Nothing unusual about that I know, after all I do the same everyday but this morning I had time to reflect on how lucky I am to live where we do.
I got up at around 6.30 am and left Kaz for a further half an hours snooze. The two Border Terriers hardly stirred from infront of the Rayburn as I went into the kitchen. Maggie gave me a quick look as if to say " what are you doing up at this hour you silly sod ?" and promptly went back to sleep. Its still just about getting daylight at this time of the year and I could hear the blackbirds singing in the garden.
In the summer as a policeman on nights, I always loved the sound of the blackbirds singing at around 4.30 am. I'd be walking around the huge miners housing estate in Biddulph and there seemed to be one on every chimney top. I loved their song but it also meant that I would soon be at home in bed.
I digress of course, so back to this morning ! It was dull and drizzily as I set out to feed and the dull conditions seemed to have had the effect of making everything quiet and still.
The first thing that I heard was the kronk of the ravens overhead. We've always had loads of them around here and yesterday whilst fishing with my friend we had been discussing them. He'd seen the Ravens that were around the pool and he went onto say how increasingly he was seeing more and more of them in his home county of Cheshire. The raven certainly seems to be expanding its range. Brian said that they'd started by nipping over the border but that some had actually decided to stay and were actually breeding now.
As I got to the first chicken pen I saw a lovely big frog hop a way ito the grass before either I or the chickens that were due out could get it. About seven or eight years ago I'd brought some frogspawn back with me from a fishing trip and dumped it into a small artificial pond that we have here. Every year since then we have had the frogs spawning in it. As I saw the frog, I smiled and wondered if its great grand pappy had made the journey with me in the bucket.
As I let the rest of the chickens out , inspite of the fact that we havent got any water on the place I could hear a heron in the next field and i was pleased that I'd seen the frog hop under an old caravan that we have.
Obviously herons catch a lot of their food around water but you often see them standing like sentrys in the middle of stubble fields, they must be fancying worms for afters.
It takes me about 20 minutes to feed and water the chickens and cows in the mornings and most days its something I look forward to and everyday it makes me realise how lucky we are.
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April 01, 2010, 20:00