Monday 17 January 2011

Here Come The Girls!

I've wanted chickens for as long as I can remember. 

Mum and Dad bought us the coop for Christmas.  It's this one..... a pretty snazzy apartment don't you think?  Nice and solid to protect against marauding Mr Foxy and big enough for roaming around in on yuksome wet days when one doesn't feel like dampening one's feathers!  This picture makes it look like a small log cabin doesn't it?!! It's not quite 'that' big but it's a decent size for three chicken sized chickens!

Our chooks came from a distant relative in Wales and arrived with us on Saturday.  We were supposed to have been getting five of the little darlings but unfortunately Mr Welsh Foxy had been on a bit of a rampage in their home town and had not only taken two of 'our' chickens but several peacocks, ducks and chickens from surrounding farms too.  So sad :(

Anyway.  Three little ladies are now settling into their new home.  I love them already.  I love the lovely warbly chicken noises they make when the coop is opened up first thing in the morning.  I think they're already establishing a pecking order of sorts.  One of them appears to be the matriarch and seems to be a little more solitary and confident than the other two.  The two shyer ones follow her lead but keep a safe distance, and sleep in the same nesting box together at the moment despite their being a nesting box each. 

Other half finished the pen today (apart from a small area where the chicken wire ran out).  Luckily it's just an area high up which will be missing a little wire until the new roll is delivered.  This meant that they were able to take their first foray outside since arrival.  A scouting party was sent out first of all on a reccy - it took them around 20 minutes until they all decided that it was safe to strut outside.  They were reported to have been happy enough but didn't stay out for for long.  Baby steps.  Well chicken steps actually!

Here they are then.  Excuse the grainy pic as it's from a mobile phone - but I'm very pleased to be able to introduc you, in no particular order: 

Betty

Hatty

and Princess Leia!!

Welcome home ladies!!!

Sunday 16 January 2011

New Beginnings?

Hello dahlings!!

I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long. I’ve been technically challenged (I.e. a busted laptop) and visually impaired (I.e. no flippin’ camera!).

The first issue still prevails to a degree. My silly Dell laptop has problems with the power source. The battery no longer charges up for reasons best known to itself (the moody git!) so I have to use it with the lead constantly connected - but even this is fraught with difficulty! Even when connected, it switches itself off on a whim and makes for extremely frustrating MSN conversations and forum posts as you can imagine!

I usually compose my ponderings in a Word doc before posting but having lost soooo many of them I gave up even trying to post.  I miss my little blog though - so I’m going to do battle with “Evil Laptop”. I shall overcome I tell you!!


Regarding the photos - I may just have to make do with Google images for a little while but Lovely Man has promised me a new camera soon (how spoiled am I?) so hopefully I shall be back in business and be able to show you various Peapod goings on.


How rude of me. I haven’t wished you Happy New Year have I?! Well I have now!



A New Year always brings a time for reflection and even more pondering than is usual. I have refused to make resolutions as such this year. I prefer to call them “plans” rather than resolutions. You can be in control of a “plan“. A resolution is made to be broken! (That’s the anarchist in me!!!).



So…… the first Peapods Plan - is …..



*Sigh.*

**Slump**

Gawd - I can feel my shoulders drooping at the mere thought.

To make our home look less like this:-



… and to free up some much needed space, get rid of the clutter, and hopefully make it feel more like a home than a free for all jumble sale!



I looked around my little house today and felt a wave of despair. If that sounds overly dramatic then forgive me. It’s only a small three bed terraced house. We have the lounge and the kitchen downstairs and a downstairs loo which we don’t really use. That’s it. With two adults and two teens (and three cats!) space is really at a premium. My despair this afternoon arose from the realisation that every single room in the house is a mess. There is clutter EVERYWHERE. In each room there are things which do not belong there. Every surface is cluttered. The kitchen doorway is narrowed by coats hanging on the door, the kitchen table hasn’t been seen for days, there is laundry everywhere due to the weather being rubbish, so leaving even less space in an already cramped house. Before you all start imagining that we live in a hovel - I can assure you that we don’t! In the grand scheme of things I don’t suppose that it’s that bad really. It’s clean enough …. Just bloody infuriatingly, teeth itchingly, UNTIDY!!!


Thing is though… I can feel the clutter encroaching into my headspace! Does that make sense? I feel all fuzzy and unsettled. Unable to think straight and make any inroads into sorting it out. There is nowhere to put anything for a start so despite my best efforts I just seem to be moving things from one surface to another.


I feel a HUGE de-clutter approaching. I know that the only way to tackle this is by being completely ruthless and to get everyone on board with the project so that it’s not such a daunting prospect. I know that him indoors will help without question - the kids - well that’s highly doubtful!!

Has anyone got a skip going spare?!

Well! I hadn’t intended my first blog of 2011 to be quite such a moany one!! My apologies!!

Love, Light, Health and Happiness to you all

See you soon.

GASP!!! I nearly forgot!!! We have CHICKENS!!! More on that shortly! ;)

Working from home

I've taken a precious day of annual leave today.  I've really struggled this week with feeling so yuk and I needed the restorative ...