Olympic schedule causing havoc in the urban farm...

OK so you should feel lucky today, in fact feel so lucky you go and buy a lottery ticket on your way to Bingo.  You are very lucky indeed to be getting a post at all given the hectic daily schedule of Olympic viewing and Team GB supporting that has been going on here at streetgrowers.  The viewing ranges from online BBC site whilst in the garden fixing fences, pruning raspberries and feeding chooks to complete immersion in lounge in front of large flat screen taking in every pixel of the action amid the sea of empty seats.  Oh yes that little episode has not escaped us here and roused just a little anger.  The other morning we watched the swimming heats with 'Our Becky' swimming past rows of empty seats which we had unsuccessfully bid to pay for back in the day! It had a double whammy anger effect not only because like many of you we would have loved to be sitting on any two of the seats but also because it magnified onto the world stage the incompetent backhander trading that goes on in UK politics and in fact any corporate arena, and LOCOG couldn't even get that right.  But No I shall not step onto my soapbox of joy and rant excessively on this topic. I shall as I did on Sunday shout at the TV later about it if any more empty rows of seats are televised...mind you have to say seeing Seb Coe with the Royals in the Equestrian arena in Greenwich on Monday surrounded by empty seats was priceless. And whilst on the topic of Greenwich didn't it look fantastic in the cross country.  We have the best park in London by a country mile...go Greenwich.

So as said you have rolled a 6 this morning getting a blog post amid all this Olympic excitement and bursting pride in the glory of our local area.  Well between viewing and cheering, which I am sure they can hear in the stadiums from here, we have been soldiering on with the never ending demands of the urban farm.  Our summer fruiting raspberries gave us a massive harvest, we now have Raspberry and vanilla jam to die for and enough sorbet in the freezer to see us through the Gold medal parade.  Having exhausted themselves fruiting and sending up beautiful new shoots we pruned out the old stems and tied in the new lush green thick canes so all is looking neat and tidy ready for next year.

We planted out 50 plus leeks grown form seed, quite close as we will harvest them young as baby leeks, then re-fenced the squash bed which is churning out regular courgettes and has a range of pumpkins and butternuts coming along nicely so the chooks need to stay off for a while.  The runner beans have fought back against the slugs and despite the lack of leaves have gone on climbing the canes and grown some new leaves nice and high up...are slugs scared of heights? Anyway they need weeding so that is on the list as soon as there is a mini break in the swimming heats this morning!

We have been up to our eyes in Freegle gifts again this week and have a lovely pile of reclaimed floorboards ready and waiting to be turned into a tool tidy...design is done just waiting on a new blade for the circular saw and we will be busy creating. Took in a car load of firewood which is all chopped, sawn and stacked in the garage to season before burning in winter. Also grabbed a load of glass bricks which we are cleaning up at the mo and hope to use to design a cold-frame for the salad bed to extend the growing season. As soon as we have pics of our Freegle creations there is a blog post just waiting for publish on that lot.

Finally, as I have to get back to the rowing at Eton Dorney, Peep is doing really well, has loads more feathers, loves jumping on Dad's back, which doesn't go down too well with him but he is being a kind Daddy about it and is looking really healthy...Boy or Girl...still not sure, what do you think? Answers in the comments please.

The interweb communication thingy...

As someone who found the love of her life online I am no novice when it comes to an online chat and the sharing of good ideas. I was very fortunate to have a good grounding in a progressive school which did not block Facebook and Twitter or Youtube from the kids and staff but rather used them to forge stronger communication channels and share success and failure in a manner that was not washing your dirty laundry all over Teleman square.  I had conversations with students and their parents in the same Facebook post about the benefits and joys of things like "Bike Day" which would never of happened had i not been able to post pics of the youngsters haring around the playground on a 7 seater or a penny farthing.

Since the change in our lifestyles we have continued to use online media in so many ways and have debates, discussions and even the occasional dirty washing session with local councillors, others running their own businesses, MPs, bloggers, friends and reporters on a huge range of topics.  We have used social media to get our business name known and received great feedback on our products and projects as well as enlisting all kinds of support along the way.  So I felt it was time to gather some of the benefits we have experienced from online interactions, so here goes.

