Tuesday 21 September 2010

It Felt Like Christmas Morning!

I went to bed on Saturday night with that well-known feeling of excitement in the pit of my belly. The feeling you get as a child on Christmas Eve and then again when you have children of your own.

When I awoke on Sunday morning, it was already light, oh no, I thought I had overslept, but it was only (!) 6 a.m. I threw on my thickest, warmest dressing gown (which really has seen much better days), rushed downstairs,

'You haven't done it have you?', I said worryingly to Mr. P. He shook his head.

I swapped my slippers for these




and marched purposefully up the garden, unbolted the gate and fastened it carefully behind me. I then gently opened the door to the house, but it's occupants just didn't want to come out to play! After much coaxing, all 3 emerged.

Meet the girls















Margery - a Speckledy

Mercedes - a Bovans Nera (with very impressive black and golden ginger plummage)

Millicent - a Light Sussex (White with lovely markings around the neck and tail)

I only bought them on Saturday afternoon from a farm called Churchmans in Faversham, Kent (just up the road from Brogdale Farm).

As they had to be shut in their new house straightaway and left there overnight, I didn't have chance to get acquainted. The lovely man at Churchmans said that it might take them a couple of days to emerge, so I was really pleased that it only took a couple of hours before they were doing chicken things, like grubbing around in their new pen.

The twin cleared the ground for me, Mr. P and no. 1 son put the run together and, of course, I was the bossy forewoman.



The hen house has been painted in a rather posh shade of Farrow & Ball paint (as I've said before, Mr. P was a professional decorator, so we have a very good supply of very posh paint) and I really had to contain myself and not paint roses around the door, haha!



This is something I've wanted to do for the last 30 years and I am so happy. Certainly up there with swimming with dolphins, which I did in Cuba last October. I am loving my 50s, lots of dreams and ambitions are coming true.

Well it's another glorious sunny day here in Kent and I am just off to chill out with my girls.

Jak x






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