Cats relaxing.....

Wish i could too,all a bit hectic here at the moment!!!

job!

Starting a new job today in the kitchen of the local primary school,just a couple of hours a day.Have always wanted to be home for the children plus dogs cats chickens and two allotments!However whilst we have always managed on one wage, since eldest daughter Jess started uni its been harder as we pay for her food,and the delay in her grant meant we were paying for everything which involved the dreaded credit card!hate having any debt, hence the job!
Never mind at least i get the school hols!

mondays

Busiest day of the week!
.clean house top to bottom
.stripped beds yesterday and sheets are flapping merrily away on washing line
.cleaned out chickens
.make batch of dog food
.plant onions at allotment(been trying to do it for the past month!)
.pasta bake for tea
.pop to bank
the best bit when all thats done sit down with cup of tea and sew up the jumper i have made for my litle nephews xmas pressie.Phew!!

relaxing?

This is Jeffrey relaxing with the saturday paper,clearly he didn't find anything to interest him!

Got all the necessary housework done by 10 am,hoping to get out in the garden as it was glorious first thing,but by five past the heavens had opened!

made a apple,blackberry and elderberry crumble as my contribution to our meal ou this evening and had to take a phot of the glorious colour of the fruit!

So have found myself with an unexpected free afternoon so shall sit and knit!

shopping

Managed to do shopping for £40.85!and that included dog and cat food!
We are getting rid of our chest freezer via freecycle as I feel its a big drain on the electricity,so i only bought one loaf of bread,but two bags of bread flour,so need to be more organized and make sure there's always enough bread for packed lunches.
Have made a menu plan,but already altered as we've been invited to friends for a meal tomorrow night and i just need to make a dessert and we'll take some homemade wine.
Tinker is slowing down and can no longer lift is leg to pee,but still eating and loving his walks,but feel we may be on a downward slide now:(

did it!

well have managed to spend absolutely nothing all week so the next challange is to keep tomorrows shopping to no more than £40.a bit of a tall order,but we have stuff in the freezer,bits at the allotment and of course eggs.so off to plan a weeks menus.

no spending till friday

Have decided to curb the spending.Like to think we are reasonably frugle and certainly nothing is ever wasted but have noticed how many times i pop out for something during the week and it has to STOP!!!
I always take my Mum to do her shopping on Wednesdays and we usually have something to eat while out and take it in turns to pay,but she loves home made soup and bread,so shall set the table and eat here!
So the plan is to do the shopping on Fridays and absolutely nothing in between,wish me luck!
Wonder if we've got enough milk....

sunny sunday

beautiful day here today so planning to take dogs out onto the marshes this afternoon.

Up early due to clocks changing so thought i'd get ahead and have made our evening meal-leek and cashew nut bake with the first leeks from the allotment,homemade bread and salad.Have also made a big batch of dog food using the recipe from the down to earth blog.our dogs literally inhale this they love it so much,and there are no nasties in it.

Right off to hang the washing out.

weekend prep

The plan for the weekend is to take young son(13 now!!)off to the Severn valley railway this weekend to see the Tornado,which apparently is a new build steam train,or so i gather,I'm sure train mad son will correct me(in lots of detail),so today is catch up in advance,notably a good clean of the chicken coop whilst it's dry outside.there's new bark chippings to go down and everything needs a good scrub,plus plenty of fresh straw so they can snuggle up as the nights get colder.

We have 6 hens now as someone needed to re home her 3 ex batts quickly and i had the space.once a new pecking order was established they settled in fine.It's fantastic to always have plenty of eggs now.

Will also sort out packed lunches for tomorrow and tonight and tomorrows evening meals,and maybe they'll be time for the huge pile of ironing this afternoon accompanied by radio 4?

tinkers day in the woods

our lovely boy had a great run round Burton woods this afternoon.You can see his big smiley face!

He's doing ok,but slowing down and doesn't always seem to have control of his legs,so i fear we maybe on a downward slide...

The vet said between 6 weeks and 3 months and we are entering week 11,but they said the end maybe very sudden.My heart aches..

Tea?

a group of us take turns to host coffee mornings,we met through our children who are now either at high schoolor uni,and wanted to stay in touch.

