Happy Birthday - Blog

I was flabbergasted to see that my blog is 3 years old, I haven't been quite as successful at keeping a record of my life, as I would have liked, I would only hope I can get better ...

Other things that happened 3 years ago:

A group of friends from the Crafty Threads n Yarns Forum meeting up at Get Knitted in Bristol and then enjoying lunch together at the pub.

Windows being put into the building where I work, we had done without windows for 2 years. The pleasure of natural day light and fresh air. Vistors still comment today about the fantastic view we have and how horrible it was before 'windows'!

A cardigan started, but yet to be finished, a little bit like this blog, perhaps?

Wishing everybody a Happy Birthday, who also may be celebrating today, especially to my dear friend Linda xx

Bonus

My very first Christmas at my job, I got a bonus, we all did. I got the impression it was done every year as a ‘thank you’. The following year the company moved premises and money has been short ever since. So I have not received any more bonuses. However, all employees and their partners are taken out to dinner on the last working day of the year. The three course dinner and wine on the table is all paid for. I now organise this dinner every year and everybody goes unless they have already left to go on holiday. This year; Gilberto and his family are returning home to Brazil for 6 weeks, Salvatore and his girlfriend will be returning to their home island of Sardinia for the festive season and Courtney, who is Jamaican but whose family mostly live in Canada, is going to see them.

Not sure Jon will be there either, as any day now his other half will be giving birth to their first child and I know they will be going to his partners, home town of Manchester, at Christmas time to show everybody the baby.

I love the cosmopolitan feel at work; language is never a problem when you have lots of skilled men working with their tools on wood. Woodwork /carpentry / joinery / cabinet making are the same where you come from / go to. My father and his father were both boat builders, so I have grown up with the smell of fresh timber or wood in the boat shed and surrounded by the most beautiful tools.

In those days, you would buy the metal part of the tool and hand work the handles, so everybody’s tools were unique to them. As part of your apprenticeship you would make your tool box. Here at work, everybody who is my age or older has a proper tool box but like everything about apprenticeships, it all changed in my generation (late 1970’s early 80’s) because parents wanted all their children to go to college. It didn’t work and now 30 years on there is a shortage of tradesmen. However, the guys who put up with the ridicule of doing a apprenticeship back then, are now doing well and tend to earn a more than decent wage.

I wanted to follow my Grandfather’s foot steps and become a boat builder ... but I was before my time and was not taken seriously, not by my family but by the boat building manufacturers. A GIRL wanting to be a boat builder, don’t be silly, we don’t take on girls!

However, I have practically always worked in the Marine Industry one way or another, I don’t now, Wiltshire being some way from the sea ... but I do work in a building, with lots of timber and just sometimes, when I leave my desk and go on the workshop floor, I help out with small jobs, which I love. To touch the rough or smoothness of timber and see it being worked into a beautiful 3-D object is still breathe taking for me.

Probably why I do the same thing with fabric, my bosses use to be at a loss with my skills at understanding, cutting lists, how to know all the requirements before setting a job. Until I explained that the only difference between woodwork and dressmaking, is the material i.e. wood or fabric and the tools to make ‘said item’.

– But I digress.

When I arrived at work this morning, this was waiting for me on the front door.

Not every secretary comes to work, and waiting for her are a brace of pheasants hanging on the door handle.

One of my bosses went to Scotland last week, shooting and as he had done very well, with enough birds to spare, he brought me two in, to take home for the family.

They are now wrapped up and in the boot of my car, ready to take home pluck, clean and freeze; I think they will be kept for Christmas time, what a treat.

And finally;

Please may I ask the person that has inadvertently borrowed my husband’s very special, extra large NASA mug. Which he has owned for 13 years, and left on the kitchen draining board at work, while he nipped to the ‘Gents’, that they put it back, where they found it because he is extremely upset and hacked off. I know; he rang me, to ‘moan’ at me, (we know this is not personal but just sometimes needs to be done in a safe environment) as soon as I got to my desk at work. I suggested that he wrote a group email, saying that who ever has taken it, must be a very brave person because this mug has never been washed properly in the 13 years of ownership and the wife now bands the mug from home!

A Duck Story

What do I say ...

I have written hundred of blogs, all with amazing photographs, keeping you up to date with my life. However these fantastic brain blogs, never ever make it to the real blog. I get frustrated, cross and even very upset with myself and then sulk and don’t bother – what am I like.

But I thought I would have a go today ...

