The Duck Stops Here

Well! I've tried four times to upload a video of the ducklings, but it doesn't want to work for some reason.
The best way to do it is to have a look at this link . The Interfering Dog is obviously Tessa. She is very interested in the ducklings, but only because she's jealous. She'd never hurt them. I'm not so sure about the cats, though, that's why the ducklings are in the pen until they're much bigger. Having said that, though, they have really grown. Their feet are enormous.
For those of you who haven't got time to watch the video, here are some pictures instead:



Aren't they the cutest things? They rush to me in the mornings and climb on me, and peck my hair, my jacket, my glasses, everything. How can you not be pleased to see something that's so pleased to see you?




It's been an interesting time on the Barnaby front. I rang a wonderful woman called Jane Portas, who we had a lesson with last year. I left a message on her voicemail on Thursday and she didn't ring me back, so I also rang a woman called Nicky Hunt. We had a very good conversation in the evening, during which I explained Barnaby's history and his current problems. She said to give her a ring after the back lady has been and we'd get some work done on him. Fabulous. Then the next thing I knew, Jane Portas has rung me back as well. She has also said to wait until after the back lady has been, but she is more than happy to come and teach me. I don't believe it. I am now in a quandary, as I only expected one of them to come. How do I say to one of them, "I don't need you after all?" I'm going to have to pray about this, because it isn't my intention to upset either of them, or make them feel I've wasted their time. Oops!
We've been for a 15 mile ride today. It's so fantastic to come out of your own garden gate, turn left, and ride and ride and ride. We got up onto the moors in the end, and went to a place called Darwin Forest. It was a superb ride, and beautifully warm weather. I was under the impression we'd skipped summer and gone straight on to autumn, so it's a relief to see some sunshine.


I've made a couple of cards, too, this first one was for Missis' mum. I used my Joanna Sheen CD rom for all the papers and the topper, which I decoupaged and added a little glitter.





This one I just made for fun, as it was an opportunity to make another shaker card. They are such fab things to make. I thought it was a bit plain, but I've decided 'less is more' and it can stay as it is for now.


Add to the above that I am doing the place cards for Daughter 2's wedding, as well as the cross stitch, and you can see I've got quite a lot going on.
I'd just like to add, that I can't believe what an Aladdin's Cave ebay is. I went on there looking for some butterflies for the place cards, started looking at rubber stamps, of which there are absolute thousands, all at a fraction of the price you'd pay in the shops. I looked at papers and came across the My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus range. I couldn't resist it so I've bought the papers, the decoupage papers, some ribbons and brads, which obviously all match. They are so beautiful (I'll try to show you soon) I think I may do some scrap booking with them as well as card making. Watch this space.
Hope you're all having a great weekend.
Mrs O.

The Book Worm, Part Two

This week, I decided to look at books that have had a significant impact on my life, books I'm proud to say I've read, and books that have changed me as a person. This is quite a different list to the ones I set out last week. I'd love to see your version of this list.

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding. We read this in school, but I've read it again since. There is that juicy moment where you've read ahead at home and you know the swear word is coming in the next english lesson and you can't believe your fifty year old teacher, who looks like a battleship in full sail, is going to actually say that swear word out loud. Oh my life, and she's said it... An awesome book, though. On one level it's about a group of boys who are stranded on a desert island who try to govern themselves and it all goes horribly wrong. Underneath that it's all about the laws that govern society, about politics, power struggles, individual welfare and 'the greater good.' I highly recommend it.

2. Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. I just had to know what all the fuss was about and was met with a beautiful piece of writing that took my breath away. And then they made a film of it starring Sean Bean, so I read it again, just to make sure I hadn't imagined it the first time!

3. Carrie by Stephen King. One of my rare entries into the horror genre. I must have been sixteen. I was gripped. I probably wouldn't touch it with a barge pole now, but it had a huge impact on me at the time. I didn't dare show my mother I possessed such a thing. She would probably have read it herself, and that would have defeated the object, wouldn't it?

4. Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Okay, not technically a book, I know, but having studied it for my 'O' Level, I can tell you it had a massive impact on me. There was no such thing as an 'open book exam' in those days, no siree! I had to learn great chunks of it off by heart and can still remember them ("Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle toward my hand...) I have only a minor urge to act on stage, but if I ever did, Lady Macbeth would be the one for me. Oh for the chance to stand there and say, "Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" and be convincing. I love the line in Educating Rita when Julie Walters is discussing the play and she says, "Wasn't Lady Macbeth a cow?!" Yes love, she was.

5. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. I don't do a lot of sci-fi, but this book was truly brilliant. In case you don't know, Triffids were plants that could sting and kill people and move about and communicate with each other in some way. It was a truly gripping story of man's struggle to survive and I was in it with him! It makes me shudder just to think about it, and it comes to mind quite often when I am re-arranging the electric fencing to keep the horses in.

6. Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr: It took me ages to track this book down on the internet as I could only remember the 'thousand paper cranes' part of the title. It is the story of a child called Sadako Sasaki who lived in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. There is a legend in Japan that if you fold 1000 paper cranes you can make a wish when you make the last one. She lay in her hospital bed, suffering from leukemia, making her paper cranes. She managed to make 664 before she died. It is one of the saddest books I've ever read and I cried and cried at the end. The actual descriptions of what happened to people when the bomb went off are horrific. Reading the write-up on it brought it all flooding back.

7. The Diary of Anne Frank. I read this when I was about Anne Frank's age and was appalled at her life story. It's probably where I get my claustrophobia from. You all know it's the story of a dutch jewish girl and her family who go into hiding in her father's office building during the war. Such horrendous conditions to live in. After two years, somebody reported them and they were taken to Belsen, where Anne and her sister Margot died. I was deeply affected by this book, and this leads me to the next one...

8. Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally: I read this in a matter of days, but I can remember reading ten pages, crying, reading another ten pages, crying again. There are some books, that you wish you'd never started. A truly harrowing tale of a man by the name of Oscar Schindler, a german businessman who set up an enamelware factory during the war and saved the lives of hundreds and hundreds of polish jewish refugees. Just thinking about this book could make me cry all over again.

Oh, I've obviously been deeply affected by lots of books about the war, then. Throw in my love of first world war poets, Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke, and there I am, stuck in a time warp, pinging about between 1914-1945, like a butterfly in a jar. I obviously like books that stress me a bit and wrestle with my emotions. I guess that's something I've been aware of deep down, but never committed it to writing before. What started out as an innocent post has turned out to be quite revelatory.

So, what would be on your list in this catagory? Link to this post if you can. I can't wait to read your version, as I am always on the look-out for new things to read.

The Bardy Lad

I am going to have to write this, even if it is with gritted teeth.

I love Barnaby, I adore him,

he is my perfect horse, my one and only,

but...

he is doing my head in

because

He cannot, and/or will not bend his neck properly!

There, I've said it.

If you want to go straight, he's your man.

I defy a draughtsman with a ruler to achieve a straighter line.

But ask this boy to bend to the right, and you've got no chance.

I got to the swearing stage last week. There we are, I admit it. We live in the only flat part of Derbyshire and I imagine my fishwife voice echoed across the plain. I am sorry.

But what the heck am I supposed to do?

The other thing that's really annoyed me is that I've put a 'distressed' post on my favourite forum and nobody has come forward with any suggestions or advice. Normally it's really good on there, and I feel quite let down. I only got the usual response, 'Get his back and teeth checked.' Now I'll be honest, I've got our lovely back lady coming out on June 18th, the earliest she can get here, but if one more person says, 'Get his back and teeth checked,' I'll scream. As if I hadn't thought of that.

When Barnaby first became mine, I was so thrilled, I didn't really care about his way of going. He is the safest hack you could ever wish for, and that's all I was bothered about. I knew Mr O let him cavort about the countryside in a very hollow manner, but that I'd be able to cure it, and I have. Our first few sessions in the school went swimmingly, because I was quite content to bimble about and just work on getting him off his forehand, which, to give him his due, he has, and is a lot lighter and softer in my hand.

It's like when you have those first few driving lessons, and you're full of confidence, thinking, "I can drive!" without realising the instructor is doing most of the work and has all of the control. Then after a while they release some of that control to the pupil and it all goes pear shaped. Barnaby is a bit like that. I am now asking for more than a 20m circle, and he can't do it to save his life.

When I am on the right rein (going anti-clockwise to those without horses) he swings his head over to the left constantly and sticks his right leg out. This is fairly bad in walk, awful in trot, and downright dangerous in canter, as he is virtually unsteerable (if there is such a word - there is now, okay?!)