It has been an invaluable source of support as we have battled illnesses,children spreading their wings and unfortunatly the deaths of parents and spouses.

All of us love to cook and bake,and share recipes and ideas,we seem to be a junior division of the w.i!

Day at the beach

took some time out yesterday and took the dogs to hoylake beach for a run,not sure how much longer Tinker will manage walks like this as he gets very breathless now.Yesterday however we let him off the lead and he ran and ran with Poppy circling him,she must have run four times as far!Alovely afternoon for the memory bank when he is no longer with us.

Snuggled up in front of the fire when we got back but only after making some spicey apple chutney to allow myself a clear conscience!

Glorious day here today so have stripped all the beds and the sheets are merrily flapping on the line.

really must go now and clear chutney gunge from kitchen!

tinker

unfortunately our lovely boy has been diagnosed with lymphoma,cancer of the lymph glands.Really crappy as he is the sweetest dog and has had enough badness in his life.Didn't want to put him through the awfulness of chemo so he is on large doses of steroids to give him a bit more time and comfort.he is as bouncy as a puppy since taking them which is a joy to see.

bereft

Big daughter went to uni at the weekend...and all is not well.She didn't get into halls,which were allocated before results came out and was on a waiting list.They had to wait for people to give rooms up before reallocating them,and we waited till last Thursday before signing up for something else.So now having signed a contract they've offered her a room in halls and shes so miserable and unhappy in a house of second years who don't leave their rooms that she desperately wants to take it,but she has to find a replacement for herself or pay two rents.urghhh.On top of all that,missing her dreadfully and feel helpless as shes so far away.would anyone like a room in a shared house in Cheltenham?

can't believe it'sbeen so long since i wrote anything here but things have been quite hestic
.had a very wet week in somerset in our little caravan,ducks were actually swimming around a caravan near us!still had a lovely time though and even managed a huge treat of a lunch in the rainbows end cafe in glastonbury,my favorite place ever!
.the kittens have been neutered,Jeff bounced back,but Mabel is still sulking!she still has a cone on and feels very sorry for herself
.eldest daughter has just had her 18th birthday and we celebrated with a party at home,and i am proud to say i laid on a huge buffet and all of it was home made and mostly home grown.would have been so easy to go to the supermarket and buy frozen pizza's and other such rubbish, but so pleased i didn't,everything was made with love,and i think people enjoyed it.
.its been full on harvesting,cooking and preserving from the allotment.love laying down stores for the winter!
.we have 3 more chickens!ex batt's,so beautiful and tame.love them running to meet me with our original 3,lovely little flock!
so thats things updated.awaiting a level results this week for eldest daughter this week then gcse's next week for youngest daughter.young son says he wants to stay at Nana's till it's all over!
well off sloe picking now as there are loads down on the marsh near where we live.

Jeffrey and Mabel

This is the kittens when we first got them,five weeks ago now!!Can,t believe its July already!they are really lovely cats,very laid back nad loving of cuddles.

Have been really busy with the allotment.Picked gooseberries and made jam and hopefully will pick enough for some wine.Also picked recurrants and made jelly and have made elderflower wine.Have frozen pounds of broad beans and we are relishing the new potatoes and peas.Delicious!!!

abundance

Love ,love, love this time of year!all the work seems worthwhile now that i can revolve meals around what is ready on the alottment and in the garden.Last night used the last of last years leeks for a leek and cashew nut bake with garden salad,including dandelion leaves but no-one here knows(!!!!)tonight was pasta primevera with baby broad beans and asparagus,yum!Have also just committed to rescuing some ex-battery hens to live with our gorgeous girls,can't wait!

news

Another busy few weeks.both daughters are in the midst of exams at the moment,gcse's and a levels,but on a lighter note they have both had their prom's.not something we did in my day,but lovely all the same.We had pre-prom gatherings here and it was lovely to see them all in their finery.