I have so much to share, lots to share, but please do not hold you breathe, you all now know what I am like, a pretty crappy blog poster –opps.

My duck story,

Once upon a time, in Hamble-le-Rice, the village, where I was born and I have returned to several times in the past, for the first 40 years of my life. The last time of living there, I got some ducks, Poppy was just 2, she loved those ducks and would sit with them and cuddle them and they would sit between her chubby legs and be stroked and chatted too by this little girl who was struggling with severe epilepsy.

However one summer night, a fox, came and killed our ducks. They all had puncture marks in their necks, oh those poor ducks. Now these ducks did not go to waste, I tied and boxed them up and promptly took them to our local butcher, who plucked, prepared and sold them. I later heard that they were extremely succulent and had been enjoyed by other villagers. All I asked was for the feathers. I still have those feathers in my loft; they may just come in useful for something, sometime.

This was all 14 years ago, now bringing the story up to date ...

Approximately a month ago, I went on my first Gardeners Club coach trip, to the Malvern Autumn Show. The weather was superb, the right sort of warm, the ground was dry and this all helped to make everybody relaxed.

I spent a lovely day, looking round the large livestock, which included two Bearded Collies (same breed as my Hannah, but from a different part of the country). There was the biggest vegetable show/competition marquee I have ever seen. A big shed with beautiful flower arrangements and more vegetables. Craft tents by the dozen, flower sellers, clothes sellers, you name it for a country fair it was all there.

Including ducks, beautiful ducks and especially two Indian Runner ducks (1 x drake and 1x female), I bought them, £50.00 for the pair. I bought them at the end of the day, and then slowly walked back to my coach.

The coach driver, looked at me, looked at my box and at first said “they will have to go in the hold”, “ok, I said as long as they are boxed in and breathe, this is not a problem”, but he then changed his mind and said “do you have a spare seat next to you? “I said I can move and then I will”. So that is what I did, I sat the box on my jumper (you know just in case, didn’t want the seat to get damp!)

The ducks were beautifully behaved and sat quiet for the whole journey home. My friends and other members of the club thought I was barmy and laughed but all agreed they were lovely ducks.

Now the next bit, Noel and I had talked about getting ducks this decision took a few years (Noel takes his time over this sort of thing, I did not bring the subject up again. He would do, every now and again and then out of the blue, he said "do you want to get some ducks then"?

Noel did not know I was going for ducks, to be honest, it never occurred to me to buy ducks; I just saw them, fell in love with them and bought them. Now picture this, I am stood at the front door, knocking, my hands laden with ducks and other goodies. Noel opens the door, proceeds to ask all about my day, as I am walking through the house, to the garden. I am now stood by the conservatory door, as Noel then asks “what is in the box?” and by magic a ‘bill’ pops out of the hole. Noel, “that will be a duck then”, me “two actually”.

As it was chicken bed time, we took the ducks out to the chicken house and put them to bed, stood around for quite a while, but everything was very quiet and stayed quiet.

Noel, “I have always wanted a pond, so I had better dig one, now.”

With Noel being away every other weekend, it has taken a little while to finish. In the mean time, while visiting Libby (a friend who I was brave enough to meet from one of the forums I visit.); we have a really good relationship. An added bonus is, she lives in the country, surrounded by farms. The nearest farm to her house just happen to be selling ducks, I felt I needed two more; a young lad called ‘Charlie Brown’ (honest), was selling the ducks (1 x drake and 1 x duck) but I explained that I already have a drake so please may I have 2 x ducks, he agreed. I said I would come back the next day as I didn’t expect to be buying ducks and had not got any money with me. So Noel and I returned the next afternoon (this time no surprises for Noel) and I bought two Cross (X) Call Ducks, they are so pretty, nosier than the Indian Runners but great personalities.

All four ducks get on really well, and 8/9 chickens do too, we just have one chicken, hatched on St. Valentine’s Day, who we call the sister, she will not let one of the little ducks to bed until she is ready. However the drake is very good and just waits with this little duck until the ‘sister’ settles down and then he escorts her in to the house, how sweet is that.

This weekend saw the completion of the duck pond; we bought a plastic mould for the shape. Noel dug the hole, layered it with 5cm of fine sand, trapping a layer of woven webbing round the outside of the pond, so that we could place large pebbles around the pond, without the pebbles disappearing into mud over time.