To date online interactions have offered the following:

1) Suggested solutions to our mite problem in our large chicken coop, which has so far been 100% effective, suggesting the products, routine and then where online to buy it at a fraction of the commercial shop prices.

2) Reassurance and guidance about our broody Bantam hen hatching her own chick whilst in the coop with daddy and 2^nd mummy, and a continued online debate about the gender of that little chick which is still to be proved one way or other.

3) Advice from freelance writers about the best available software for outlining the structure to a novel or ebook and where to download a free beta copy.

4) Immeasurable fun and laughter at the responses to news items from milk prices to Olympic disorganisation and the multi U-Turn nature of the current government.

5) A torrid online battle with a staunch Boris fan who blindly supports him and suggested he is saintly in his spending of public funds, which resulted in a win for me and the sounds of truth and evidence about spending in support of LGBT community and the World/London Pride events.  I will never miss an opportunity to educate a bigot or an ignorant big mouth.

6) Continued collaborations and offers of support with schools and local growing groups on our future produce market plans.

7) Freelance online remote work, and some of these offers come through the most unlikely channels.

8) Free tickets to the picturehouse, when complaining in person got the bloke from the seat in front of us nothing on the day, yet we got 2 free tickets and an apology, they are lovely people and we salute them.

9) Taste swapping ideas from other home made producers where we all send our new product samples by post and offer feedback online, a great test for new products and we get to try out other peoples work, yummy. (well mostly yummy!)

10) Offers of volunteer work, so far this year have been asked to help at a festival pulling a few pints, the torch relay in Bexley, lavender harvest in Carshalton and running a market stall for a day at Borough market for someone in a bind.

11) When the growing season bites and we have an abundance of one crop we head to twitter for suggestions and one outcome was a superb recipe for lettuce, spring onion and mint soup. I didn't even think about cooking lettuce!

12) An introduction to Freegle and all it has provided us.  We knew of Freecycle years ago but thought it had fallen a bit flat round here in recent times, until we discovered it had moved to Freegle.  Oh we have picked up some amazing gifts for free and met some fabulous people along the way too. Freegle we salute you too.

+1) Prizes from loads of companies including a Stonewall goodie bag from Friday quiz, Neff recipe book for tweeting a recipe comment and as well as free teabags in a giveaway.

This list of more than 12 benefits that spring to mind is to say nothing of the value of keeping in touch on FB with friends and colleagues from past jobs who share in the excitement of our adventure out of the rat race and we can share in their lives in a way I never could with teachers or school friends that I now live away from.

I cannot speak highly enough of the blogosphere and its myriad of ideas, inspirations and opinion which have guided all sorts of projects we have become involved in, pointed us in the direction of some of the best kept secret places to eat drink and be merry in London and the south east and saved us hours, days and possibly weeks of graft reading the story of someone else's journey before embarking on the same errors ourselves.

We have based a number of our workshops for up-cycling, recycling and traditional crafts on ideas and information gleaned from blogs and micro sites.  We can now make a natty newspaper gift bag, turn old cans into funky tealight holders, have a toothbrush handle become a pen and break glass bottles with precision with just string acetate a match and water. 

Finally of course if you want to know how to do just about anything then Youtube is your classroom. Go on I challenge you.  Find 5 ways to kill a chicken, including the one with a lady in a lumberjack shirt in the woods with an axe and a traffic cone.  Get a lesson in garlic plaiting and don't forget to catch the episode of country tales teaching you how to make squirrel skin slippers.

Our first 3 months living the life...

A selection of images from our first 3 months since escaping the race designed for rats..!

Being 3 weeks old and sunshine...