So I am trawling the internet for advice, and I've turned to some of my tried and tested books. All of them say lungeing is beneficial, and I can see that it is. I lunged him on Saturday before getting on, and he was a lot more supple. I think I use lungeing as a last resort, or think of it just as 'exercise,' a handy thing to do in the winter, but I've underestimated the benefits to the horse. I don't find it boring, but I do feel I've given up a riding session for a lungeing session, does that make sense?

So I am going to have to lunge him a lot more often. It won't be his favourite thing, but I am struggling to ride him in a way that's beneficial to him. So the crunch is, I think I am going to have to have some lessons because I am sick of fannying about. The frustration is killing me.

The main things are:

1. When I ride him on the right rein, he looks over to the left. This leaves me with a loose rein on the left, and I don't know what to do with it to make him straight.

2. He leans to the outside going round corners. I am not capable of making him look where he's going. This is Mr O's fault for always letting him do it, but it's no use blaming him now. I'm more interested in how to sort it out.

Even writing it down like this is helping me to think, but it's making me really angry, too! I'm obviously having 'one of those days.' I either need a more experienced person to ride him for me or lessons. The only thing now is to decide who to ask...

I hope it goes without saying that any advice that you may have would not just be gratefully received, at this stage it would be fallen upon and devoured!

I am going upstairs now, to stick my head under the pillow and have a bit of a scream! Then I'm going to go out and play with the ducklings - that's bound to cheer me up.

The Green and Pleasant Land

Mr O (who as you know is incapable of sleep at the weekend) woke up at 6.50 and realised it was just starting to rain. He got up, dressed and slipped out to get the horses in. I woke, and in my blurry state, realised what he was doing, so I got up as well and staggered out to help. I can't believe I was even physically capable.
By the time I got to the field, the rain had increased and the first rumble of thunder was heard in the distance. We were due to go to Osberton for a pleasure ride and were both determined to go. How can I describe Osberton? It is basically 70,000 acres of green fields, bridleways and tracks, and you can ride on most of it. It is one of my favourite places in England and we used to ride there every couple of weeks when we were at the old yard. If you can't get a two hour ride out of it, you're doing something wrong.
I gave Barnaby a perfunctory groom and booted him up. I had hogged him on Thursday, (shaved his neck hair off, he doesn't have a mane) so he looked quite smart. There was more thunder and flashes of lightening. Mr O doggedly got the lorry out.
I dashed indoors to get myself changed. I'd had a dither about what to wear, but all of that was now irrelevant as I'd just stuck a jacket on and hoped for the best.
As we trawled up the M1 we were the only vehicle on the road, I kid you not. That's because all the sensible people were still curled up under their duvets. The rain was lashing the windscreen and I had to resist a temptation to cling to Mr O's arm and beg him to turn back - but no, on we sped.
We drove up the A1, then turned off to Retford and pulled in up the long lane, and followed the signs to a nearby field. The marshall at the gate looked at us in astonishment - needless to say we were the first to arrive. I'm sure I could hear him muttering something about 'mad fools' but it was hard to hear clearly above the thunderclaps.
We went to sign in. The steward asked us if we really wanted to do the ride and were confident that our horses would be okay. We nodded (insanely) enthusiastically. Actually Mr O has ridden Barnaby in thunder and lightening a couple of years ago, and he knew he wasn't bothered, but we weren't sure about Zak.
We were about to find out, as we mounted and rode down to the first marshall. He was just giving us directions when there was a loud Crack! above us. Neither horse flinched. I was thrilled. The marshall grinned. He looked relieved that none of his rusty first-aid skills would be required.
We carried on to the next junction where we were met by a half-drowned woman purporting to be another marshall, poor thing, there wasn't even a car for her to sit in. We carried on past, round loads of tracks normally closed to the public leading to the old cross country course. Mr O kept pointing out fences he'd jumped out hunting. Of course, he'd been on Barnaby then.
Eventually we came back out and cantered all the way up to the top of the Green Mile and turned to ride down it. Mr O asked if he could go in front and open Zak up a bit, and I agreed, so he set off in a flat out gallop. We went streaking along, Zak like a gazelle and Barnaby like a lion on his tail, it was fantastic. After all, this is why we came. As I said in a previous post, Max knew he didn't stand a chance keeping up with Zak and used to give up, but Barnaby also has the heart of a lion and was determined to match the ex racehorse. It was utterly fantastic, like tailing Red Rum. Rain was slashing at us, and the trees were whipping past in a blur as we cruised along, then it was all over and we were coming down, down to trot and then walk. We looked at each other, both grinning like idiots. No words were necessary. There is no feeling like it on earth.
We strolled along happily, and turned off into a leafy avenue. The horses were steaming, and my glasses steamed up too, but we decided we'd better canter this one as well, this time with Barnaby in front. I can remember cantering down here on Max once, going full pelt, when he stopped dead, let a squirrel cross the track in front of him, then continued full throttle to the end. It was an experience, I can tell you.
We carried on, then ended up on the proper cross country course and came out by the airstrip. Mr O couldn't resist jumping the log and the Jacob's ladder, with Zak flying over as if they were nothing. We whizzed along on the wide open grass and pulled up and walked them off as we were nearly home. Altogether we'd done 14 miles, and it was nothing to the horses (bearing in mind the first ride in April was the same distance and had been quite hard work). I have no doubts about these horses' fitness whatsoever.
We went to sign-in and untacked the horses. Fortunately it had stopped raining so we went and got a burger and a well-earned cup of tea. Every single part of me was soaking wet. Rain had poured into my riding boots, and my left one was squelching as I walked, not the most pleasant experience. My hair was plastered to my head. I'd had to ride Barnaby in his double bridle so I was glad I'd worn gloves as otherwise my hands would have been raw. I was grateful for his plaited rein, as I had no grip on the smooth snaffle rein at all. My gloves were drenched.
All in all it was quite an adventure, and I bet everyone that turned up was glad they had done it. I would rather have had that sort of weather than the ridiculous heat we had on Saturday, I don't think 14 miles would have been fair then.
I have looked on the official photographer's website today, and there are no photographs of Barnaby as Mr O walked up to the photographer, blocking me off, asking him if he could take some head shots of Zak (we had agreed to do this, but I am a bit disappointed now). He said they wouldn't come out very well because of the poor light, but they are stunning. I can't wait for Mr O to come home so I can show him. The reason is that we have a large portrait of Max and Barnaby above our bed, so I've recently taken down the one of Max and moved the one of Barnaby over to my side of the bed, leaving a blank space above Mr O's side. I think one of these pics might be good enough to have blown up and put in a frame. I'll add one on here as soon as I can.
All in all, a fabulous day and I was thrilled with Barnaby's behaviour throughout. He never got strong or tried to race and came back to me the moment I asked. How can you not love a horse like that? Eat your heart out, Jean d'Arc.

