New Look Blog!

Honestly, I hate technology.  Tonight at 6 pm I thought about finally having a go at updating the blog - I've just finished!!

I've never quite got round to telling you that Mr Husband is a computery geek, that's his job.  And he loves nothing more than computery talk, which I have no understanding of but try and look like I do anyway.  He also loves a computer game or 10!

He has his own PC and I usually blog on my little netbook, which frankly you have to treat it as you would an old hippy.  You know that it'll eventually get there but in its own good time.  Even as it's loading up you can almost here it telling you to 'slow down and chill out man, what's the rush?'

So as Mr husband was late back from work, I thought I'd use his computer....at one point I nearly threw the mouse across the room!  He came home and spent 15 minutes doing something that I'd been trying to do for an hour and he threw in a few computer nerd jokes on the way  - apparently, it turns out there is an 'any' key on the keyboard (he let me look for that for a good 30 seconds!)

So here it is 'New look' blog!  I hope you like it?

Bye for now xx

A March Monthly Round Up

I've resided myself to the fact that I'm a terrible blogger!! My ability to keep it upto date is shocking! Anyway,  I have started a new job, and so 5 weeks in, that's my reason why I've not blogged, much apologies my avid reader!

Now firstly, I have something to tell you all, last month I was contacted by Woman and Home Magazine.  ME! They wanted some more information about my allotment and about me to possibly do an article on women and there allotments.  As it turned out I didn't fit the criteria, they wanted to focus more on someone who made jams.  But I was so proud they'd even read my blog and said it was fabulous!

So here we are nearly at the end of March, the plot is looking, well...

I'm currently in the process of moving all the raised beds further apart it drove my mad last year constantly strimming around them and would have been a lot easier if I could have gotten a lawnmower down there.

There's not much growing either than rhubarb and that's because I've not had to do anything with it, I know I'll regret not seeding anything yet, but I just have to find the time!

The hens have now stopped moulting and they have all their new fabulous feathers in and have started laying again, its amazes me the progress of the battery hens:

This is Babs hen when I got here last year and this is her now:

Amazing isn't she?

The hen pen is currently being extended to accommodate some new ex battery hens, Papa O and my step mum came to help me this weekend, he's got over the mouse and the hat incident, thankfully.

I'm so looking forward to the clocks changing and having the nights a bit lighter, so much more can be achieved on the plot in the summer.  Having said that with life so busy at the moment on somedays I'm just enjoying going to the plot taking my book, having a brew and chatting to the hens, its amazing how much calmer I can feel when I've been there for an hour or two.

This weekend will be all about planting seeds, getting new hens, making new hen houses oh and a good couple of lie ins!! 

I think that's about it.

Bye for now xx

A mouse 'tail'

Last night, I had to give Papa O some devastating news, I knew it would shock and upset him in equal measure but it had to be done.  I phoned him (because I was too much of a baby to tell him to his face) asked him if he was sat down (he wasnt, he was in fact, getting ready to go out for a curry) and broke it to him as gently as I could:

"Look right, there's no easy way to say this, and it turns out you were indeed right, but Wayne (aptly named by Boo) the shed mouse has eaten your Guinness hat"

To add further insult to injury, he has also used it as a bed....... Dad has two loves in life Guinness and North End (I'm sure his wife and kids rank somewhere too!)

Now, the 'Wayne Saga' started maybe a month or two ago, I went to dads all excited about our resident mouse, after all, I'd never had one in the shed and it had made a little bed in the bureau, and dad started on about how it has to go, how it'll eat everything blah, blah, blah....  

I started on about, as far as I'm (was) concerned it wasn't going anywhere it wasn't doing any harm, and besides it was freezing whether outside and you wouldn't expect a dog to live out in it, how can you expect a tiny creature like a mouse.

Dad then started on about how he would lay mouse traps.....

Me:  ER NO!!!!!! Its a poor tiny creature and besides if you kill it, then god wont be happy (he's irish catholic, the god card often wins)

I pulled out the old animal rights card too and I think at one point he just got sick of listening to me and so, 

Wayne stayed...........until now.

Amongst some 'feckin eejits' I distinctly heard a few threats that have now been placed on the mouses head, threats of cheese and traps, so Wayne mate, you might be wise to keep your head down and find a new landlord.....

Of all the things to eat.......

Storm damage

I have to say there's nothing worse than that feeling getting up the day after the storms and hoping your chicken house hasn't been turned into match sticks!!

Well actually, to be fair there's probably a lot worse! I'm so very thankful I don't live where the worst of the flooding and storms are at the moment.

I've been thinking about what I can do to help being so far away and really there isn't a lot.

Thankfully, everything was still standing on thursday when I got to the allotment, the devil clearly looked after his own that night ;-). My small summerhouse however, that someone had given me had taken a good hit.  It was on its roof half hanging over the fencing. but to be honest I half expected that to go, there was nothing in it weighing it down.  I'm going to go tomorrow (if the weather is ok) and hopefully see what (if anything) can be salvaged from it.

