Little piggy games.
Funny dog Games.
Yesterday we sowed all the high summer vegetables all over again. The secret to growing lots of food across a whole summer is successive plantings. Already we are eating like kings. Last night we had lamb burgers flavoured with mint and fresh garlic, slathered with a chimichurri made from two different kinds of basil and cilantro and parsley and topped with fat slices of beetroot and freshly lifted onion and lettuce. All on home made, straight from the oven buns. Divine.
The apple tree is a favourite chicken hang-out now.
Look at this bedraggled chicken (below) on the right. I found her yesterday afternoon floating in a deep stock water tank. All I could see was her head and a slowly blinking eye. She had been in there so long that her entire body was below the water line like a fat iceberg. Her terror had gone all the way past desperation to defeat. As I reached her she was listing heavily. Almost gone.
Her whole body was inert and still and heavy. So soaked was she. Even her legs would not work anymore. So I popped her into a warm hay manger and covered her with old hay to soak up all the water, moving her to a dry spot in the hay every once in a while. She flopped with her head down, closed her eyes and shivered in the hot sun as I fluffed her feathers to dry. I honestly thought she would die. But a couple of hours later she climbed out and made her way back to the chookhouse. Tough old bird. She is a layer too. Look at her big healthy comb.
It was hot and still all day. Soaked in deep humidity.
Boo is being taught to climb into this chair and sit there. He gets over-excited when visitors come so I need to be able to command him out of the action quickly and then he has to sit and wait for the command to get back down. Hence the chair. He is doing very well though it is not his favourite trick so far.
Good morning. All round it was a lovely day on the farmy yesterday. The country rhythm was easily recovered. We took out the broken door from the piglets pen with Charlotte barking her encouragement. I am thinking of turning it into a harvest table for the verandah. It is lovely heavy wood. I need to talk to my men.
Today the painter comes, and the roofers come to work on the gutters. I am hoping they will hang the kiwi weather vane that Senior Son gave me for my birthday last year as their last job.
Have a lovely day.
Your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
64 responses to “I can’t see you, so you can’t see me and a floating chook!”
Oh that poor chicken. The absolute terror it must have felt being so helpless. So glad you rescued her! Just don’t eat her later.
No, she is still laying!.. c
Glad that chook fell into your care, but where did it come from, c?
They are free range now, wandering about willy nilly.. they go back into their shed at night to roost otherwise they are all over the place.. c
I that chook stretched the meaning of free range. 🙂
Sitting in his “time-out” chair, Boo looks more puppy-like. That’s a great idea, by the way. Poor chook! Glad you were there to rescue her. If there ever was a time to get in over your head in water, choosing the hottest days of the year so far to do it would be the way to go. How satisfying it must be to have a meal of all farmy products. 🙂
I love rescue stories. I love that you saved your chook and I love that dayphoto had a chicken who laid her head on her shoulder with relief. Lovely.
This post is full of delights. The farmy looks in very good heart.
Thank goodness you were back home to rescue the old chook, your TLC worked it;s magic on her, she must be a tough old bird!
Love the pic of Boo on his chair; his re-training seems to be coming along nicely.
Have a wonderful day filled with sunshine and laughter!
Boo to you: ‘Miss C, I am a DOG – I’ll sit for you but I don’t want to sit on a chair’ 😉 ! Can’t believe how everyone has grown, not just Boo . . . and wish I would have known what you had for dinner last night: would have called my genie and come a’calling! Just love lamb and all the fresh sides: yum multiplied 🙂 ! And if one may ask off topic: you planted trees for quite a few lucky ones of us: did they survive the spell of horror weather?
Yes all the trees are doing well, except for Bugs Tree, only the rootstock survived and so I am growing that to see what happens.. Also all the cuttings and baby trees are doing well in their pots waiting for Autumn. The twisted willows are both powering away! c
‘Course they are: the willows I mean – ni ni beautiful lady . . .
Oh gosh – so glad you were able to rescue your chicken! Poor girl! Boo – he’s funny. You are so blessed to be able to grown all your food – I am quite envious. Non GMO – now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
All my dogs loved sitting on my kitchen chairs guess they like the smell of my cooking 🙂
Poor Chicken 😦 glad she had you home to worry about her.
We do several plantings of things that we can up here frost comes early this week hot, humid all week
Boo is looking so handsome. Miss A still talks about him. She’d be impressed with his chair trick. 🙂
I’m glad you found the hen in time, and tended to her. What a nurturer you are. The flowers look so nice, all filled out around the stairs. Canada was nice, but it’s good to see the farmy faces again.
Let me get this right. Are you planting a second round of green beans? I’ve got hoards of bush beans and the pole beans just barely coming on. I’m a little off with my lettuce successions though. And debating as to wether we need more carrots and beets. Pulling all the garlic today (a little late but we were away). Cheers to garden bounty!