Well what a difference a weather front makes!
All us growing types are out there loving it and blogging on about the relaxation and rewards of our labour in the veggie beds.  Come now it was not so long ago you could'nt see a muddy welly for all the moaning going on about the rain, the slugs and the ridiculous season we in Britain call summer.  OK I know we were as bad as others and the slug slaughter was top of our list for a while there, but heck it's been full on for the past 7 days, so here goes to try and bring you all up to speed.

First up we had 2 big parties to cater for.  All bespoke choices from our range and much loved by all that tasted them.  Some people were still raving about the amazing flavours 5 days after they had eaten it so we are well pleased with that feedback.
It being the last week of term in most London schools we had a few farewell parties to get along to as well for friends leaving schools or the profession.  Exciting times hearing what they all have planned for the coming months and beyond.


We have had some really interesting and thought provoking meetings with schools and local community projects that would like to work with us, using our skills with growing and using the harvest to work alongside their projects which all involve getting more young people out in the growing environments or looking after animal welfare and being more aware themselves of the food they put on their tables.  So lots of planning is going in and we hope to have further news and invites for you guys to get involved very soon.

The rain certainly moved things on in the garden, but as it was so hard to get out there and do much, things needed a real good tidy yet again.  We picked loads of raspberries and turned them into raspberry and vanilla jam, it is delicious. Then we took in all the plums which have been stoned and frozen ready for jam making when stock levels need it.  The last of the cherries were eaten from the tree and the tomatoes have finally started to catch up with the time of year and fruit all over the place.  We harvested the garlics this week and they just about managed to avoid being flooded out, then we planted loads of leeks so we can pick them early as babies. The salad garden is still thriving and beets are going well along with the spring onions, am now on the look out for some funky beet seeds to grow different varieties in a spare piece of veggie bed over the back.  Finally the pumpkins, butternut and corgette bed is going like crazy and flowering loads and the greenhouse is making easy work of the rosemary and sage cuttings and the lychee plants which are growing very quickly now.
As to the chooks, we picked up a set of Freegle paving slabs to raise the large coop and avoid the indoor swimming pool they have been putting up with, and the little Bantams are having a top family time showing peep all the ways of chook life including a first attempt at dust bathing!!

Slug Slaughter, the new Olympic sport...

I know its been a bit dull lately.  Who wants to read about growing your own, let alone get out and muddy up your gardening gloves when it is this wet and grey but we have to thank our lucky stars we are as far south as this.  My twitter-sphere tells me the chums up North are having a much harder time of it than us and may have actually forgotten what sunlight looks like.  Down here there is a new addition to the town sounds that of the gazebo pole rattle.  It seems that anyone planning any kind of party, BBQ or family gathering has now taken to the gazebo safety routine.  This means adding a canopy that covers a minimum 75% of your garden in case Aunty Vi should get drizzled on.

So what kind of urban farming is happening amidst all this overcast gloom?

The highlight of the day cannot possibly be watering the greenhouses..Oh no there is a much more athletic and rewarding activity to be had.  Slug slaughter.  Yes, forget Grand Theft Auto on the digi device and get out in the garden with a trowel, shovel or the ultimate grab is a pair of secateurs.  These blighters have tried to have it away with half the leaves on our runner bean plants so there is no compassion for them.  The rainy season has meant they have laid more eggs than ever before and every morning we step out of the house to find trails of evidence across every surface and food bowl in every coop.  This is to say nothing of the mess they can make of a veggie bed overnight.  Now the slug defence method is two fold.  Firstly it squishes it's body up making the outer skin thick and hard to penetrate when attacked, and secondly it secretes a mass of slug goo (technical term) which it covers itself with making it nigh on impossible to get hold of the little beast or to scoop it up on a spade.

So slug slaughter begins with those found in the open combat ground of the lawns...the shovel slams down and cuts them neatly in two, no matter how squished up they have made themselves.  Leave the bits for the birds to hoover up later.  Then there are those in the veggie beds, stealth approach is needed here by slipping one arm of the secateurs under the soil beneath the giant gastropod mollusc and just as it senses an attack and starts to squish and goo all at once...snip it is history.  This time scoop the bits and flick onto the grass for the birds as before.  The really horrible critters are the ones still munching on chicken food or crawling around the inside of their water feeder.  They will goo up as you cast a shadow over them and try to evade capture by sliding behind any container. For these either flick them out of the coop with a trowel or as has become my habit feed the chooks wearing one rubber glove and grab the squishy squirmy gooey hideous lump of glob and throw it down on the grass for the shovel chop of delight.

