Thursday 30 July 2015

New chicks on the block

Nå, men jeg holder jo så ferie. Det går ræddi godt med det; mit talent for afslapning er næsten på højde med Viggos.  Helt på den lade side har jeg dog ikke ligget - jeg har foretaget en mindre ommøblering i huset, ryddet op i garagen, malet, klippet hæk, og vasket omkring 50 gamle drivhusruder som (inshallah) skal blive en del af et hjemmelavet vægdrivhus i nær fremtid.

Og SÅ!  Så er der flyttet HØNS ind på matriklen! De har boet her et døgn nu, og det er simpelthen noget af det bedste man kan anskaffe sig.  Indtil videre er det dog ren "underskudsforretning" - dels er de ikke gamle nok til at de er begyndt at lægge æg; dels er jeg særdeles uproduktiv nu. Man kan sagtens tilbringe 20-25 pauser om dagen med bare at sidde og kigge på dem.

Hermed præsenteres damerne:

@N ~ the chickens have moved in!!  Technically they're my sister's  (long-ish story; will save for a later post) but they now live in my back yard. It's awesome!  They're not laying eggs yet; I think they look "grown up" but they're actually not that old.  I'm not sure if we'll get eggs this year as chickens often stop laying in winter (which is when these ladies will reach "adulthood"). No matter. They are marvellous little creatures.

Without further ado, here are the ladies.   Hatched in an incubator on my sister's kitchen table earlier this spring :-)

1: HØNE-SIGNE

Opkaldt efter et menneske ved navn Signe.  En meget hyggelig høne, som gerne vil tages op og aes

Høne-Signe (Chicken Signe) is named after a girl called Signe. She's the sweetest little creature and quite tame; you can pick her up and cuddle her (if you're not creeped out by chickens like my friend Iben is :-)


2: LILLE PI

 π   

Kær lille høne som gerne kommer spænende hen og spiser af hånden.  Opkaldt efter 3,14159........ (det er min søsters skyld; hun tog den matematiske linie i gymnasiet)

Little Pi is - well, named after the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter :-)  We are nothing if not creative with our nomenclature here, ha ha.    She is very friendly and happily sprints over to greet you when you bring treats


3: PAMELA

Den sorte høne med det hvide hoved. Hende er jeg meget glad for, for hun minder lidt om mig selv. Ikke verdens mest sociale høne, men hyggelig, og meget tilbøjelig til lige at nuppe en morfar

The black one is called Pamela. That is my fault; the first two chickens were named by my sister and then I jokingly thought of the names for the other two and once I'd said them - slightly ridiculous though they are - they stuck....  I like Pamela a lot; she's a bit like me. Not the most social hen, but sweetnatured and very, very fond of midday naps


3: LISELOTTE

Det er min skyld; de sidste to navne... Min søster navngav Høne-Signe og Lille Pi allerede da de var kyllinger.  Og så sagde jeg nærmest for sjov, at så skulle de to andre hedde Pamela og Liselotte ...og da det først var sagt, så blev det hængende.  Skrækkeligt altså, men sådan er dét bare. 

Liselotte er muligvis en hane, faktisk. Vi er ikke helt sikre. Men hvis vi pludselig vågner ved hanegal, så bliver h*n til tarteletter....

Liselotte is a girl's name here in Denmark. But we're actually a bit unsure if Liselotte might turn out to be a boy.  S/he's a mixed breed so it's a little bit hard to tell.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed - but if we are suddenly awoken by a 5AM cock-a-doodle-do, s/he will go to the pot....   



And here is the happy flock, siesta'ing under the apple tree.  Sorry for the branch that is in the way; it's actually quite hard to get a decent photo of them when they're lying down because the moment I approach the chicken run they rush over to see if I've brought any treats :-)

Middagshygge under æbletræet. Med en gren lige midt i billedet; beklager meget. Det viste sig at være temmelig vanskeligt at tage billeder af dem når de lå ned, for så snart jeg nærmer mig kommer de spænende for at se, om jeg monstro har en godbid med (de har som regel ret)



Friday 17 July 2015

Les Vacances

Three weeks of doing-exactly-what-I-feel-like kick off today!! 

The year before last I did absolutely nothing on my holiday. I was 100% lazy and it was fantastic. Last year I felt a bit more energetic so I had a might-do list and actually ticked off a few things on it. This year I have a to-do list....

There should still be plenty of laziness though. To ensure that, I have enlisted the assistance of Saint Viggo The Ever Cuddly. He's even better at it than I am. 

Yes, he's using a chunk of corn as a pillow. That way food is within easy reach if he wakes up feeling a bit peckish:-)