What's happening in your world?

[Nuytsia]

Atthis you have to tell us what the highlights were of your trip!
I'm hoping to be going overseas soon-ish ..... unfortunately it doesn't now look like it will be for my birthday in March.... but now I have more time to plan. (must be the time for postponing travel Farseer!)

Glad to hear all is ok re cyclone for you and your family Farseer. Gees what's next! Hopefully no more bad weather for Queensland... fingers crossed.

Happening in my world - finally organised to get some chooks! Picking them up tomorrow night. Yes, I'm excited, hehehe.

[Farseer]

Atthis you have to tell us what the highlights were of your trip!

Yes! Some pics would be terrific too!

finally organised to get some chooks! Picking them up tomorrow night. Yes, I'm excited, hehehe.

Oh, I love chooks! What type are you getting? Have you kept them before?

[Nuytsia]

Australorps... and yes we have kept them before but it was only one hen!!!!
These guys won't start laying for about a month....

[Nuytsia]

Happening in my world:
Picked up the chooks tonight! Hehehe fun!
They were too scared to come out of the carrier when we got them home (poor things had been on two car trips in two days!)
Then when they came out they loved it! They're so funny to watch scratching around and when one finds a juicy grub the others come running to try and steal it!
Of course they all got into their house at dusk and I went racing out there to shut the door.... and by then, naturally, they had all got out again and were trying to sleep under some bushes instead..... so trying to catch chickens in the semi-dark isn't all that fun as they don't like not being able to see well and get a bit flightly..... but we pulled it off without too much fuss.

[Farseer]

Australorps...

Wonderful! We've had them a lot over the years as they are great layers as well as have a good temperament, but Rhode Island Reds seem to be the mainstays of our brood for some reason...I don't know why...possibly it's their colour that I go for?! Sometimes we buy them and other times breed them ourselves. I don't have cats anymore but I am a bit of a crazy chook lady. There's something really satisfying about not having to go to a shop to buy eggs, or being able to milk a cow or grow your own fruit and veg etc.

Once we were having a few dramas with goannas so I took about two dozen chickens into the schoolroom with me for the day. I was busy teaching my two boys and my daughter was asleep on the floor (she was only a tiny baby at the time) when the door burst open and a goanna roared in and ate them all except one. It had torn its way through the gauze on the verandah and then got into the room. We had no choice but to dub the sole survivor 'Lucky'!

Have fun with your chooks...at least your cats will if they have a chance!

[redchild]

Wonderful! We've had them a lot over the years as they are great lawyers as well as have a good temperament,

I thought I read it wrong at first-- lawyers don't have good temperaments!

['thul]

These beings had to look up "goanna" to figure out what it was...

[Nuytsia]

Australorps...

Wonderful! We've had them a lot over the years as they are great layers as well as have a good temperament, but Rhode Island Reds seem to be the mainstays of our brood for some reason...I don't know why...possibly it's their colour that I go for?! Sometimes we buy them and other times breed them ourselves. I don't have cats anymore but I am a bit of a crazy chook lady. There's something really satisfying about not having to go to a shop to buy eggs, or being able to milk a cow or grow your own fruit and veg etc.

Wow snap! I was looking for either Australorps OR Rhode Island Reds! I just read about the various breeds and they sounded good. I couldn't believe how hard it was to get some though. There's all sorts of fruity chook breeds on offer here, but for some reason it took a while for me to find the Australorps (and I haven't seen any RIRs in our area at all). I also like the looks of both those breeds ..... the Austro's have such pretty black feathers with iridescent green! I love how big they get too! Our ones aren't super big (yet?) ... they are apparently 16 weeks old so not sure how much bigger they'll get?

We have 3 cats AND 3 chooks so I'm not sure WHAT sort of crazy lady that makes me!
Yeeeahh being self sufficient for eggs will be GREAT! Hehehe I felt all grumpy about going and buying crumby shop eggs the next day after we got the chooks!! (as they're too young to lay at the moment...)

Once we were having a few dramas with goannas so I took about two dozen chickens into the schoolroom with me for the day. I was busy teaching my two boys and my daughter was asleep on the floor (she was only a tiny baby at the time) when the door burst open and a goanna roared in and ate them all except one. It had torn its way through the gauze on the verandah and then got into the room. We had no choice but to dub the sole survivor 'Lucky'!
Have fun with your chooks...at least your cats will if they have a chance!

HOLY MOLEY that goanna must have been fast!
That's kind of scary (especially with your daughter there!).............. I have only seen them moving at a slow pace, never actually catching prey.

Yes I can see the chooks providing a LOT of entertainment value as well as eggs! I find it hilarious just to see the way they scratch things out of their way so assertively!
I don't think the cats have even seen them yet...... the chook run is easy to see from the kitchen window but you can't really see it from any other windows. It'll be interesting when they do 'meet'!
My mum has a 'visiting' chook that comes over from her neighbours' place...... she thought that was great fun until the chook chased her cat, ate her chives and scratched all the mulch from the garden bed over her patio....

[Atthis]

Wow, chooks! I'd love to have chooks for the lovely fresh eggs, but not so much for the actual owning a chicken part.

Well I've been spending my time frantically trying to get my project and other work back on track after my break. Some of you asked about the highlights of my trip...hmmm. Why is it that whenever anyone asks that question I instantly forget everything interesting that happened? It really was mostly visiting relatives, which was interesting to me, but probably not to you. I did go skiing in Sweden (my first time ever!), and went to the ballet in Warsaw. Oh, and all the countries I went to seemed so cheap compared to Australia! I can't believe how much we pay for groceries here! Avocadoes in winter in Sweden are a fraction of the price of avocadoes in summer in Australia - who would have thought!

I see you decided not to go on your trip Farseer. That's a shame. Perhaps in a couple of years then. There's nothing quite like an overseas trip to open your eyes and put a spring in your step.

[Farseer]

Why is it that whenever anyone asks that question I instantly forget everything interesting that happened?

It really was mostly visiting relatives, which was interesting to me, but probably not to you.

Had you met them face-to-face prior to your trip?

I did go skiing in Sweden (my first time ever!), and went to the ballet in Warsaw.

Was it your first time skiiing, or your first time skiing in Sweden? I only went ice-skating for the first time last year (in the tropical north of Townsville, would you believe?!) and found it heaps of fun. One day, I may progress to skiing! Sweden conjures up all sorts of images of beauty and freshness for me...

I also think it would be an amazing experience to attend a ballet, especially in such a setting as Warsaw.

I see you decided not to go on your trip Farseer. That's a shame. Perhaps in a couple of years then. There's nothing quite like an overseas trip to open your eyes and put a spring in your step.

Oh, I still have a trip to Ireland to make next year sometime! It was only the Gallipoli trip that I've had to put on hold.

What's happening in my world? My daughter picked up a chook feather and stood there with it for a moment before she said, "I think I may make that my new motto - For every stroke of a feather, a cut to the throat."
I was like ..."What do you mean?"
"Well, you know," she said, "Things aren't always what they seem and for every good thing there's a bad thing, or a thing you have to watch out for."

So profound, and truly out of the mouth of a babe!