The gang get very excited when they see me.
They push the guinneas out of the way and rush towards me gleefully.
Their happy-to-see-me honking is deafening!
Their faces are alight with love….
…. of lettuce!
Spot the difference
Here are two photographs (I concede that these are not very good photographs but that isn’t the point of this game). Okay, so you know those newspaper games where there are two pictures that, at first glance, look identical and you have to find the differences? Well, here are two photos that are different from each other in numerous ways but there is only one significant difference. Can you find it?
Tall peacock!
King has finally grown all his feathers back and he likes nothing better than to stand ontop of anything – tables, chairs, roofs – and, here, one of the feed bins, to show them off! He seems to like appearing to be taller than he is.
I love sitting quietly with him in the late afternoons (before being surrounded by Godfrey’s gang). King will take bread from my hand but I am not allowed to touch his feathers; it is an unspoken rule.
Assertiveness
Daffy: I’m scared, Bubble. Godfrey is approaching me.
Bubble: Stand up straight, Daffy, and he’ll have much more respect for you. Oh, and if he speaks to you, answer in a loud voice, not your usual whisper.
Godfrey: Good afternoon, young man.
Daffy: GOOD AFTERNOON, SIR!
Daffy: Wow, that felt good and he just walked past me – he didn’t tell me off or anything! I just wish I could have looked him in the eye, but I’m too frightened.
Bubble: I can give you daily lessons in eye contact beginning right now, Daffy. Okay, now look at me and try not to blink.
Daffy: I did it, I did it, Bubble! I looked Godfrey straight in the eye for a whole minute. He was asleep but it still counts for my certificate doesn’t it?
Bubble: Well done, Daffy, but I will need to give you a few more lessons [sigh!]
Feather-dusting
Guinnea fowl [they always chatter in unison]: This feather littering has to stop. It ruins the look of the lawn.
It’s about time we saw Julie about this and reminded her that we were here first and we do NOT shed feathers like those rotten peacocks, especially the white ones. Look at this beautiful lawn – its aesthetics are ruined by white feathers!
Okay, let’s have a chat to Julie right now! The back veranda door is the best place. Come on!
JULIE!!!! JULIE!!!!!!
Oh, that is just great isn’t it. That white peacock or peahen or whatever it is beat us to it and now Julie is laughing at us. It isn’t fair!
Angelina [our smallest white peahen]: Are they gone yet, Julie?
Julie: You can feather-dust the lawn anytime, Angelina.
Thank you, Mr Tootlepedal
This is the photograph given to me by Mr Tootlepedal. I had to keep it to myself for a day or so because I was like a child with a new toy; I didn’t want to share it.
A little while ago I asked Mr Tootlepedal if he would give me a photograph and he said of course and asked me to choose, but then I asked him to choose and this is the one he sent me. He isn’t even putting it on his own blog, so it is kind of all mine, and even signed!
I am going to get it framed and put it in the kitchen where I will see it many times every day because I know that each time I look at this bird, my heart will experience a wingbeat.
If you want to know what kind of bird this is you will have to go to Mr Tootlepedal’s wonderful blog.
History in the making?
Background: Oldest dairy in Western Australia.
Foreground: Youngest beard in Western Australia.
Wings
Tonight one of my blogging friends emailed me a photograph just for me. I had asked him if I could have one of his thousands of bird photographs and I had even chosen a few possibilities. You see I didn’t want to simply ‘steal’ one which is easy enough to do with the internet.
But he sent me a personalized one and he hasn’t even put this photograph on his blog yet, so I think I am the first to see it. It even has my name on it. It is difficult to describe how much this photograph of a bird with its wings holding it up, and a cheeky expression on its face, has rendered me dust-free and reminded me that when I first began this haphazard blog, it was all about wings.
I thought of maybe inserting this photograph here but no way – not now. Now, it is just mine!
Thank you, Tom.
Gelotology – the study of laughter
Today I discovered that I am just as skilled at laughing as I am at crying, so I googled ‘laughing’ and found another new word!
Today I told Anthony that I had rung the taxi company to get the money back for the unnecessary second trip yesterday and we would be reimbursed, but all he could say was, “I didn’t like the way that taxi driver put his arm around you.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
Today I wrote a blogpost about being nagged by Ming, our 18-year-old son and the first thing he said when he got home from music school was, “What’s this dirt on the carpet? You came inside with your boots on didn’t you.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
Today, one of our roosters, Tina Turner, who has taken over the whole chook harem, attacked me more viciously than ever before when I went to feed the hens. He drew blood! Well, I kicked him in self-defense and he somersaulted in the air. I couldn’t stop laughing (it’s okay, he is fine as you can see – he loves to dance on that table!)
Today I rang the guy who has repaired our nearly dead ute (truck) and explained why we still hadn’t picked it up and he started singing a refrain from that song ‘Julie, Julie, Julie, do you love me?’
I couldn’t stop laughing!
jmgoyder 