Nighttime in the Garden of Chicken Destruction

Or, night time in one of the gardens where chickens have spent the day deconstructing. I have given them half-hearted chase. Since the kitchen garden has yet to be planted, I did not fuss at them much, but they do absolutely ADORE anything new I do in a garden. If you mulch, they are right there to "distribute" the mulch, if you had plantings which the mulch had surrounded, they are quick to "trim" the plants. They will un-plant any new plantings in a trice. And, today, I put the straw down in the paths of the kitchen garden, and did not close the gate= invitation to destruction!

All that fluffy straw had been in neat and tidy flakes, packed down to suppress weeds.  Sigh. And, as you may note, only three of the four paths are straw packed. I did only two bales, and they went so far. The effort to go fetch another was too great. I am still in the invisible mud of grief that comes with loss.  April, you left a hole in my life greater than the ones the chickens persist in creating in my gardens.
So, I am in the garden, at my little cafe table near the Tuinhuis ( our garden house).  It is an attempt at a bit of (further) nature therapy. And, it is good.
I got on my horse for an hour this afternoon, equine therapy is wonderful. Balancing. Nelle, who had that horrible, near death experience and surgery at the end of 2016 is back under saddle, albeit lightly. She and I are getting on nicely, although I did ask the Lord to spare me from skittish Thoroughbreds today when she was clearly terrified of unseen monsters as we crossed the bridge she crosses everyday. And, after a nice ride remembered it as a potential hazardous threat on the way back to the barn as well.  Do you remember the scene in Bambi, when his legs go out in all directions on the ice? That is what Thoroughbreds do, intentionally, for no reason other than their brain screams "DANGER!" My best combat tools are "soft eyes", singing to her and being completely relaxed, which can be a challenge when 1100 lbs of horse is feeling fragile.
The Lord did not spare me the companionship of the Thoroughbred brain. But in his wisdom he threw me a biscuit and allowed Nelle to give me- for the first time- a really nice forward (and sideways-on purpose!) leg yield.
The mosquitos have arrived to shoo me back inside. And, remind me it is time to re-create the screened porch!
More nature therapy?