The chickens arrived!

We (our family) all seem to feel down from time to time.

I say down because I do not mean depressed. 'Down' is a feeling that comes and goes and can be gone just as quickly once we start being active. A while ago I wrote about how the unexpected presence of the little pond tortoise cheered up my child. It is nice that he notices it himself.

It does not always take something special to feel better but you have to make an effort and not just spend the whole day sitting inside. That's what I said today when he told me he wasn't feeling well. By 'not well' I don't mean sick or depressed, but down, just not feeling okay in some way. I assume that most of us recognise this feeling. It can be caused by the weather (the air pressure), the stress of having to arrange many things, unexpected problems, things breaking down unexpectedly, lack of sleep or change in hormones play a role.

"You need to go outside," I said, "always sitting inside is not healthy."

It is remarkable how children if they get older hardly spend time outside.

A generation of couch potatoes, gamers and sitting behind a computer is raised. As if life only takes place inside.

Parents used to send children outside. The open air is healthy, sunshine is and being together with others is too.

Even though you can take one or even several pills for every ailment, that is not the intention and I don't find it financially feasible either.

Vitamin D is in the sun and there is no reason to always sit inside. To be honest, I feel much better when I'm outside. Being outside in the garden and with the animals does good. The only drawback is that I have to walk up and down a lot with a watering can which not only takes a lot of time but is also hard on my feet.

"Is there no way to reconnect the garden hose somewhere," I asked yesterday.

Perhaps it could be attached via the tap that we connected last year to the water pipe between the water pump.

This afternoon, we bought a new connector that is much bigger than the one on our garden hoses. It may not be a pretty sight but it saves work when it comes to watering the plants and filling the containers with water for the wolves and.... chickens.

Tonight, my dear child washed the car and the bike as well. Next, he took care of the flat tyres of the bike and once finished he felt a lot better.

After distraction (playing with water is fun at any age), it is nice to be inside again (high time the mosquitoes are back! From one day to another, it is summer. Yesterday morning there was ice on the car's windscreen!)

We agreed that tomorrow morning, weekend or not, we get up early and go for a walk with one or two of the wolves after all the animals and plants have been taken care of. It remains to be seen whether they will like it because they do not really like to leave the pack behind and the outside world is threatening to them. As free as they are within our enclosure, they are shy in the outside world. Maybe they are introverted like us?

My youngest left early this morning, around 5 o'clock, with mixed feelings so we all got up at 4.

Yesterday I baked several rolls for on the way. As a result, I was already at the market with my other child at 5.30 am. Still a bit early to get milk but I could buy lettuce, peppers and strawberries. After the second child left by bus, I went to get milk and made yoghurt. There was enough time to take care of plants and animals before the chickens were delivered.

They don't all look very healthy, but they will look better in time.

In any case, they are a couple of feisty hens who took it out on me pretty fiercely (what do you want after a journey in a van with all of them in newspapers). For a long time, some of them were clucking loudly while others were standing still. To be honest, it took quite a while before they started to move and scratch and they did not touch the food either.

Now that the long-awaited chickens have finally arrived, I am going to see if I can extend their territory. I have plenty of garden space left and they can help me keep the grass short and pick up bugs something I can't say of all those birds over here.

May 20, 2022