A Few Chicks, Cherries & Great Neighbours.

Picking cherries with a difference.

Yeah, it is cherry season and it seems that everyone in our village has a tree or two in their yards. The farmer who owned this smallholding before us, planted many other fruit trees but not cherry. I must say, it isn't the easiest fruit to pick except from the low lying branches. Of course,as Nature has it, all the delectable cherries are normally just out of arm's reach and a long ladder is needed. Last week I saw a kilo of cherries being sold at Lidl ( a discounter ) for Euro 6,99...oh yes, every backyard in our village has a wealth tree! More of a saving tree, as no one really picks the fruit.

The word got around that Bob and I love to jam. As Schatzi has slightly opposing music tastes to mine, we only do real jamming. You know; plum jam, peach jam and of course cherry jam. If only you know how easy it is to make jam you'd never buy another tin / jar again. This last week, three neighbours have kindly offered us the full use of their cherries. Great. Nice. Yummy. Even just wanting a bit of fruit only means going across the road and picking some of the tree.

Our immeadite neighbour has fabulous cherries ( hardly any worms ) and picking them comes along with a bit of entertainment. His cherry trees are where he keeps his chickens. He is the one who has created a sort of Disneyland for his chickens. They are a happy lot and often we can hear their " chicky-chats " across the road. Sometimes we get some of their eggs too. The proper organic free range type...

Anyway, I went on my own to pick a kilo & a half of cherries ( amount for one batch ) as Bob was toiling the vineyards. Naturally I took along my camera and decided to at first sit among the chickens to get a few shots in. When you have picked a few cherries, you know that your hands will be sticky and sweet. Not good for the camera. Just as well Bob wasn't there, because I took a lot of pictures. A whole lot, which I only realized when I loaded them onto the computer. But it was worth it.

I only wanted to get a few nice " chicken " shots so that I could give our neighbour a framed picture, as he loves his chickens and I want to thank him for always being so generous. When I saw some of the shots, they were to precious, funny and nice not to show you...

These chicks like to pose...

To be honest, I got a little bit scared when she came towards me.

Oh this is classic! I put it on Twitter yesterday and asked:
" Did you have a tad bit too much wine as well? "....and of course I got a response.

" My leg hurts, have you got your pic now? "

Gosh, what a colourful and nice plumage.

Biggi