In the country not in the country

Cup of charcoal madam?

It’s been an eventful last couple of weeks. Tiny my baby baby quail is now fully grown and has laid her first egg. She’s still going to live in the house with me as I have mostly all male quails and I don’t want her to join them to be hurt. She cries every time she lays an egg and looks at me and says “what is this mammy?” I’m not a fan of eating quails eggs so I’ve given them to my neighbour. In return she gave me homemade jam and home grown beetroot. It’s a good barter system we have in place on my street.

Fully grown Tiny. She’ll always be my baby though.

The rams were starting to look like a giant ball of wool, so we decided it was time to give them a haircut. It was our first time shearing and I’d bought some electric sheep clippers from a company in Hong Kong off eBay…I know I didn’t they would arrive either…but arrive they did and very quickly….they also worked!!!

Rambo was first up and I held him whilst Mally sheared. It was difficult and Rambo wasn’t too impressed with the result but hey in this weather he needed it. I sheared his front which looks even worse, at least I’m not entering him in any farming competitions.

So the shearing was complete and all seemed well in the land of the rammers….however, this rapidly changed a week later.

I noticed Rambo and Vinnie had….let me put this politely…the squirts. I thought oh it may be the heat but their area and the woodland in general is well shaded and cool. They also have plenty of drinking water. I also then noticed they began laying down and Vinnie suddenly started pressing his head against a wall. I immediately consulted doctor google who suggested it was either a tummy upset or the bubonic plague. I called the emergency vet as it was a Sunday. Within an hour the vet arrived. The vet thought that they may have eaten something poisonous, but we just couldn’t work out what. The woodland was the same as last year and nothing had changed. The vet said that we had been lucky as the boys weren’t yet convulsing! He quickly went to his car and then put on a plastic suit…oh no I thought he’s going to do a Christian Bale in American psycho job on my rammers! But no apparently…..Phew!! The best course of action was to syringe at least three big tubes of charcoal into the lads’ mouths and hope that it soaked up any toxins. the boys were really brave and took the syringes of charcoal well. The vet said all we could do now was wait and hope for the best. The thought of losing my naughty rammers was horrendous.

Within a few hours both boys were back up and walking around. By the next day they were back to their naughty selves. The charcoal was a success!

There are a few new additions to the crazy garden and I’ll fill you all in on my next post…..plus I’ll tell you about the new additions 😂. Anyway I’m still angry about the England v Scotland match. So I’m off to have a glass of wine to calm myself down. Plus well done to Scotland. Unlike England they had some passion!

Tiny ain’t so tiny

A little catch up of what’s been happening…which isn’t actually a lot. Tiny my little quail chick is 13 days old today and is growing into a big strong boy. I’ll be sad when eventually he flies the nest and joins my other pet quails in the garden. But Tiny needs company and it wouldn’t be fair keeping him indoors on his own. At least he’ll only ever be a few steps away from me in the quail enclosure in the garden.

Big bird my poorly hen is doing a lot better and is going outside on her own in my bottom garden for a couple of hours a day. She seems to be enjoying it. I’ve sorted the infection in one eye but the other is more stubborn. I’m hoping in another week or so that will improve. She’s eating and drinking a lot more, so that’s definitely a good sign.

All the critters are enjoying the weather today. Although it’s definitely not hot, it’s dry and mild with very little wind. Perfect. Twice a day I go up into the woodland which is just an extension of my garden and feed and water the rabble.

My animal count is now 5 bunnies, 2 rams, 13 hens, 2 cockerels, 9 quails, 3 cats and 2 elderly chinchillas who I have had for 14 years. I think I may need to go part time at work if I get anymore rescue critters.

After a morning of cleaning everyone out, I’m now sat with a cup of tea and two buttered crumpets and feeling sleepy 😴.

Champagne or Wine

Luckily a more upbeat post today. Firstly my hen big bird is looking a lot better and is starting to eat properly. Secondly little Tiny my quail chick is doing well and having a growth spurt. He’s a right character, if I leave the room all I hear is cheep! Cheep! He also demands I pick him out of the brooder cage for mammy snuggles. Lately he just won’t stop cheeping and bouncing up and down. I worry that he will get too cold if I keep picking him out. So I got a hot water bottle and covered it in a fleece blanket. He sat on my knee for a while just chatting away and dozing off. I was reading a book on my iPad and he became very interested. Learning to read already. I’ll be booking him his place at Oxford next week!

