All the rushing about this morning to get the bairn to school was in vain. On the walk to school Sheldon's grandad shouted out of a half opened car window.."School's closed the heating is off!" "Hurray!" says my son. "Oh no what about my peaceful day?" thinks me. I decided since we were nearly there,I'd take them down to the beach,get the kids and the dog tired out. We threw some pebbles for the dog and collected some glass pebbles. If only I had been prepared I would have had a bag and could have nabbed some sea weed for the allotment. We came home with a large shell,a "ginger" pebble and a stick. The stick has quite a nice pattern on it. It would look great carved as a snake,but I can't carve so it will sit somewhere gathering dust until the dog spies it. Oh brought half a ton of sand home on The Toot's furry boots too. Ripe for a sand dance along the hallway.
Dog is getting old. She can't jump up on to the dunes in her usual place. I knew she was less springy but it's sad when you actually see it for definate. Well I guess she's about ninety odd now. OH reckons she's prehistoric.
I've just spilled my coffee and it has gone all over OH's business folders. It's going to be one of those days!!
Have a nice one! ;D
Good Morning (oops no afternoon!) Heldi. Half term here so kids around anyway but mine are old enough to just be happy lolling around getting in the way! Wanted to get back up the plot and carry on digging but heavy rain last night so I think it will be too wet although the sun is out and the wind is blowing so might go later and see how it is. Lucky lucky you for living near the sea.
Have fun.
Hi Amanda!
I'll be dragging my two up to the allotment this afternoon sometime. They are very quiet at the moment ,I have checked and they are sitting watching Pingu. I'll keep a low profile until they start getting restless then it's off to see the hens!
It rained buckets last night too. It's too wet to carry on with the digging here also. Need it done!! Ah well just have to go with the weather,can't do anything about it. What I do really need at the allotment is the ability to make a cuppa. I keep telling myself this over and over but don't do anything about it. I've just seen a storm kettle on the internet,I fancy one of those, £36 though.
I moved up here from Newcastle to get some open sky! My OH's mother said I'm the only one she knows who lives by the sea and who actually goes down to the beach! It's a bit of a scratty beach but it's got rock pools ,flotsam and jetsam ,sand,wildlife and it's free!
Sounds idylic, Heldi - do miss not living near the sea - specially as it was the Med ;D ;D ;D
Some schools closed early for half term last week cos of a gastric virus going round - which I've caught :o My 'child' is in his 30s & lives a few 000 miles away, so where's the justice in that then?, What with that and me bad back, not too happy at the mo except that I can lean against the kitchen worktops & sow some seeds then there's always the Winter Olympics to watch this afters, so could be worse :)
We've had heavy rain too but the temperature is 8.5C which is amazing. On Sunday it was snowing and still below 0C. The paddocks across the road have new "lakes" in them and the stream is likely to burst its banks. Not worried though as we have had a very dry winter so far.
Oooh Alishka the thought of the lovely Med has warmed me up a treat. Whereabouts on the Med did you use to live? I'm trying to persuade OH that he wants to go on a holiday for his 40th. Not making any headway so far.
Sorry to hear you are feeling poorly. Sounds awful. Your poor back too! Did you get much sowing done? Those garlics you sent me are coming along a treat. I'm so chuffed.
I like the Winter O's too. Don't watch anything particulary sporty of athletic but I do like the Winters. Was really suprised to see the snow boarding. Thought "What's that on for?!" But when you see them doing their somersaults and twists I decided it was much the same as diving and such like. In the way they score points.
Get well soon!
Hey Obbelix!
Haven't seen much snow at all here. That snowboard sled thing I bought for my son has remained in the loft for a second year. He doesn't even know he has it! It is cold but I think that is wind chill. Has been very bright and would have been a lovely day but for the wind.
You mentioning the paddocks flooding reminded me of your house renovations last year. Have you got it all done now? Also your holiday in the Lakes. The thought of you stuck in that huge puddle! What is it with you and water?! Sorry to remind you.
Your garden is absolutely stunning Obby. It's been a real pleasure to look through your photos. I'm pleased to have seen your big beastie too. When is he due back and have you got anymore screening between you and he?
Good evening Heldi! How did the day go overall? Good? Ok? No comment? ;D
Quote from: Heldi on February 15, 2006, 11:19:33
It's going to be one of those days!!
Think R had one of those yesterday - he managed to run a whole bath full of cold water (he turned the wrong tap on ::) ) - couldn't even use it to water the garden as it had poured with rain all the night before & there was nowhere to store it. Then today I went to feed the birds & realised that the inside of the container in which we keep bird food, small garden tools, bone meal, gardening gloves, plant labels etc etc was all wet - he'd managed to tip the lid somehow yesterday so that rain water had run in (still, at least he'd put the lid back on - it could have been wetter!). Spent nearly all morning taking all the things out of the container & piling them up on a mat in the lounge to dry ...