More than half of the pebbles were reclaimed from our neighbour’s garden, when they had their whole garden turned over to a play area for their (then) 18 month old twins. This saved us so much money, not that I know what I was going to use the stones for when I did reclaim them. We also bought a small bag of Cotswold chips at less than £3.00 a bag, to fill in the gaps.

Above : My husband in the pond! Below : The start of the water!

On Sunday afternoon, which was dry and very sunny, I dragged my very embarrassed husband and daughter to a posh, tree lined street in Old Town, where we gathered, Poppy sweeping and Noel and I picking up, a large estate car’s. Now imagine trying to shut the boot and car doors with huge bags of leaves popping out all over the place, we had fits of giggles while trying to do this. The whole process took just 7 minutes of sweeping/collecting leaves; I have never seen my family work so fast, I must remember ‘embarrassment’ works a treat. We then managed to lift the bags above our heads to wobble through the over packed garage, to get the leaves into the back garden, we then used the dry leaves to spread all over the chicken/duck area of the garden as it was becoming very thick with sloppy mud. It has worked a treat and we were all really pleased with the effort.

After a week the leaves have now bedded down, so I really need to go and collect another layer, which will then last for most of the winter.

We filled the pond from the water butt, we didn’t have quite enough to fill it to the top, but this has also given the chickens, including the younger ones time to get use to having the pond in their area. It took the ducks 48 hours before they used it and when they were brave enough to get in, the racket of excitement was just thrilling to listen to, worth all the hard work, especially Noel’s. This week it has rained some more, so hopefully, even with Noel away, we can find the time to attach the hose and fill the pond to the top.

Happy ducks, swimming and drinking from their new pond.

Wishing them a very happy ending!

Birthday Blessings

Yes it's my birthday; in fact it is my 46th birthday...

- My hair is defiantly getting greyer
+ My hair is still soft and shinny

- My toes nails are getting misshapen
+ I can still cut my own toe nails

- My face has slightly more wrinkles
+ I still can choose not to wear make-up

- I am no longer a size 10
+ I can still buy clothes in M&S, if I want to!

I look at photographs of times gone pass, where being 46 was a million miles away, I have nearly always had to live my life in the here and now but the now is actually very loving and peaceful and I can sit down and either choose to look back on what I have accomplished or look forward to what I would like to achieve.

The forward list is very small. My past life I worked hard and played hard, doing as much as I could possibly cope with, never thinking that life could go on for quite a while. Therefore there is not much more I would like to do, a few more countries to travel to, a goat or two in my back garden, to work from home.

You see I have achieved far more by having an amazing husband and two loving children, which if I am brutally honest I never ever thought I would have. Not to say I couldn't have children, getting pregnant was not a problem but being a good mother - whatever-that-means was the hard target, not having any skills passed on to me but you know what, I think I have done it.

Even when my son, calls, at 10:00 am, asking "why does it hurt to have teeth out?"

Yesterday he had a wisdom tooth out and it had 4 roots, 3 came out with the tooth but the 4th had to be dug out, so now he has stitches and is feeling sorry for himself.

Answering in my most sympathetic and appropriate mummy’s voice, I then asked "are you calling to say anything else?" Slight silence, while this bit of what I had asked was sinking in and all the time trying to think of an answer.. you can hear the clogs going round, this must be a trick question, why is Mum asking this? His tablet induced thick groggy brain trying to work it all out in a nanosecond; the answer "no" was what I got.

Oh, so you are not ringing me to say "Happy Birthday Mum" ...


"Bollocks"


This reply has made me chuckle all day, the first time he has forgotten in his 24 years of being my son.

I will forgive him having wisdom teeth out at the dentist, is painful very painful and I forgot to telephone him yesterday and ask how he was ....

...What a dreadful mother!

Life’s a Gamble

Remember all the excitement about broody eggs and me whizzing off and purchasing 6 Bantam eggs. Well they took a little bit longer to reach me than I was expecting!! But in the mean time curiosity got the better of Buddy and he just had to poke is nose in and have a look to what was going on – a big no, to a broody chicken and within half an hour of that little incident, she was off the eggs never to return.

Still it was a gamble ... some you win, some you lose.

But Paul came up trumps with this ...


A very dusty Brinsea Octagon 10 Incubator, so after a good clean...





Paul told me the eggs should last up to 14 days if kept in a cool’ish’ place and I turn the eggs, (I have kept them in the box, so I am turning the box) periodically throughout the day, every day.



