Gosh, it’s been a month since I last wrote. It has flown. It goes without saying that things are a bit crazy here – there’s work, the kids, visitors, play dates, and we’ve had a few public holidays thrown into the mix too. Everything’s been a bit full-on and I’ve not really been keeping up too well with anyone. And now I’m actually feeling sick, it’s all a bit rubbish. I feel like I could sleep for a week.

We had a very sad evening yesterday. Ada, our head chicken, passed away in my arms after fighting a mystery illness for a few short days. I’m very sad about it all and miss her – as silly as that sounds. Ada was always the first one to run to me when I went into the backyard (smart enough to know I was where the grain came from!), had a habit of jumping up onto the window sill while we were sitting at the dining table, and happily trailed behind me as I went about my business.

I know she was just a chicken, but she was one of my girls and I was attached to her. She is missed and my heart is heavy. Elena hasn’t noticed she’s gone yet, but I’m not looking forward to explaining Ada’s absence.

We are not sure what caused her death – she may have had some sort of internal parasite or a reproductive issue, but didn’t show any sign of illness until the very end. I didn’t even get the chance to take her to the vet as she seemed to improve just before her final hours and lulled us into a false sense of security. I’d heard that’s how chickens go – fine one minute, dead the next – but it’s a decidedly un-fun lesson to learn. We’ve wormed Betty and Maud this evening, just in case there’s something going around.

In a sadly ironic way, I discovered our first egg this afternoon – my money’s on Betty being our first layer. Instead of being excited, I must admit my heart sank a mile. Such happiness and grief mixed together. It will be nice to get some eggs after the medication withholding period wears off.

So that’s how we’ve been, and how we are. I try to stay positive around here, but I guess that’s not a great strategy because it just ends up with me not posting at all if things aren’t going smoothly. I promise a happier post tomorrow.