On the plus side, it was blazingly sunny here today, and I also did my first proper gardening of the year :D - dug up half a dozen spanish bluebells which were sneakily trying to re-establish themselves in the middle of where I now have asters; moved a couple of crocuses which were growing in the wrong place (I know, wrong time of year, but I won't be able to find them in the autumn!); and moved the sensor of my weather station so that it's in the shade & won't keep telling me it's 20
o out just because it's sunny.
Hope your day improved too, Heldi!
HI Heldi, The bull and his wives are due back in late April or early May depending on the weather. We have no additional screening and are hoping he will get used to us again. He wasn't exactly pally but had calmed down a lot by the time he was taken away for the winter.
Yes I do seem to have a thing about water don't I? Our floor has been retiled, the walls replastered and the central heating pipes rerouted. A carpenter has been to box in the new visible pipes and some radiators and we've had all the downstairs walls and ceilings repainted on the insurance. Now I just have to finish painting the kitchen cupboard doors, mend and repaint the old 50's unit, make new curtains, paint the radiator covers, redecorate the bedrooms that had plaster repairs, paint the remaining doors and windows downstairs and outside....... Plenty to keep me going for a while.
The car survived drowning near Thirlmere last November. I was driving slowly so she only swallowed 2 litres so we didn't need a new engine after all. My Dad has since died, which I kind of expected. We flew back for the funeral on the 4th of Jan and hired a car from Prestwick. Much too far to drive for just a couple of days and with Ryanair flights from Charleroi being only 20kms away it was quite easy. We did look at flying form Brussels to Manchester but at short notice that was going to cost us â,¬2000. Ouch!
Sorry to hear about your Dad Obbelix. I hope the funeral went well, as well as can be expected if you know whtt I mean. Dan
Really sorry to hear about your Dad Obbelix. Have had a death in our family too. I couldn't get to the funeral because it was going to cost us about £700,if not a bit more. Was gutted,still am, especially as it came down to blinking money. Mum said "The funeral was wonderful,if you can call a funeral wonderful." I'm happy mum got there.
You've got stacks of painting to do! I quite enjoy painting,the only downside is I start to think too much whilst I'm doing it lol! Dangerous!!!
Yesterday turned out not too bad in the end Dan. I sorted out papers,took ages but it needed to be doing. Got loads of shredded paper. I'm going to put into plastic bags and use it to stuff the scarecrow,save pinching all the hen's straw.
Hope you got everything dried off Juliet and that you didn't discover any other mishaps!
I'm off to the allotment soon. Still too wet for any progress on the digging front so will be collecting eggs only. Have put a couple of marble eggs in two of the other nest boxes to try and get the girls to move about a bit. They all pile on one nest. Literally queue up for it. OH took 7 dozen eggs away with him today,3 are going to a guy he sometimes works with and 4 are going to his cousin. I think he should have an "eggs for sale" sign on his van. He's not going for it though. Maybe I shall write it in the muck on the van's back door :D
or 'clean me' on the van! ;D
Hi Heldi and Dan2. The funeral was weird but then the man they buried wasn't the father I knew. It's a compliacted story involving divorce and all sorts and my stepmum is an eccentric and unique individual who's only 6 yrs older than me. They were together over 30 yrs but she didn't marry and live with the man I knew. Quite strange really.
Anyway, water under the bridge. I'm sorry you couldn't get to your relative's funeral Heldi. I've seen your chuck photos. They look wonderful. Just how did they get to be so numerous?
Dan it had "wash me" and a few naughty things drawn on it when it came back last weekend!
Obbelix. I have always wanted a few hens. I started off with six. I wanted them to help clear the weeds. Ofcourse OH got involved. Seems he is just as keen on chickens as me! Then Michael,another hen keeper came up to the lotty to see our shed where we house them,"Oh you could easily house about twenty in there!". OH's ear pricked up! So we decided we would get three more. I buy in threes for some reason...I don't know why. So off we went. We ended up buying six. Three cuckoo marans and three blue belles. Lovely plummage. OH is interested in the egg production. Michael returns to look at the new hens. He thinks they are great and wants to go and get some for himself. So OH and Michael go off by themselves. OH came back with three brown hens..."Because you've always wanted a brown hen and you admired this one (Toffee)so much the last time we were there and you always buy in threes so I got the other two aswell." So I ended up with fifteen. Unfortunately one of the cockerels has been killed. He was attacking my daughter. So now we have fourteen which is a pain because I now have an odd set. Only two Light Sussex instead of three. Hmmm. I need another white hen lol! Well some people smoke alot,some people drink alot,I collect hens...alot!
It all seems perfectly reasoonable to me and of course you need another hen to put the balance back in the numbers.