I am fully aware of how emotive this blog post is and it reflects completely my passion for getting rid of this most useless and unproductive of creatures that crawls our planet offering no solution to the reduction of greenhouse gases and no positive contribution to the food chain in terms of nutrients.  Don't start shouting at me about them eating dead leaves and the like to help biodegrade matter.  Mr and Mrs Earthworm do a very nice job of that and they don't touch our beans and cabbages in the process, yet Sadistic Sidney Slug eats earthworms too.

So to conclude, the rainy season has kept us from the exciting tending of our veggies, it has called a halt to the plucking out of side shoots on tomato plants, given they have hardly grown in a month but it has not failed in providing a new sport in Olympic year which can be played by all good gardeners and allotment owners.  Post your Slug Slaughter high scores here under comments if you too are losing the will to grow your own in the climate that is widely reported to be impacted by global warming...wouldn't that be nice...warmth.!

I think I may now need to visit the therapist and will return to blogging as soon as I find one who can help.!

Peep celebrates being 2 weeks old with a movie...

Someone put a whole planet outside my coop...

Hi there, me again little Peep.
Well I never did.! You just wont guess what happened to me this morning. No see told you, you had no chance. Well first thing this morning it was like a proper summers day according to my dad, Horacio. I don't call him Dr Horacio that's just for his passport and stuff.  Anyway he says "Look at that Peep, it's what the Snamuhs call the Sun". Well is was big, round, bright and yellowy orange and it just filled most of the sky we can see from the coop door.  But better than that, not only did I see the sun and feel its warm rays on my lovely new feathers, but I went out for a little family perambulate, that's a walk to you if your not clever like me, and I'm only 12 days old.
So we left the coop door, me, Mum Midnight, my other Mum Lady and Dad.  

We had a little walk together along the path next to the radishes, rocket and beets.  Then we went right down the end by the sweetcorn and turned round and came back a little bit. 

But Mum was hungry for some of the grass so she decided we had to get down off the path to reach it.  She told me it would be OK.
It looked a bit of a long way down to me...


Anyway I watched Mum do it first and then I just closed my eyes and jumped...I dangled my little short Japanese Bantam legs in the air until Plop...they landed on the cold tickly grass.

It was good fun running around down there.  Some of the grass is quite long and it proper tickles your belly if it gets in between your fluffy bits.










After a little while Mum said it was time to get back inside the coop in case one of the big cats came by.  Now this was a real worry for me.  It was a long way down from that path, but it was surely a bloody long way back up and my little legs jump Ok at the moment but that is just asking too much.  How was I going to get back up?  What would I do if Mum, Mum and Dad all jumped up and left me here?

I shouted to mum and said there was no way I could make it.
But she said "It's OK, just hop on my back and I'll get you up there." It was the best moment of my 12 day life so far and as soon as we got back in the coop I snuggled under Mum's belly and fell fast asleep.

The Mid-Downpour tidy up ...

Not before time I have managed to kick Peep off the keyboard and take back control of our blog to give a well requested update to the urban farm following part one of the rainy season in South East London. I know from comments you have enjoyed hearing about Peep's arrival and adventures but am also aware how many of you want to know what has been going on post monsoon round one.

I thought the best way to do this was to go for the tidy up in pictures...



Towards the end of last week we had a good mix of sun and rain and were seeing the beautiful colours of the pots and baskets we hang all over our garden room to give us a bright and inspirational space in which to work...

Then came the rainy season and Saturday morning we thought our garden area looked a bit wet, the grass hides it well but there was a lot of splashing under foot on the way to the coops and the greenhouse...








