Today is the day before a very important holiday in Bulgaria. Tomorrow is Cyrill & Methodius day…yes, they of the Cyrillic alphabet have not only created the most difficult alphabet in the world but given Bulgaria an official holiday…probably because they have to use it everyday.
Anyway, I’ve been slaving away in the garden pretty much everyday and thought I’d be spending the rest of this week there as well, until yesterday when Hristina reminded me that an official Praznik ( holiday) was coming Tuesday and there would be no garden day then. The part of me that aches a lot was greatly relieved and very much looking forward to a day off. This morning that achy bit of me…my back…isn’t very happy and I’m sitting here writing this with a TENS machine strapped to me hoping that later today I might feel up to a few hours toil…if not, it looks like I’ll be having a pre praznik praznik….though I’m sure I can find plenty to do inside. If the weeds didn’t grow while I watched, I wouldn’t be so worried, but a couple of days here can be the difference between a lovely garden and a small jungle, high enough to hide the Goosey & Lucy.
…speaking of whom…
Like a lot of life’s simple things, they are bringing me small moments of amusement and joy. Lucy is all very sweet and lovely and does little else besides eat and lay eggs…more about the eggs in a minute.
Goosey, on the other hand, is a bad tempered SOB, but that can be funny as well. He is highly protective of his ‘girl’ and you’re well advised not to get too close to her, especially with all these eggs she’s laying. He’s not so aggressive to me anymore. I guess he’s got used to me being around, but even then, if I get too close to their little house ( where said eggs are) he still hisses at me and takes attack position. I have learnt to take an offensive position with him and he tends to settle a little but watches me like a hawk and I know if I turned my back on him in their pen, he’d have me.
I also learnt a valuable lesson from Hristina and I nearly wet myself laughing when I saw what happened. I told her about the number of eggs, 17 to date, and she walked into the pen for a look..Goosey was not happy and came flying at her. She promptly gave him a back hander that sent him tumbling and left him standing there shaking his head and looking completely stunned while still trying to hiss and look like the boss. Hristina didn’t miss a beat…that was when I learnt not to run away from him, but to stand my ground and he & I get on much better now that I do.
They don’t stay in the yard during the day anymore. They are true free ranging geese and they head off out the gate every morning and spend hours grazing around the streets. Of course cars and buses and trucks and people go by and Mr Agro often flaps his wings and hisses at all of the above. The funniest is the buses…it’s real David and Goliath. The buses don’t take a blind bit of notice but it’s always funny to watch him asserting himself.
And it was in the street that Hristina made me laugh again. When Goosey hisses at people, they tend to cross the street looking very nervous. The other day Hristina was walking down the street and Goosey did his usual wing flapping and hissing. This time she grabbed him by the head and sort of ‘threw’ him away and again, he sat there looking stunned, trying to figure out what had happened. She’s got him completely baffled…
They have got so used to me now that often when I’m working in the garden they come and graze near me, which is nice. I always have my Ipod on when I’m working so often don’t hear what’s going on around me and sometimes I’ll look up from what I’m doing and the two of them are very close to me, just helping me with the weeding. Geese are great…they don’t touch the veges, they just graze around and under and it’s nice that they trust me enough to get close without any aggression, well, at least until I go into their pen.
And in there Lucy has laid 17 eggs. Now I don’t know a lot about poultry and incubation times or anything like that so I’ve watched her adding an egg every few days, but not sitting all day. There’s sex in the streets in between eating, honking and hissing. She and Goosey are at it all the time…but I’m thinking maybe the eggs are all duds and she just hasn’t figured that out yet. Got online to find out how these birds operate and apparently they lay all the eggs they are going to and THEN she will sit longer every day, but they usually only lay about ten eggs, so are hers duds ? I have no idea. I always thought birds kicked dud eggs out of the nest but she’s caring for these, covering them when she’s not there and sitting, for periods that are becoming longer, every day.
Anyone out there geese experts ? any advice gratefully received…
And then there’s the coriander and the spinach, both growing like weeds. I’ve already frozen down batches of both, but they’re growing faster than I can eat or freeze. I’ve made coriander pesto, which I wasn’t that sure about when I found the recipe, but let me tell you, it’s delicious. I had some on pasta last night will certainly make more from my masses of coriander BUT I’m also looking for other ways of keeping coriander, besides eating, freezing & pesto. Again, any advice gratefully received.
The day is dribbling away and I’m feeling a little work coming on. I’m starting to make such big inroads into the back yard now that I really am reluctant not to get out there as much as I can and, hey, the TENS seems to have done it’s job so I shall bid you farewell for now…
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