There were six lovely little bantam eggs in the box.


But on closer inspection, I found this ...



I am sure it didn’t get broken in the post, as the crack was on the in side but I have now had the eggs for a week, so I can’t go back to the supplier and say anything.

So down to 5 eggs, which I have placed in the incubator, it seems I should have sterilised everything first, opps, sorry eggs .... didn’t get any instructions until I did a search on line ... after having set everything up!

Oh well, as I said “life’s a gamble ...”

But I did find this very informative site about chickens and all you need to know, so thought I would share with you, if you are interested of course.

But if you can see I am doing something wrong or you can give me any more advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

The upside is all three chickens are now laying; we have been giving the most recently laid eggs away. Giving away! Well my thought process is, I will get my friends and family hooked on scummy fresh eggs, having already said that I will charge a little, to off set the chicken food costs!

Pay it Forward

I cut my neighbours grass as they suffer from hay fever. That is a return for me being sent an Interview Knits from Natalie at the Yarn Yard as she had two copies. Unfortunately I never did receive the magazine as it got lost in the post, such a shame. But I still wanted to repay the very kind gesture.

Knitting

I have completed my first monkey’s sock apart from the kitchener stitching, which will be saved until I have a quiet half an hour. Just now need to find the repeat of pattern, if that is possible with such a colourful yarn so that I can hopefully make the finished socks look similar.

I have never knitted a sock in a week, not even a month, six months being my average, I have knitted 3 pairs, and a couple of singles – having not got round to doing the second one ‘yet’, so not really a sock guru.

Therefore your guess is as good as mine to whether I get ‘second sock syndrome’ or the time to finish the second sock anytime this year.

But you must of guessed I am so chuffed with myself ... I finished a sock in a week - yay!

Clever Chickens

They have seemed to have settled down quite quickly really, but they still don’t like me going near them – shame, but lets give them some time.

During the day, they found their food and drink, and their nesting box, there was defiantly two flatten areas of straw in the box and the dark coloured chickens were happy on their perch.

I wouldn’t normally give my poultry names, I don’t even give my car a name, it’s car – final and chickens well they are there for laying eggs etc ... however the bronze coloured chicken, I have decided to call Mrs B. B = Bronze or Broody. The idea came from my Nana who l lived with for a while and she was illiterate, so struggled with the writing of her name. She went into service at 14 and was still working as a house keeper / cook well into her late sixties. She was always known as Mrs D.

Mrs B is broody; she has come to me broody and just wants to sit, which is one of the reasons I have decided to give her a name.

This is not a problem, but I have had to make some decisions very quickly and take advice from Paul.

This is the plan; to get parrot box down from the loft, line it with straw and use it as a nesting box for Mrs B, place two supermarket eggs in the straw and then move Mrs B as it is getting dark tonight. This will keep her broody. In the meantime I have ordered; 6 Blue Lace Wyandotte Bantam Eggs for £16.00, free post and packaging. The guy will collect them over this weekend, and send them on Tuesday to my work, so that I will get them Wednesday morning. Then I will swap the naff eggs for the fertilised eggs and then just wait and pray that I get hens and not cockerels!

I didn’t expect it all to happen so quickly.

Last night the chickens put themselves to bed, very clever; I just had to shut the door. I picked up any left over food and there was only a little bit and the drinker, so that I hopefully won’t attract any unwanted furries and also making life easier in the morning.

Hannah and Buddy were very interested but very well behaved, I am using a shaker bottle when they get to interested, and the command ‘leave’, lets hope they learn to ignore them very quickly. Hannah has seen chickens before but it is all new for Buddy.

This morning, I had company, Jill, she is such a scaredy cat that I am not too worried but she is obviously finding the chickens interesting, need to be carefully if/when we get chicks!

I now have a new morning routine; which goes a bit like this; Noel, let the dogs out into the garden for their ablutions, and then took them out for a walk. I refilled the feeders and drinker and went and got the chickens up, still with a bit of clucking going on and Jill for company. So that when the dogs came back home everything was quiet and the dogs were non-the-wiser – she says ...

But look what I got out of the nesting box this morning ...

I was so excited and it put such a big smile on my face. Noel and I have decided that scrambled ‘fresh’ eggs are on the menu for lunch time (we have some eggs in the fridge from Paul's chickens to make a decent size meal) – yum.

Chickens

Oh my goodness, it has been like preparing for a baby, and then just waiting and waiting and then all of a sudden it all happens in a flurry.

