Hares and grey hair

Different summer visitors.

I had an epiphany this week.

As walking with Ebba has started to feel a lot easier, less like swimming against the tide, I had to take a minute to think about it. The main reason for this is, of course, all the hours dear husband has spent with our funny dog. Ebba's confidence is growing, her humour is blossoming and she has learned where our walking routes take us. The revelation was that I have become a lot fitter since our dear dog arrived. No wonder walking feels more like a fun time spent outside and the uphill parts are less of a struggle.

Ebba's diet is a mixture of Barf and "ready made in a can" food. Raw cow stomach is apparently very tasty and stinks to high heaven. We bake an assortment of grains and seeds in the oven and this Ebba likes to eat with a bit of buffalo, for example.

We tried to do the Barf diet in a stricter, more organised way but it was too much for her tummy. We knew where she was, just by the lingering smell. (Ebba always looked so surprised by these gusts of wind and tried to blame them on us). She still eats quite healthy food and no sweet things so we can only hope she'll put on some extra weight, at some point.

I was introduced to pasta made of chick peas and I am now completely hooked. It's tastier and healthier than normal pasta made from wheat. That's my input to healthy living. Soya yoghurt and coffee keeps me going and ice cream, which goes without saying.

Our hens are eating us out of house and home, at the moment. They are working hard at producing eggs and being nature explorers so they need plenty of energy, or so they tell me. I just took them some evening porridge and it went down a treat.

Our pensioner hen is having so much fun following the chicks around and enjoying Monty's company that she seems to get younger as the days go by. I asked her if she did not find Monty a bit dizzy, but apparently good looks go a long way, when it comes to cockerels. That's good, I guess as otherwise the hen population would be diminishing rapidly. Monty is also a kind soul, though.

Mindy, Mandy, Molly and My have started to complain about the warm weather we are finally having. There is no perfect weather for our four ladies and we just have to accept that as a fact. Having said that - a lazy day with no interruptions finds our sheep happily having a siesta under the rowan tree. They can spend hours over there and they look so serene it could be a clip from an old movie. Then, suddenly they are off rambling again.

The summer theater group that dear husband has joined are having their premier tonight. The production is a farce written by Ray Cooney and will be brilliant fun to watch. I will go and see it next month and Ebba will have a friend over, for the evening. Pizza, doggy goodies and a good DVD to watch with Ebba. The young friend is a saint - it's official!

Our modest home sounds like it's been taken over by poltergeists. Fluttering and twittering (a gang of happy invaders) and odd sighing noises in the attic keeps our dog entertained in the evenings. That and hares outside the bedroom window and the odd deer passing by will soon send her off to a rest home, I fear.

You guessed it - the grey wagtail babies have started their flying career and are running up and down the ventilation pipe. By the sound of it, we can tell that it's a happy event. They also find throwing themselves into the nearby apple tree to be highly amusing. So far so good and they seem to know the basics about flying. Fingers crossed and we won't risk opening the bedroom window on that side, for a while. No need to tempt faith.

Milton on the back of one of his "stallions."

I will let you go, but first I have to admit I have fallen head over heels in love. It's most awkward and not at all what I had in mind but I think that's how love works. His name is Milton and he is a 9 week old cockerel and believe me, he melts hearts. He is a grey, funny looking little thing with the same kind of enthusiasm for life as little Eric had. The fact that he looks like he's made from small Lego blocks right now, just adds to his charm. Milton loves our sheep and is already a keen horseback rider. His stallions are four slightly circular sheep, but he does not mind.

Have a happy week and hold fingers and toes for dear husband as a confused waiter at the theater. He apparently beats Monty in dizziness but it must be a fun role to act in. Be well.