Our
broody hen has now been sitting for just over two weeks. We have had
to separate her
from the others to give her some peace. They would try at every
opportunity to add eggs to her nest and (perhaps out of jealousy) to
nudge her off. She is now in the neighbouring stable room in the
rabbit's old hutch and sits - calm and unperturbed - for days on end.
We
have been told to lift her off every few days (if she doesn't try to
do so herself) so she can stretch and offload. It feels
counter-intuitive to interfere at all, but she seemed grateful for
it.
Advice
comes in abundance these days from a new acquaintance, an old man who
lives at the far end of the village. He knows everything about
everyone in the village, and if some new folk turn up, he makes it
his business to know about them too.
He
lives in a ramshackle old place with no obvious entrance. The first
thing you see from the road is a creatively stacked wall of old
bricks, tiles, rusted metal and wood, useful for something, some
day...
Then
a tidy path flanked by freshly cut hay, strawberry beds and lettuces
- all neatly maintained – and a beautifully oiled, sturdy frame for peas.
Through
a little gate, the chaos begins: stacks of potentially useful objects
litter the space filling every available corner with something to
attract your attention and make your head spin! A few hanging baskets
with flowers decorate the junk and lead you deeper into the labyrinth
of narrow, makeshift gates and skinny pathways snaking off into what
feels like a neverending back yard. All kinds of ducks and chickens
reside in unexpected enclosures as we pass, making agitated noises
and busying themselves about, making the best of their quirky little
homes.
We
came to look at Laufenten (Indian 'running ducks') - reputedly the
best slug-eaters around. We had heard of Mersiowsky through the vague
description of a neighbour, but couldn't work out exactly where he
lived. Then an ad for ducks in the local paper gave the address but
no contact number.
Our
presence on the old Halle Hof had somehow escaped Mersiowsky's
attention, but now he is making up for lost time.