But then I had a peek through the fence at our neighbour's garden and thought we had got off light...ours is raised a few inches from those around us as the previous owners didn't like all the moss that grows among the grass as there is an underground stream running across below our gardens apparently...






The fruit is ripening...who knows how given the lack of warmth and sunshine, but its now a case of trying to pick it from wet trees and bushes and getting all those lovely raspberries into a sorbet as quick as poss to keep that gorgeous fresh flavour.

The plums can be eaten off the tree as they have held up quite well given the attack of global warming.!

As the cherries are all split they will go straight into pie...

Must now throw the net over the Kentish Cobnut tree before the squirrel gets any funky ideas like last year when she took all the cobnuts and hid them all over the garden in pots, tubs, under one of the chicken coops...in fact we still find them occasionally...well this year we strike first with the fruit net to keep her out.







To protect our gorgeous chooks from the high water in their coop we have deep bedded them on wood-chip and straw for summer...can you read that twice and try to believe it?















Having the little chick Peep around has been a good reminder for us to revisit our Hen hygiene practice.  Red mite attack began last week and thanks to top advice from Zarla (@zeeteecee) on twitter we have a new dust on the way to fight the critters as well as using carefully placed Vasoline on perch ends to stop the mites getting to the chooks at night.  Also we are keeping our disinfectant regime high up the priority list as the little one needs protecting in these early days and mildew on drinkers will not provide the best start. We use this Vanodine V18 for so many cleaning and disinfecting jobs, it is brill stuff.









The little one and Bantam family have done pretty well through the wet weather, being raised on slabs they are dry as in the covered coop and with regular war on the red mite we have kept it clean as, although Mother Hen is not satisfied and has taken to digging a nest in the wood-chip under the hen house in the run for her and little Peep at night, despite us keeping the nest box and hen house spotless?

And OK...final word to Peep...

Hi Guys, managed to get back on the typing thingy for a quick word...I am doing really well even though the last couple of days have been a bit chilly and boring.  Apparently I have to stay in when it rains cos I cant get wet as my little body would get too cold.  But I wanted to show you my lovely new wing feathers...just look at them, I know I'll be flying soon, and they are a bit brown buff so maybe I wont be as darm as Midnight when I get all my feathers through.
Love Peep x

Day 6 in the world of Peep...

Just a brief update here and no pics as its been so wet and cold I have spent most of today snuggled under Mum keeping warm.  We spent last night out in the covered coop in a nest that mum dug in the wood-chip.  It was a bit like camping from what I am told and was quite exciting and fresh really as it wasn't too cold and we didn't get any overnight rain.  This morning the Snamuhs scraped every inch of the nest box and sprayed it with some pink stuff that will kill the mites so Mum says.  I heard them say that someone on Twitter had given them a great tip about putting vaseline on the ends of the perches so the mites cant crawl along at night and bite my Mums and Dad.  I can't even get on the perches yet so I just had to keep on the move to dodge them, but that was why my clever mum moved me down to the coop floor last night too avoid being bitten.

Anyway the Snamuhs have sprayed and killed them all for now, but Dad says they soon come back so we need to keep our eyes out for them.  Other than that it's been a quiet day, loads of rain and when Dad and Mum Lady went out for a stroll they got soaked so I am pleased I stayed in.

I hope it is sunnier tomorrow and I can get back to playing at jumping on mum's back.

Laters...Peep x

Peep's first trip out...

Ok I know Mum said she would take me out later if I was good, well it's been a busy day and she thought it would be more fun to play in the coop today, and then me and one of the Snamuhs made this little picture to show you my new trick... let me know what you think by leaving me a comment.
Thanks, off for another power nap now, us chicks need a lot of sleep.
Love Peep.x

Peep get's brave on day 4...