Busy Bee

Just popped in to say that I have been busy on the craft making front. For the first time ever I'm going to have to show you a work in progress (WIP) as this cross stitch is not going to be a two minute job. This is for Daughter 2's wedding. The bottom section was really tricky, one of those where you do two stitches in one colour, then two in another colour and so on, which is why I'm making myself sit down for an hour a day to work on it.




I've got all the top section to do, finish the border and do all the back stitch, so I'd better crack on if I'm going to finish it by the end of the month. Now I'm beginning to wish I had a separate craft room as I have to pack it all away in between sessions. It would be bliss to leave everything out.


I've been having a fantastic time making cards. This first one was my first foray into my Kate Knight papers which were free with my magazine. I felt they were quite a sophisticated paper and required a sophisticated treatment, so here it is:


The two little birds in the oval have glitter on, just to give a little bit of sparkle. I so wish I had a Cuttlebug. It's on my Christmas list, but it's killing me to have to wait that long!
And now for the card I've really loved making. It is my first go at a shaker card. I don't know if you can see, but there are little tiny flowers inside the baby's bottle. This was my first go with a white gel pen, around the top of the bottle. I love the effect. I have got a 'thing' about newborn baby cards, so expect to see several more.

I am really pleased with this one. The idea was in a magazine I bought when I very first started card making, and wouldn't have had a clue how to do it back then, and wouldn't have had the tools either. I made it a couple of days ago, and love it. There are little tiny green gems in the centre of each flower. I stamped each flower, then painted them with my water colour paints before cutting them out and using sticky fixers to give them depth. I made a mistake because I forgot to put the strip of ribbon on and tuck it round the spotty paper before sticking it down. I went to the craft shop yesterday and found some self-adhesive ribbon, (what a godsend!) which worked out much better anyway. I am going to make another one for Missis' mum's birthday on June 10th.








