‘I don’t like all the changes being made in my neighbourhood’

It was a long time ago, but opposite my house used to sit an old, run down farmhouse. Though many people considered it an eyesore, I personally loved everything about it. There was a broken Hills Hoist clothesline in the backyard, rusted water tanks and a half-fallen horse shed. As an amateur photographer, I thought the place was something of a gift and I hoped it would be around for a long time.

An old man used to live there. Each afternoon he would open all the aviaries and pigeons would come racing out. They would circle his property and then take off into the great unknown.

There were also two horses that would roam the paddock. Back then I bought an excessive amount of carrots and would feed them with a certain amount of joy.

Sadly, the horses would die of old age. So too, did the man who lived there.

The farmhouse sat empty for a while before machinery arrived and started to demolish everything. Now opposite is a drug and alcohol facility. Definitely a different normal began then.

However, I am often reminded of the old farmhouse thanks to one of my immediate neighbours, who has chickens. They are all rescue hens and, like me, they are too old and too tired to lay any eggs, though some days one will look a little full in the face and there will be a gift placed next to the pen the following day.

The chickens are very social creatures, preferring to wander around the yard. I find them amusing, especially when they all come to the fence and start making a hell of a racket. I think it’s their way of letting me know they are ready for a feed. They enjoy rice cakes, Cornflakes, vegetable scraps… Anything at all. They are the equivalent of vacuum cleaners, feathered vacuum cleaners.

My grandchildren recently had a very upsetting morning. They came to me while their mum and dad did an emergency run to the vet with one of their dogs. The kids were devastated.

I was out the front when they arrived when suddenly one of next door’s chickens stuck its head out of the hedge right in front of us. It was so unexpected and a lot of laughter followed. That chicken had perfect timing! Of course, now I give them free reign of my front yard and they come in every morning and scratch up all the mulch, so the front porch is covered with crap. Cheeky buggers!

How has your neighbourhood changed over the years? Have you lived in the same house for a long time?

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