More Chabo bantams

A few weeks ago three of the girls started brooding again. At first we tried to prevent them but after a few days gave up. In April we had 13 Chabo chicks and although they are very easy to keep in comparison to the "normal" farmyard hens we also have, there is a limit! Now the next batch are on the way, hopefully a few of the large eggs they were also sitting on will also hatch. No idea at the moment how many chicks there are.

After a hot, sticky night Angie walked the dogs early while Sigi did a few lengths of the pool while I drank coffee and watched enviously. After breakfast, Jenny came to do my dressing. She hadn't been to bed all night as yesterday evening she let her two horses do a few rounds of free running about in the indoor riding ring at her stables, as the horses couldn't be exercised in the heat. One of the horses suddenly tried to jump over the barrier and thereby landed on his head on concrete. Without going in to details, the horse was/is in a critical condition and she spent the night with him in his stall. A colleague took over her duty today but she insisted on doing one patient, me! She knew she could have phoned and Angie would have coped as she has often watched, but I think the hour break and opportunity to talk to people who also know a bit about horses did her good. She did stay for a cup of coffee but turned down breakfast. While she was here, Farmer Franz arrived on his bike as he often does on a Sunday. More talking, more coffee and water but no takers for a G&T or any form of alcohol. Everybody suffering from the heat. Then all had to leave at midday and the house was suddenly empty. To console myself, had a G&T and collapsed on the sofa with the heat getting unbearable by the minute.

At 19:00 the wind started and we quickly battened down the hatches as it looked like the awaited storm was coming but an hour later it had all calmed down. Then switched on the TV to catch up on the news which I hadn't seen since Friday. A special programme was being broadcast reporting on the huge damage the heat (buckled train tracks, elderly people collapsing, forest fires) and the storms (hail, flooding, wind) were doing all over Germany. The area around Ulm around 60km from here had just been hit. It's now 21:00 and still no sign of storms or the badly needed rain. Weather forecast is for storms & rain continuously tonight & tomorrow but then the return of a baking summer with temperatues on Thursday again going over 35°C.

Hope all had a good weekend and to all those not on holiday, hope you have a bearable work week.