And finally, on a bit of a spree yesterday, I spotted this box in W.H. Smith and couldn't resist it. Obviously it will soon be full, but the drawers are really handy.





This is the top:




I mean, it's got cupcakes on it, I'm hardly going to resist that, am I? Do you like it?

Happy blogging, everyone.

The Book Worm

I have been inspired by Michelle at Frecklepuss to write a list of my top ten favourite books of all time. Good grief, where do you start? Like her I have always read books, and these days I get jittery if I don't have a book on the go, and the library has always been my best friend.
Today I've given myself the task of taking every single book off my bookcase, dusting them and putting them all back again. It's nearly killed me, but reminded me of some of my best friends, to share with you today.

1. I grew up with a good dose of Enid Blyton (and used to spend hours practising 'forgeing' her signature!) especially The Famous Five and Mallory Towers, but was much more deeply captured by a set of books by Antonia Forest about a family of children known as the Marlow family. These books were a lot more grown up than the FF books, and the characters had real depth. It took me years to collect them all (scrounging them out of stock from my local library, as well as buying them secondhand). I still have them, despite moving house so many times over the years.
If I had to choose I'd have to say Peter's Room is my favourite. It sparked my love and curiosity of Charlotte Bronte. More of that later. The last book in the series is called Run Away Home and I never managed to find it. I have sourced it on Amazon, and one copy is worth four hundred pounds! There is a facebook group dedicated to Antonia Forest, which I joined last year, and mentioned in a post that I will now never get to read Run Away Home, and a random woman, who doesn't even know me, sent me her copy to read in the post. I was absolutely gobsmacked by such generosity. Can you imagine the thrill of being able to touch something you've always longed for and thought you'd never see? I can die happy now.

2. Although I cannot recommend these books to my Christian readers (they are not exactly family entertainment!) I have spent many years reading and re-reading Riders, Rivals and Polo by Jilly Cooper. Needless to say, they are about horses, and show jumping but the characters are absolutely fantastic. It took Jilly Cooper fifteen years to write Riders, so you can imagine what a yarn it is. My sister (The Oracle) and Daughter 1 have also read them, and the Oracle isn't horsey in the least and still thought they were brilliant. If I had to choose, I'd pick Rivals out of all of them. Even though I know what's going to happen, I am still gripped to the very end.

3. And while we're on the subject of gripping, I have to say that I have spent many, many years reading books by Dick Francis. Surprise, surprise, they are all about horse racing in some way, but they are brilliant thrillers. I love every single one of them. His main character is always an absolute gentleman (anyone heard of Sid Halley?) the sort of man you could fall in love with and marry (but not in a Mills and Boon sort of way). When we moved to Tiny Cottage I gave nearly all of them to charity (which nearly broke my heart) as my son in law loves these books as much as I do and if I want to borrow one I can always ask him. I brought my favourite one with me though, which is called Proof. Dick Francis is well into his eighties and still writing with utter conviction.

4. I can't choose a particular book from this writer, but hot on the heels of Dick Francis must come John Francome. The plots of his books are also connected to racing in some way, but his characters are grittier than those of Dick Francis. Yes he is the Channel 4 racing commentator, and now I'm going to say something a bit mean. When you look at him, you would never think that this man is capable of writing some of the cleverest stuff I've ever read. I really, really want to interview him and ask him how he keeps track of his own plots. I want to know if he starts at the end of the book and works backwards or what. They are truly brilliant and will have a place on my bookcase from now on.

5. And now we'd better get the whole Jane Austen/Charlotte Bronte thing out of the way. I did Pride and Prejudice for 'O' Level (oh Lord, showing my age!) and fell in love with it. I have read it several times since and still love the whole wit of the thing, the costumes, the letter writing, etc. But I've also had a deep relationship with Charlotte Bronte which started because of reading Peter's Room (above) where they go into the whole secret world that the Brontes' invented for themselves, two kingdoms known as Gondal and Angria, and how they played it as adults, and wrote diaries for it and poetry and laws. I found all of this fascinating as a child and read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. I had a row with my A Level teacher when we had to write an essay on Heathcliffe and our teacher said she always felt sorry for him, and when I said I thought he was a creep in my essay she gave me a 'D' for disagreeing with her, even though I backed it up with evidence from the book! Hmmm.
I actually got to go to Howarth Parsonage a few years ago and stood in Charlotte Bronte's sitting room, surrounded by her clothes and her things and cried my eyes out. It was like finally meeting a penfriend, someone you've known for years, but never met. I can't describe it. I felt totally at peace when I finally left.