Happy birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy four days birthday to me... Oh OK I heard you sing this every time someone has a birthday, well I'm four days old today and learning fast so please feel free to send presents to my coop.
I haven't been sitting around all day either you know.  The Snamuhs came and topped up the crumb and water in the nest box this morning and I heard them saying something about having to go out to do something exciting in a town by the river.  Well I hope they dont come back with any of those duck things I have heard about, they sound really mucky paddling around in the wet and the mud, Yuk.!  Well off they went full of the joys of adventure and little did they know but as soon as the coast was clear Mum was off down the slope into the main part of our coop.  I jumped up and went with her and wobbled a bit on the slope but I managed to get down it without falling at all.  See I am a seriously grown up little chick now.

But this adventure is really cool.  There are loads of new smells, sights and sounds.  I can hear some other chickens, they sound quite loud and nearby and one of them sang a really funny cluckety cluck song this morning, Mum said she was telling all the chickens in the street she had laid an egg.  Well talk about big headed.!
Also I saw two stripy cats go past the coop earlier, they seem Ok and friendly but I am seriously not sure about them yet.  There is this wood chip stuff all over the floor which tickles my feet when I walk and dotted around there are little lumps of smelly poo which Dad and my other Mum have left behind them...I am quickly learning these are really sticky if you get them between your toes so I dodge them if I can.

Well next thing the Snamuhs were back from the river, pleased to say no ducks in tow, they gave us a lovely big shallow tray of chick crumb, it's well tasty stuff and another shallow tray of water, which I can stand up in and wont need any swimming lessons if I slip over cos it's really shallow.
My favourite bit so far though is that when I get a bit tired or overwhelmed by stuff I can just bury myself back under Mum's feathers and have a power nap...If I'm really good Mum says she might even take me for a walk in the garden later...oh fingers crossed those cats are sleeping when that happens.!

Peep's exciting adventure ...

Wow that was a mad half hour.  You guys can barely have read my chilled out little post of this morning and I have already been involved in an adventure that nearly called for all the emergency services.  There I was having a quiet little 40 winks moment just under Mum's left wing when for reasons best known only to her she suddenly leapt up and started scratching at the floor, pecking at the bedding, shaking all her feathers at once and chasing round in circles.  Dad and my other Mum were there too and they looked well shocked so it can't be normal chicken behaviour.  I didn't know what else to do but to follow her out of the only place I have ever called home, our little nest box onto a huge cold hard tray in the next bit of this city they call The Coop.  Next thing she ran down the slope out of the coop and outside where its not just really bright but a bit chilly and it smells a bit weird too.  Well by now I was proper frightened and Dad was none to happy with all the comotion during his mid afternoon nap.  Next thing he went off down the slope too and so did my other Mum Lady.  Oh I just didnt know what to do, I was all alone in this huge room...so I did what I do best and grabbed a lung full of air and went for a full on "Peep, Peep, PEEP!!" as loud as I could.  

Now I might only be 3 days old but I managed to alert one of the Snamuhs and she called the other one, the blonder one and they both appeared with the big plastic fish eye thing and while one of them took stock of the situation, the other one kept pointing the fish eye thing at me and sometimes it even flashed a sudden bright light in my eye.  But even that was better because it took my mind off of where my Mum had run off to.  I had a look down the slope but didn't think I was old enough yet to take that on so I stayed on the tray.

Well it turned out Mum had gone a bit bonkers and needed a dust bath really really badly.  Must be all that sitting on eggs that has finally gone to her head.  So she ran off to the bushes and rolled and rolled and rolled in the dusty earth until she had sorted herself out.  I was quite scared by then so one of the Snamuhs picked me up and calmed me down with some lovely little tickles on my chest and behind my ears.  Mum soon came back and now I feel quite brave indeed for 3 days old.  But I am even more happy to snuggle back under her soft feathers and I am soooo tired from all that excitement that i think I will have a little nap now.
Night night, see you all tomorrow.

Mummy said it's not good manners to put my feet in my dinner!..

