Tuesday 23 June 2009

Bringing on the wall, Day 13 - and rather a lot else, including a Phantam!!(!)

It seemed a long time since we'd done any work on the wall, what with the Sage having been away last week. It was a lovely hot day and (having also lain on the lawn reading the papers and then cycled into town and back) it's worth the pink arms to have enjoyed the sunshine. Here are the latest pictures -



I know, it's taking a long time, but this is a hobby, not a race.

While I'm about it, here are the photos I unsophisticatedly took of the Bishop's garden. I'd rather like the backdrop of the cathedral to my garden, wouldn't you? The tall purple plant with long sprays of flowers is a buddleia alternifolia and the one with lots of little white flowers has huge leaves and is crambe cordifolia - crambe means cabbage, so that's its botanical family. I didn't recognise the spiky mauve plant in front of the artichoke or cardoon, can anyone help me?








In other news - the rabbits are ever more unafraid. One can get within a few feet of them before they lope unhurriedly away. Sometimes, you have to clap your hands. This is quite sweet, but the downside is that their fleas have found Tilly. It's not usually a problem of hers, as she has short, coarse hair with no undercoat, but I'm having to frisk her several times daily. I have powdered her, but don't care to use powder anywhere she might lick and I'm not fond of the idea of systemic killers either.

Last night, the Sage went out for a final check on the chickens and found a chick on the hen-house floor. He brought her (all chickens are female until proved otherwise) to show me. A sweet little day-old chick - but we have no cockerel. Dave, this morning, became quite excited, first suggesting parthenogenisis and then a miraculous Virgin Birth, but I explained that the likeliest explanation is that she is a Phantam. That is, that the cock pheasant who has been much admired by the bantams is responsible. We don't know which bantam is its mother, but the Sage popped her under one who has been hopefully sitting on a clutch for weeks.

It is bound to be infertile, unfortunately, as such hybrids are - but if it proves to be male after all, does anyone happen to know if it will behave like a cockerel - that is, aggressive to other cocks and will attempt to mate with females, or if it will be like a castrated male and not interested? After all, infertility doesn't necessarily imply impotence, but it may do. I've a feeling that mules don't have the frisky personalities of stallions, for instance. We'd like to keep it as a pet with the others, whatever its sex.

Tomorrow - babysitting from 7.30 until 9.40, when I'm off to the High School to take part in interviews. Interviewer, not ee. Oh, that reminds me. There's a committee that hasn't really got off the ground since the chairman left the governors a year ago. So I arranged a meeting for Thursday to get things going again, someone's agreed to be chairman, although he can't make the meeting - but he evidently didn't think it was up to him to do an agenda. So I did, and sent out all the papers...and then it occurred to me that a couple of items heavily rely on staff, as non-staff governors don't have the necessary info. This morning, I emailed a staff member asking him to lead those items - bluffing again, I didn't even say sorry for the lack of warning. "Will do" was the cheerful answer. Isn't he nice? I'll take in some specially delicious chocolate biscuits.

Oh - English cherries are in season, and they are delicious and ripe and it's a short season, so hot-foot it down to your friendly local greengrocer (there are still a couple of dozen of them in business throughout the land) and buy them while you can. They're a bit horribly expensive, but our Kentish growers have to be encouraged - Al had 15 cherries on his tree and the birds have eaten all but 4 of them, although they were netted and not even ripe yet.

11 comments:

Dave said...

I still think the Miraculous Chick will bring hordes of pilgrims if played right.

Z said...

O worship the Lord in the beauty of Chickiness? A Holy Phantam?

I've just remembered something I meant to write about. Nothing to do with fowl. I'll add it.

lom said...

The birds always get my cherries before we do!!

Chairwoman of the bored said...

I've never heard of a Phantam, it's very exciting.

As for English cherries, do you remember 'White Heart' cherries, Z? I haven't seen them for many years now but they were the ones with which I played 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor' when I was a child.

Dandelion said...

How do we know it's not a Banteasant?

Z said...

What adds insult to injury is when they eat the cherries and leave the stones hanging from the stalks on the tree.

There was a radio 4 programme about English cherries last year, Chairwoman - they said that cherry trees are being planted again commercially but that people are so used to imported red cherries that they are less willing to buy the traditional and delicious white ones.

For it to be a Banteasant, Dandelion, it would have to be the offspring of a bantam cockerel and a female pheasant.

Sarah said...

Can't see a spikey mauve plant.... do you mean the Allium? purple pom pom?

Z said...

No, I recognised that. 'Spiky' probably isn't the best word - the tall leafless plant with clusters of pale mauve flowers on red stems right in front of the artichokes.

The Preacherman said...

Having been AWOL for a bit I have no idea why you are building a wall so I will wander around until the reason pops up.

A bird got my cherry a long time ago...behave Dinners...;-)

Z said...

That looks a painful eye, 4D - whose husband gave you that? You're a bad, bad man and you'll never behave, which is one of the reasons I like you...

Dandelion said...

Oh, silly old me. It seems obvious, now that you explain it, z.