Far out, what is with this wind! Day after day we are issued with severe weather warnings for the tempests raging around us. Not so much rain, but very cloudy, and the wind! It's been a waste of time doing much outside so we have become rather slothful, watching multiple catch-up episodes of Breaking Bad (currently up to Ep 6 of Season 5 - the train, far out, rather intense! People who have watched will understand what I mean).
Although we've had warning after warning of winds over 100 kph over the last week, we've got through it with no damage, just a bit of mess. Tuesday night was different, it was so noisy, the windows shook, we couldn't sleep and it was a bit scary! We did an inspection yesterday morning and found a huge piece of tree had crashed down alongside the driveway, so it was out with the chainsaw and the cutters and the rakes to cut it up and clean up. Our house holds up well in the wind which is great.
So, on a positive note, we now have an unexpected trailerload of firewood for next winter! And loads of branches and leaves tossed onto the ever enlarging bonfire. When the wind abates we'll finally be able to light it. During a lull in the wind we drove to a couple of lookouts, expecting to see massive waves an swell. Hmmm. This is Shelley Beach and in the distance, Torbay Head. Flat as a tack. I've never seen it so flat! The winds are westnorwesters and the land is protecting the ocean here.
We are currently going through another morning of galeforce winds, which is supposed to abate later today, then the forecasts are much more civilised. Last night I woke up and actually saw stars in the sky, first time for ages!
On a celebratory note.....da-dum! A month after bringing home our four little red hens we are proud to announce egg number 100. Aren't they just the cleverest little girls. :-)
The girls are getting more and more adventurous with food now. I don't think they had had much experience with greens before they came here. They ignored veggie leaves we tossed over the fence to them for the most part. Then I started chopping up the greens along with crushed egg shells and other kitchen scraps and they got the hang of it, and gobble up the greens first now. But their most very favourite thing is when I pull up a spent cauliflower plant and toss the whole plant over to them. They run over to it, pecking away furiously at the leaves and any hapless bugs that may be trying to hide, and by the end of the day that huge bushy plant will be a mere skeleton.
Is that the look of a happy hen or what, that's Angie at the front with the jaunty lean to her comb. They are all looking somewhat rounder since they moved in don't you think. They are so funny, I never really knew how curious chickens are. And they know now, because I am a soft touch, that whenever I come into their yard that I have something for them. They crowd around the gate so I have to fight to get in, then they all stand really tall, trying to see if I have anything in my hand. And if they notice anything sticking out they get really excited and literally jump up and down like small children! Any my goodness, if I come in with a handful of their absolute most favourite thing, prawn tails, they go crazy! Wilma will be jumping up, trying to peck them out of my hand, then, when I throw them down, they each grab one and run off to a different corner to gobble them down, then to chase slower eaters around to try and steal theirs. So funny to watch. :-)
This is the flighty but adventurous Wilma, coming into my face to see what's happening. There's always a touch of an evil glint in her eye. Wilma hangs around me a lot and is happy as long as I don't touch her.... she is a smart cookie who knows I have food and who always grabs the most prawn tails.
I've finally worked out the pecking order. They are a very amiable group of ladies who get on very well, but when yummy stuff is around then the hierarchy sometimes becomes evident. We have two lots of two.... the two bosses are Anne and Angie, and the lowlier pair are Leanne and Wilma. But really, all that happens is Anne, who is the absolute supreme overlord, may give Wilma or Leanne a mild peck on the top of the head if they get too close. And they just lower their heads as if to say, yeah, sorry boss, I'll back off a bit. Then all is fine. Wilma has also got this sorted by becoming the roadrunner chicken, she darts in so fast and grabs the good stuff and is off before anyone blinks an eye.
The lush yard of kikuku grass is starting to look a bit lean, I never knew just how much chickens scratch. There is probably half the grass remaining, but we have areas elsewhere of kikuyu that we want to get rid of, so Steve occasionally cuts a big square of turf out and barrows it over to their yard, to keep some grass growing. I planted a shrub in a corner of the yard, tree lucerne, a fast grower with edible seed pods for them. But I had to fortify the ground around it big time, to keep those little velociraptor claws away from the roots!
Not a lot is happening in my sewing room, now that the pink quilts have been made and delivered. I am trying to finish off small pieces of embroidery for now. This is a cottage garden scene that I have been adding to, on and off for years. Currently I am sewing in a woven type roof, but am making it harder for myself because I stubbornly will not take out the already sewn flowers, instead taking the needle through underneath the flowers to complete the roof. I could do with making myself an A4 size tote bag and plan to use this embroidery as a panel on the tote.
This is my newest piece, it's going to be the poshest pot holder you ever did see. :-) The embroidery is finished, I just have to pad it and back it to make it up into a potholder. Very happy with how this turned out.
And a little blackwork bookmark in the making, for a gift.
Well, the wind is still howling, and the rain is now bucketing down, which is good as it stops the sand blowing around and creating sand dunes outside the back door. Time for a cuppa I think....
No comments:
Post a Comment