Transformation

 Dear Reader,

Guinea fowl originated from West Africa where they have been bred and hunted for food for centuries.  They have been part of our lives for a very long time, there are even drawings of them on walls of pyramids.  The most popular being the Helmeted guinea fowl. 

Guinea fowl are adapted to roam in any kind of habitat.  Most of them prefer grasslands, thorn veld and agricultural land.  They do well in open areas. They are not migratory birds but the do move around more during the breeding season.  Their lifespan is the same as chickens, turkeys, pheasants, partridges, grouse,quail and peafowl.

Their lifespan is up to 12 years in captivity, 5 years in the wild.  The loud guinea fowl call makes them excellent "guard birds".  Guinea fowl are monogamous and mate for life in the wild.  The birds are friendly and make excellent watchdogs.  If kept alone they like to sit with their human keeper, but in flocks they will usually prefer their own types, like many animals.

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From Dorothy Wordsworth  November 10th 1800 in Westmorland

'I baked bread.  A fine clear frosty morning.  We walked after dinner to Rydale village.  JUpiter over the hilltops, the only star, like a sun, flashed out at intervals from behind a black cloud.'

 

From Thomas Hardy  November 13th  1872 in Dorset

'The first frost of autumn.  Outdoor folk look reflective.   The scarlet runners are dishevelled;  geraniums wounded in the leaf, open-air cucumber leaves have collapsed like green umbrellas with all the stays broken.

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Transformation

 

Years later

I walked up to the fields

I held so dear to me,

in it, then, were two horses, ever close

ever grazing,

plump chickens, guinea fowl,

and in the summer months

a profusion of wild flowers

buttercups, daisies, clover, cowslips,

meadow sweet, grew there,

a small stream gurgled by.

 

But it had all gone.

 

Houses dotted the field now,

washing hung out on the line

flapping in the breeze,

children played in the gardens,

cars everywhere, litter in the street.

 

And is this progress?

 

people have to live somewhere,

 but nature is the sacrifice,

 

the loss,

the undoing.

 

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With very best wishes, Patricia