Snowed in!

Yesterday it snowed quite heavily in a short period of time, enough to cause Youngest son's school to be closed at lunch time enforcing an early finish from work for me. By late afternoon we were surrounded by a Winter Wonderland! Hubby made it home safely from work, driving all the way back from Head Office in Surrey, but had to leave his car at the neighbouring farmhouse as he couldn't get down our driveway. Last night more snow fell & when we measured this morning we had 8 inches of beautiful, clean, crisp white snow lying all around us! The dogs all bounded out into the garden & came to a rapid halt! It was way deeper than it looked. Maggie just about managed with some extra bounce in her step but poor Mabel being of diminutive proportions (OK, she's a real short-arse!) had to bounce like a Tiggery thing to get about. Poor Polo soon grew heavy snow boots - great clods of snow sticking to the fine fur on her legs. Not good when you're 10 & have arthritis in your back legs! So it was decided that just big Meggie dog should go out for a walk in the snow drifts. She did enjoy it so & played like a puppy!

There was certainly no way that any of us were going anywhere fast, so whilst poor hubby had to work at the kitchen table the lads & I ventured out into this Winter Wonderland to dig the critters out & make sure they were all fed & watered & kept safe and snug.

Once they had been dug out of their houses the ducks & geese all ventured out. The ducks greeted the snow like excited children, the geese a little grumpier as they couldn't get to the grass to graze. A good sprinkling of grated parsnip on the snow soon cheered them up. Big Cheese certainly didn't lose his smile over the chilly stuff!

However, we did discover that white ducks don't look so white in the snow!

Most of the hens were very sensible & stayed in their house which, although decorated with icicles on the outside, was cosy on the inside.

Snapdragon & Spicy the two young Welsummer cockerels, now feeling macho as they begin to mature, did bravely venture out - but not very far! Hattie was brave, or foolish enough to go further, but she hopped about very gingerly in the cold stuff.

The chicklets were all snuggled up in the shed & tucked into some corn in the afternoon to help them generate extra body heat to keep them warm overnight. Poor Cassie had another near death experience after Xmas that again I was thankfully able to bring her back from, so it has meant that the chicklets have had their heat lamp back on overnight. It just takes the edge off during the freezing nights. The cold doesn't seem to bother them one bit during the day time when they are their active & inquisitive selves!

Once the birds were all taken care of it was time for some fun, but I did get worried when it looked like this great big snowball was headed my way!

My sons made lovely snow people. I thought the one on the right looked a little magical, then later when I was snuggled up inside reading another enlightening chapter of 'Hedgewitch' it struck me that it was a little like a crude representation of the Horned God - was this a sign that witchcraft is the Pagan path intended for me? I have learned that witchcraft is a beautiful, healing path of Nature 'magic' based around worship of two main symbolisms of Nature - the Goddess, representing Mother Earth & the Horned God representing her consort, the Father of all Life. The Horned God I have learned, just like withcraft, is nothing to be feared or suspicious about & has nothing whatsoever to do with evil or the devil. The God's horns are a powerful image of vitality, wildness & life force - the same emotions the vision of a magnificent stag might bring to your heart.

I feel uplifted & invigorated by what I am reading & learning. I am also expecting some introductory literature on Druidry in the post to see how it sits with me. It's like a candle flame within my soul is suddenly burning more brightly with a beautiful white golden flame. A flame of cleansing maybe, to prepare me for my path. A flame that will light my way. I hope so.

The snow has brought other thoughts to me. Snow is so beautiful when it first lies on the ground, virgin & white. It doesn't take long for us to turn it to dirty slush. Mother Nature is at her most beautiful when untouched by our hand. It has made me feel more resolved to take a more active role in caring for this planet & being gentle to Mother Earth. I am resolved to grow more of my own produce this year, regardless of whether the garden is also home to chickens or ducks. I can use mesh to protect my plantings. I will try & be more eco-friendly in my daily life. I will write to my MP's urging them to make the right decisions when it comes to 'Green issues' & take part in campaigns. It may all seem like feeble efforts against the hugely daunting & frightening disaster that Global Warming is, but each & everyone must surely do something so that we can say to our children that we acted.