Hello again.  I had so many people reading about my arrival yesterday I felt obliged to get back online today and update you all.  I am feeling a bit bolder today and Mum has been showing me round our nest box and how to feed on this scrummy Chick crumb that the Snamuhs bring us.  Then she gave me a little lesson in drinking from this very carefully chosen shallow dish.  Apparently it has to be shallow so I don't drown in it by accident, you see I am not like a duckling I don't do swimming.  What is lovely is the Snamuhs come by about every half hour or so and keep everything clean and tidy in our nest box and change the water and top up the crumb, they are ever so good really making sure I dont get any little red mite bites cos I am sure they would itch like crazy.
Dad has spent a bit of time playing with me this morning, he kind of nudges me with his huge beak and we make Peep noises to each other, then my other Mummy she came in and laid another egg in the nest box next door, but I dont think that one will be a brother or sister cos the Snamuhs took it away with them.
My black mum, Midnight it still keeping the lazy 2 eggs warm and keeps moving them around all the time but I haven't heard any sounds from them yet, still its nice having all the attention on me for now.

Mummy said it's not good manners to put my feet in my dinner.!

So I hear that something called the weather has been disappointing lately, well I hope you can teach it to do better in future and I will be back with another update soon.
Love from Peep
x

Introducing in the left nest box...Peep.!

Introducing in the left nest box....Peep.!
Ok I know it's not the best name in the world but it's mine for now.  Hi by the way, or BTW as you texting types would say, see I learn quick innit. That's cos I'm a proper little London chick and here's my story...

So let's begin at the very beginning, cos the Snamuhs, that's what we call the big people that look after us, have been keeping you all up to date with their story on here, so this is our chance to have a say.  So this is me 2 days ago, well for the last 21 days actually and to be quite honest with you it was just a little bit cramped in there for the last 48 hours or so.  It was lovely and warm cos my broody mum has been keeping us snug and making sure we were kept moving as a good hen should.  But as I say in the end it was just too squished and I broke my way out on Sunday evening.  The Snamuhs were very attentive and heard my "peep, peep, peep" calls very soon after which was a bit embarrassing as my tail feathers were still a bit wet when they first saw me.  But that is all in the past as I have fluffed up a treat in the lovely dry warm surroundings of our nest box.  Oh listen to me rattling on without telling you about the rest of my family.

There'd my dad of course, Dr Horacio, he's a noisy sod in the mornings and very proud of me, even though he is doing the stereotypical Japanese father routine which is based on treating me harsh so I grow up with strong morals and emotional stability.  Then there is my other mum, yes Ok keep your hair on we are not a conventional hetro family and two mums and a dad means I will get lots more birthday presents, anyway her name is Lady Akoya.  In fact here's a picture of them when they were younger, before I came along...






So yesterday was my first day birthday and I spent most of it under my mum's wing and those lovely fluffy breast feathers which keep me warm and dry.  My dad and Lady kept popping in to see how I was and the Snamuhs put a little bowl of water and chick crumb in the box for mum and me in case we get peckish...Ha get me my first joke and not even a week old yet...I am set to be funny for sure.  Anyway back to the bowls, I am not sure yet what to do with them but mum says she will show me tomorrow, thing is she is still a bit busy keeping my 2 siblings warm in their shells.  They are sure to get squished up soon and push their way out just like I did.

Look closely you will see me under Mum's wing

Here's me with the lazy 2...come on you guys.






Anyways-up that was all yesterdays news.  This morning I am 2 days old.  yes I know another birthday already. And I have got a bit noisier with my peep peep calls and feel a bit braver today so I stepped out for a little look around.

If you look closely you can see the lighter bit on the very tip of my beak, thats my egg tooth.  They say chickens don't have teeth, well this will be the only one I ever have, and I have used it once and for all...to get out of my shell.
 One of the Snamuhs, is a bit slow I think, she said I look like a penguin...do you see webbed feet?..I don't think so.! I have lovely feet and I think I am going to be a true Japanese Bantam with short legs...its one of our best features you know.

Well this typing is really tiring stuff for a little peep like me.  Here's one last pic for today and it's me with my gorgeous mum Midnight.  You see my whole family have very classy names, so I am sure Peep will not be my permanent name, just one to get me started. Time for me to have a snuggle under the feathers again for now...See you all soon .