Very interesting 🧐. However, I’m worried he needs glasses being that close to the screen 😂

I’ve just had the cabinet makers on the phone and they are looking to start rebuilding my kitchen in the next couple of weeks. They want me to stop by their workshop next weekend to decide what design I want. Wooden and country if possible was my reply. I’m no bridezilla type and I’ll just go on their recommendation regarding the work as apparently they are part of the guild of master craftsmen…..wow am I glad the insurance are paying! The craftsman did say you might want to talk it over with your partner first. He’s right because I’d agree to something then Mally would say it was totally impractical….such as me having six wine fridges and a low hanging candelabra in our tiny five foot long kitchen.

Well work is finished for the weekend and I know it’s still early in the afternoon, but I’m eyeing up a bottle of white wine in my fridge. Plus some chocolate chip shortbread. It’s got to be done. Winston Churchill said “Champagne. In success you deserve it and in defeat, you need it”. He might have been talking about champagne but I’m sure he meant wine and also forgot to add you deserve it after work too!

Fly high little Phoenix

I’m starting to be a right Debbie downer on my blog at the moment. I got up this morning to find that little Phoenix quail chick had died. I was very upset as I felt that she was my baby and I had failed her. I know chick mortality can be high but it still doesn’t make me feel any better. I couldn’t see anything wrong with her, her bum was still clean, no sign of any illness. A mystery. But on a positive note, Tiny her brother is growing by the hour. He’s a cheeky boy and is always running over to me. He does a lot of cheeping until I go over to him. I’ve placed his brooding cage right beside my laptop today as I’m working from home.

I forgot to mention that my rams Vinnie and Rambo have been naughty boys recently. Mally was bent over in the garden doing some weeding and Rambo thought this meant he wanted a rut. Before Mally knew what had hit him Rambo had smashed his horns into the top of Mally’s head. It was quite a nasty cut to his head with a few headaches afterwards. I also suffered some bruised ribs when again naughty Rambo rammed him in the side when I was sat on the floor seeing to my rabbits. Definitely took the wind out of me. I realised then that a plan of action was needed. Again I instructed Mally 😂 to build a holding pen on the rams stone house. This way they can be locked away safely whenever we need to do work in the garden or I’m feeding my other animals. (Which is twice a day). They only get shut away for a maximum of an hour and are let straight back out again on my way out of the woodland. The boys are good 99% of the time but on that odd occasion they go rogue it can be a painful experience. But they are rams and well rams ram!

Mally knocked up this holding pen complete with gate.

Rambo chilling with his flock. Like butter wouldn’t melt.

Bottoms up

Hope no one is eating whilst reading this. Today I’m going to talk about poo 💩. I know most of my blogs already seem like 💩 but please bare with me. My little quail Phoenix seemed a bit off today. So I picked her out of the brooder to have a good look at her. Unfortunately she had the dreaded scientifically named pasty butt. This can be an issue with chicks that aren’t being cared for by a hen. So I have to replace mamma and basically wipe her bum…very gently. Then I had to blow dry her on a very low heat to ensure she didn’t get a chill. She seemed ok at the end and had a nice clean bum. Luckily her brother Tiny seems totally fine.

Phoenix having her delicate blow dry

My poorly chicken hen big bird is looking a bit better today. Fingers crossed she continues to improve.

I’m now sat in front of my electric fire in my bedroom as downstairs is still an empty shell after the flood. It’s been almost four months since it happened and the insurance are only just about to start work decorating in the next couple of weeks. In a way I don’t mind this as I quite enjoy small space living. I’ve always said I’d be happy with a wood cabin as long as I had plenty of fields and shelters for my animals.

I’m feeling a bit drained today so settled for cheesy beans on toast for a meal. I personally think it’s one of the best comfort meals you can have and only takes minutes and no skill to prepare. Ticks all my recipe boxes 😂.

I’ve set Mally yet another task. I want a new all singing and dancing quail house with run. He’s working out now how he is going to do it! I do set him a lot of tasks, despite his bad knee, but it keeps him out of trouble. Might be a little while before he can start as the weather and the fact he is back at work tomorrow may delay things. Below is the weather report for this exact moment in my locality. However, I assure you the sun is actually shining right now.

Grey skies are going to clear up…

It’s been raining almost solidly for two days now. Luckily the sun has just come out. I’m tired after finishing work for the day, normally I’d order a pizza but I’ve decided to do a quick and easy pasta bake in the halogen oven thing. I still don’t have a kitchen, so I get by using a halogen mini cooker, slow cooker and microwave. Not too bad I guess. I did manage to do a Sunday dinner in it the other week, but it was hard work and took ages!

My Yorkshire puddings in the halogen oven last week. Good piece of kit but as I learnt too small to cook more than one thing at a time.

It was nice but took too long. My homemade Sunday dinners are on the back burner until I get my kitchen installed.

