Olive

 
I don't think that I have introduced you to Olive. 

After Pam died, Gwen was confused and lonely.  Chickens are not meant to live a solitary life and Gwen badly missed her BFF.  They would spend all their time together and if one trotted off to a particular part of the garden, the other would always follow, usually concerned that she might be missing out on something good to eat.

Jamie was adamant that we would not get another chicken, given how much garden-damage they inflict, but after two days of Gwen searching the garden in vain for her companion, I could not leave her to be so sad. 

"You MUST give me the number of  all your farmer-friends" I demanded.  "I'm going to start phoning round to see if anyone can spare a chicken to keep Gwen company"

"No can't do that" he said "I've phoned everyone I can think of already!"
 
 
 

A few days later there was a knock at the door. 
 A friend of Jamie's was standing on the doorstep holding a hessian sack.  He reached in and pulled out a startled little hen.

 

I believe she is a Sussex Silver.
 

 

She's a funny little thing.  She is very nervous and won't come anywhere near us, belting off in the opposite direction every time we go in the garden.  She has stout little legs and isn't the prettiest chicken I've ever seen.
 

 

But she does keep Gwen company and she even lays the occasional egg.

White

The snow on Monday was a surprise to me as the weather forecast showed it missing our little slice of England and almost as soon as it arrived, it had gone.  What a disappointment.

Today we had the real deal!



BBC Weather said the snow would begin at 8.00am. 
Bang on cue it started and within 15 minutes everywhere looked like Narnia
 

As I can just walk up the hill, I did make it into work, but knew that we would have to close the school, as the roads were becoming impassable. Only a few children turned up and they were delighted to be sent home again.

 We had already decided to keep our girls at home, as past experience led us to believe their school bus wouldn't make back for their homeward journey. Obviously they both protested in the strongest terms and demanded that I find alternative transport for them ....

 

What really happened was a text- and facebook-frenzy to organise who would meet where.  And a gaggle of giggling girls, not wearing enough warm clothing, appeared.  One of whom had a sledge.  The girls trooped off and came back periodically to change into dry clothes and leave large amounts of snow on the hall floor and dripping clothes on the radiators.

Jamie, my husband, made it home early having checked and fed the sheep in his care.  His journey back home took an hour and half instead of the usual 20 minutes.  He invested some time this afternoon in channel hopping/sleeping.



I spent the afternoon baking and will share my labours with you another time.

I reckon we had about 5 inches of snow.  The chickens were most put out and spent the whole day marooned on the deck.  I put their food and water within easy reach and they didn't so much as put a claw on the snow.  As dusk fell, they remained stranded.  Olive decided to roost on the log-splitter and Gwen fluffed her feathers out until she looked almost perfectly round.  It wasn't until Jamie cleared a path to their coup that they retired properly for the night.

Molly, eldest daughter, also roosted, but on the sofa.  Clearly a surfeit of fresh air, which is alien to her, caused an immediate need for sleep.