Goodbye dear friend

 Gimli, my darling Gimli.  Only with us for a short 15 months, but what an impression you made on our lives.  The gentlest cat I have ever come across.  I would forget you had claws, as you never drew them.  So laid back, quite literally!  Your favourite way of relaxing was on your back with legs splayed open!

 See!

 That furry tummy just waiting for a tummy rub.  But ready to come out for a walk to take the children up to school.  Diving into bushes at approaching cars.  Waiting for me to return home to open yet another packet of Felix "as good as it looks" food.  The only food you would touch (apart from ours!) and then not particularly keen on the chicken flavour!

You would play occasionally, but it ruffled your fur, so you always had to stop to groom yourself.  You loved a brush, and would stretch your back legs out for me to get a good go at those fiddly bits.  You always had goosegrass burrs or grass seeds in your fur, and even caught the odd slug in your fur too!!

 You had a best friend, Geddy, who liked your food, but you never chased him out, just came to tell me he was eating your food again!  You were a real hit with the neighbourhood, and I hear stories of your antics, such as sitting the other side of a glass window tormenting a greyhound, or sauntering back from the park early in the morning, after your nights out, or even trying out other catflaps, and scaring the owners when finding you and Geddy in their house!!

How can you be no longer with us?  It is not fair!  You lived a wonderful cat life, and we are so grateful that we could share it with you.  I still wait for you to return home, forgetting that you are resting in peace at the bottom of the garden.  I hear noises and think it is you.  I open doors, expecting you to be there.  Even Geddy came calling, and was caterwaling at the front door, bidding you to come out to play. 

Gimli, my furry baby.  I miss you...I love you...sleep tight xxxxx

The end of an era

 Hetty, our remaining chicken became ill yesterday morning.  By yesterday evening she had passed away.  Not sure what exactly was wrong with her, possibly perotinitis, possibly sour crop, possibly coccidiosis.  She went downhill so fast that I was truly shocked at her death.  The day before I had made a mental note to myself that her wings needed clipping as they were looking full again as she was stretching them out.  She had come running out the hen house like a horse at the starting gate of a race, I had been about 20 minutes late in letting her out and she was raring to go!!  How she is no longer with us is just difficult to fathom. 

 Hetty was such a character.  Whilst the others would follow you around the garden, Hetty would make for the back door, knowing that if it were open there would be scraps on the kitchen floor for the picking.  The time she investigated the rest of the downstairs and got flustered when I tried to shoo her out of the lounge!  She was an escape artist extraordinaire, standing on the top of the eglu, jumping up and launching herself over the netting that was our attempt at keeping the chickens in one part of the garden (seeing a chicken flying up the garden at head height is quite a sight!!).  She always had a bit of a wild look about her, feisty I think the word is!  She was never happy being handled, and could give quite a vicious peck!  In later years, her and Betty were inseperable, she is now laying at rest next to Betty at the bottom of the garden, in their favourite dust bathing spot.

 We have decided to not have any more chickens for now, they need more space than we can happily give them (if we are wanting to use the garden too), but I have truly loved having them in the garden the last 3 years.  I have loved knowing which chicken has given us the egg we are about to eat; I have loved being greeted when I open the back door; I have loved their eagerness when they see the saucepan, knowing there would be porridge; I have loved looking out of the kitchen window and watching their antics (I didn't realise how much I did this until today when I kept catching myself gazing out the window looking for chickens).  An end of an era indeed, a journey I have enjoyed, and hope to repeat again at some point, but not right now.  Rest in Peace Hetty (and Betty and Little).  xxx

Betty

 Betty slipped away very peacefully last night, despite syringe feeds and antibiotics, whatever was wrong with her was too much.  She was always a seemingly weak chicken, with us not sure whether she would make it through the first few days with us three years ago.  Where we got the chickens from offered to have her back from us and give us a replacement, but she had already found a place in our hearts, and we gave her a chance with us.  For that first year she was blighted with sterile egg peritonitis, so she tended to have two weeks laying, then two weeks off whilst looking sorry for herself.  But things settled down for her, and she would follow me around the garden making these lovely chirruping noises.  She was a shy bird, and never far away from Hetty, they were inseperable. 