On another note, I need to get into the habit of taking my camera where ever I go! As I'm sat here typing this, I realise yet again I have no pictures to show you - how rubbish is that! See what tends to happen in the winter months is, I park my car up, get my wellies and waterproofs on and take my keys, leaving my worldly possessions on the car including my phone, go do what I need to do then come home,because its absolutely freezing!

Anyway, I hope everyone is safe as they can be, 'til next time.

xx

impromptu allotment days

I love impromptu days on the plot. Yesterday, I decided that I would go to the plot and check for any storm damage. Though the storms haven't been bad here, I was sat at home getting more and more anxious about whether the chicken house was still standing (for the record it was!).

Once I got there I decided to do some digging, but that soon went out the window when common sense got the better off me. After a recent bout of M.E I'm learning when to listen to my body and my body did not want to dig!! Instead I dug up the sprout plants that got eaten by caterpillars over the summer and to be honest the last few weeks I was convinced because of the caterpillars they wouldn't be any use. How wrong could I be???

So I was sat there on the plot picking sprouts and eating my lunch with the chooks happily mulling round me:

When I got home I sorted then out ready for blanching and freezing, keeping the leaves for Arthur dragon and the ends for the rabbits:

Happy allotment days xx

the winter months

The problem with blogging about an allotment in the winter months is that nothing goes on! Well nothing goes on, on my allotment.  Is that a good for enough excuse for my absence? I didn't think so!

My life is so much more about the allotment so here's a little round up to get back on track.

Home: I'm currently working on getting more organised, you know the things like monthly car checks, daily/weekly financial checks, keep on top of paperwork, keeping the housework up to date (that last one will go to my grave with me, my house is NEVER tidy!!).  But the thing is when I start my new job soon I want to be a little bit better with householdy things.  I know it will last until the summer months when the only thing that will be remotely organised is my allotment shed and my car will be a disgraceful mess of mud and chickeny smells!!

I've also been trying to master making bread.  I've been watching 'the big bread experiment' in awe, I wish I could make good bread, I wish I could be one of those people who make bread everyday from scratch not having to buy it, but I'm not the best at it, and the fact I don't eat white bread only makes the situation worse because it smells divine!!!

This year if anything in our household I would like to be more frugal or at least more food, waste and money aware, because we are not.

The pets: we have a new addition to the house meet Arthur:

He is my stepsons Christmas present!! So as well as him, we also have the rabbits in the house at the moment too, because their run is too wet for them to be in, and its far too cold for them to be outside.  So we have a zoo living indoors at the moment!

The allotment: it has rained a ridiculous amount, not as much as down south mind.  The drainage system installed last winter has done its job and the plot isn't flooded, the path to the plot is, but not the plot!  I have been there letting the chickens out etc...but not much more.  One of the problems I had last year was the grass growing in between the beds. at the time I was convinced that I would be able to just strim in between the raised beds but honestly, doing that on a weekly basis was hard. So on the rare days where there is some sunshine I'm trying to move the beds so that I'm able to get a mower down the paths in the summer. It's a hard job to do the beds are 12x4 foot each and mostly filled.
I'm also in the process of deciding what to plant this year to get the most of the plot.

If I'm honest, I'm more than looking forward to getting back down there and getting stuck in - partly so I gave a good excuse to not do the housework!!

Xx

Two months later...

I know I haven't been around but i do have a good excuse!! And this could potentially turn into a mega long post!

If you are a reader you will know that this year around august time I learned to crochet and not long after that I decided that this year would be the year for homemade Christmas.  As of the 3rd of Decmeber, I do still have a few more bits to do for presents and it has been hard  (and ive turned into a right activist when it comes to big shops and capitalism, but thats not for now!) but it has been immensley rewarding and in a lot of ways cheaper.

When I first set out on project homemade christmas it wasnt necassarily about how cheap i could do it, it was about bringing it back to a level that was less commercialised and rather than thinking what 'tat' or impersonal presents I could get on a 3 for 2 bargain because I had limited myself to so much per present previously, what could I make that someone would treasure.

Now obviously this is A LOT easier to do if you dont work and have a huusband who lets you basically get away with murder and a creative mind (though i do believe everyone has a creative mind) and resources.

And so it began.  And this is where I have been, sat under the stairs (MY place in the house):

(This picture was taken before all the mess,  I wont show you what it looks like at the moment you'd be very ashamed!)

Over the last two months I have crocheted, wool for teddies and hat & glove sets, I have crocheted silver for jewellery.  I have surrounded my self with various bits of paper for paper crafts.  The sewing machine has been in and out of its cover more times I could ever imagine, but do you know what?  I have loved every single minute of it!! It has been a real opener as what can be achieved for not a lot of money.  On some items it has been more money (like £13 for a mug), but the end product was a personalised mug that I painted and the opportunity to support local business.

So thats it for now but over the next few days I will post some pictures of homemade christmas items that have been crafted. xx