Mike and I
gave up the TV and an evening of work to go over to Apperville to listen to my
choir perform in the church. They have a new choir mistress who has completely
turned this gang of 50 songalongs into a serious and competent choir. I was sad
that I can no longer be part of this blast of success but it was good to listen
to a well-balanced program although the pews were intolerably uncomfortable which
sadly makes sitting for an hour and a half a real challenge, especially for
Mike who dislikes choirs and anything live.
I was
working in the lounge engrossed in my things to do list when I heard a bump and
a rustle, I thought nothing of it as I guessed HOSS was rummaging around in the
kitchen. The day after I heard the rustle again and thought it was Mike walking
about upstairs then on the third day Mike heard it and he thought I was
rummaging about in the kitchen then on the fourth day we both heard it sat in
the lounge and had our attentions focussed on the fire place and the realisation
that we had a father Christmas in our chimney. Mike then set to taking the fire
surround off and when he pulled the board out this is who fell out. We had
prepared ourselves and left the double doors open and closed the other shutters
so whoever Father Christmas was going to be, would just fly off and grab some
fresh air, but ohh no, our little visitor
decided to stay on the curtain pole with no desire to move on, so we gave him
time and had a chat and gently convinced him it really was time to go
Over the
winter we bought 5 gunnera cuttings from a lovely lady we found on bon coin and
then potted them up and here are three of them spending this summer in the bath
ready to be planted out next year up in the garden, two of the plants are in the
pond area but I really fancy a gunnera garden and if we can keep these happy my
wish will come true
One of my
ducks died last week and when Mike described the position he found her in I was
not happy as she did not die in her sleep. Mike took this picture of swanny and
the remaining duck and it is clear that swanny has her by the neck and my
suspicions were confirmed that in play, swanny probably killed her, but she was
8 years old and I think in ducky terms that is a jolly good innings but as always,
swanny is forgiven again and again and again for being such a nasty piece of
work
Mike and I
were walking around the garden a few weeks back making a mental note of what
needed to be done and the mound was a bone of contention. I wanted to plant
some of my privet plants to develop a cloud clipping and mike suggested
chucking a hand full of nasturtiums seeds but I dislike planting seed in place
and prefer to be in control using the sow and pot on method, so neither ideas were
taken up. We were then working in the allotment this week and found that one of
the raised beds waiting to be planted was full of little nasturtiums looking
fab but in the wrong place. Mike
suggested I transplant them to the mound and there you go, without any effort
Mike gets his way and in a mornings work the mound is now nasturtium corner and
very nice will look too in a few weeks’ time
Cock a
doodle doo, my gorgeous cockerel doing his thing and keeping us up with all the
local gossip as when one cockerel starts up they all join in and we know an
event has happened somewhere in hen land
And then
there is Napoleon our pet cockerel who now wonders around the garden at will. He
joins us when we are eating on the terrace and when Mike goes on the field he
runs over to greet him. We call him Napoleon because he is small, stroppy and
French and insists on attacking the big cockerel just to feed his ego so we may just rename the big cockerel …Wellington
The
allotment is starting to look great and the construction work is finished, it
is only filling the beds and planting them and that will finish before June
smacks us in the face
And finally, I have been using an old stair case propped up against the wall as my boot store and as Mike had another set of steps in his work shop doing nothing I suggested it might be good to put them together to make a clever set of shelves and then the idea blossomed and underneath, could become a home for HOSS. In an afternoon of make it up as you go along I had exactly what I wanted and more. I can now sell his proper cage as he now sleeps in doors and does not need a full blown kennel. The other great thing here is that Mike built this from stock. We try now and then to have little projects where we only use what is in stock and recycle as much as we can, very satisfying and cheap and with the cost of bread these days necessary……