This morning Paul (my boss) managed to catch 3 of his free range Welsummer hens (not quite a true breed colour; thier legs should be yellow and thier feathers, brown), the other two hens that I am getting were a bit skitty and he was unable to catch them this morning. He put the 3 in a sack and brought them into work, they were very quiet sat in the foot well of the van. I had arrived early so that the chickens had the least amount of time in the sack. I then lifted them into my car and drove back down the hill, to home. I unlocked the front door and Hannah decided that this was the morning she would make her escape.* So I placed the chickens gently down in the hallway and went back outside and opened my car up, which thank goodness Hannah just jumped in, no great chase up the hills – actually it worked out really well as I then knew she was safe in the car and Buddy in his cage. Enabling me to carry the chickens into the back garden and safely place them in to their bit of garden, so that we can all get a customised to each other.

First thing this morning I went to the base of the hills where a tree had been cut down, I noticed this yesterday when walking the dogs. I picked up two cut off branches and took them back round home, purpose being; that the chickens could have a couple of natural perches to sit on.

After gently opening the sack and letting them step out one at a time, they quickly moved away from me, they were slightly jumpy as I stood up and walked back through the fence. The bronze coloured chicken was quite noisy, so I scattered some corn, having already placed a feeder and drinker down before they arrived. I then went into the conservatory and watched them all get busy, scratching around. I left them quiet and hopefully quite content.

It is all very exciting, well for me, maybe not for them. Now just have to wait for my first egg; it is going to be so ... well just ... brillent.

I have had my heart set on Blue Laced Wyandottes but to buy new is quite expensive and having never kept chickens before, it was a little bit off putting. I have kept ducks so do have a little experience of poultry but I wanted to learn more about chickens before going head long into expensive chickens.

Paul has lots of chickens and said "he had about five that were the wrong colour, but perfectly healthy in every other way and would probably charge me £3.00 a chicken". They were hatched last year and are already laying. Bargain, which is why I have Welsummers and not Wyandottes!!

My aim in the future is to get some Wyandotte Bantam eggs and put them under one of the hens if, or, more likely, when one of the chickens gets broody.

*When ever I have taken Hannah up the hills, she must enjoy it so much that, the very next time, I walk in the front door she is waiting to run out. At first and very several times afterwards, I would follow her up the hill however last year I decided and it was ‘horrible with worry’ but I just let her go. Eventually after about an hour and after a huge downpour a very kind neighbour on the other side of our tiny housing estate brought her home. I repaid this kindness with a good bottle of wine! Now she runs out the door, runs for about 15 foot (3 meters), stops, turns round, and looks at me. I ignore her, walk straight to the car, open it up and she jumps in, simple.

Chickens

Chicken Coup

Work has built me a chicken coup, one of the advantages of working for a joinery company. This is how it looked before it was dismantled to deliver to my bank garden. I just need to paint it, put a waterproof roof on and fill it with straw.

My boss Paul, is giving me 5 of his hens, I think, they are an old English breed, not sure what sort, but when I know I will tell you all about them. I use to keep ducks many years ago but not chickens but really can it be that different? Have done lots of reading, so now need to put all that ‘knowledge’ into practise!!



Front View



Back View


Can you spot what I noticed out of my work window?



Three Roe Deer in the distance (edge of the green field)


Two Questions ...

High Juice



Why are less and less shops stocking this drink?

I am in very short supply of what I like to drink and Orange High Juice happens to be something that I can tolerate, however my local Somerfield and slightly further away, Asda are no longer selling this product. Just wondered if any of you know why?

And my second question is why do I not get more comments on my blog?

I have one friend who graciously leaves comments practically every time I blog; however I wondered why I get few other comments. Any ideas, or is that cheating and getting you to comment?!! lol

Noel Update

Yesterday he really seemed to have bounced back, he still got very tired by the end of the day however he has decided to return to work this morning, Poppy and I joked at the dinner table last evening, that if he didn’t think he could manage to work properly after his 50 minute drive, this could happen!;


Team: "Oh you made it in then?"

Noel: "No, just an April’s Fool’s Joke; I'm going home now!!"

Have a great day and I really hope that none of you got horribly duped on this April Fools Day.

Slightly Remise

A fantastic picture of the moon to start this one off ....



A beautiful sunny morning, taken at approximately

0830 hours, showing the setting moon.