In other news, the quail chicks are doing really well. I thought little Tiny had a limp last night but today he’s totally fine. We’ve now named the little girl…Phoenix as chosen by Mally. I’ve been looking at my male quails today, all six of them. I’m convinced old brown boy is Tiny’s father as he definitely doesn’t look like Elvis my Californian quail and the my other lads are really light in colour. See what you think from the pics below.

Tiny and Phoenix are my miracle babies, their mother sat on them for ten days and then got bored. Two days later Mally tried to put them under my broody gold top chicken hen Junior but she decided to go unbroody (if that’s a word). Then Mally put the five eggs in the incubator and now we have Tiny and Phoenix. All my animals are pets and have a home for life. The eggs they produce I give away for free. It’s just I’ve never seen a domestic quail brood on eggs before and they deserved a chance at life.

On yet another note. Big Bird my other poorly hen is still looking poorly but all I can do is continue with her meds, keep her warm, well fed and watered and hope for the best.

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep

Just like yesterday, today has again been bittersweet. When I checked on Ruby this morning she had died. Big bird was still cuddled into her. She then began to peck her gently in an attempt to wake her up. I think she knows what has happened. Nest in peace Ruby.

Big bird’s eye is getting better but she still needs box rest for another few days.

My second quail chick hatched this morning. The hatch was a lot easier than little tiny who was first. This little lady…I think because she is a lot lighter and smaller than tiny. She didn’t have half an egg hanging from her like Tiny did and she was fluffy and dancing around a lot quicker. Although she did take a lot longer to break out from her shell than Tiny did. She took nearly 18 hours, whereas Tiny popped out within about 8.

Second little quail chick. Still haven’t thought of a name.

They are both now cuddled up in their brooding cage.

Tiny and the newly hatched chick touching beaks

I had a sleepless night last night. One of cats Cagney decided she wanted to sit on top of Tiny’s cage and upset him. I shut Cagney out of the room, but poor Tiny kept chirping. He was fine when I shouted to him “mammy is here”. That quietened him down but then he’d start chirping again and I’d have to gently stroke him until he went back under his brooder and went to sleep. At least now he has his sister for more company.

I have also added another little bantam hen to my flock today, again adopted from Whitby wildlife. She’s very small and was getting hassle from big hens at the sanctuary. So far she’s fitting in well with Manny, Adriana and Rocky.

Life and death in one room

As everyone knows I have a few pet quails. Now domestic quail are not known for their maternal instincts. In fact in the years I’ve had my quails I’ve never once seen one of my lady quails sitting on her eggs. However, around ten days ago I suddenly noticed one of my quails sitting on a pile of eggs. Very strange but I was happy as my brood is getting old and I’d always like to have quails as they are such delightful little creatures. Anyway, after around ten days she stopped sitting on them. Mally insisted we put them in a small incubator we had. I said I wasn’t sure and we should just let nature take it’s course.

But Mally set up the incubator and put them in. I thought nothing more of it until yesterday when I went into the back bedroom and heard the temperature alarm going off on the incubator. In the same room in their hospital box are the hens Ruby and Big Bird recuperating. I didn’t want them disturbing and I thought there was no way the eggs were going to hatch as they’d been left for two days by my quail. I went to switch the incubator off and then suddenly noticed one of the eggs moving! Needless to say I didn’t switch the incubator off. This morning I rushed into the bedroom to see if the eggs had hatched.

I was met by a tiny little chick who had just hatched. He was still half in his shell. What a magical sight! I rushed to tell Mally and I started jumping up and down. I know….I get easily excited. I never expected these babies to hatch. He was wet and struggling to find his feet. As I watched the little one began standing up and moving. He still had a large chunk of egg shell stuck to his rear. He was dragging it around as he walked. It looked like it was connected to him. After some feverish googling, I found that it was the umbilical cord still attached and to leave it be as it would dry out.

I then spent the next six hours sat in a chair pushed up against the incubator tentatively watching this little miracle’s every move. It looked like he would be the only one but about two hours ago I saw a little beak pip through another of the eggs. There are five eggs in total.

He started off wet and clumsy but over the next few hours he began to dry out and fluff up.

Then after a couple of hours he found his voice and began to cheep.

Cheep cheep

The reason I have called this blog life and death is that today has been bittersweet. I have witnessed new life which is very sweet. But the bitter end is my hens who are also in the room in their hospital box. Big bird has rallied with her meds but poor Ruby is looking very poorly and appears to be slipping away. She can’t keep her eyes open. I just don’t think she is strong enough. But at least Big Bird who is growing stronger is there to comfort her. I looked in about an hour ago and Ruby was snuggled into Big Bird. She was peacefully asleep.

