He quickly pulled on his boots and coat, grabbed a torch and went out - nothing to be seen or heard. He shone a light into the hen house, all was as it should be, they were locked in and secure. Three sleepy old hens were a little disgruntled at being disturbed, one blinked a bleary eye and muttered.
As the wood seemed peaceful and calm, with nothing obviously wrong, George made his way back to the gate and as he did so, he was stopped in his tracks by two red and unblinking eyes; bright in the dark stillness of the night.
Had I been out there I would probably have turned tail and run, but George waved his arms, stamped his feet, shooed at whatever it was - to no effect. So he upped his game, lunged closer, shouted more loudly - still the eyes watched him.
He pulled out the torch, flicked it on and found he had been charging at some cd's which were reflecting the moonlight!
During the growing season we put 'cages' over tender plants, to protect them from the attention of hungry birds; for added effect we also attach old cd's (usually the freebies which come with newspapers/magazines)which blow around and reflect the full colour spectrum helping to discourage the birds. During the winter these frames are stored in the wood... and it seems that two of the cd's had become fixed and just happened to be catching the moonlight and reflecting red.
We also hang a few from a couple of trees simply because they look lovely when the sunlight catches them and sets rainbows of light dancing through the gardens.
The hens were very reluctant to get out of their house this morning, despite being offered some warm mash and tempting scraps. George thought it was because of the light dusting of snow and the intense cold - I'm not so sure. I think it probably took them a long time to get back to sleep after having their door opened and a torch shone at them.
The long awaited winter snow began here about an hour ago, the wind is blowing it into small drifts - George is as excited as a little boy - he is really looking forward to being able to build a snowman with Harry. So please cross your fingers that we get sufficient for that little project - a mini one will do nicely!
Earlier today I made a pan of spicy lentil soup and a batch of bread loaves. Time for supper!
My soup for dinner is almost ready.....creamy broth with broccoli, potatoes and diced ham mixed in. Add salt, pepper, and a little fresh ground nutmeg.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is soup weather.
Meggie, Although it is only breakfast time here, we have just spent an hour and a half out in the snow and I could just do with a bowl of your broth, it sounds very warming. I like the idea of adding nutmeg, I must try that some time. Meanwhile I will have to settle for porridge with prunes and spices.
DeleteI think those CD's would have freaked me out too and I would have hotfooted it back to the house. glad the chooks were safe in the morning.
ReplyDeleteMolly, They must have looked pretty spooky - especially away from the house and 'alone' in the wood. My imagination would have gone into overdrive!
DeleteA wild disc chase! I hope you get as much snow as you want and nothing more. This entire winter can be ended none too soon for me.
ReplyDeleteI was told to use discs and wind chimes (metal ones of course)by an old gamekeeper
Deletehe said anything "odd" and out of kilter will frighten a fox.....
I also use human hair ( from the barbers) puched into the hawthorn hedge and dog hair from our dog groomer!!!
Joanne, I like that, a wild disc chase. We got plenty of snow and because it was really windy the drifts are beautifully sculpted. Harry and George are busy as I type.
DeleteJohn, That is interesting about the chimes and the discs, so inadvertently we have done the right thing by the chickens. Thanks for the tip about the hair, I'll get working on that one. Anything that helps protect the old girls!
Your soup looks good. I hope George and Harry get to build their snowman tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteScarlet, We got plenty of snow and they are out building a snowman right now. The soup was lovely and spicy, just the thing for a cold winter night!
DeleteIf you don't have enough snow for a snowman, I'll send some over.
ReplyDeleteJane x
Jane, Luckily we got plenty last night. The world is transformed and magical - now we have the photographs, and the snowman, we just need it to disappear overnight!!
DeleteI loved your old-fashioned tale of the farmer checking the henhouse for foxes and encountering CD's! What a modern twist!
ReplyDeleteMy housemate is making some chili soup in the crockpot for supper.
After that is gone, I'm thinking of having some ham and pea soup.
Yeah, winter!
Ms Sparrow, Definitely soup weather. We love it too - it suits my style of cooking, only we won't go into that one!
DeleteIt is amazing what a few free cd's can be used for. I wonder what fate awaited all the others.
A lady who can surmise her meal with a tasty photograph. The price of forgetting my picture was the sum of 336 words; 1,672 characters; and 45 lines for any obliging readers... I'm itching to see how deep that snow is tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteGavin, We have some drift of about two feet deep, all very sculptural and beautiful. Not much traffic driving through the village (1 tractor so far) so I wonder whether the road is blocked somewhere. Did you have much snow?
DeleteI was like a child who wasn't given all their smarties when I woke up. We had travel, but made the most of what we were offered. You'll see it in the recent blog post.
DeleteHa ha, you have to watchful of those prowling CDs!
ReplyDeleteLBM, I told you that the trees have eyes - I just didn't expect them to glow red in the moonlight. It must have been very disconcerting, to say the least!
DeleteI would have been gone when the wild eyes didn't respond to my waving. Hope one of your next post contains a photo of a snowman.
ReplyDeleteJanet, Perhaps he should have used a water pistol on them. We got plenty of snow - so I am just about to don my snow gear again and help build another snowman.
DeleteHello Nelson, Welcome, and thank you for visiting. I do hope you will return and become a follower. I will definitely pop over and visit your blog, later today. Right now we are busy building snowmen and recapturing some of the fun of childhood. We don't have snow very often, so we have to make the most of it now!
ReplyDelete