre rather than all black. Maybe they're chinese frogs?

After negotiating the mud at the bottom of the garden and trying not to fall tip over apex as the weed control fabric slithered beneath my feet, I placed the bird's breakfast on the bird table and threw some bread on the ground beneath for the black birds and thrushes, as they are supposed to be ground feeders. My blackbirds obviously haven't heard that, because they push and shove the starlings out of the way on the table to get at the food.

When I first moved here last July the garden was just a plain oblong of lawn, in a very sad state I must say. There were no birds in the garden, nor any nearby apart from a few rooks and crows and the odd starling, but even they weren't interested in visiting. It seemed quite strange when I moved here not to have birds in the garden, I've always encouraged them and thought most people did, but everywhere I've lived I've had to feed them and look after them as none of the neighbours seems to take the slightest interest in them. Maybe it's a modern trend? But now it's so rewarding to see the wild birds gathering in the trees at the bottom of the garden waiting for their food, and to hear them chirping and singing their little hearts out as if to say 'thank you missus, at last someone cares enough about us to feed us.'

I worked solidly for a month to landscape the garden and plant shrubs, flowers and trees, and of course install my fibreglass pond complete with Cornish stone wall around one side, curving around the pond and leading down to the bottom gateway.

The result was amazing. From the lounge window I now look out on a lovely curved border one side with pond near the house, and along the bottom and up the left hand side of the garden another long wide border with evergreen and deciduous shrubs that flower all year round to bring colour and interest. I've made a hedge (or it will be in a year or two) of buddlea at the back of the long border, with smaller shrubs and plants infront. Within the the opposite 'pond' border I've planted different types of slow growing non invasive bamboos, 2 tree ferns and heathers. The only work left to do in the garden this year is to complete the patio area infront of the lounge window. I already have the grey slate slithers and paving for there ready for when the mood takes me.

It should be lovely to sit out on the patio in the summer gazing across the Devon hills and valleys as I tuck into a BBQ feast.

I put up a 3ft reed fence down one side of the garden and an ornate woven 3ft high fence at the bottom (the right hand side is bordered by the neighbours not very attractive 6ft boarded fence). I then installed a 'cat fence'. After spending hours online looking at cat fences and deciding they were all over priced for what they were, I bought a fruit cage frame and some gull netting. I then erected the frame in a long run rather than a box cage, and it does the job just as good as the £2,000 cat fences for sale online. I still have to put up the right angled aluminium brackets on the neighbours fence which supports the net which prevents cats getting into the garden and mine getting out. Not that they're that athletic, they're all 13yrs old and over, but the two boys would climb Everest to see what was on the other side, even if it half killed them.

I also want to put up a proper 6ft fence along the bottom. There's an access pathway the other side of my fence, for my neighbour. Not that I don't like to see him pushing his lawnmower along the path, but the people at the other end of the terrace have a rotteweiler and it's always peering through my gate. It's friendly enough, but my Westie isn't so she could very easily start something between them. She doesnt realize she's a quarter the rotties size. I've got a big 6ft wooden gate I brought with me, so that would go nicely in place of the silly little metal one there now. It would make the garden much more secure, private and it would stop the rott. But as my house is only rented, I'm still dithering about whether to spend out on fence panels and posts, or whether just to get used to Bonnie trying to savage the rottie through the gate. There's a fruit cage frame/netting door over that little gate, so if anything did kick off between the two dogs, they'd probably both end up wrapped in gull netting and squirming around hog tied on the lawn.

I have this weird fear at night when I let the dogs out last thing, and I know it's stupid. There is nothing behind my garden apart from miles of rolling hills, but I would feel much safer in the garden if the fence at the bottom was pannelled and secure. I'm not sure what I expect to lurch over the hedge and through the trees, maybe it's a primevil fear deep inside me. But it's there and it won't go away, so a panel fence it must be I think. Unless I take a shield and spear out with me at night.

Back to reality, it's Sunday morning. Most of the congregation are now leaving the Church after Sunday Service, and the village green is a hive of activity as they drive out of the village. I probably won't see any sign of life there again until the sunday lunch brigade arrive at the pub.

I'm having a lazy day today. I'll probably be online on my computer. Yes, I'm addicted and you can't comment as you must be too if you're reading this blog!!!

I'm not expecting any visitors. I only see my brother who visits once or twice a week, sometimes staying overnight as he lives some distance from here. So I'm left to my own devices surrounded by 5 cats and the 2 dogs. But they're great company and much better than human company as they don't argue, don't hog the remote control and don't complain that I'm 'on that damn computer' too long.

Life after chicken

Well after moving house, and having to find homes or sell all my lovely chooks, I have at last got over the shock and resigned myself to a chickenless future.

Gone are my lovely Pekins, Jubilee Orpingtons, Frizzles and Lavendar Araucanas.

Instead I have a normal garden complete with fish pond, 5 cats and my 2 dogs.

Life is easier, don't get me wrong. And I can honestly say now that I don't miss my chooks. Did I just say that???

Instead I've befriended the entire population of wild birds in the area, who come to feed in the garden. I've also had several frogs visit the pond, leaving me balls of spawn this month. I've had to put some into a water filled tub that had some reeds and oxygenating plants in, otherwise there would have been more spawn than fish.

I'm spending my extra spare time sat on my backside infront of the computer now instead of mucking out the chooks, refilling water and feed hoppers in all weathers. And life does seem a lot easier.

I still have the odd crisis now and again with the dogs and cats. One of the kittens (who is now 13yrs old I might add) had cystitis the other week and cost me £100 in vet fees. And last week my antique border collie Midge had to see the vet and after several tests was found to have a heart murmer and acute arthritis. Another £100. Plus she has to go back once a week for an injection for the next month, and is on tablets for the rest of her life.

My forum (50plusforum.co.uk) is getting busier and busier. I've made so many friends on there, and one or two really close ones. Pekinheaven forum is really busy too, although I don't visit it as much as I should, it runs itself and I have a good team of moderators. They seem happy enough left to their own devices, talking about their chooks and swopping birds and eggs.

Now I have to fathom out how to link this blog to my 50Plus site so the other members on there can also have their blogs linked to the site.

Catch you later!