I have now moved tiny chick to my bedroom inside a brooding cage with heater. I hope he gets company soon and the other chicks hatch. He’s taking the whole living thing in his stride. I do believe he now thinks I’m his mother and he keeps coming out from under his brooder and shouting. Once he sees me he settles then goes back to sleep.

In his brooding cage complete with heat brooder.

Sittin in the (beer) garden sun

I haven’t posted a blog in a while, it’s been crazy busy with work and some more new critters.

At the minute I look like my face has been dragged across gravel as I have a load of cold sores. A week ago, myself, Mally and my crazy ex neighbour Judith went to the Ship Inn beer garden. It has been a year since we’d sipped in (outside) a pub. I think Judith was excited as she kept sending me weather updates daily in advance of our trip. Anyway to cut a long story short we went to the Ship Inn, sat in the blazing sun, which is unusual for April, and drank a lot of wine. I ordered my usual of chips and cheese, the ship do the best homemade chips. (I went there once and had chips on their own for a starter and to push the boat out chips and cheese as a main course) Towards the end of the afternoon, Judith suggested a gin and Prosecco mix. I was slightly tipsy at this point so against better judgement agreed. Judith who is 75 years old and can drink anyone under the table, ordered us a double gin each and two small bottles of Prosecco. The bar staff were confused and came back to Judith (all the bar staff know Judith by name) asked what mixer she wanted in the gin. When Judith said the Prosecco was the mixer I knew I was in trouble!

All I remember next is getting home and passing out. I woke up the next day with the worst sunburn on my face and hands and a mammoth hangover. Teach me to apply sun cream in future and also I don’t like gin so why I had it I’ll never know. The sunburn caused a mass outbreak of cold sores on my face and I look like someone who has bubonic plague neither mind covid. Vinnie and Rambo the rams took one look at my face and ran away from me with their tails between their legs. Thankfully I have to wear a mask at work!

Judith was completely fine the next morning and text me stating we needed to do the same next week…..I declined and said it would be a few weeks before I’d go through that again 😂.

In other news, I now have two rescue cockerels. Again adopted from the amazing Whitby Wildlife sanctuary. The two boys are bantams so only small. I have Manny and Rocky plus their little girlfriend Adriana. They are all very good boys and girls. Luckily only Rocky crows and that’s only rarely and it’s quite a low level for a cockerel.

The Bantams have settled in well with the other girls. However, now with having 14 hens, it is quite a bit of work to make sure everyone is in tip top condition. Big bird and Ruby two of my ex batts are currently in the house with me. Both have eye infections so I’ve separated them from the flock and started treatment. They are both now on a heatpad and seem as happy as you can be with eye infections.

Hello, Hello, hello, what do we have here then?

Stay away from that trap door…you’re a fool if you dare.

After doing a bit of gardening near Vinnie and Rambo’s shelter we uncovered a stone trap door type slab near the wall of the shelter. Could be an old well we thought or to be honest with this house it could be anything. Maybe a treasure pit like on Oak island….I can only hope. Or something more sinister 🤔….hopefully not.

After some debate as to how we would move the slab as Mally’s leg is still really in a bad way we found a solution. A metal rod as a lever on that handy handle.

Oh what’s underneath????? Maybe my ticket to a mortgage free life???

No…it was a filled in hole…but you never know what’s in that filled in hole. It’s needs digging out. It probably is a well but you never know. My friend who has lived in this area all her life knows a lady who knows about the house. Apparently it is believed there was a secret tunnel linking the house to the garden. This doesn’t actually surprise me as the house, as I’ve mentioned before, was used as a secret catholic worship house in the 1700’s. It would make sense that a secret passage exists. However, I’ve not seen anything inside the house yet even after some of the floorboards were taken up after the flood….oh actually I tell a lie I did see something unusual under the floorboards the other day….Elvis my quail…the little scamp, he escaped (I know again) from his palace and just walked straight into the house and of course straight into the living room and under the floorboards. Luckily he emerged an hour later and was caught using a fishing net. He’s back bossing the coop.

This is the current state of the house whilst we await the anthrax test results from the horse hair plastering….it’s just a waiting game at the moment. However, it’s been agreed by all parties that this house needs minimum disruption to its interior and luckily the insurance assessor is very switched on to old buildings. So fingers crossed everything is going to be done right.

Two months after the flood and still lots to do

That’s the old bespoke wooden kitchen units gone. Bit upset about that but they couldn’t be saved

We’ve all had a trying year, some a lot worse than others so I can’t complain about my house as at least it’s still standing. Lockdown is starting to come to an end and hopefully we can all start getting out and about soon. My first proper visit out will be a beer garden when they open. So cheers to that everyone. Keep on trucking we are nearly there.