- Joined
- Oct 16, 2012
- Messages
- 17,579
- Reaction score
- 8,787
- Location
- Fareham, Hampshire UK
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 6
It looks as though we are going to be getting some more hens …’Er indoors has seen some sort of blue ones that she’s taken a fancy to. It’s now some months since Camilla, the last of our last flock, fell off her perch – literally – she was at least five years old and possibly nearer six – we weren’t sure as she was a rescue hen – she hadn’t laid an egg for years but she was part of the family and I was forbidden to take her off the payroll. On her last day I went to let her out of her coop in the morning and she had fallen off her perch and was clearly incapable of getting up so she passed away peacefully under my broom handle and I announced to ‘Er indoors that she had died in her sleep.
The run has been empty for awhile and the weeds and seeds from the henfood had filled the run – partly because a wren had built a nest under the roof of the feeding station and had reared two clutches of chicks and we didn’t want to disturb the nest. The second clutch has now fledged and I was tasked with weeding the run.
Having completed the weeding I requested sign off. ‘Er indoors satisfied with the weed free and well raked run declared that the timber of the run was in need of decoration and required painting before the new hens arrive .. I remonstrated that the hens would not give a toss whether Cluckingham Palace was painted and I got that look that said ‘you have misread an edict for a suggestion’– think again’. I said that I had some of the original paint and could touch the framework up and again I got that look - Although the words that came out from the Painting Superintendent were ‘ I never liked that brown colour what other colours have you got ?’
I said that I wasn’t sure but we could have a look in my paint store – A large Keter plastic mini shed where I store my painting stuff and spare tins of paint .. completely forgetting that I had secreted two new Paynes Poly hives in there.
Big mistake .. as I opened the doors to the container with the Grand Inquisitor of Beehive Stocks at my shoulder she said ‘ Is that ANOTHER beehive ?’ No,just an old one I was storing in here out of the way. ‘Looks like a NEW BEEHIVE to me’. Unfortunately she appears to have learned the difference between a new beehive and an old one – this is a development I had not anticipated. Fortunately, she does not appear to have yet learned the difference between one new beehive and TWO new beehives stacked one on top of each other.
She was more interested in the tin of green Ducksback in the container ‘That’s a better colour’ she said. I told her it was no use as it was water based woodstain and was only for raw rough sawn fences and sheds – and there was that look again - so I succumbed under the withering gaze of the Henmaster General and set about repainting the Palace of Henminster. Rather unsuccessfully as it happens – the existing brown stain shows through the green ducksback in a sort of random camouflage way.
An hour or two of fruitless coating and recoating made little difference and when ‘Er indoors arrived outdoors to inspect the less than perfect semi camouflage finish I rather felt that my efforts would not be rewarded with any degree of approval … ‘See – that’s much better – the green blends into the garden more than the brown’ she tells me .. After 48 years of marriage I think I've discovered she may be green/brown colourblind.
Definite near miss …
The run has been empty for awhile and the weeds and seeds from the henfood had filled the run – partly because a wren had built a nest under the roof of the feeding station and had reared two clutches of chicks and we didn’t want to disturb the nest. The second clutch has now fledged and I was tasked with weeding the run.
Having completed the weeding I requested sign off. ‘Er indoors satisfied with the weed free and well raked run declared that the timber of the run was in need of decoration and required painting before the new hens arrive .. I remonstrated that the hens would not give a toss whether Cluckingham Palace was painted and I got that look that said ‘you have misread an edict for a suggestion’– think again’. I said that I had some of the original paint and could touch the framework up and again I got that look - Although the words that came out from the Painting Superintendent were ‘ I never liked that brown colour what other colours have you got ?’
I said that I wasn’t sure but we could have a look in my paint store – A large Keter plastic mini shed where I store my painting stuff and spare tins of paint .. completely forgetting that I had secreted two new Paynes Poly hives in there.
Big mistake .. as I opened the doors to the container with the Grand Inquisitor of Beehive Stocks at my shoulder she said ‘ Is that ANOTHER beehive ?’ No,just an old one I was storing in here out of the way. ‘Looks like a NEW BEEHIVE to me’. Unfortunately she appears to have learned the difference between a new beehive and an old one – this is a development I had not anticipated. Fortunately, she does not appear to have yet learned the difference between one new beehive and TWO new beehives stacked one on top of each other.
She was more interested in the tin of green Ducksback in the container ‘That’s a better colour’ she said. I told her it was no use as it was water based woodstain and was only for raw rough sawn fences and sheds – and there was that look again - so I succumbed under the withering gaze of the Henmaster General and set about repainting the Palace of Henminster. Rather unsuccessfully as it happens – the existing brown stain shows through the green ducksback in a sort of random camouflage way.
An hour or two of fruitless coating and recoating made little difference and when ‘Er indoors arrived outdoors to inspect the less than perfect semi camouflage finish I rather felt that my efforts would not be rewarded with any degree of approval … ‘See – that’s much better – the green blends into the garden more than the brown’ she tells me .. After 48 years of marriage I think I've discovered she may be green/brown colourblind.
Definite near miss …
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