Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Here come the girls!

It's been a cold month, so I have a little routine with the under-gardeners – when I make myself a mid-morning cup of tea I also make some warm 'porridge' for them. Grains and seeds soaked in hot water with oat-meal and Poultry Spice (it smells lovely and Christmassy).

'Here come the girls' . . .
(sing along, you know you want to)
they come running across the grass :-)


. . . they peck from my hand as I make sure they all get their share :-)


. . . the Spices (Nutmeg, Ginger and Saffron) are growing fast and learning to join in :-)



BUT . . . WHAT THE ****!!!!!! :-O



This is a UGP too far girls! I had always thought the large patch of Bergenia was bomb proof; the hens occasionally searched under the leaves for snails and the cats often lose mice among the dense foliage, but it always looks good . . . well it did.

OK girls, it's no use blaming the squirrels or the studio assistants or the blackbirds!
I saw you from the kitchen door and have photographic evidence . . .


. . . the little monkeys heard me and moved away as I pressed the shutter!

10 comments:

  1. Naughty naughty ladies - just weeks before it's due to flower and in very cold weather, preventing quick regrowth. What were they after do you think? Or were they just venting their chicken frustrations and the bergenia got the brunt.

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  2. No Christmas poultry spice for them tomorrow, the bad, bad chickens! They are looking so well, PPP.

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  3. No - nothing to do with us - we were just passing by. We were framed!

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  4. well if they were moving away when you took the photo, I'm sorry, but just saying that you saw them do it isn't going to stand up in court :) From afar, I enjoy their UGP with relish (they are so naughty) but when mine do it - aggghhrr!!

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  5. great post, cracked me up. One up to the girls. I'm still laughing

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  6. Oh what naughty girls! My Brahmas always scrubbed up my beautiful Heucheras when they were let out on slug patrol!

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  7. Oh boy, bad lasses! I have a bergenia - it was in when we came here - and I'm not all that keen on it. Send them to me - they can eat mine!

    Actually, it does come in useful in flower arrangements - the leaves hide a lot of gubbins and mechanics.

    Don't they look in fine fettle?

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  8. Hi Silverpebble - goodness knows what's going on in their not-so-little bird-brains! Hopefully I can protect some of the Bergenia shoots!

    Hi Threadspider - they'll get round me! - it's the Poultry Spice that's giving them a boost at this tough time of year.

    Hi Easygardener - that's just what they said ;-)

    Hi Chooks'r'us - I had to laugh too!

    Hi Margaret - keeping hens is never dull!

    Hi Danielle - I love Brahmas! Oh no, there's a lovely Heuchera in a large pot at the end of the garden - off to check whether it's still in one piece or thousands!

    Hi Veg Heaven - I really didn't foresee them doing this! Those Spice Girls are a bad influence!

    Celia
    x

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  9. I'm with Veg Heaven. We have a patch of bergenia we'd love gone. The dog is so good about not digging around the plants even though we'd love for her to dig that one up!
    --Curmudgeon

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