 Hetty would lead her into mischief, such as this adventure into the kitchen!  Betty gave us our first egg, and I can remember one time when she had been unwell, and then started laying again, she came strutting out the henhouse throwing bits of straw over her back as if in celebration. 

She is now resting in her favourite dustbathing spot at the bottom of the garden.  Hetty is lost without her, and I've resorted to sitting in the garden to keep her company, as she was getting really agitated earlier.  We will now have to look at rehoming Hetty, she needs to share her life with feathered friends, and we have decided that we will not be getting any more chickens, for the foreseeable future.

Rest in peace Betty.  I hold some very fond memories of you. xx

Catch up!

 What a busy week!  Sunday, Luke and I took three bags of apples to an apple pressing day at a local craft centre.  2 bags of cooking apples from the tree at the allotment, and a bag of "eaters" we had accumulated from various places, oh, and a small bag of pears.  When I was washing them all, and putting them all into bags, I thought we had quite a lot!  But when we got there it was a meagre amount compared to what most people had brought!!  The apples and pears were tipped into an electric hopper which chopped them up finely, then put into a hessian sack and pressed in the green and wooden press at the back of the first picture.  We then had to decant our juice into bottles.

 We had collected plastic milk bottles to store the juice, as it could be frozen that way.  the juice oxidises very quickly, as can be seen by the colour of it in the bottles already!

 Given how few apples we had taken, I was rather pleased to have come come with 11 pints of homemade apple juice, although that really won't last long in this house!  4 pints disappeared during Sunday lunch!  Next year we will definitely be doing more. and may also venture into cider making!!

 Sophie, with a little guidance from Luke wrote her name, although she would only acknowledge the S as for Sophie, the rest were just shapes!

 Sunday I also decided that the air was getting a little nippy, so I decided I needed a hat that wouldn't look daft with my hair, and that would also fit on my rather large head!  So, I figured a tam, would work quite well.  And in amongst the apple pressing, Sunday lunch, family and everythig else, I was able to sit and crochet a hat, and by the night time, it was finished.  The wool, I had been given, and was using for a cardigan for myself.  But I didn't like the way it was knitting up, so I thought I'd use some of that, and I love how it has crocheted up, it looks jewel like in place, and I think I may just add a tassle to the centre of it with a few beads or gems on.

Blimey, so that was Sunday.  The rest of the week zoomed by so fast no pictures were taken!  Monday was busy preparing for visitors.  Stuart's nephew, Tom, and his partner, Denise, were coming to stay for a couple of days, as Denise had a training course nearby. 

Tuesday was my Grandma's funeral.  Stuart took the day off work to look after the children, and Mum and I went to Northampton to say our farewells to Grandma.  A sad day, one I was not looking forward to, as I still feel rather raw from the loss of Jean. Grandma was buried in a lovely green burial site (I love these places, they feel so alive), and they held a service of celebration afterwards, which was not exactly how I would have liked to say my goodbyes, but is what Grandma would have liked, so I guess that is what counts.  I returned home to our visitors, and Tom disappeared with Luke and Stuart to the Warhammer club, whilst Denise and I chatted about knitting, spinning, crochet and all things woolly, plus she has come up with a solution to the crochet blanket problem, which I will attempt to sort out this next week!  A lovely end to a busy, emotional day. 

The rest of the week has been entertaining guests (Sophie was excellent at this!!), and all the usual stuff.  But we have now reached half term (teacher training day today) and we can all breathe out and relax for a week. 

The rollercoaster of life

 It was my Mum's birthday in the week.  Unfortunately it was a rather rushed affair, as we had to go and view a prospective high school for Luke that same evening.  So a tea of fish and chips, followed by the above cake (filled with homemade apple butter, of which I am a bit of a convert to!)  Along with a homemade card (on it's side again, blinkin' camera!) and some home spun wool, which I will talk about in the next blog post.

