Chickadee is modeling herself on Queen Elizabeth 2nd, I believe, they both are going to try for the 'Guiness Book of Records' for the longest amount of time on the 'Throne'!

It's been over two weeks now, I pick her up and put her in front of the food bowl, and sometimes she has a few hours running around the backyard! When I say run, I mean like a chook with its head cut off, like a kid on raspberry cordial, like that balloon you blew up and let go without tying the end! You get the idea? She absolutely fizzes...lol. Then back to the nest and acts all sombre and royal. She is losing condition too, not as plump as she was, but not skin and bones either.

Rough Red was looking pretty good but I think she has had a fight with something overnight because her tail feathers are a bit frizzy...like something has chewed them!! and there are a couple of feathers that only have the spine left, who said keeping pets were a good way to ease stress!!!!

Which brings me to the 'guest pet' Jack, where do I start....as I have said before I got some hay to supplement his feed between meals. I took him a biscuit at 8 am yesterday and he was fine. I fed the chooks some mash and checked everythng was in order in garden and hen house then came up for breakfast and some housework.

At 10.30 I went back down and popped my head over the fence, shock horror, Jack was laying down and rolling his eyes, mouth open, head fighting to stay off the ground and there were marks all around him like he was biting the ground and pawing it with his hooves. My heart leapt into my throat, I ran and got a biscuit and called him, no response, now I know he's ill, couldn't contact the owner so drove to her house and found her, she followed me home. When I got back Jack was standing near the gate eyeing the hay on the other side of the fence like nothing had happend, except he had wet sand clinging to his whole side and face and neck where he had been laying down. We didn't believe it, I could have jumped the fence and cuddled him. But I am still a bit toey round him.

He is still fine today. Evidently he lays down sometimes and he looks ill but is perfectly ok. Sunbaking sometimes. But not this time.

The creek is comming along well, I am finding more and more plants and other fill ins but need lots of ground covers to cover the black plastic. So far it has only cost me $60 (for the pump) the plastic was a left over I found in the shed. No need for it to be all the one piece, as it is on a slope and overlapping is good enough, no leaks! I grow cuttings for plants instead of buying new so I will keep costs down to practically nothing. Here are some pictures I took today.