Whatever path you may be on or what plans you may have for 2010 I do hope that you feel inspired & ready to make a good start.

Blessed be x

Some pictures to end the year with

I spent such a chilly but happy half an hour with my lovely critters today. Friends old & new. What a wonderful year I've had with them, full of treasured memories to keep forever.

As this year closes I'd just like to send HAPPY NEW YEAR wishes to you all. I hope 2010 will be full of love, harmony & happiness & I look forward to sharing new adventures with you.

........... Oooo, and don’t forgot to make a wish on the full BLUE MOON on New Year’s Eve. It's magical you know.

Why I do it

Some readers of my blogs in recent days may wonder why do I do it? Why do I keep so many animals? It seems to have been one trial after another, one heart break after another. Yesterday the sun was out & as hubby & I took a wander around our little field I took some pictures that I think capture just exactly why I do it.

From reading other people's tales I think I am quite lucky to be able to keep all my animals together in one space, but 99.9% of the time it is a happy, peaceful place. It is my sanctuary, my church if you will. I don't believe in a traditional 'God', whatever that might mean, but I do believe in a Life Force that you sense if you only open yourself up to it. I can sit on the grass amongst my animals & feel at one with Mother Earth. I can feel the breeze across my face & feel at one with the Air. I can watch my ducks happily splash in their ponds & feel the joy of the Water element. The passion I feel for each & every one of my animals stirs Fire in my veins. It makes me feel whole.




If you look in a duck's eyes you can see a spark, if you look closer you can see the intelligence there. You can see a joyful lust for life. There's poetry in the lines of a duck, in the beauty of it's feathers. To see a duck become both graceful & playful in water is to smile with your heart.

To watch a hen is to instantly feel more attached to the earth. To enjoy them happily free ranging in the grass, feed on a handful of grain & then present you with a perfect egg is to begin to understand the bounty that Nature provides. The fluffy, frilly petticoats of a hen & the way she will sit tight on that egg until it hatches makes me feel my own Motherhood more strongly.

To raise a bird from a tiny ball of fluff to a large, powerful, magnificent creature like a goose is to witness life's miracle. To remain close to that bird & know you will always share a special bond swells your heart with love & pride. It is to be treasured far more than any trinket.

To win the trust & respect of a larger animal like a goat is a truly glorious thing. To have that animal look up at you with that trust showing in their eyes is humbling. To be able to run your fingers through their coat & know it calms them & gives them pleasure is in itself surely one of life's greatest pleasures.

I am a Mother, a Wife, a Daughter, a Sister, a Friend. These things are dearest to my heart. But my love of animals is part of my being, my very fabric, & always will be.

Hurray - I have my garden back!

This weekend wonderful, long suffering hubby fenced off a section of our little field so that I could do a strategic move around of the birds & reclaim the back garden before it got totally trashed by scavenging hens & ducks! Twice injured ex-battery hen Jess had healed up again & re grown some neck feathers, but I wasn't feeling confident enough to put her in with the rest of the hens. Puddles the Khaki Campbell duck was much recovered from the unwanted & rather rough attentions of Seymour the Aylesbury, but it was pointless putting her back in the field with him still on the prowl. The rescued Mallard ducklings had adopted Puddles as surrogate mum, so where ever she went the ducklings would want to go. What was best to do so that every bird's welfare was catered for? Well, after a bit of head scratching a plan was hatched, birds were caught & after a few ruffled feathers & surprised squawks a slightly puffed out eldest son & I had got it all sorted. Seymour was moved into the sectioned off area with his own mate Daisy so that poor Puddles could safely go up into the field with her duckling charges. Injured hen Jess, being quite used to ducks, was moved in with them making her visible to the other hens but safe from any aggression. This tactic will hopefully mean that a further attempt at introducing her to the flock might be successful, fingers crossed.

