Vale, Sabine...

At least in wasn't bird 'flu!

But what a horrid week it's been. I finished taking a 10-day course of Augmentin Duo Forte Tuesday for complications (ear infection, lung infection) after a nasty and debilitating 'flu - and promptly a cunning cough that had been waiting in the upper wings of my right lung emerged to irritate my breathing.

On Wednesday afternoon, the oldish, big black Australorp cross Sabine from the German cookie lady Petra died in Bianca's arms, with a few feeble spasms.

Despite her rotten state - swollen belly, ungainly, slow gait - our rogue rooster Goldie had mounted her twice just before, as if to assert that she was still part of his harem...

Bianca had just rescued her the second time and was carrying her, belly wrapped in a hot towel, and even probed her vent with a finger to check if Sabine might just be egg-bound.

This last indignity seemingly was the final straw... Sabine flapped her big wings a few times and then simply expired. She had been ailing for weeks and was on special rations at our dinner table, because the other hens didn't give her a chance to feed at their 'table' in the chookhouse.

Ever the scientist, Bianca disappeared with Sabine's body and a big sharp knife, intent on discovering the cause of her illness. A bit later I was called to inspect: a mess of marble-like glassy spheres of varied diameter filled her body cavity, which Bianca said spouted water as soon as she pierced the skin. It seems the oviduct had malfunctioned, and unfinished eggs in various stages of development had blocked all exits... I had never seen anything like this in our chooks (Bianca routinely checks all of them when they die), and I was duly impressed.

Thunderstorm threatens
With a massive thunderstorm forecast, I spent the rest of that afternoon replacing the guttering of the carport - having changed its direction toward the new 13,500 L tank, then jury-rigged a pipe to the tank. A few drops came as we fitted the pipe together with a variety of elbows and joiners. But no rain fell overnight.

Which was as well: when I tested the tightness of the makeshift construction, tied to the old tank with hoop iron, on Thursday morning by flooding the gutter with a hose, the entire work collapsed in pieces. The geese ran shrieking from the scene of the instant water-cum-plastics-fall...

Luckily, we had to drive into town anyway to deliver some birthday presents to Giulia and Isaac, so I stocked up on more 90 mm pipe connections to rework the whole thing. (I also picked up a Firefighter Plus twin-impeller Davey pump with 5.5 hp Honda engine - an expense I had planned for some time after our local fire captain had told me he wouldn't risk the lives of his men to help us out in a bushfire. The proper 19 mm pressure hose and 40 mm suction hose kit, another little extra, was purchased last week...) The fire season is very much upon us, with temperatures of 31 C on Wednesday, accompanied by a very strong NNE wind: pure fire weather!

We got home exhausted - the two grandchildren are proving a handful - and relaxed with a glass of 2002 Pewsey Vale Eden Valley riesling (not as nice as the 2001 vintage we finished the previous day. I must review my wine cellar... (here comes the solar-powered refrigeration setup I've been planning for some time!).

"Pourvu que ça dure", as Napoleon's mother used to warn...

Cheers!