Other good news is that Boris the broody has finally left her nest!After weeks of having to lock her out of the coup once the other girls had laid she has decided to join the flock again!

and finally...we have two kittens coming to live with us tomorrow from the rspca,jeffrey a ginger tom and mabel a little blck queen,can't wait!

absent

crikey,haven't written anything for a while have i?But i haven't been idle.Allotment getting into full swing and any spare time has been spent seed planting and dealing with Boris the very bad tempered broody hen.We've also had a couple of weekends away in our little caravan which i adore as it is all about simple living-no electricity,lots of reading,walking,board games etc,paring things back to essentials.
two eldest children are gearing up for gcse's and a levels,so offering support where i can.Mostly this is cake based!

to do list

have almost finished digging allotment,need to finish.
plant potatoes
have just acquired shed on freecycle,needs putting together
give chicken coop a good spring clean
carry on with seed planting
tackle my mountain of ironing
paint garden furniture
finish the socks i'm kniting
bake some easter goodies for freezer

phew!

Fergus

This is Fergus the cat or Gus as he's known.we had him from the rspca at 8 weeks old and he was small through undernourishment before he ended up there.Now he is a big fat cat who visits all the neighbours and plays with their cats and eats their food!He is the friendliest boy ever whose hobbies are cuddling and purring!!

poppy adores him and they love snuggling up together.

Poppy

This is Poppy the puppy(although she's nearly 2).As you can see she has a touch of seperation anxiety!we had her from my cousin and she is a product of their two dogs,one a border terrier and one a jack russel cross.She is a lovely little dog who worships Tinker but suffers from the yappiness of her combined breed!!

eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On sunday Boris(the white silkie)layed her first egg!Didn't solve our doubts as it was the other two my ma-in-law thought were roosters,then on wednesday Mrs C laid!woo hoo!Just dylis to lay now.oh and the eggs are gorgeous!

Satisfaction

I feel very smug at getting on top of some jobs,notebly,doing the ironing before it takes over the whole house,racking off the wine,and for once getting a head start on the tomatoes,always seem to start them late which means gallons of green tomato chutney in the autumn as they haven't had long enough to ripen.
Its been half term this week,so haven't made it to allotment,really need to get ahead there!
STILL no eggs!no crowing either so fingers still tightly crossed!

quick hello

Wow,thank you for the comments!i'm new to this blogging lark,and its lovely to think people might actually read about my mundane life!!
Haven't done much this week as the children have been ill.they're big kids now(17,16 and 12)but still like to be cosseted when ill,bless 'um!!
back soon with some photo's

chickens

This is the girls(hopefully!)sitting on the bench by the conservatory window,just missed them tapping!L to r Mrs Cluckington,Dylis and Boris.

tinker

Tinker the dog came to live with us in July 2003.He was the dog no-one wanted at the rspca as he has a deformed paw,it had been broken as a puppy and not set.We know very little about him other than he was in the yard of a house in Liverpool that had caught fire.He is the most loving dog ever and likes nothing more than curling up on your lap like a cat,and if you stop stroking you he'll nudge you along!as much as we love him walks are a nightmare as he wants to fight every dog he see's.Having said that he loves our other dog and all the doggie cousins he has.Ev eryone who knows him loves him.

snow!

we live on the Wirral penisula and snow always seems to pass us by,but not this time,how exciting!Young son C said it was better now than at Christmas because it made febuary 'more interesting'




Chickens are now 22 weeks old and still haven't produced any eggs,have even resorted to showing them one in the hope they may get the idea!Mother in law thinks two of them are roosters as they have pointed feathers on their necks,but they still look feminine to me!




Planted tomatoes last week and have some shoots!




volunteered at the age concern lunch and got to bring home all the peelings to bulk out the compost heap at the allotment,which at the moment is rich in straw and chicken poo!

RIP Featherly

Our horrid little terrier managed to escape into the garden whilst the hens were free ranging and killed our beautiful featherly.I know its just instinct on her part and i still adore her but at the moment i can't even look at her.

let the chickens out into the garden for the first time today,they loved it and got to meet fergus the cat,which thankfully didn't result in any carnage.will try introducing them to Tinker the dog next,fingers crossed but don't think we'll ever allow them to meet Poppy the terrible terrier!

jobs for january no 1

sort out the allotment!!Apparantly one hour in the winter is worth five in the summer and i'm determined to have success with something other than beetroot.
Chickens have settled in well,looking forward to our first eggs...