Page 3 - Microsoft Word - Final draft

from the pond the previous weekend - maybe I stirred it up too much and made
it difficult for them to breathe? Maybe the wattle birds that have been dipping
in and out of the pond had damaged their scales? I did not know.

Heading to the chicken run, I spied 2 small eggs nestled in the dirt. What was one
of the girls thinking? To me, as it is to all the other girls, the obvious place to lay
their parcels of protein is in the pink sulo bin, inside the chook house. I tut tutted
as I retrieved the eggs, placing them temporarily in the geranium pot as I topped
up their seed container and their water. It is to be 29 degrees today, and it is only
mid-October. Tomorrow it’s back to 19. Crazy weather - the chickens, and I am
certain the bees in the burbs, are bemused. Out of the corner of my eye I spy Sam
slinking away around the large nandina bush, burying her nose in the soft earth
nearby. One of the eggs has disappeared from the geranium pot, and Sam is
determined to bury it. What is she thinking? Yep, certainly voodoo this morning!

Red continues to wake at very unsociable hours of the morning (like 4.45am!),
putting any badly behaved baby in need of sleep school to shame. He has caused
damage to Joy’s leg trying to get some joy for himself. He is huge, and eating us
out of house and home. It is time for him to go.

Today was a perfect spring day for the local council’s spring festival. As the not
so mellow tones of the musical numbers being performed drifted to our back
yard, I entertained the idea taking him to the festival and letting Red go. A little
pandemonium perhaps, then he would be sure to find a good home, or be the
prize ingredient in a lemon chicken dish. Jack chuckled at my suggestion, then
confessed to having had the thought of discretely dropping Red into the petting
zoo enclosure. That, I thought, was a very clever idea, and imagined hiding Red in
an overly large handbag with a false bottom, paying the entrance fee, placing the
bag on the ground, then lifting up a now much lighter bag, and quickly exiting
the enclosure. Red would be startled at first, and be on his back claw until he
again climbed his way to the top of the pecking order, but I’m sure Red would
eventually conquer all. Funny perhaps, but not going to happen.

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