In the market Square the flower stall was just setting up and providing some welcome colour in front of Great St Mary's Church.
My hens are very cross today - they don't like the snow and they are locked in their run as I found fox tracks circling (and over the top of) the hen house this morning!
Lovely shot. The flower stand looks so awesome. Sorry that your chickens aren't having a good day. We wanted to get chickens last year, but then we had foxes and I was so happy we didn't have any chickens. :-) Stay safe girls !
@Cherrill That's a good question Cherrill!! As the hens normally free-range I imagine if Mr Fox often often stopped by they'd be gone by now. I'm wondering if he's just come because he's hungry in the snow but now he knows dinner is potentially available he'll be back! I'll keep the hens in for a few days I think....
Great contrast of warm and cold.....Under the tent - the lighting is golden and warm adding a glow to the flowers! Wonderful photo. Sorry about the fox giving you cause for concern. For the last two mornings, I have seen a fox running across the front of our place. Hope your chickens stay safe!
Oh...cute and true chicken/duck story. When my husband was a boy on their farm, a mama duck got killed so he put the duck eggs under one of the laying hens. The hen raised the baby ducks and he says he can still see the hen pacing back and forth and cackling as the baby ducks grew and went in the pond. The hen was very worried about her babies. :-)
I like the warmth here. Our dog Betty didn't like the snow much this morning - she came back with huge amounts of snow stuck to the fur around her legs, and just couldn't shake it off!
Brilliant picture Judith. We get foxes round our garden but we haven't had any overnight - fortunately we haven't got hens to attract them. I bet they don't like being a target for the fox
LOVE the vivid colors of the flower stall against the rigid structure of the church... this is just beautiful! And I do hope that fox finds his dinner elsewhere!!!
@marytj Oh that reminds me of Jemima Puddleduck not being allowed to sit her own eggs because ducks aren't very responsible that way! Our hen Betty, would LOVE to have some eggs to sit - maybe I'll let her hatch a couple next year if I can get hold of some fertilised eggs...and I won't let the chicks near the pond - that really would be a reason for hen-panic!
Oh dear Mr Fox has his eye on dinner !!! It wont do them any harm to stay in for a bit specially this cold weather & as long as you are vigilant about putting them in at night you should hopefully be OK.
Love this photo for the real splash of colour in that otherwise fairly quiet picture !! Lovely old church behind & the whole thing looks very English ! Lovely Judith ..a fave !
I love the contrast. I am jealous of you having chickens. We used to have them and I adored them but with cougar and coyotes close by we fear that even if we could keep the chickens safe, they would draw in the wilde beasts and have them kill our cats
@happypat Well they have a 10' by 4' secure run, part covered by the house, and they only ventured on to the snow where I'd chucked some mealworms so I don't think they would have wandered if I'd let them out anyway. ANd we now know that that part is fox-proof! At least I can see which route the fox used and we can fence that part off but it will never be completely fox-proof as it's a bit of a hotchpotch of fences. @jgpittenger Blimey I wouldn't have hens if I thought they would attract cougars - they eat dogs and I'm not very big either!! Our dangerous wildlife is pretty tame - they laughed their heads off on Vancouver Island when I mentioned that mink are vicious!!
Lovely picture ..........I think we had a bell ringing lesson here when we were down a few years ago. My husband Allan loves 'Bells on Sunday' on radio 4 so we all joke about it!
Hope the hens are happy soon. Wonder how long Mr Fox has been visiting.........tracks not so visible under normal conditions!
Love this photo for the real splash of colour in that otherwise fairly quiet picture !! Lovely old church behind & the whole thing looks very English ! Lovely Judith ..a fave !
Hope the hens are happy soon. Wonder how long Mr Fox has been visiting.........tracks not so visible under normal conditions!