Wednesday 22 March 2017

Broody chickens, a landmark age and not doing what I said I was going to do. . .



OK, first things first, before we get to the broody chicken. . .

I had my 60th birthday a week or three ago. I wasn't entirely happy about it. It's all very well going around saying "But I don't feel 60!" (as if you knew what the hell 60 was supposed to feel like in the first place), but the truth is, however un-sixty you feel, the big fat 6 in the number is an inescapable fact. It denotes six whole, full decades. That's a lot of decades to carry around with you ;-) It's significantly different than "In my late fifties". 60 is REAL. So forgive me if I don't go 'whoopee doo' and jump around. . . What I shall do is acknowledge it, bow politely in it's direction and then get on with my life.

The thing is, when I was a kid, 60 was OLD. . . Nowadays it's just a kind of late middle age. . . There is no mitigating sense of achievement on having reached this much celebrated landmark, well, not much of one anyway. I can't help that feeling that the significance of getting to 60 years of age has been somewhat overplayed. You could say that the significance of being 60 is the thing that is getting old, not me. . . ;-)

Actually I feel fine about it now, but it is hard not to absorb the general received wisdom and see it as the beginning of a slow descent rather than a continuation of an upward curve. Who knows, I could have thirty or more years of living, breathing and playing with bits of polymer clay yet to experience. . . But hey, we're all here to experience what we get to experience, and we can take it in good heart or we can moan about it. I'll go for the former. Hasn't done me any harm so far. So let's see how it goes eh?



Anyway, back to the sheep, as the French say, apparently, except they say it in French, one of our chickens is spending most of it's time sitting on its, and the other two chickens' eggs, and not coming out to forage and suchlike. It's very disinclined to move even when pushed or pulled. It gets positively grumpy, making unfriendly chicken noises and fluffing up it's feathers. Apparently it's 'broody'. This can last for 21 days I'm told, (via google) but can be curtailed by rather harsh measures such as shutting her outside the chicken coop for long periods etc. Not sure how to proceed. probably I will just hope she snaps out of it at some point. The eggs won't hatch, as no rooster was part of the equation, so there will be no closure of that kind for her, and anyway I'm still going to take the eggs away, so it has to run it's course. The lady from the farm up the road said her dad used to just chuck them in the pond when they got like that, which changed their attitude somewhat. I can see how it might. You can tell we are out in the country can't you? ;-)



As for not doing what I said I was going to do, well, that was a polymer clay bead making reference to my last blog post in which I said that I was going to wind down with the faux ceramic, pot like beads and the crackly stuff. Yeah right. OK, obviously that was fake news. Sad. Evidently I carried right on messing around with them.
So shoot me ;-)

Jon x


11 comments:

  1. I turned 60 at Christmas, so I understand completely...but when I think about it now, turning 30 was actually worse - '3 decades and what have I done' kept rolling around in my head. 30 years later things are a bit better even if I have not accomplished world shaking things. I will leave that to my clever-clogs children...hah! Happy 60, Jon! Continue being fake news and contrary...it's all good!

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    1. Thanks Claire, and happy belated 60th birthday ;-) Funny you should mention 30. I felt alright about 30, it was 29 that depressed me! By 30 I had got over it and took it in my stride. .

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    2. Jon, I had a similar feeling about turning 27--that I was really in my "late 20s now!" As if that were the end of life! ;) My 30th birthday didn't bother me one bit.

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  2. I turned 60 last October myself as well. There seems to be a 60 and polymer thread running here. Maybe it's pliability we're seeking. Hmm and then we want it to look all aged and crackly which we all know just enhances its beauty. Something to that maybe. Anyway Jon, welcome to the big 6-ohhhh! club. Its not so bad. Of course I kicked mine off by visiting your country for the first time ever. Got to meet up with heaps of beady type folks too. Happy Spring to you and your chickens!

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    1. Thanks Kimberley, yes, i like your theory about our fixation with the beauty of old and crackly reflecting our beautiful old and crackliness to come. . . ;-) Happy 60th by the way. I like where I am in life right now so I'm not going to complain.

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  3. I will be 66 in exactly one month, so I am the oldest in this comment thread! :) Turning 30 and 40 didn't bother me at all, but 50 threw me for some reason. By the time 60 came around, I had pretty much stopped worrying about my age and was just who I am, take it or leave it-- since I've always been young at heart anyway, it wasn't all that difficult. Definitely not a slow descent, just another marker on the road! Love your beads, Jon, and your sense of humor. xoxo

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    1. Thanks Meridy, I actually felt pretty good about 50. Quite proud of it as I remember. Weird how it goes. . Back then I didn't even know what polymer clay was ;-) I'm glad you like my work and appreciate the tone of my posts.

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  4. I'm glad about the fake news. Why would you stop making these pot-beads? Love them, especially the green ones.

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    1. Thanks Christine, I keep getting new ideas that i want to try, but there is a lot of mileage in the 'pot' beads so any departure from them will be temporary, if it happens ;-)

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  5. Happy Birthday Jon! Have to say - I saw that number last year. I've many ideas about my age especially the fact that I still think I'm 22. My Mother died on my birthday so I haven't celebrated it or aged in 13 years. Worked for me. Think Mom knew I had a crap memory and decided to make me remember.
    I know that when some oldie song comes on that played in my 20's or 30's you'll find me with a wet face wondering how I got to be here. Always. Blah!
    Anyway - you've cracked me up! I love your (new) attitude of fiestyness. I read your one statement like this though: six - whole - full - decades! Ugh!! :0)
    I'm with Christine and Kimberley - old and crackly - that's us - let's keep on keeping on with showing the beauty of age!
    I've absolutely no advice with the chicken except it made me think of soup.

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  6. I think you read that right, that is what comes across, a sort of horror at those six decades having passed. I didn't mean it quite that negatively, but I am obviously harbouring the belief that old = bad somewhere deep down, or even not so deep down. Cultural values are insidious little buggers aren't they? I am also proud of those six decades ;-)
    The denial method of not ageing sounds promising ;-)

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