A Draughty Night

Oops.....last night I accidently left open the chicken house pop-hole. Must have made for a draughty night for my poor girls. So this morning they are dining on warm porridge, cooked especially for them as an apology for the wind whistling around their perches all night.

One thing to remember when giving porridge to chickens.......stand well back! They peck it up and then shake their heads to get off the sticky bits, maybe thats how wood chip wallpaper was invented, feed chickens in kitchen, plaster the walls with bits of porridge and then paint over it!!

Special mix breakfast goes down a treat too, pellets, corn, mealworms and oyster grit!

Only kidding my girls get fed outside, where a splattering of porridge won't matter. A funny sight is the chickens that decide to stand in the porridge, they then spend most of the day eating porridge off their feet unless they can get a friend to join in!

Some just prefer their normal breakfast of layers pellets!

Once the porridge goes cold they lose interest and go back to their normal breakfast of layers pellets, the remaining porridge sets into a cold rubbery pancake and that provides the basis for the pigs tea. No wastage here!

Sue x

Wellies, Mud and Pigs

Mud and pigs seem to go together so well. Mud and me do not!

I was seriously concerned (being the townie that I am) that this amount of mud could not be good for pigs, but according to the vet who was here last week on a courtesy call, they are fine.

I, however, am not.......I hate the stuff, it sucks off my wellies, sticks to my jeans and makes the house messy. After I have been in with the pigs every morning (and afternoon) I stand in the big puddle that has appeared near the shed and rinse off my wellies. Then I take the dogs for a walk in the long wet grass using the tufts like car wash brushes to get some more mud off my wellies.

I am permanently attached to the hoover and the mop, the dogs have now (at last) got used to the routine of, enter the door, wait on the mat, get attacked by a mad woman wielding a towel, and then get a sausage for being good. They have the cleanest feet ever and by the end of winter will have little pot bellies full of sausages.

The pigs meanwhile run around on their pointy little toes loving the stuff, inside their house is immaculate (how do they do it?) dry and sweet smelling, not a bit of mud inside, when the straw near the doorway gets dirty they chuck out some more to act as a doormat.

The lovely Betty.

Maud and Martha having breakfast this morning.



My wellies after dog walking.

I must take some tips from the pigs and replace all our lovely fitted carpets with straw!!

Sue xx

Lots of lovely post

Friday saw the postman staggering to our post box with lots of lovely parcels. Well, some a lot more lovely than others!

As well as all the padded envelopes I had ordered for my little online business and the ink cartridges for all our printers (Lovely Hubby has developed a nice little side-line printing posters for the Christmas Farmers Markets on our extra large printer), I had some lovely goodies that I had ordered from some fellow Bloggers.

First a gorgeous bag from Pam at Hortensia, delightfully wrapped in pretty pink tissue and tied with a ribbon, and exquisitely made. Pam has her own online shop Hortensia Designs (access through her Blog) and there is one more left of this lovely little bag.

I am actually going to use it in my little workroom to store some of my treasures that are waiting to be turned into goodies for my Craft Fairs. I like to use pretty bags as storage as they inspire me with their craftmanship and design, and I can also hang them in the enormous wardrobe that I use to store my stock in. Of course the prettiest ( this one included) are hung on the door knobs on the outside of the wardrobe for added inspiration.

Also in Fridays deliveries was the lovely little heart pictured below that I spotted on another Blog, Tracys' Cupcakes at Home I saw this and new LH would love it. I gave it to him over a lovely meal at our local Prezzo on Thursday night. A brilliant start to what has been a lovely weekend.

Back soon.

Sue xx

Shouted at by chickens!

Chicken World

Ever been shouted at by chickens? Told off good and proper? Seems this morning I was too eager to clean out the chicken house, and boy were they disgruntled. You'd think I had seven cockerels by the noise they were making. But the sun was shining and I was out and about early, that early even the pigs were wiping sleep from their eyes as they stumbled towards the trough and their yummy breakfast of pig nuts and apples.