6. And so to a man that I am going to describe as a modern day Jane Austen. I'm talking about Ian McEwan. I've got to be honest, I've only read one of his books, Atonement. His style of writing is my idea of perfection, and I couldn't put it down. The writing is like poetry, it takes you to another world. I haven't even got the words to describe how good this book is. I kept reading it on the train on the way to work and was so engrossed I nearly missed my station. I would quite happily have stayed on the train and just kept reading, I just had to know. I do love Keira Knightly in the film though, the bit where she says, "She's living in a tiny little flat (pronounced 'flet') in Balham," is to die for.

7. And now to the truly obscure. I have a book on my bookshelf called Rosy is my Relative by Gerald Durrell. He was a naturalist and wildlife expert and established a zoo in Jersey. His own autobiography is very good, but this is a fictional work about a man who is left an elephant in his uncle's will. It is probably the most hysterically funny book I've ever read. You know the sort? Where you read it on a train and laugh out loud and don't care. The next time you remember to read it in your room.

8. If I'm being honest, I'm going to have to include the Flambards books by K.M. Peyton. This is the story of a girl called Christine who is sent to live in the countryside at her uncle's house. It tells how she falls in love with her cousin William who is into flying machines. Her other cousin Mark is into hunting and women and she dislikes him on sight, but you are dying for her to be with him really. They are brilliant books, I have several of hers and read them regularly (Fly by Night is also good.)

9. I must have a place on the list for John Grisham, too. I have read The Client, The Partner, The Summons etc, but have yet to read The Pelican Brief. But my favourite one is called The Street Lawyer. It's about a young lawyer who witnesses a suicide in his office block of a man who turns out to be homeless. He gradually becomes caught up in the world of the homeless and does more and more pro bono work. There is a line in the book that says something like, '... And the Lord said to me, "Make sure this never happens again,"...' that sends shivers down my spine every time I read it.

10. I am going to leave the last word to my very great friend, C.S. Lewis. I can remember my teacher reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe to us as children and wondering what on earth she was on about, with Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve, silly woman. Of course, a few years later I read it for myself, and suddenly all became clear. I guess Aslan has been my hero ever since. I've loved The Magician's Nephew for telling us how it all began, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader for making me sob like a child. Never, before or since, have I read such a Spirit filled book. I love you all.

THE END

Post Script: Since writing this, my good friend Trudi has emailed me to say that Dick Francis died on February 14th this year. He will be sadly missed.

Randoms

I have been having trouble looking Eeyore in the face, which is difficult because I usually drink out of this:




and lurking at the top of the stairs lives:



The reason being, that he bears a striking resemblance to:


I realise I haven't mentioned Max since he went, because it's been quite heart wrenching, but tonight I took his name plate off his stable door and put it away. I have moved on. Mr O has, too, and has said he is able to transfer his allegience from Barnaby to Zak. This is wonderful for me, too.


And now... introducing the Beverley Sisters!


How cute are these little darlings?


At the moment they are Abigail, Jemima and Max, although I am convinced they are all girls (how do you tell?) and that Max is soon to become Maxine.

They have moved into an outside pen, where we can keep the heater on in their little house, but they come out for a run round, which they really enjoy.






I am very attatched to them. They run to me and peck me. One of them was pecking my engagement ring. It doesn't hurt at all.




When they run round they are like little clockwork toys. So sweet. I am smitten.




We had a bit of a disaster in the garden on Sunday while we were fence judging as it was so windy at home our little portable greenhouse toppled over, spilling my cucumber plants everywhere. I am not a happy bunny. I doubt they'll recover now.
But I think my lettuces are ready for picking. I declare them a success and will definitely grow some more next year.




I have also finally been up to the top of the field and picked the rhubarb. I got stung by stinging nettles, as I hacked my way through. Guess who is going to spend tomorrow chopping and freezing rhubarb like it's going out of fashion?



And finally, I have mentioned that when Mr O owned Barnaby he was always clean and Max was always filthy. Since I've owned Barnaby he has decided it's his turn to be dirty. I think this photo speaks for itself really. It's a good job I love him.