 We had some sad news the following day though. We had been told on Mum's birthday that my Dad's Mum was very ill in hopsital.  They had discovered she had stomach and bladder cancer, and being so frail, they didn't think she would have long left with us.  The very next day we had that phone call to say she had slipped away in the night, with a Macmillan nurse by her side.  She was a woman with a very strong Christian faith.  My wish for her is peace, and freedom from pain, and for those left behind to find comfort in those around them, along with many happy memories of her time with them on this earth.

Mum had popped over that day so we could spend a bit of time together, and comfort one another, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something unusual out the window.  Closer inspection showed a strange flying insect that was hovering by the honeysuckle, sipping the nectar through it's proboscis.  It flew so quickly it was really hard to get a picture of it.  If you zoom in on the middle of the picture you can just about see it. 

A google later and we discovered that it was this, a hummingbird hawk moth.  I had never heard of such a thing, but was fascinated, and Mum and I were suitably distracted whilst we researched a little more about it.

 Life continues all around us, which I seem to be continually reminded of, even in the darkest of times.  Not really feeling like doing much, I finished off a present for a friends little lad whose 2nd birthday was the other week.  Sophie was the product tester, and very graciously handed it over to Joel, but I have a feeling I may have to make her one too!

 And to try and lighten things a bit, my cello case got transformed!  I had plonked a couple of recently spun skeins of wool on top the other day, and it made it look a little like a grey haired lady.  So I just helped it a little to complete the look.  So meet "Chell" the cello case lady!

 And another lighter moment...

 ...he was like that for a good hour or so!!

Such stark contrasts this week, making me appreciate the good things all the more. 

Jean

This week, our family has suffered a huge loss. Jean, Stuart's Mum, died early Monday morning. Stuart had seen her on Sunday, spoken to her Sunday evening on the phone, and all was well. By the early hours of Monday morning, she had suffered a massive heart attack, and our world was turned upside down.

Jean was a remarkable woman. A talented woman with her painting, knitting, gardening, cooking She was the only person I know who could keep a parlour palm alive, and make them thrive! She would knit at an amazing speed, combining colours in wonderful ways through her fair isle knitting, we are all so proud of our "Grandma jumpers" She had just started going into a local school to help with needlework class, and had been quite a hit with them. She also made the most fabulous scones, through no recipe!

But talents aside, she was so warm and welcoming, gentle and loving, hardworking, and a rock for all those around her. Family was her everything, and she was everything to her family.

It has shocked me that the world is still turning without Jean there, really! And I know I am not alone in that feeling. She truly was an inspirational woman, and will be very, very sorely missed by us all.

Sad times and a little chaos!

I was not looking forward to 5th November. Why? Because it was a year since we lost our dear cat Hobbes. He was such a special little creature, who was so loving. There is a little ditto somewhere that says something along the lines of cats leaving paw prints on your heart forever. That certainly was Hobbes.

Another reason for not looking forward to the 5th was the date some dear friends were finding out if their unborn baby was indeed suffering with the fatal Edwards Syndrome. Unfortunately they had bad news. Such difficult decisions to make, and a life, not yet known, to mourn. It has generated so many mixed feelings, but the overwhelming one is of stunned sorrow, which no words can describe.

Turning back to the lives of the little ones. Luke had his long-awaited sleepover last night. Four of his mates from school, supposedly sleeping in his room. One lad managed to grab 4 hours (I think he must have brought sedatives with him :D The rest had no sleep!!! At 5am they were playing hide and seek, which sounded like a herd of elephants. I really don't know how they kept going, although Luke didn't quite, he is now soundly asleep on the sofa having fallen asleep in Sophie's playnest!!

Earlier this week I was supposed to be meeting with some e-friends from GP forum. But unfortunately Luke and Alec were both ill. I hope it all went well for those who were able to make it, and I will have to try and keep the boys healthy for the next meet-up. Their illness also scuppered my plans for getting some craft stuff together following the aborted attempt at the garden centre the other week. I guess that will now be a job for next week.

Having the boys at home was nice though, as I was able to spend a bit more time with them. Luke and I made some honeycomb (courtesy of Howie on GP forum), which is so easy, and delicious too. Luke and Alec were able to spend some time together too, which they don't tend to do normally, as Alec and Ethan are usually playmates.

Pretty much sums up this week, but one I would rather not repeat if it can be at all helped.