When freed back into the field Puddles immediately waddled over to rejoin Donald the Khaki Campbell drake & seemed to completely forget about her babies, so they looked bewildered & vulnerable to start with. However, lovely Chalk, my special Muscovy duck, soon arrived to investigate the new arrivals & seemingly sensing that they were only youngsters immediately took up position as their protector, seeing off some hens who flew at them rather aggressively. So with their unusual bodyguard the ducklings explored their new surroundings & companions. Pop, the gander, headed their way, head down, & for a moment I thought they were in trouble, but he was only making his presence known as top bird & king of the field. After just a few minutes the ducklings looked quite at home & were busily foraging for goodies in the grass. I knew that one discovery would make them extremely happy - the ponds! Sure enough, once they discovered the water they were happy little fellows happily swimming & splashing about. All four can fit into one pond, which is quite sweet to see. One of the Mallards (the one we call Ibbity) has a complete set of feathers now, but so far has shown no interest in flying away. I have stuck to the RSPB's advice & not clipped their wings so it is a case of 'will they' / 'won't they' fly off. They seem pretty contented at the moment anyway.

Seymour & Daisy didn't seem too perturbed at being separated from the rest of the ducks, but Tom & Cherry, the Cherry Valley ducks, were quite confused by the fact that they could no longer follow Seymour about in the hero worshipping manner they have humorously adopted. Silly billy Jess managed to get herself over the fence into the main field & was immediately surrounded by unwelcoming hens & had to be lifted back to safety! No injury this time though, so some slight progress I feel. She hasn't tried again since!

This afternoon all looks peaceful, with Tom & Cherry sat at the fence gazing at Seymour, the Mallard ducklings sat with Puddles, who seems to have taken up position of mother duck again, & everyone else just going about their business as usual. So I think I might dare begin tidying up my garden & plan some planting. However, Hubby says he has a sneaking suspicion that it won't be too long before some other rescued or orphaned creature will take up residence again. I can't imagine what makes him think that!

To finish here's picture of my gorgeous Muscovy drake Cheese, just because he was posing so nicely!

Where to start...

When I first started my blog I wondered if I would have enough news to fill it regularly, but writing it has made me realise 2 things:

1. Far from being mundane, my life is full of wonderful & exciting events (not exciting by most people's standards in an adrenaline pumping way, but exciting in an Earth Mother kind of way)

2. I should make sure that I relish every single second of this wonderful life in the countryside & take more time out from chores & the every day hum drum just to sit, absorb & be thankful.

The last few days have been very eventful & I don't know whether to start at the beginning or start with what has been most important to me. I guess starting at the beginning is probably sensible otherwise I'm bound to miss something (THE DUCKLINGS HAVE LEFT HOME!). Oops it slipped out! Yes, the event that tugged my heart strings the most was on Sunday when it was time for our Muscovy ducklings, Chalk & Cheese, to leave the back garden & join the geese, ducks, chickens & goats up in our little field. I knew it was time, I knew it was the right thing to do; I knew they needed to mix with other birds & behave as ducklings really should - but it was sooo hard. They weren't going far, but I knew that it was inevitable that that very special, close bond with them would weaken. I reminded myself that was the way things should be & that I couldn't remain the focus of their world forever ,so it was a case of being brave, shoving the Kleenex in my pocket & getting on with it.

The duckling's new home

The first job was catching hold of them & carefully clipping their wings (removing the tips from the flight feathers to prevent them from flying away in the future). Then eldest son & I carried them up to the field. It must have been bewildering for them to be confronted by this comparatively huge open space & all of those rather large birds & even larger creatures on 4 legs. We popped them down on the ground & they stood, teetering on their webbed feet, trying to get their bearings & take everything in. A hen approached out of curiosity & caused immediate alarm. Both ducklings puffed their chests out & tried to hiss scarily at the strange feathered monstrosity. It was much bigger than the wild birds who had been their companions in the garden. Unfortunately, this provoked a reaction from a couple of the young chickens, which we suspect may be cockerels, who flew at them causing further alarm. So far, not so good! My heart was sinking like a stone & I wondered if it had been wise to release them at 10 weeks old. Perhaps they should be returned to the garden for a couple more weeks or so. But, of course, that was the selfish devil on my shoulder talking again! The 'cockerels(?)' soon realised the ducklings were harmless & the ducklings soon realised what lush grass was beneath their webbed feet & what a lovely space they had to run, stretch & flap about in. The goats & geese had a quick peer at the new arrivals & quickly assessed that they were puny & of no interest whatsoever. The other ducks tried to say 'hello', but the ducklings played shy & they waddled on by. So it was clear that the ducklings weren't going to come to any harm & on what was a glorious, balmy evening my babies successfully began their new, independent lives. (Yes, I did need those Kleenex!)

