...and the rest

I need to catch you up on a load of non-chicken stuff in case you think that life is all about chooks here these days. However, let me quickly finish the William the Conq' story for now. It turned out that the old boy had a simple chest infection. He was looking so much like he'd drop off his perch, or we'd have to call Aoife (Rhymes with Deefer), that Dad rescued him from the Lovely Girls and created the "Hospital Wing". This was actually the calf house bit we'd spent so much time and effort trying to exclude the Girls from last week but in here he could be free from female harassment, have his own food and water and some peace and quiet. It was touch and go for a couple of days, where he had a definite rattle from his chest and a slight discharge from the nose but by Tuesday 22nd he suddenly recovered, piling into his food again, drinking loads of water and striding about, demanding to be let out into the yard and showing an interest in everything.

For him to be let out, we dogs have to be corralled into the house as we are not yet trusted to chase the hens and William, so we are on a bit of time-share now. Our turn out? William's turn? William turns out to be a very sociable, human-friendly young lad who is happy to hang around while Mum and Dad are gardening, scratching around in the freshly dug soil at their feet, wandering over to peck at shoes, clothes or hands in a gentle exploratory way and easy to catch when he needs returning to the hospital wing. It has  been decided to leave him in 'hospital' while he gets his rump and tail back to full health (he was a bit pink and sore where the gals had had at him a couple of times) and possibly matures enough to give it some proud Cock-a-Doodle-Doo stuff. That should stop the Lovely Girls from thinking they can bully him! The Lovely Girls, for their part, as at 24th May had still not produced any eggs, so they want to be watching it themselves! There is ominous talk of stock pots.

Monday 21st saw humans and both cars headed for Sligo where they needed to submit the cars for inspection as part of the process of registering them in Ireland. Expecting a mundane drive to a government office, like they would have got if they were doing the reverse at the DVLA offices in Maidstone, they were delighted when the drive turned out to be an hour each way of GORGEOUS scenery. The country road twisted and turned up hill and down dale through classic 'drumlin' country and then through mountains (The Bricklieve Mountains) with rocky crags, caves, green fields and grey dry stone walls. They passed picturesque tumble-down cottages and passed through beautiful villages built from local stone, with names like Ballymote, Feenaghmore and Kesh Corran, threading a course between Lough Arrow and Lough Gara. It was pure joy, especially in the 2CV. Perfect roads for 'bowling along'. Sadly, because this was going to be a boring government / admin day no camera was taken, so there are no pics. However, the 2CV,being a "classic car" could not, like the Fiat, be cleared on that same day, so "in a few days" (you never want to believe that too closely in Ireland!) they will be called back to the office and will have to drive the route again. This time a camera will come too. Meanwhile the Fiat is now re-registered with an Irish 04-RN number (for 2004, Roscommon) number, insured for Ireland and in process of being taxed. In Ireland a car must display tax, insurance and the 'MOT' (called "NCT" here) in the windscreen.

Deefs