Please accept my apologies, I have been slightly remise in not blogging for the last few weeks, I have so missed it, but have just not found the energy or time to catch up and then I felt guilty that I had not written thing up to date. Silly lady because it is my blog and nobody tells me off for not making an entry, daft isn’t how the brain works!

Coke, Hormones and Stress

An answer to my sixes and sevens feeling; I have a history of drinking to much coca cola since I was 15 years of age, which coincided with me leaving home. I have drunk at least 2 if not 3 or 4 can’s a day. It was my staple diet for far to long. In my defence I only drink the very weakest of tea, am allergic to coffee and alcohol and wasn’t that keen on water or squash or even fruit juices. Therefore very limited in what I was able to drink however, last August, I got some virus and really went off most food in one way or another and this included coke. I was able to drink to water, very surprising but much healthier for my inner system! As I got better I still didn’t particularly like the taste of coke and much to everybody’s surprise I continued with the water or Hi Juice (in my opinion better tasting than squash).

Now one of the biggest beneficial side effects of not drinking coke was that I didn’t suffer quite as badly from the hormones. It took a couple of months to realise but I was definitely benefiting from not drinking coke.

Then it all went a bit pear shaped, you see Toby is also addicted to coke so over the Christmas period a lot of coke was bought and in the cupboard and for some unknown reason I kept 'having the need' to drink some. I started to drink more and more, saying that, no more than 2 cans but mostly a shared can here and there, nobody including myself thought any more of it, until three weeks ago when the hormones started to kick in and oh my goodness, didn’t I go down hill, only three time before have I felt so down and ratty, once when I was prescribed the conceptive pill, the second the marina coil and the third when I had to have the implant. On all three occasions I was so poorly, I cannot describe it to you. I was able to go to work but could hardly function and when I came home I just wanted to sleep, partly because I was exhausted from having dreadful temperature differences during the night and just not being able to sleep and also I felt safe while in bed. This way I knew I could keep my mouth shut and not be a horrible mum / wife.

The next ten days were a nightmare; I was so bloated from water retention that I did a good impression of the ‘Michelin Man’;



Except no way as smiley! My skin was so sore, that the heat rashes would bleed, as would my gums when brushing my teeth, so all in all, I just felt very sorry for myself.

Having also having been to visit the doctor it would also seem that I am suffering from PTSD, if you don't mind, I will explain more in another post!

How and why my family still loved me, while I was like this, I will never know, but thankfully they did.

Stress for someone else:

While working away at my desk, this poor lorry driver got stuck on the edge of the field opposite my window, he was actually delivering goods to the small unit next to our workshop. The guy who runs this unit, seriously needs to return to school and complete his 'Good Citizen Award', because he just didn't want to help this guy at all. However my boss, the workshop manager and myself made up wood wedges and wire fencing for support to free him. One very grateful Welsh Man.

I'm starting to feel better;

Over time has seen the washing pile become more manageable and fitting back into the linen basket and not all over the bedroom floor. The dusting and hovering are up to date. Lots of little things that make me feel so much better.

and then this happens:

Standing in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago, I looked up and noticed a small shadow on the ceiling, I showed Noel, he touched it and it was slightly damp. Now we have a family bathroom that in the 3 ½ years of living here has been used no more than half a dozen times. We call it the posh bathroom, but over the Christmas period we had to use this bathroom, due to the en-suite shower leaking again. An on going problem since moving in, which has resulted in us having to have all new carpets in our bedroom and the en-suite. This has caused so much stress over the years, partly because we have to keep going back to the builders, who really just don’t want to know. I could write a story on how ‘crap’ these builders are but that would be another story ….

Let’s just say that most (and here I mean all) of our neighbours have a very low opinion of this company.

Back to the ceiling, yes you have probably guessed it, the posh bathroom plumbing has leaked. Why has it leaked … because the plumber never bothered to tighten up the waste pipe and because we used it for more than a day, the pressure of so much water caused the water leak.

This is what we found when we looked, it could be worse but another carpet stained due to diabolical workmanship.



The bath panel has swelled and cracked and there are two stains on the carpet, one at each end of the bath. Luckily the kitchen ceiling has dried out okay, I think this is because we caught it so quickly.

So all in all a bit of a difficult time for me and the family, but "onwards and upwards", as they say.

To finish on a high - which is how I feel, now that I have completed this posting and that I know I will be back very soon, please enjoy this lovely picture I took by the field, here at work.

Snowdrops taken just outside the barn.