Monday 10 September 2012

Another of Nature's Wonders.


I am pleased to say that I have successfully fought off the bug which attacked me and caused me to have a day in bed. Up to now (fingers crossed) the farmer has not caught it, so we plough on. The silage is all in, the hay too - and now it is spread the slurry on to the newly cut grass before the Autumn rains make it too soft for the tractor to go across. This is certainly a busy time on the farm.

I must mention The last Night of the Proms on Saturday night, which I think was one of the best ever, not least because they didn't do anything silly to Sir Henry Wood's Sea Songs - I love them so much and for a year or two they cut some of them out - such a shame. And some of the water based Olympic medallists came on stage for Rule Brittannia, which was nice.

And then of course there was the closing ceremony of the Paralympics last night - another absolutely splendid occasion which really makes one feel proud to be British. What a Summer it has been - and having just watched the news and seen the thousands out on the streets of London to cheer all the Olympians as they toured round London - I think that was a fitting end. I do hope we don't all slip back into the doldrums when we look at the financial situation again.

Now onto the subject of today's title - it is at this time of the year that I find nature begins to reveal her wonders. The leaves come off the trees and hedges and beautifully- built nests are suddenly revealed, or in this case we find an empty wasps/hornets nest.

In the yard we have what the farmer calls 'The Sin Bin', which is a separate little hut and run where he puts any hens who go broody on us. When they go broody they stop laying eggs and tend to sit all day on the eggs of other hens in the hopes of building up enough to start breeding. This really makes the farmer cross for some reason, so he takes them out of the hen hut and puts them into the sin bin until they go back on to laying again - usually about a couple of weeks.
They seem quite happy in there and have a perfectly adequate run, but don't go out into the fields every day.

When the farmer lifted up the roof of the hut to refill the corn and water feeders this beautifully constructed nest was on the straw on the floor. We presume it had been attached to the side of the hut and had gone unnoticed. It had either fallen down or the hens had pulled it down to get at larva inside. It is completely empty now - but really so very well-made. There is always straw in the yard and the greenish/grey paper-like substance of which it is made is interlaced with bits of straw.

At present it is on the window sill in my Utility Room alongside some horse medicine bottles - I can't bear to throw it away - it is a little work of art.

8 comments:

Heather said...

Good to hear you are well again Pat and that the farmer hasn't caught the bug, especially as he is so busy just now.
The wasps' nest is so intricately made and all without hands!
What a month it has been - we must make sure we hang on to some of that wonderful Olympic spirit.

Dartford Warbler said...

Wasps`nests are so beautifully made. I can understand why you want to admire their handiwork for a while longer.

The Olympics really have lifted the nation`s spirits this summer. I too hope that the momentum can keep going once the summer has gone.

mrsnesbitt said...

Gosh! A sin bin - love the thought of it! Dxxx

P.S. Fancy meetiing up for lunch soon? I am getting a little fuel-efficient runabout!

ArcticFox said...

lovely piece of organic natural sculpture!!

Have you seen the film "chicken run"? The farmer and his "sin bin" are starting to remind me of the "cooler" sketch in that film!

Dave King said...

I can remember my dad getting cross about hens going broody. I could never understand why. (I would have been around 7 at that time.)

ArtPropelled said...

Glad you are over the bug Pat. I also find it difficult to throw out nature's wonders, especially nests of all kinds.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for visiting. I shall keep the nest for now, until it begins to gather dust - it is far too beautiful to throw away.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Glad you're feeling better! What a wonderful nest!