Are chooks stupid ?

Onion & Christine foraging for worms



 A few days ago when I checked the nesting box I was stunned to see three eggs in the hay so now I know that only one of the chooks has yet to perform ! I suspect it's shy Maudy. Perhaps it's only coincidence but that same morning they were accidentally shut in their quarters until I opened the door for them amid a lot of noisy complaining. Snakes and goannas are a threat so we decided to shut them at night to avoid an attack but they do start to get very vocal especially when they know I'm about. The free ranging experiment has it's drawbacks too. The neighbours rang us concerned because the chooks were at their place on the driveway and clucking loudly when the car horn sounded to get them out of the way, so it seems a better idea to let them out for a shorter time later in the day so they don't have time to wander far before they start to think about roosting for the night. They really are very knowing animals and not at all deserving of the reputation for being stupid. As far as I can see they are pretty smart and learn very fast. They respond to my voice and come when I call them and Onion will follow me to watch whatever I'm doing with a very inquisitive air. Sage actually opened the door of the chook house one morning by picking away at the bolt so to think they are 'bird brained' seems an unfair assessment.
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'Killer Chook'

Sage has asserted herself to claim her rights in the chicken pen as top chook. For the second time she has attacked a brush turkey in a comical display of territorial dominance when he found his way in to steal food. Having gone to sort out the errant turkey I watched in amazement as Sage went into full attack mode when the turkey panicked and started to run along the pen’s perimeter trying to escape when he saw me. She chased him right out and away from the pen vocalising her displeasure with loud clucking for good measure as the turkey ran for it’s life. She is still the only chook out of the four laying an egg each day which is a bit disconcerting since Christine did start to lay then stopped mysteriously. Having consulted a UK website http://www.thepoultrysite.com/ in the hope of finding some clues about why I discovered it’s not an uncommon problem and the reasons are many and varied so I remain hopeful that given time they will follow the great example of Sage who even gave us an egg in the cat carry box I used to bring them home in. In fact yesterday she gave us an enormous egg that turned out to be a double yolk which thrilled me to bits. http://the-pastel-cat-artist.com/dog-paintings

London calling

Not far from Westminster on the Thames

This is one of my favourite photos of London on our last day in the city before going to Tring in Hertfordshire. Look at that beautiful sky ! It was a magic last day in a city I love being in which is unusual since I’m not a city person. There is something about London that’s compelling though. It’s exciting and huge and there is just so much to see, so many incredibly iconic landmarks of history and such a diverse mix of old and new structures all thrown together and somehow it works. For five days we walked everywhere from St Katherines dock where we stayed. We took the tube almost every day to visit the places on our list. Kensington one day to see the Princess Diana memorial walk and the Natural History Museum then on to Buckingham Palace. Another day we went to Waterloo to see one of the highlights of my whole trip, the annual SOFA cat art exhibition. Such a thrill to see so many brilliant cat artists exhibiting. I just wish I could have been part of it too but we weren’t arriving in the UK at the right time to deliver an artwork unfortunately but it’s definitely on my list of ambitions. The National Portrait Gallery was stunning and featured marvellous exhibition of black and white photographs of the most glamorous Hollywood stars from the past such as Brando Liz Taylor Jean Harlow and Garbo and many more, such nostalgia. At St. Martins I found a ‘to die for’ leather coat I couldn’t resist and a small pewter perfume bottle and venetian bronze lion and marble bowl I had to have. Most nights we staggered home exhausted with only enough energy to pop into the Waitrose downstairs for a formidable choice of fresh and mouth watering foods including my favourite Eccles cakes ? I love the gorgeous buttery flaky pastry wrapped around a sticky centre of currents. http://the-pastel-cat-artist.com/my-cat-paintings

'Dog Tired'

At last I’ve finished this painting ! Months ago I started it, not long before my trip to Paris and the UK then events overtook me and the painting just sat on the easel.  It’s hard to return to an incomplete work especially when it’s been so long. The next painting will be a challenge I know because I want to paint a surrealist work with cats in acrylics. It’s been ages since I used acrylics but the artwork idea I have won’t work in pastels. I just love to work in pastel because it’s the ideal medium for animal portraiture but as an artist I’m driven to keep pushing the boundaries of what I think I can do.
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'Chook Heaven'



After being confined to their pen for about two weeks I thought it was safe to let the chooks out into the world to free range. They were very excited and rushed out to scratch and explore. For their first outing I waited until mid afternoon so they weren't out too long before it started to get dark. Almost on cue they head for their roosting box as the light disappears from the day so I don't have to go looking for them. Christine is now laying and like Sage allows me to pick her up for a cuddle while Onion and Maudy haven't  managed to lay at all and remain quite nervous. Perhaps they are low ranking chooks because Christine is definitely a leader and has taken to complaining loudly if I don't let them out to free range. I was a bit worried about them annoying the neighbours but fortunately they seem to stay within the boundaries of our garden. In the morning they eagerly greet me for the scraps a good friend brings which they relish even though at first they didn't seem to know what they were. Yesterday I could repay the kindness of the gift of scraps with a half dozen eggs. Oh I get such a thrill collecting those gorgeous little warm eggs.

Our first eggs

What is it that’s so appealing about having chooks and a supply of fresh eggs I wonder ? Apart from the fact that they taste so much better than the bought ones I think it has to do with knowing where your eggs come from. For such a long time I’ve felt uncomfortable every time I put a pack of eggs in the shopping trolley knowing that despite the label saying free range they probably are no such thing. No one can be unaware of the miserable existence of the battery hen. Maybe it’s got a lot to do with our desire to produce or grow our own food the way it used to be before we all got so reliant on supermarkets. Whatever the reason it’s a thrill to visit the chooks each day and see those dear little warm eggs on the hay.

A cat art print sale



'Miko' pastel 30 x 30cm

 Another print sale to a collector in Seattle US and I'm just so pleased. All the effort and hard work of creating websites blogging and general self promotion is paying off at last. Sometimes I've wondered if there really was any point to it all but what I'm learning is that it takes time, that it really doesn't happen overnight but it will happen !
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