Of course it was just the White girls doing all the pushing, shoving and shouting, my lovely Brown girls (still refusing to lay an egg between them) were off on their now extensive wandering forays into the neighbouring fields faster than you could say 'Layers Pellets for breakfast girls'. They are so brave now, they set off every day straight after breakfast past the pond and down into the huge field that has recently been cut but not replanted. Sometimes they are just specks on the horizon, four little brown blobs of feather, luckily with their nut brown colouring they have excellent camouflage from the Red Kites that swoop low around here. Always together and happy with their own company.

On an altogether different note, last night on my way back from helping at the CS I stopped at our mail box to be greeted by, for once not just a pile of bills and junk mail but by a parcel from one of my favourite places 'DreamAcres'. The glorious scent hit me before I even undid the tissue paper. Karon had got my order out in super quick time and boy was it a nice few minutes oohing and aahing over my lovely scented goodies.


If you feel the urge to treat yourselves or your loved ones (she has some lovely Christmas ideas too), pop over to http://www.dreamacres.co.uk/ to see for yourself. While you're there link into her blog Dream Country Chat, well worth a read and one of my favourites. One bad thing though Archie, the cat loves the scent of Karons things and has already run off with one of my little hearts, seems he's sulking because I didn't order him a catnip mouse this time!!

Well must dash now I'm off to visit my lovely neighbour and landlady, currently recovering from a hip replacement operation, to give her the latest copy of Country Living. Guess who forgot she had just taken out a subscription and went and bought herself the latest copy from Waitrose last night? Forgetful me..............no....never..!! Lol xx

Sue xx

Missing Weekend

Where did that weekend go? It seems to have been over in a flash.

Bramble and Rosy

On Friday while Lovely Hubby got on with a bit of tree planting and general tidying around the farm, I got seriously stuck in to some Christmas card making for the Farmers Market on Sunday. Friday also saw us looking after Holly and Bramble our landlords lovely pair of mother and daughter black labradors.

Holly - a delightful old lady.

Saturday saw us, with all four dogs scrumping (getting apples, both windfalls and off the tree) they will make tasty snacks for the pigs and would otherwise have gone to waste. The best of them I may just pick out for another batch of apple puree. Then I took LH out for lunch at Bicester Avenue and it was also a chance for me to pick up more supplies for my card making (it's becoming an obsession, but at least one that makes us some money).

Sunday saw us up bright and early at the Farmers Market, me setting up stall and LH in the kitchen, it was his turn for bacon butty duty. After the market was over we drove around the surrounding villages picking up the Farmers Market signposts (it was our turn for this too). And then LH was off to collect some more horse muck and follow a new contact he has made for further supplies. Our worm business is going to start with a flourish come spring when all this has composted down slightly.

By the time we had done all this it was time for a quick bonfire, put all the animals to bed (even the chickens needed a helping hand last night as they got themselves stuck behind the orchard fence!) and then get ourselves warm and cosy for the evening by the roaring log fire in the living room.

Truly a very speedy weekend and now it's a new week, with a misty, cold and damp start. The dogs have been walked, the chickens are exploring in the pond (there's no water in it at the moment) and the cats are tucked up in their little wigwam beds. The pigs seem to be wanting a holiday in Australia, they are about four foot down in a huge hole they have decided to make. Me, I'm sitting at the computer, office work done for the day with a lovely cup of coffee and slice of buttered toast. I'm having a blog catching up session and later I hope to add a little Christmassy something to my little blog shop.

Hope you had a good weekend too.

Sue xx

Remembering

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.

Age will not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

we will remember them.

#

I look with pride at my men, Alan, my husband, who spent 24 years serving in the Royal Navy and Simon, my eldest son, who spent 4 years serving in the Royal Logistics corps of the British

Army. Both lived through conflicts and wars and thankfully returned safely home to be with their families. There are many who are not so lucky.

#

For their sakes we must remember.

#

Sue xx

No Post Here Today

What no post.....and we've come especially to read it!!

No post here today (and for once that's nothing to do with the Royal Mail!) but if you like having a nosy through other peoples cupboards (and who doesn't) nip over to my other Blog at http://sueyouarewhatyoueat.blogspot.com/ .

I'm off up to my workroom now to make up some Christmas cards for this weeks Farmers Market in the village hall. Inspiration please strike me NOW!!

Sue xx