March musings from the Lincolnshire Poacher
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007You couldn’t get a much more pleasant day than here today, especially after the recent cold snap. The bird song is amazing. I have the pleasure of watching blackbirds making their nest as I do the washing up and blue tits are moving in to our various nestboxes. We have two near to the house, one is a grand affair that I have called the Manor the other I have labelled as the Cottage, for obvious structural reasons; it is definitely the Manor that is getting the pecks of approval.
We’ve had a casualty, a duck strayed too close to the labradors kennel and is no more. I have a suspicion she had eyed up the kennel as a good nesting spot. She was very tame & very silly, her mate stands mournfully around waiting for her, in fact he might even be unaware she has passed on and just thinks she is concentrating hard on laying eggs. Evidently, ducks are not the brightest birds at Poachers Hideaway.
We have a thrush that sings its heart out from approximately 5.30 am every morning now. It is my alarm clock as it is in the tree just outside the bedroom window. I can think of worse noises. I’m very much in favour of encouraging the thrush as we have a huge population of snails. I come across them everywhere when I’m gardening. What with the frogs & toads eating the slugs, with any luck, and the birds the snails, I’m well on my way to a pest free garden.
Our donkeys had an exciting Mother’s Day outing. The next door farmer left our gate open for the morning, so they decided to take themselves off and do a bit of exploring. I think he thought donkeys don’t move very fast, if at all. Actually, turn your back and they cover ground very quickly! The problem with them escaping was that nobody was aware until nearly dusk. The farmer had shut the gate and not even thought to look to check the donkeys were about, he just didn’t think they would be interested in exploring new pastures. I was away for the day being wined & dined by my student son & his house mates in sunny Hull. Tom cooked a full meal and made his Mum very proud, not for the first time either. By the time I knew I had two escapees, it was dark, and grey donkeys don’t lend themselves to been seen at night. With help from the over complacent farmer (by now feeling very responsible once he knew what he’d done), & his wife, we managed to catch the donkeys by 9am Monday. Phew!
Bookings are coming in steadily, the Therapy Retreat is proving very popular and guests are leaving with a chilled, relaxed air about them having been massaged and treated to various alternative therapies and the peaceful surroundings…. excepting for the bird song!