Chalk & Cheese suddenly look small in the field!

The ducklings soon look more relaxed

To make the evening completely perfect, wonderful hubby dug me a hole so that we could install the new 'duck pond'. We already have a pond up in the field. It's actually the fish pond that we used to have in the front garden, together with a dozen or so goldfish. When hubby decided he wanted more seating area in our front garden at exactly the same time as our neighbours were looking to stock their newly installed pond it seemed like fate. So the goldfish moved next door & the pond moved up to the field. Unfortunately when the geese plop into it they displace so much water that it makes it quite daunting for the 3 ducks to get into, so they had been giving it a miss & making do with a small tray of water. Shame! I'd been looking for a suitable 'pond' for the ducks for a while when I found what was being advertised as a cattle trough on Ebay for a very reasonable price, so I took a chance & bought it. When it arrived the invoice actually described it as a 'deep plastering & mortar mixing bath'. Cattle trough or mixing bath it proved to be just perfect! Here it is installed, with a submerged breeze block at one end to ensure the ducks can get out easily:

And here it is getting the seal of approval from the geese:

It's deep enough for the ducks to swim in, but shallow enough that the geese don't make such a splash when they get in, so the water stays put.
The ducks soon followed & then the ducklings, so with tears in my eyes I drank in the scene as they swam happily in the new pond & the other animals around them peacefully went about their business & I thought - what a perfect little corner of paradise!


I'm determined to waste many more such precious moments just gazing....

Well this has turned out to be quite a lengthy update, so I'll close here for now & leave the rest of the weekend's event for another posting.

A solution for dealing with difficult ganders & drakes?

Louise (grey & white) with Crackle & Pop

We have 2 beautiful geese, Louise & Crackle, and a very handsome gander named Pop. Louise is a West of England goose that we reared from a day old gosling, so she is very special to us. Crackle & Pop came to us as juveniles from a farm that was being wound up & was looking for new homes for them.

Pop, as with any gander I think, can be very aggressive, especially during the breeding season. Most of the time he tolerates me & my sons, as it doesn't do to bite the hand that feeds too often! However, he does have moments when he will come after us as well. If you haven't been on the receiving end of a cross gander with his head down coming right at you it can be very intimidating. Worse still is to have a gander come up behind you & catch you off guard. A peck from that powerful beak is very painful I can tell you - I have had the bruises to prove it!

So it is always a battle of wills with me & that gander! I always make sure I win, of course, because to give him the upper hand would just be a nightmare. But this has involved holding him at arms length by the neck until he backs down, over & over again until he submits - until the next time & then the fun begins again.

HOWEVER, I read a brilliant bit of advice which seems to have worked. It was actually on a page about muscovies & how to cope with an aggressive drake, but I have tried it on Pop & I have to say it has done the job! So for anyone who is struggling with an aggressive bird here's the technique:

Grab the bird firmly by the neck with one hand, press their body down to the ground with the other hand & then ruffle up the feathers across their back. Simple! But you have to be confident in doing this. You need to be firm, but use just enough force to push the bird to the ground without hurting them. You may have to repeat the technique a couple of times, but hopefully, like me, you will find your bird will soon get the message.

I have always been very fond of Pop because he's really quite a character & does such a very good job of taking care of Louise & Crackle. It certainly hasn't hurt to have a 'guard goose' in our little field to sound the alarm if anything has been amiss. But now he & I have a much better relationship, which as geese can live to 20 or so years of age, is a good job for both of us!