duck ku

November 15, 2013November 22, 2013 by Gabrielle Bryden ♥ 9 Comments

the ducklings waddle

productively through the fields

nurturing soil and soul

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Silkie chicks are hatched!

May 9, 2013May 11, 2013 by Gabrielle Bryden ♥ 22 Comments

silkie warmth
hovering over chicks
mother hen

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Congratulations 🙂 on the chicks!

Edgar Allen Poe is the proud strutting father;

Snowy is the doting mother;

and miraculously we have 5 new Chinese Silkie chicks.

On Sunday Tessa went to check on Snowy who was sitting on her clutch of eggs in the coop. Well what a lovely surprise the little girl had when she discovered a chick instead of an egg (not a complete surprise, but a surprise nonetheless – new life is always a surprise I think).

Over the course of the next two days five chicks had hatched from the clutch.

I put the chicks and Snowy into a safe brooder in our shed, so they could have some privacy and space from prying beaks.

We have only used the heat lamp a couple of hours of the day, as Snowy does a wonderful job in the temperature raising department (this is what hens do best 😉 ).

The chicks are growing fast and Snowy is being very attentive and diligent (Silkie hens make the best Mums).

Edgar Allen Poe is quite the rooster around town and is hiding his despair at being separated from the lovely Snowy by courting the other ladies of the coop.

And so the story continues …

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ps. The fifth chick is under Snowy’s feathers – that is what she is looking at 🙂 You should see her when all 5 are under her wings – she looks the fluffbucket indeed!

Path

August 18, 2011November 13, 2011 by Gabrielle Bryden ♥ 22 Comments

pictured a clear, straight pathway
a walk in the park
unseen trail may twist and turn

Hello

June 1, 2011June 3, 2011 by Gabrielle Bryden ♥ 47 Comments

Hello

and there you were,

soft, black haired baby with closed eyes, opening mine,
curled up lump of sweet smelling newness, sleeping miracle
swaddled to recreate the womb that you relinquished, sadly I am sure,
for what a perfect world in utero, with that heartbeat rhythm and maternal waltz,
we danced, you and me, and the dance will continue, in the fresh air of a new world,
spinning on its head, in an ungainly but glorious departure from what was, the sun sets
in the west, a dali-esque timepiece melts in the distance, but rising in the east,
a sunflower dazzle,

hello,

Song of the Cicada

August 15, 2010 by Gabrielle Bryden ♥ 33 Comments

My Canadian friend, blogger and artist Benedicte Delachanal sent me a photo to inspire some poetry. Here is my poem in response. My children helped with the brainstorming! You can go to wikipedia if you want to hear the song of the cicada, but I’m sure you all know what they sound like.

Song of the Cicada

Some creatures sing until they die
the cicada being one

blase insect
indifferent to fate

singing is what matters
to the cicada

to live life crooning
among the strawberries
in spring, then
chanting in the summer
resonating through the heatwaves
buzzzz
clickkk
hummm

reverberating in the garden forest
like the wind on the sea in a shell

one is joined by many
and a choir of cicadas
roar their pleasure

feel their song
vibrate to the centre of your being