No Way!

Now then....Just candled those flaming eggs with my dickie candling torch. I took my time because I figured there was nothing in them anyway!

But I am SURE that I saw something moving slightly in both of them. Both air sacks are big so it is not easy to see. I wondered if it was just the contents of the egg 'slopping' about but as I held them still, I could see something that looked like it was wriggling!

(and no I have not had a drink!)

This comes from the man who was convinced he saw his 'dead' egg wobble - so I am not getting too excited...but you never know!

Last chance saloon!

I will give them ONE MORE day and then I think that might be it! Have told Geordie that if nothing hatches we will sort something out when we get back from our holidays. Told Fee it serves her right for her derogatory comments!!

Have had loads of enquiries about our blog header, who made it and where can people get one? Well it was made by my VERY clever wife who not only makes signs, but also beautiful vintage boxes, labels, pegs, printed blocks...ooooooooooh all sorts of GORGEOUS things.

She has her own shop called Chipper Nelly on Not On The Highstreet. If you fancy a closer look you will find her at :

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/chippernelly

...a little sneak preview........ of some of her stuff...

Speaking of GORGEOUS...

And not so gorgeous!! (Only joking boys!) Joe came round to give the chicks a squeeze!

Best friends, same girl - hope it is not a sign of things to come!!

Nothing to tell!!

Nope! Still nothing in the incubator. Having said that Dolly and Pearl were two days late - so will give it another day (maybe two) before we give up completely!

As I have no news about our chicks I thought I would share some of my favourite chicken facts! (You can take the man out of teaching!!)

Little Known Chicken Fact
There are more chickens on Earth than there are humans.

and another...
Chickens can cross breed with turkeys. The result is called a 'Turkin'.

and another...
The greatest number of yolks ever found in a single chicken egg was nine!

and another...
Chickens experience REM (rapid eye movement) during sleep.

and another...
The chicken is the closest living relative of the tyrannosaurus-rex.

and another...
The waste produced by one chicken in its lifetime can supply enough electricity to run a 100 watt bulb for five hours.

and another...
China has the most people in the world, and also has the most chickens. There are over 3,000,000,000 chickens in China! (The United States has only 450 million.)

and another...
The longest recorded distance flown by any chicken was 301.5 feet.

and another...
The record for laying the most eggs in one day was seven.

and another...
A chicken will lay bigger and stronger eggs if you adjust the lighting in their cages to make them think each day is 28 hours long, instead of 24.

and another...
The fear of chickens is called 'Alektorophobia'.

and finally....
Laid head to claw, all the chickens consumed from KFC worldwide would circle the Earth at the equator 11 times.

How could you crispy crumb gorgeous girls like these?

  (today in an homage to  Dumpling Dynasty)

Not AGAIN!!

It is the whole knock, knock scenario all over again! There is not a sign of life in that flaming incubator, not a crack or a cheep - NOTHING! Poor Geordie is beside himself with excitement over the impending arrival of his chick. Think he might end up a little disappointed! Having said that the others were a little late - so we will see!


Clearing coming along nicely...

This is the view our girls will have - Can you spot the shopping trolley?

Today the chicks do 'Andy Warhol'! I was talking to the children over lunch about the fact that I was going to run out of ideas soon and (this is why I LOVE my children) they suggested that we dressed them up as famous female singers like Dianna Ross and Madonna - like they did with the baby on 'Modern Family'

I was SO tempted to start manufacturing a  Dolly size conical bra... then I got a grip of myself!

Having said that...if I really do run short of photo opportunities - you never know...

Even though Mertyl is a day older than Nancy her feathers are the least developed. The others are sprouting so fast, you would think that you could see them growing in front of your eyes!

I know this is a bit chicken geek (is that a cheek?) but here are the girls wings today!

Pearl, Nancy, Mertyl and Dolly respectively.

Will let you know if we have some new arrivals as soon as they arrive - or not!!

Al

OMG...

Who wants to see a chicken actually laying an egg? And more to the point, WHO films that kind of thing (and how?). Cleggy, please don't tell me to watch the clip and find out...I really don't need to know.

Liking the chicks in front of Cath K, it was a good call and successful shoot! Thank you Kath (Taylor, not Kidston) for the beautiful gifts. Most unexpected and VERY appropriate, natch.

Cleggy, glad you have finally started calling the shed a 'workshop'! Thinking you must have accepted it is no longer your 'home office'? You'll find that in the 'dining room'!!!

And remember: creative people are rarely tidy!

Fee x

Another digging day

After a day of clearing shrubbery yesterday, I felt like I had done loads and it looked like it. Today I knocked down a couple of fence panels (took 30 seconds)! Then the rest of the day was spent sawing branches - by hand! - and digging out roots which took AGES! Still got one lot left to do...Can't wait.

What was great, was listening to the children play and explore the land behind the house. It is really peaceful back there and the amount of trees and undisturbed undergrowth make it feel very secluded. Which made it all the more surprising when the children turned up with a shopping trolley and a parking cone - Where on earth they found them - I dread to think!!

Reminded myself why I enjoy working with children so much...When I dismantled last years leaf pile,  I found all sorts: woodlice, ear-wig, millipede, centipede, caterpillars, siders' egg sacks, HUGE earthworms, spiders - the list is endless. It was glorious! Geordie and I had a great time until he announced that his centipede was disabled. The reason for this sudden disability?.Some of its legs had 'mysteriously' disappeared, leaving it looking more like a 'tri-pede'. Poor creature.

At that point we left the leaf pile with Geordie enquiring - do you think you could make it a wheel chair?!

Really beginning to get an idea of what the space is going to look like now most of the shrubs are gone. Was doing a bit of research tonight about 'fox proofing' your area. Found loads of dull stuff about making sure your fences are high enough etc, etc. My favourite fox repellents, so far, are...Get the man of the house to urinate around the perimeter of the area. This tells the fox 'hands off - these ladies are all mine!' apparently! Also leaving bags of human hair around the area does the same job !

If you are a bald woman then you are a bit stuck! (shame for Britney!)

Here are our girls doing a bit of Cath! My brain is so addled at the moment that I put the wrong number of days on their blocks, so I had to crop them out! You get the idea though!

Now then...those with a delicate disposition may want to look away but the rest of you will love this. It is an actual chicken laying an actual egg. No wonder they make such fuss once it is out!! Fair makes your eyes water!

Chicks and Sticks

Spent the entire day round the back of our garden workshop 'clearing'! It has been great. Apart from a string of little,and not so little, helpers (who actually help for about 30 seconds before finding an excuse to go exploring!!) It has been a great distraction from any of life's madness. The progress has been really visible - not only in the landscape but also in the state of my baby soft hands!!

Am completely knackered and ache all over, but can't wait to get back to it tomorrow! This is what we have done so far...

Cant wait to start trying to dig those roots out! It will be good for exercising any pent up frustration...

Speaking of which, they should give chicks out on the NHS (of the bird variety of course!!) they are the best thing for stress relief. As well as cheeping they have started to do this little 'cooing' noise and they cuddle in - too cute !

No noises or wobbles from the incubator yet. It occurs to me as I write that my claim to have seen my egg wobble in the incubator was an hallucination backed up by my eldest son. Having cracked that egg open there is no way there was anything in it that could of managed a small vibrate, never mind a wobble! I was obviously just over excited!

Here are our gorgeous girls today in their homage to all things la marelle!