The recent loss of two of my garden friends (Bancroft and Mable) to a Stone Marten has come as quite a nasty shock but in the spirit of “getting back on the horse” and all that I recently acquired these two little bantams to build the flock back up to four.
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| Edna and Elsie have expressed an interest in editing the blog. I may take them on as interns and see how they shake out. |
The white fluffy one is called Edna, and the mottled grey one is called Elsie. She immediately put me in mind of the Ostrich that Bernie Clifton used to ride in his “variety” act but it turns out that I was another innocent victim of black and white childhood TV and the damned thing was apparently orange.
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| Black and White Bernie Clifton circa 1970. Funny what passed for entertainment back then. He’d be jailed for that these days. |
Painting progress has been slowed by the inexorable growth of l’herbe but I’ve still managed to knock out six Perry men at arms which I present here for your scorn and ridicule.
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| I’ve kept the heraldry somewhat light since much of it would be beyond my capability painting wise. |
Okay right then I’d best be offski, I can see the grass in the north 40 is over 5cm high again. Sigh.
Toodleooh.
New chooks are cute and fluffy. Do bantams lay decent sized eggs? They seem like a small breed so I am doubting that....
ReplyDeleteThe new minis look very dashing and a little deadly. Appropriate.
What’s occurring Dai? This pair are of the Silkie breed and are notoriously unreliable layers. I suspect that should we ever be graced with an egg it’ll be the size of a ruddy peanut. With that said we were getting 4 a day at one point and there’s only me, the missus and Kiki the cat (who’s not fussed with eggs). A man can only eat so many omelettes so if this pair do nothing at all it won’t be a hardship. I primarily got them because they DIDNT make any practical sense - a bit like my handsome handlebar moustache.
DeleteNice additions all round, the bantams and the Perries, all look rather good! Bernie Clifton is a real blast from the past!
ReplyDeleteHello Donnie, glad you recall Bernie Clifton - he’s still going apparently! I suspect Bernie’s fame may not have spread beyond the shores of Blighty so I apologise to all readers who were unaware of this comedic giant. Note to my overseas readers: See also Russ Abbott and Cannon and Ball. 70’s Britain. if you weren’t there you wouldn’t get it.
DeleteDreadful wildlife in France JBM. Come to Australia where you will be safe 😁
ReplyDeleteI have no scorn or ridicule for your men at arms, they look very nice, shiny and dangerous.
Hey Ben, you antipodean folk deserve a ruddy medal living down there (upside down) with all them spiders and snakes and such like. Far too dangerous a place for a light weight like me. I wouldn’t know a minutes peace. lol.
DeleteNice chicks JBM. Are they still juveniles and will they lose that fluffiness?
ReplyDeleteI’d have been tempted to call a bantam Bradford and City (or Bratfut) but Edna and Elsie are much better suited to those gals.
Chris
Hey Chris, they are actually “point of lay” (ie they could drop an egg at any time but don’t put money on it) and they won’t grow much bigger. The fluffiness is mostly what they “do” for a living and the feathers will remain that way for good. Just like me, they are interesting to observe but functionally pointless.
DeleteTempted by hens but like my garden too much to have it destroyed…
ReplyDeleteAlan Tradgardland
Hi Alan, the only thing that was causing us problems was hens scratching through the dirt in the flowerbeds. After covering the dirt and around the flowers with gravel they don’t go in the beds at all (they don’t like the feel of the gravel I think). The other factors are space (of which I have a lot) and flock size. With only 4 birds in a large area they are honestly not a problem.
DeleteSorry to here about the loss of your hens, but at least you've got some cute replacements. Out neighbours lost there two giant rabbits (can't remember the breed) to a fox years ago, as they hadn't made the hutch strong enough:(. Excellent work on the foot knights, but I think I'll now have Bernie Clifton in my head as the visual equivalent of an 'ear worm'!!! Entertainment in the '70's was more hit than miss looking back...
ReplyDeleteHi Steve, entertainment really was fairly weak back then wasn’t it. We still lapped it up at the time though. I was going to say that Bernie’s doing end of the pier stuff these days, but he was doing mostly that back then too. Wonder if that now elderly ostrich can still bear his weight?
DeleteDude, if you want young chicks around there are other ways to do that; more fun and less feathery.
ReplyDelete😁
Hi Stew, I’m invisible to human females (being over 60) so these are the only chicks I can get to hang around with these days!
DeleteAll that fluffyness somehow reminds me of 80s 'hair metai' bands - you could have named them 'Bon' and 'Jovi' :) Hope they do OK, anyway! The Men and Arms look great, too.
ReplyDeleteCheers matey, you’re spot on with the 80’s metal look.
DeleteSorry that was me, forgot to log in . Livin' on a Prayer...
DeleteGood looking grubby archers! I think I'd flock the sabot base and do the individuals brown? Glad you've turned comments back on too, I'm with Keith, sorry Norm! Like Steve I just use the blog to keep track, any interaction is a bonus!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Clumsy fingers of death deleted the comment in error. Doh. Sorry Iain. The jury’s still out on the basing but it is something I can add to later without too much hassle.
DeleteNo problem nice bantams and men at arms! I met Bernie Clifton, nice chap my dad used to work with him, summer season on the end of a pier!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
You met Bernie Clifton!!!! Now that really is a claim to fame.cant top that. My only claim to fame was standing behind Ronnie Corbett in the electricity board showroom one time. He was buying a new cooker.
DeleteI agree with Ben - I would love to pour scorn and ridicule ( its my modus operando) but unfortunately, the foot knights are far too nicely done for that!
ReplyDeleteI had to Google Stone Marten, as I had never heard of it!
Hi Keith, thanks for that, glad you like them. Stone Martens - yeah it was a new one on me too. He turned up on the neighbours trail cam some months back. He got under a 1 inch gap in the door frame to get at my girls. I was only worrying about foxes tbh.
DeleteExcellent soldiery, and the new chickens look enthusiastic. I am nonplussed. If ever my non was plussed, missus, this is the occasion. I see that we may now comment on your blog again. I am very pleased, but the change, like the Great Dealmaker's now-you-see-it-now-you-don't tariffs, breeds uncertainty.
ReplyDeleteLol. Consistently inconsistent that’s me. Or what was that consistently incontinent…oh I don’t know… Nurse!
DeleteLovely work on the Knights…
ReplyDeleteAnd very nice Chickens…One of my Daughters favourite birds.
There is no way I would risk having such beautiful things in my garden… I’m not sure who would eat them first… My neighbours or the fox…
All the best. Aly
Thank you Aly, that’s high praise indeed. Thankfully all of my neighbours have chickens and ducks and so on, so they pose no threat. Never had any in the UK, though I’m sure my neighbours there were more worried about me potentially killing and eating them (Had a sword made by Tod’s workshop delivered to next door in error). You should’ve seen their faces when I collected it off them and told them what it was. Lol.
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